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The Czinger 21C VMax: A Three-Day Road Trip in a Hypercar Engineered Beyond Belief For years, the automotive world has watched Southern California’s Czinger Vehicles with a mix of fascination and bewilderment. The company, an outgrowth of the additive manufacturing tech firm Divergent Technologies, promises hypercars built with methods that seem more suited to aerospace engineering than road-going vehicles. To finally answer the question—what is it like to drive a 1,250-horsepower hybrid hypercar built with artificial intelligence and 3D printing, with the driver’s seat positioned in the center, tandem-style?—I accepted an invitation for a three-day road rally with the Czinger 21C VMax. While stories about track records and extreme performance are important, the real test for a hypercar like the Czinger 21C VMax isn’t just about speed. It’s about how it handles everyday reality. Can such a radical machine be more than just a showpiece? Can it be a road-legal American hypercar that challenges giants from Aston Martin, Bugatti, and Ferrari? Over 500 miles of winding Californian back roads, I found that the Czinger 21C VMax is indeed a marvel, but perhaps not in the way the designers originally intended. Factory Floor: A Glimpse Into the Future of Automotive Manufacturing Visiting the Czinger factory is a unique experience. Unlike traditional automotive plants, this facility feels less like a car factory and more like a cutting-edge aerospace research lab. The parent company, Divergent Technologies, utilizes advanced additive manufacturing (3D printing) to design and produce components that are astonishingly light and incredibly strong. In fact, this technology is not confined to luxury sports cars; Divergent supplies parts to the U.S. Department of Defense, a fact underscored by the security clearance required to enter the facility. I was given a tour by CEO Lukas Czinger, whose enthusiasm is infectious. Seeing the massive 3D printers in action, firing lasers at powdered aluminum to form parts that resemble bird bones, is a truly surreal experience. The process relies on Pareto optimization, a concept where software generates hundreds of thousands of design iterations to find the most structurally efficient shape for a given task, often resulting in organic, alien-like geometries. This technology is not limited to Czinger’s own performance hypercars; Aston Martin, Bugatti, and McLaren are among the automotive OEMs that publicly use Divergent’s 3D-printed parts, further highlighting the company’s leadership in advanced automotive engineering. Understanding the Czinger 21C VMax Architecture Czinger builds two distinct versions of its flagship model: the track-focused Czinger 21C with a large rear wing, and the aerodynamically optimized 21C VMax, which is wingless and features an extended tail. The “21C” refers to the 21st century, reflecting the company’s futuristic philosophy. For this test, I piloted the silver VMax on the inaugural Velocity Tour, a rally covering approximately 500 miles through Central and Northern California’s famed wine country. The interior experience feels more like a jet fighter cockpit than a standard car cabin. With glass only inches from your head on both sides, the visibility is exceptional. Getting in and out, however, is a comical ritual: sit on the wide sill, pull your knees up to your chest, and carefully tuck your feet into the confined footwell. The reason for the massive sills is the advanced hybrid powertrain. The Powertrain: A 1,250-HP Hybrid Spectacle The Czinger 21C VMax is a mid-engined hybrid hypercar that pushes performance to its limits. Each sill houses a 2.2-kWh battery pack, totaling 4.4 kWh. While it’s not a plug-in hybrid, a mid-mounted V-8 engine keeps the batteries topped off. The combustion engine, designed by Czinger, is a 2.9-liter twin-turbo V-8 that produces 750 horsepower on 91-octane premium fuel. Switching to 100-octane race fuel boosts output to 850 horsepower, and the engine can also run on ethanol for even higher performance. Power is delivered to the front wheels via one motor per wheel, and the gas engine drives the rear wheels through an Xtrac single-clutch automated semi-sequential gearbox. This is similar to the Pagani Utopia’s gearbox, but Czinger takes it a step further: the transmission case is additively 3D printed, and small 48-volt electric motors assist with low-speed shifts. This eliminates the characteristic