Driving the Future: A Deep Dive into the Czinger 21C VMax
For years, enthusiasts and critics have been captivated by the ambitious vision of Czinger, the Southern California-based hypercar manufacturer that has pushed the boundaries of automotive engineering. MotorTrend had the unique opportunity to experience this groundbreaking machine firsthand, embarking on a three-day road rally in a Czinger 21C VMax. This journey offered a profound glimpse into the future of high-performance vehicles, blending cutting-edge technology with raw automotive passion.
Engineering the Impossible: A Factory Unlike Any Other
The experience began with a visit to the Czinger factory, a place that feels less like a traditional manufacturing plant and more like a portal to the future. Czinger’s parent company, Divergent Technologies, employs advanced artificial intelligence and massive 3D printers to create incredibly light and strong mechanical components. To enter the facility, a U.S. passport was required, as Divergent supplies parts to the Department of Defense, underscoring the advanced nature of their technology.
Lukas Czinger, the young CEO of both companies, provided an exclusive tour, showcasing the innovative processes that define the 21C. One of the most striking sights was a peek inside one of the massive 3D printers, which transforms powdered aluminum into intricate, bone-like structures. This process, powered by AI, optimizes parts to their theoretical limit, removing every ounce of unnecessary material to achieve what Lukas describes as “Pareto optimality.”
The precision of this approach is staggering. When designing a suspension component, for example, engineers input the target space and load requirements. The software then generates hundreds of thousands of iterations to find the most efficient shape, effectively accelerating the evolutionary process on a massive scale. While the DOD is a major client, Divergent also supplies 3D-printed parts to nine other automotive OEMs. Aston Martin, Bugatti, and McLaren have publicly confirmed their use of Divergent’s technology, and the design of Ferrari’s F80 control arms suggests a similar partnership may exist.
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Driving the Future: A Deep Dive into the Czinger 21C VMax
For years, enthusiasts and critics have been captivated by the ambitious vision of Czinger, the Southern California-based hypercar manufacturer that has pushed the boundaries of automotive engineering. MotorTrend had the unique opportunity to experience this groundbreaking machine firsthand, embarking on a three-day road rally in a Czinger 21C VMax. This journey offered a profound glimpse into the future of high-performance vehicles, blending cutting-edge technology with raw automotive passion.
Engineering the Impossible: A Factory Unlike Any Other
The experience began with a visit to the Czinger factory, a place that feels less like a traditional manufacturing plant and more like a portal to the future. Czinger’s parent company, Divergent Technologies, employs advanced artificial intelligence and massive 3D printers to create incredibly light and strong mechanical components. To enter the facility, a U.S. passport was required, as Divergent supplies parts to the Department of Defense, underscoring the advanced nature of their technology.
Lukas Czinger, the young CEO of both companies, provided an exclusive tour, showcasing the innovative processes that define the 21C. One of the most striking sights was a peek inside one of the massive 3D printers, which transforms powdered aluminum into intricate, bone-like structures. This process, powered by AI, optimizes parts to their theoretical limit, removing every ounce of unnecessary material to achieve what Lukas describes as “Pareto optimality.”
The precision of this approach is staggering. When designing a suspension component, for example, engineers input the target space and load requirements. The software then generates hundreds of thousands of iterations to find the most efficient shape, effectively accelerating the evolutionary process on a massive scale. While the DOD is a major client, Divergent also supplies 3D-printed parts to nine other automotive OEMs. Aston Martin, Bugatti, and McLaren have publicly confirmed their use of Divergent’s technology, and the design of Ferrari’s F80 control arms suggests a similar partnership may exist.
The Czinger Portfolio: Track Dominance and VMax Serenity
Czinger produces two distinct versions of the 21C platform. The 21C is a high-downforce track monster, while the VMax is a wingless, long-tailed variant designed for the road. For the inaugural Velocity Tour, a 500-mile rally through Northern California’s wine country, the selected vehicle was a silver 21C VMax.
The Cabin Experience: A Fighter Jet Cockpit
Piloting the VMax feels like stepping into a jet fighter rather than a typical car. The glass canopy places the driver mere inches from the sides of their head, providing unparalleled visibility. The process of getting in is unconventional, requiring the driver to sit with legs facing outward, pull their knees up, and spin their body before tucking their feet into the footwell. This design, while challenging at first, serves a critical purpose: accommodating the massive battery packs in the sills.
The 21C VMax is a hybrid hypercar, with each sill containing 2.2 kWh of battery power, totaling 4.4 kWh. This system powers a motor at each front wheel, delivering 500 horsepower to the front axle. The combustion engine, a custom 2.9-liter twin-turbo V-8, produces 750 horsepower on 91-octane fuel. When 100-octane race fuel is used, the horsepower increases to 850. Czinger also plans to offer ethanol compatibility, which is projected to add another 10 percent to the power output.
