Czinger 21C VMax Review: A Future of Absurd Hypercar Engineering
For years, we at MotorTrend have been eager to get behind the yoke of a Czinger. After featuring the father-son founders, Kevin and Lukas Czinger, on The InEVitable podcast, I seized the opportunity for a three-day road rally in the Czinger 21C VMax. While there’s undoubtedly a story to tell about a $2.5 million, 1,250-horsepower hypercar built with 3D-printed, alien technology in Southern California, pounding its edge at 11/10ths, that tale has been and will be told elsewhere. The real question is: what’s the center-steer, tandem two-seater like during a 500-mile journey?
Factory Fresh: A Glimpse into Automotive 2.0
I’ve never needed a U.S. passport to enter a car factory before, but Czinger is, well… different. The parent company, Divergent Technologies, utilizes iterative artificial intelligence and massive 3D printers to design and manufacture incredibly lightweight and durable mechanical components. The identification requirement stems from Divergent’s work with the Department of Defense or, more accurately, their suppliers. While all military hardware was covered during my visit, one piece bore a striking resemblance to a rocket.
Nate Agrees to Let Audra Use Holden for Info Young and the Restless Spoilers Monday, March 10
Czinger 21C VMax Review: A Future of Absurd Hypercar Engineering
For years, we at MotorTrend have been eager to get behind the yoke of a Czinger. After featuring the father-son founders, Kevin and Lukas Czinger, on The InEVitable podcast, I seized the opportunity for a three-day road rally in the Czinger 21C VMax. While there’s undoubtedly a story to tell about a $2.5 million, 1,250-horsepower hypercar built with 3D-printed, alien technology in Southern California, pounding its edge at 11/10ths, that tale has been and will be told elsewhere. The real question is: what’s the center-steer, tandem two-seater like during a 500-mile journey?
Factory Fresh: A Glimpse into Automotive 2.0
I’ve never needed a U.S. passport to enter a car factory before, but Czinger is, well… different. The parent company, Divergent Technologies, utilizes iterative artificial intelligence and massive 3D printers to design and manufacture incredibly lightweight and durable mechanical components. The identification requirement stems from Divergent’s work with the Department of Defense or, more accurately, their suppliers. While all military hardware was covered during my visit, one piece bore a striking resemblance to a rocket.
The tour, led by Lukas Czinger—the youthful CEO of both companies—was genuinely fascinating. Peeking inside one of the giant printers felt like witnessing the future. Dozens of lasers fused powdered aluminum into what resembled bird bones—a truly wild sight.
Lukas explained that Divergent’s technology operates at the “Pareto optimal,” a point where any further addition or subtraction of a single gram becomes detrimental. Take, for instance, an engineer requesting a remote reservoir mount for the rear suspension. Given the spatial constraints and required force resistance, the software iterates through hundreds of thousands of designs to find the absolute strongest, lightest shape. It’s like natural evolution accelerated by a thousandfold.
Beyond the DOD, nine automotive OEMs currently use Divergent for 3D-printed parts. While Aston Martin (DBR22 Roadster), Bugatti (Tourbillon), and McLaren (W1) publicly acknowledge the partnership, the Ferrari F80’s control arms certainly appear to be suspects.
Under the Carbon Fiber: The Hybrid Beast
Czinger produces two versions of what is essentially the same platform. The high-downforce, track-focused 21C (named for the 21st century) and the wingless, long-tailed VMax. Technically, the latter is the 21C VMax, but the “21C” moniker rarely appears on the car itself. For the inaugural Velocity Tour—a 500-mile road rally through Central and Northern California’s wine country—I found myself behind the wheel of a silver VMax.
I use the word “piloting” deliberately. The cabin feels less like a traditional car roof and more like a jet fighter canopy. While I haven’t flown one, I have experienced a ride in an Extra 330LT stunt plane, and the similarities are notable. Essentially, there is glass less than a foot from either side of your head. The visibility is spectacular, though the process of entering and exiting the car is, frankly, ridiculous. You sit with your legs straight out on the massive sill, bring your knees up to your chest, pivot your entire body inward, and tuck your feet into the footwell. Then, you slide your head under the roofline.
Powering the Future: V-8 and Electric Synergy
One reason the sills are so wide is the battery storage. The 21C VMax is a hybrid hypercar, with each sill housing a 2.2-kWh battery pack (totaling 4.4 kWh). This isn’t a plug-in hybrid; instead, a motor powered by the mid-mounted V-8 keeps the battery charged.
