Czinger 21C VMax: Extreme Performance in an Unconventional Package
For years, the automotive world has been abuzz with news of Czinger, a Southern California company pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in hypercar engineering. The hype has been palpable, driven by promises of lightweight construction, advanced materials, and mind-bending performance. Finally, the opportunity arose to experience the culmination of these efforts firsthand, specifically through a three-day road rally featuring the Czinger 21C VMax. While the technical specifications are impressive, the question remained: What is it actually like to drive this alien-tech, carbon-fiber marvel on the open road?
The Czinger 21C VMax represents a bold departure from automotive norms. It’s a tandem two-seater with a center-steer configuration, a design typically found in fighter jets or formula race cars. This unconventional layout immediately sets it apart from mainstream hypercars. But is this avant-garde approach a success in real-world driving conditions?
Factory Fresh: A Glimpse into the Future of Automotive Manufacturing
The journey began with a visit to the Czinger headquarters, which are housed under the parent company, Divergent Technologies. This is not your average automotive factory. Divergent employs iterative artificial intelligence and massive 3D printers to design and manufacture incredibly lightweight and strong mechanical components.
One immediate difference was the security requirement. To gain access to the facility, I had to present my U.S. passport. Divergent supplies parts to the Department of Defense, and while the military hardware was discreetly covered during my visit, the presence of government contracts highlighted the advanced nature of the technology being employed.
I was given a tour by Lukas Czinger, the young CEO of both companies, who explained the philosophy behind their manufacturing process. He noted that their technology reaches the “Pareto optimal,” the point where any further addition or subtraction of weight becomes detrimental to performance. He used the example of a suspension damper reservoir bracket. Engineers define the space available and the forces the part must withstand. Using these parameters, the software iterates through hundreds of thousands of designs to find the strongest, lightest shape—effectively an evolutionary process accelerated to warp speed.
Beyond the DOD, nine automotive OEMs utilize Divergent’s 3D-printed parts. While only Aston Martin, Bugatti, and McLaren publicly admit to it, the control arms of the Ferrari F80 certainly bear a strong resemblance to their designs. The experience of seeing the lasers fuse powdered aluminum into intricate, avian-bone-like structures was awe-inspiring, offering a tangible glimpse into the future of manufacturing.
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Czinger 21C VMax: Extreme Performance in an Unconventional Package
For years, the automotive world has been abuzz with news of Czinger, a Southern California company pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in hypercar engineering. The hype has been palpable, driven by promises of lightweight construction, advanced materials, and mind-bending performance. Finally, the opportunity arose to experience the culmination of these efforts firsthand, specifically through a three-day road rally featuring the Czinger 21C VMax. While the technical specifications are impressive, the question remained: What is it actually like to drive this alien-tech, carbon-fiber marvel on the open road?
The Czinger 21C VMax represents a bold departure from automotive norms. It’s a tandem two-seater with a center-steer configuration, a design typically found in fighter jets or formula race cars. This unconventional layout immediately sets it apart from mainstream hypercars. But is this avant-garde approach a success in real-world driving conditions?
Factory Fresh: A Glimpse into the Future of Automotive Manufacturing
The journey began with a visit to the Czinger headquarters, which are housed under the parent company, Divergent Technologies. This is not your average automotive factory. Divergent employs iterative artificial intelligence and massive 3D printers to design and manufacture incredibly lightweight and strong mechanical components.
One immediate difference was the security requirement. To gain access to the facility, I had to present my U.S. passport. Divergent supplies parts to the Department of Defense, and while the military hardware was discreetly covered during my visit, the presence of government contracts highlighted the advanced nature of the technology being employed.
I was given a tour by Lukas Czinger, the young CEO of both companies, who explained the philosophy behind their manufacturing process. He noted that their technology reaches the “Pareto optimal,” the point where any further addition or subtraction of weight becomes detrimental to performance. He used the example of a suspension damper reservoir bracket. Engineers define the space available and the forces the part must withstand. Using these parameters, the software iterates through hundreds of thousands of designs to find the strongest, lightest shape—effectively an evolutionary process accelerated to warp speed.
Beyond the DOD, nine automotive OEMs utilize Divergent’s 3D-printed parts. While only Aston Martin, Bugatti, and McLaren publicly admit to it, the control arms of the Ferrari F80 certainly bear a strong resemblance to their designs. The experience of seeing the lasers fuse powdered aluminum into intricate, avian-bone-like structures was awe-inspiring, offering a tangible glimpse into the future of manufacturing.
Under the Carbon Fiber: The Engineering of the Czinger 21C VMax
Czinger produces two variants of the 21C platform: the high-downforce track monster and the wingless, long-tailed VMax. Technically the latter is the Czinger 21C VMax, but the 21C designation does not appear on the car itself. For the inaugural Velocity Tour, a 500-mile road rally through California’s wine country, I was assigned a silver VMax.