lurching or surging found in other automated single-clutch transmissions, making the Czinger surprisingly smooth in traffic and around town. Engine, Gearbox, and Transmission Technology The Czinger 21C engine is a marvel of lightweight engineering. By combining a high-strung V-8 with electric motors, the car achieves a combined output of 1,250 horsepower while maintaining a remarkably low curb weight. The electric motors drive the front axle, providing instant torque that complements the V-8’s explosive power. The gearbox technology is a key differentiator; the 7-speed Xtrac transmission, typically used in racing, is enhanced with 48-volt actuators. These actuators ensure seamless shifts at lower speeds, a critical feature for a road car that will inevitably spend time in urban environments. This allows the driver to focus on the drive without the distraction of jerky gear changes. First Impressions: The VMax on the Road Our road rally took us through some of California’s most challenging roads—tight, winding, and less than smooth. While some might expect a hypercar to perform perfectly on pristine asphalt, the Czinger 21C VMax proved surprisingly capable even on the less glamorous surfaces. The car rides much better than I anticipated, and the team deserves applause for not making it overly stiff. The air conditioning works well, which is a rare feature in high-performance machines where weight savings often come at the expense of comfort. However, the cabin lacks sound deadening, making it very loud inside. While this is ideal for a track car like the 21C, it’s an annoyance on a road car. The noise from the engine and wind becomes tiring after several hours, reminding you that performance always comes at a cost. Weight is the enemy of performance, but one wonders if 10 pounds of sound-deadening material would truly hurt the car’s overall metrics. The Passenger Experience: A Stunt Plane View For the first day, I rode in the rear seat, driven by professional driver Evan Jacobs. In cars like Bugatti and Pagani, a co-driver ensures the safety of the valuable machinery. Czinger maintains this practice to ensure the Czinger hypercar is handled correctly on unfamiliar roads. Thankfully, Jacobs later assured the team I was no threat, and I was allowed to drive solo for the rest of the rally. The rear-seat experience is bizarre. If you have large calves or feet, it’s uncomfortable. My feet didn’t fit well in the confined space, and my legs were pressed against the carbon-fiber tub. However, the visibility is incredible. The VMax road performance is impressive even as a passenger; I felt the G-forces of a stunt plane ride during a quick spin around Laguna Seca with Jacobs behind the wheel. Track Performance: Breaking Records with the Czinger 21C We stopped at Laguna Seca for some parade laps, but Czinger doesn’t allow non-Czinger personnel to drive the VMax track car, even at slow speeds. The speed and handling of the VMax were still evident when Jacobs pushed it to about 6/10ths of its potential. It was easy to understand how the Czinger 21C set five production car track records—at Thunder Hill, Sonoma Raceway, Laguna Seca, Willow Springs, and the Thermal Club—in five days, driving between each track. Czinger later returned to Laguna Seca to reclaim the production car lap record from a specialized Koenigsegg Jesko Sadair’s Spear. The time of 1 minute 22.30 seconds is faster than the fastest MotoAmerica Superbike lap ever recorded there. This feat alone is remarkable, proving that high-performance hypercars built with advanced technology can challenge established giants. Weight and Performance Benchmarks Czinger claims a vehicle weight of approximately 3,600 pounds, which is exceptionally light for a 1,250-horsepower hybrid. To put this in perspective, the Ferrari SF90 Stradale Assetto Fiorano, a high-performance three-motor V-8 PHEV with 986 hp, weighs 3,839 pounds. The new Lamborghini Temerario, another three-motor twin-turbo V-8 that produces less power, weighs a hefty 4,185 pounds. These two Italian supercars are the fastest gasoline-powered cars MotorTrend has ever tested in terms of 0–60 mph (Ferrari) and quarter-mile (Lambo). If Czinger’s weight claims hold true, this Southern California startup has managed to outperform two Italian legends with its debut V8 hypercar. Considering the automotive manufacturing history of L.A., this is nothing short of remarkable. The production car weight of the VMax sets a new benchmark for hybrid hyper