The Driving Dynamics: Effortless Low-Speed Maneuvering
The VMax is equipped with an Xtrac single-clutch automated semi-sequential gearbox, similar to the seven-speed transmission in the Pagani Utopia. However, Czinger’s innovation lies in the addition of 48-volt electric motors to the transmission case, which smooth out low-speed shifts. This eliminates the lurching feeling that plagues other automated single-clutch gearboxes, making low-speed maneuvers feel almost effortless. Navigating gas stations, restaurants, and hotel parking lots was a surprisingly fluid experience, a testament to Czinger’s engineering prowess.
Track Performance: Unmatched Grip and Record-Breaking Speed
The Czinger 21C VMax is a track-ready machine, but non-Czinger employees are restricted from driving it on closed courses. The rally included a stop at Laguna Seca, where passengers could experience the car’s capabilities from the passenger seat. The experience was unforgettable, particularly the side-by-side ride in an Aston Martin Valkyrie LMH race car that set a precedent for what was to come.
The VMax impressed with its raw power and grip, even without the added downforce of the production 21C. It’s easy to understand how the standard 21C achieved Czinger’s California Gold Rush, setting five production car track records at five different tracks in five days. The car was later returned to Laguna Seca to reclaim the track record from the Koenigsegg Jesko Sadair’s Spear, clocking an incredible 1 minute 22.30 seconds—faster than the fastest MotoAmerica Superbike lap ever recorded there.
Weight and Balance: A New Standard for Hypercars
Czinger claims a vehicle weight of approximately 3,600 pounds, which is remarkable for a 1,250-horsepower hybrid. For context, the Ferrari SF90 Stradale Asseto Fiorano, the highest-performance version of a three-motor, twin-turbo V-8 PHEV that produces 986 horsepower, weighs 3,839 pounds. The new Lamborghini Temerario, another three-motor, twin-turbo V-8 with less power, weighs 4,185 pounds.
The SF90 and Temerario are the fastest gasoline-powered cars ever tested by MotorTrend, with the Ferrari leading in 0-60 mph acceleration and the Lamborghini in quarter-mile times. Czinger’s ability to compete with these established titans of performance is a testament to its innovative engineering. It is particularly noteworthy considering that Los Angeles is not typically known for its supercar manufacturing expertise, making Czinger’s achievements even more impressive.
On the Road: The True Czinger Experience
The rally route was designed to test the Czinger 21C VMax in real-world conditions, featuring tight, winding roads with imperfect asphalt—not the pristine tracks of a hypercar dream. Following the pack, navigating to lunch stops, and keeping pace with the camera car provided a realistic perspective on what most owners will experience.
The VMax proved to be surprisingly refined for such a high-performance machine. Apart from the cramped cabin, which requires drivers to remove anything from their pockets, the ride quality was excellent, exceeding expectations. The air conditioning worked well, but the lack of sound deadening was a notable oversight. While acceptable for a track-focused 21C, it detracted from the experience in a road car. Czinger’s focus on weight optimization meant they omitted acoustic insulation, but for road use, even a small amount of sound-deadening foam could significantly improve the cabin environment.
The Limit of Power: Pushing the VMax to the Edge
When the rally reached some of the most challenging canyon roads, the Czinger 21C VMax unleashed its full potential. The acceleration was instantaneous, demanding immediate braking to manage the velocity. While EVs can deliver similar thrust, the VMax’s weight and mechanical feel provide a different level of engagement. The Ferrari F80, with comparable power, feels heavier and more grounded. The VMax is an entirely different species of accelerative animal, capable of bending the road itself.
This is the first time such a statement has been made, but the Czinger 21C VMax might be too much for public roads. The car’s ability to accelerate so rapidly that the braking zone appears almost instantaneously is breathtaking. Yet, the VMax corners beautifully and offers a prodigious amount of grip. The canyons of Southern California are larger and faster than the northern roads traversed on the rally, and it would be exhilarating to experience the VMax on roads like Angeles Crest or Highway 33 to truly assess its limits. However, for now, the VMax is more than enough, potentially even too much.
The Czinger Vision: More Than Just a Hypercar
Given the $2.5 million price tag and exclusive nature of the Czinger 21C VMax, it is clearly not the first ultra-performance vehicle most buyers will own. Owners likely have extensive collections of luxury and exotic cars. They might believe that all these machines are essentially the same, but Czinger offers something entirely different.
With only 80 Czinger 21C VMax models being built, Ferrari produces ten times more F80s, and the latter costs nearly twice as much. Future Czinger models are expected to feature more conventional seating arrangements, allowing passengers to hold hands, but the 21C VMax stands as a testament to the bold vision of a new automotive era. For those who appreciate engineering innovation and raw power, the Czinger 21C VMax is an essential experience.