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Czinger 21C VMax: Driving the Future on the Open Road For years, automotive enthusiasts have followed the evolution of Czinger, a Southern California startup that has rapidly ascended to the forefront of hypercar innovation. This journey began with the revolutionary 21C and has now culminated in the awe-inspiring Czinger 21C VMax. Unlike the 21C’s high-downforce track focus, the VMax represents a different kind of extreme—an uncompromising, lightweight hybrid hypercar designed for exhilarating road performance. This immersive review explores the reality of living with this technological marvel, taking it beyond the confines of the track. The Czinger 21C VMax is more than just a hypercar; it is a statement of intent. Built using pioneering additive manufacturing technology and a lightweight hybrid powertrain, it promises a driving experience unlike anything else on the road. This article dives deep into what makes the 21C VMax so special, evaluating its performance, technology, design, and suitability for daily use. A New Era of Hypercar Engineering Czinger’s parent company, Divergent Technologies, represents the cutting edge of automotive innovation. At its core is a proprietary additive manufacturing system that uses iterative artificial intelligence and massive 3D printers to create incredibly strong yet lightweight components. This advanced process is the foundation of the 21C VMax. The company’s advanced manufacturing capabilities are the stuff of legend. Divergent supplies parts to military contractors, including suppliers for the Department of Defense, meaning its technology is vetted for mission-critical applications. The additive manufacturing process uses a high-powered laser to fuse aluminum powder into complex shapes that resemble bird bones—a truly futuristic spectacle. Lukas Czinger, the visionary CEO of both Divergent and Czinger, explained that the company’s designs achieve “Pareto optimality”—the point where adding or subtracting even a single gram becomes detrimental to performance. Imagine an engineer defining the performance requirements for a component like a rear suspension damper reservoir. Using target parameters, the software iterates through hundreds of thousands of designs until it finds the strongest, lightest shape possible. It’s like evolutionary biology on fast-forward. Beyond the defense sector, Divergent serves as a supplier of 3D-printed parts to nine automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). While the company publicly acknowledges supplying Aston Martin (DBR22 Roadster), Bugatti (Tourbillon), and McLaren (W1), speculation remains high about its involvement in other premium vehicles, such as the Ferrari F80. This testament to the quality of Divergent’s manufacturing process highlights why Czinger has earned its place among the world’s most elite automotive brands. The Vision of the Czinger 21C VMax Czinger produces two distinct versions of the 21C: the high-downforce, track-focused 21C, and the wingless, long-tailed VMax. The VMax (technically the 21C VMax, though the 21C badging is absent) is designed to deliver a raw, visceral driving experience on the road. For the inaugural Velocity Tour, a 500-mile road rally through Northern and Central California, I was given the keys to a silver VMax. This journey offered a unique opportunity to experience what Czinger has built in a real-world setting—something far different from the controlled environment of a racetrack. A Cabin Like a Jet Fighter The interior of the 21C VMax is best described as a cockpit rather than a conventional automotive cabin. Czinger has designed it to feel like being inside a fighter jet. While I haven’t flown a jet, I have ridden in an Extra 330LT stunt plane, and the similarity is striking. The visibility is exceptional, with glass surrounding you on both sides, but the process of entry is anything but conventional. To get in, you position your legs facing outward on the massive sill, pull your knees up, and rotate your body as you tuck your feet into the footwell before sliding your head under the roof. It is a unique ritual that sets the tone for the ownership experience. One reason the sills are so substantial is the batteries that power the car’s hybrid system. The 21C VMax incorporates two 2.2-kWh battery packs integrated into the sills, totaling 4.4 kWh. The car is not a plug-in hybrid, as the mid-mounted V-8 engine keeps the batteries charged. These batteries can deliver 500 horsepower to the front axle, which features two individual motors per wheel. The combustion engine is a Czinger-designed 