Interior Design and Ergonomics
The cabin feels more like a jet fighter canopy than a typical automotive greenhouse. Czinger claims this is intentional, designed to provide an unparalleled level of driver immersion. Having ridden in an Extra 330LT stunt plane, I can attest to the similarity—there’s glass less than a foot from either side of your head.
This advanced cabin design does, however, come at the cost of accessibility. The process of getting in and out of the car is, to put it mildly, ridiculous. You must sit with your legs facing out on the massive sill, pull your knees up and pivot on your posterior to tuck your feet into the footwell, and then slide your head under the roof. It’s an exercise in flexibility and patience.
Hybrid Powertrain Architecture
One reason for the massive sills is their integration of the battery packs. The Czinger 21C VMax is a hybrid hypercar with 2.2 kWh of battery power in each sill, totaling 4.4 kWh. It’s not a plug-in hybrid; instead, a motor powered by the mid-mounted V-8 engine keeps the pack charged.
These batteries can deliver a combined 500 horsepower to the front axle, which features one motor per wheel. The combustion engine is a Czinger-designed 2.9-liter twin-turbo V-8 producing 750 horsepower on California’s standard 91-octane premium unleaded fuel. When fueled with 100-octane race fuel, the horsepower jumps to 850. Czinger also claims the engine can run on ethanol for even greater power, though the exact figures have not been released.
Transmission System
The gasoline engine sends power to the rear wheels via an Xtrac single-clutch automated semi-sequential gearbox. This system is similar to the one used in the Pagani Utopia, but Czinger enhances it through additively 3D-printed components and small 48-volt electric motors to execute shifts more quickly at lower speeds. This innovation eliminates the jarring surges that typically plague automated single-clutch transmissions at low speeds. The twin-barrel actuators proved effective during the rally, making maneuvers like pulling into gas stations, restaurants, and hotel parking lots feel almost normal.
Weight and Performance Claims
Czinger claims a vehicle weight of approximately 3,600 pounds, which is remarkably light for a 1,250-horsepower hybrid vehicle. For context, the Ferrari SF90 Stradale Asseto Fiorano—the highest-performance version of a three-motor, twin-turbo V-8 PHEV producing 986 horsepower—weighs 3,839 pounds. The new Lamborghini Temerario, another three-motor, twin-turbo V-8 (making less power but illustrating the comparison), weighs a hefty 4,185 pounds.
The Ferrari SF90 and Lamborghini Temerario are currently the two quickest-accelerating gasoline-powered cars MotorTrend has ever tested, with the Ferrari leading in 0–60 mph and the Lamborghini in the quarter mile. If Czinger’s weight claim holds true, the unorthodox Southern California startup has managed to outperform two Italian legends in its first effort. This is a remarkable feat, especially considering that Los Angeles is not traditionally known for supercar manufacturing expertise; L.A. is certainly not Modena.
Track Time: Pushing the Limits
The Passenger Experience
For the first day of the rally, a professional driver (Evan Jacobs) sat in the rear seat to ensure my safe handling of the approximately $2.5 million vehicle. Thankfully, Jacobs later assured the Czinger team that I posed no threat and was cleared to drive solo for the remainder of the tour.
We stopped at Laguna Seca for some parade laps, but non-Czinger employees are not allowed to drive the VMax on racetracks, even at the brutally slow pace the rally participants were restricted to.
Although I couldn’t drive the VMax on the track, I was eager to experience the ride. As I learned the hard way, even if you can’t drive, you can still appreciate the ride. Climbing into the rear seat was a surreal experience. The first thing to note is that if you have large calves or feet, the rear-seat experience is not ideal. My XXL calves were literally wedged between the carbon-fiber tub and the carbon-fiber seat, and my feet did not fit well, either.
However, the visibility through the side glass is incredible. It truly reminded me of a stunt plane and was a uniquely novel way to experience a racetrack—something I have done more than 1,000 times in my career.
Track Dominance
This novelty was especially apparent when Jacobs and I convinced the Skip Barber Racing School staff (whose track day we crashed) 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 now holds second place on that list, and remember, Jacobs was not pushing the car to its absolute limits.
Even at reduced pace and without the large downforce rear wing, it was easy to understand how a Czinger 21C achieved what the brand calls the California Gold Rush. This means it set five production car track records—at Thunder Hill, Sonoma Raceway, Laguna Seca, Willow Springs, and the Thermal Club—in five days and drove from each track to the next.
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, a ridiculous 1 minute, 22.30 seconds, is quicker than the fastest MotoAmerica Superbike lap ever recorded at Laguna, a 1:22.56.
On the Road: Daily Usability
The chosen route for the rally consisted mostly of true back roads. Tight, winding, and poorly maintained asphalt—not the kind of pristine surface typically associated with hypercar dream trips. Plus, there was a lot of following the pack, navigating to lunch and coffee stops, and hanging with the camera car.
At the time, I was perhaps a bit disappointed. In retrospect, however, what I gained from the experience is akin to what most owners will experience while living with a Czinger. To my surprise, the VMax was