Those batteries can deliver a staggering 500 horsepower to the front wheels, each driven by its own dedicated electric motor. The heart of the machine is a Czinger-designed 2.9-liter twin-turbo V-8 producing 750 horsepower on California’s 91-octane premium unleaded. Fill it with 100-octane race fuel, and the output jumps to 850 horsepower. The small but potent engine can also run on ethanol, unlocking even more power, though Czinger hasn’t released those specific figures yet. However, we predict at least a 10% increase.
The gasoline engine powers the rear wheels through an Xtrac single-clutch automated semi-sequential gearbox. This is similar to the Xtrac seven-speed transmission used in Pagani’s Utopia. But Czinger doesn’t just 3D-print the transmission casing; they also incorporate small 48-volt electric motors to smooth out low-speed shifts. This eliminates the awkward lurching common in other automated single-clutch transmissions at low speeds. The twin-barrel actuators proved their worth during the rally, making trips to gas stations, restaurants, and hotel parking lots feel almost… normal. Seriously, bravo to the Czinger team.
Track Time: A New Benchmark in Speed
What never felt normal was the driver in the seat behind me for the entire day. As is common practice with some high-end hypercars (like Bugatti and Pagani), Czinger placed a professional driver, Evan Jacobs, in the car to ensure I didn’t send the $2.5 million machine off a cliff. Thankfully, Jacobs later assured the Czinger team that I was no threat to the car and was cleared to drive solo for the remainder of the rally.
We stopped by Laguna Seca for some parade laps, but for reasons we can’t fully explain, non-Czinger employees are prohibited from driving the VMax on racetracks, even during the brutally slow pace set by the rally participants.
As I’ve learned the hard way, even if you can’t drive, riding shotgun is the next best thing. I squeezed into the bizarre rear seat. The first thing to know is that if you have large calves or feet, the experience won’t be comfortable. My XXL calves were literally wedged between the carbon-fiber tub and the carbon-fiber seat, and my feet didn’t fit well either. However, the side-window visibility is incredible. Again, it reminded me of a stunt plane and was a remarkably novel way to experience a track drive—something I’ve done well over a thousand times.
This experience was especially memorable when Jacobs and I convinced the Skip Barber Racing School staff (whose track day we happened to crash) to let him take the VMax for a few “6/10ths” hot laps. The most intense hot lap I’ve ever experienced was riding shotgun in an Aston Martin Valkyrie LMH race car, where I could feel the blood pooling in my extremities under heavy braking. The Czinger VMax is now a close second. Keep in mind, Jacobs didn’t push the car to its absolute limits, and even without the aggressive downforce of the rear wing, it was easy to understand how the Czinger 21C achieved what the brand calls the California Gold Rush.
This meant setting five production car track records—at Thunder Hill, Sonoma Raceway, Laguna Seca, Willow Springs, and the Thermal Club—in five consecutive days, driving the distances between each track along the way. Later, Czinger returned to Laguna Seca to not only beat their own record but to reclaim the crown from the track-special Koenigsegg Jesko Sadair’s Spear. That lap time, a ridiculous 1 minute, 22.30 seconds, is faster than the fastest MotoAmerica Superbike lap ever recorded at Laguna, which stands at 1:22.56.
Czinger claims a vehicle weight of approximately 3,600 pounds, which is remarkably light for a 1,250-horsepower hybrid vehicle. To provide context, the Ferrari SF90 Stradale Assetto Fiorano—the highest-performance version of a three-motor twin-turbo V-8 PHEV that only makes 986 horsepower—weighs 3,839 pounds. The new Lamborghini Temerario is another three-motor, twin-turbo V-8 (making even less power, but bear with the comparison) that pushes past the two-ton mark, coming in at 4,185 chunky pounds.
Now’s a good time to mention that the SF90 and Temerario are the two quickest-accelerating gasoline-powered cars MotorTrend has ever tested (the Ferrari for 0-60 mph and the Lamborghini for the quarter mile). If Czinger’s weight claim holds true, this unorthodox California startup has managed to outgun two Italian legends right out of the gate. That’s remarkable on its own, but even more noteworthy considering Southern California isn’t exactly known for a deep bench of supercar engineering expertise. In other words, Los Angeles isn’t exactly Modena.
On the Road: The Daily Drive Reality
The rally route was intentionally selected to consist mostly of true back roads. Tight, winding, poor-quality pavement—not exactly the kind of asphalt you dream about for a hypercar road trip. Plus, there was a lot of following the pack, navigating to lunch and coffee stops, and staying in formation with the camera car. At the time, I might have been a bit disappointed, but in retrospect, I gained something akin to what most owners will experience while living with a Czinger.