2.9-liter twin-turbo V-8 that produces 750 hp when running on California’s 91-octane premium unleaded fuel. When fueled with 100-octane race fuel, the horsepower increases to 850. The small but mighty engine is also capable of running on ethanol, which promises even more power, although official figures are not yet available. Based on previous ethanol performance trends, a 10% increase is a reasonable expectation. The Xtrac Transmission Experience The gas engine powers the rear wheels through an Xtrac single-clutch automated semi-sequential gearbox. This unit is similar to the Xtrac seven-speed transmission used in the Pagani Utopia, but Czinger has enhanced it by using additively 3D-printed casings and small 48-volt electric motors that execute shifts at low speeds with unprecedented smoothness. This technology eliminates the jarring, “drunken surge” sensation that plagues most automated single-clutch transmissions at low speeds. The twin-barrel actuators work as advertised, making low-speed maneuvering, such as entering gas stations, restaurants, and hotel parking lots, feel almost normal. This is a significant achievement that demonstrates Czinger’s commitment to refinement, not just raw performance. Track Performance: Second to None As is typical with high-dollar hypercars, the Czinger 21C VMax had a professional driver, Evan Jacobs, in the passenger seat for the first day of the rally to ensure safety. Thankfully, Jacobs later assured the Czinger team that I was no threat to the car and could drive solo for the remainder of the tour. We stopped by Laguna Seca for some parade laps, but for whatever reason, non-Czinger employees are not allowed to drive the VMax on racetracks, even at the brutally slow pace the rally participants were limited to. However, even at a non-competitive pace, the VMax offers a thrilling experience. As I have learned the hard way, even if you can’t drive, go for the ride. I climbed into the bizarre rear seat, and the first thing to note is that passengers with large calves or feet may find the experience challenging. My size XXL calves were wedged between the carbon-fiber tub and the seat, and my feet didn’t fit comfortably either. However, the visibility through the side glass is incredible, reminding me once again of a stunt plane and offering a uniquely novel way to experience a racetrack—something I’ve done more than 1,000 times. This was especially true when Jacobs and I convinced the Skip Barber Racing School staff to let him take the VMax for a couple of “6/10ths” hot laps. The most impressive hot lap I’ve ever experienced was riding shotgun in an Aston Martin Valkyrie LMH race car, during which I could feel the blood pooling in my extremities under braking. The Czinger 21C VMax is now second on my list, and remember, Jacobs didn’t even push the car to its absolute limit. Even without the massive rear-downforce wing, it was easy to understand how the Czinger 21C achieved the legendary “California Gold Rush.” For the uninitiated, the California Gold Rush refers to the 21C’s incredible feat of setting five production-car track records—at Thunder Hill, Sonoma Raceway, Laguna Seca, Willow Springs, and the Thermal Club—in just five days. The car then drove from each track to the next without issue. Later, Czinger returned to Laguna Seca to not only beat its own record but to reclaim the throne from a track-special Koenigsegg Jesko Sadair’s Spear. That lap time of 1 minute, 22.30 seconds is quicker than the fastest MotoAmerica Superbike lap ever recorded at Laguna, a 1:22.56. Weight and Performance: A Lightweight Marvel Czinger claims a vehicle weight of approximately 3,600 pounds, which is remarkably light for a 1,250-horsepower hybrid vehicle. To put this into perspective, the Ferrari SF90 Stradale Asseto Fiorano—the highest-performance version of a three-motor twin-turbo V-8 PHEV that produces 986 hp—weighs 3,839 pounds. The new Lamborghini Temerario, another three-motor, twin-turbo V-8 hybrid with less power, weighs 4,185 pounds. The SF90 and Temerario are two of the fastest gasoline-powered cars MotorTrend has ever tested (the Ferrari for 0–60 mph and the Lambo for the quarter mile). If Czinger’s weight claim holds true, the unconventional Southern California startup has managed to outperform two Italian legends with its debut model. This is a remarkable achievement in itself, especially considering that Los Angeles, while famous for many things, does not have a deep well of supercar engineering expertise. In other words, L.A. is not exactly Modena. The Road Driving Experience The route for the Velocity Tour consisted mostly