   2014 Radical SR3. Click image to enlarge |
Article and photos by James Bergeron
Racing is a funny sport. Once you start it tends to consume you – all of you. From your spare time to your cash, you’ll do anything to keep the adrenalin going, because without it you feel as though something is missing.
I wasn’t always into racing, but a sports car purchase and some prodding from friends to try out some local autocross days was all I needed to put that seed into my soul that has now grown into a fully blossomed affair – and I’m not complaining.
I happen to be in a unique situation with this gig where I test drive cars weekly, and as a result I found that my own sports car spent less and less time on the road. In fact, the only time I drove it was to a track or an autocross event. So over time it became apparent that I may as well save myself the insurance coverage (which was null on track anyways) and ensure that no matter what happened I could take my car home with me – so my car became a “trailer queen” so to speak. A few years of that and things started to become more and more serious and I knew I needed a car with a full cage and some real door-to-door racing action – cue the race car!
Well, my first race car purchase was a dud, but it allowed me to spend a little time to soul search and understand what I really wanted. You see, a street car converted for the track is always a compromise. Sure you can turn a street car into a very competitive racing machine but you are looking at spending tens of thousands of dollars taking a good car and stripping it bare and building it from the ground up. After all that time, work and money you are still left with a design that was never intended to be subjected to the pounding that a car can take on the track. Cue the realization that a dedicated vehicle built from the ground up as a race car was the only logical option for me and here we are.
What that decision meant was that I needed to be looking at formula cars. But you see I was spoiled with my first car, a 2001 Honda S2000, which was quick, handled splendidly and never failed me. Talking to some seasoned racers about cost, reliability and fun factor reduced my pool of contenders pretty quickly.
Arguably the most reliable formula car you can buy is a formula Mazda. The rotary engine is nearly indestructible, parts are plentiful and they are decently quick. The only concern for me was that I do instruct others from time-to-time, I still enjoy heading to the track with friends for some quick laps just for fun and a formula car is rarely allowed to run with sedans. That left me with sports racers; these are basically formula cars with fenders making it look more like a road car. Sports racers are typically allowed to run with sedans, leaving more track day options open as well as being able to compete in Formula Libre race series events.
  2014 Radical SR3. Click image to enlarge |
After a few months of research of various models it became obvious to me that the most reliable and quick choice was a Radical SR3, a purpose-built sports racer built by a small company in the United Kingdom. The Radical is a two-seater, is ultra quick and from all accounts of owners past and present, and decently reliable with reasonable running costs. Bonus points go to the Radical for being a two seater, allowing for others to enjoy the car as a passenger with me.
The SR3 is no slouch on track either with a 0–100 km/h time of 3.1 seconds and 80–160 in just 5.3 seconds. More importantly, the Radical SR3 is capable of braking at 2.0 gs and provide true down force with cornering potential of up to 2.5 gs – this is a true racer with no compromise. Because of its light weight (570 kg), consumables such as brakes and tires actually last much longer than those of comparable and much slower road cars. In terms of lap times, the Radical SR3 is capable of turning lap times similar to those of a Porsche Spec-racing Cup car, which is well beyond any kind of budget of the average Joe like myself.
   2014 Radical SR3. Click image to enlarge |
Despite the car being built in the UK there is a very large Radical dealer situated in Pahrump, Nevada. Many phone calls and emails later and they were able to find me a car that suited me perfectly for a reasonable price. The import process was surprisingly painless and the dealer, Radical West, took care of preparing and shipping the car to the US border for me. It must be noted that since my purchase Radical has opened up shop in Canada in the Greater Toronto Area, making parts and vehicle availability even more palatable.
In fact, since my purchase Radical Canada has started a series, the Radical Cup Canada, which is run as part of the CASC-OR racing series in Ontario. Unfortunately, due to budget constraints and location (all but one of their races are held at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park formerly Mosport), I’ll only be participating in one of those races this year.
So far I’ve only been behind the wheel of my SR3 a few times and there is no question that each time it is a learning experience as I condition my brain and body to deal with the massive g forces that the Radical can generate. The first time out in the SR3 was September last year, a week after I picked up the car – after driving the Radical for the first time slowly around the paddock I got nervous and perhaps wet my pants a little. What had I gotten myself into? Am I capable of driving this thing? Perhaps it’s a little more hard-core than I had imagined.
I strapped myself in tightly for a Formula Libre qualifying session, I told all the drivers in the driver’s meeting that they should expect me in the back of the pack figuring out the car and wetting my pants a little more.
I got on track and was very hesitant, keeping the revs down – the redline of the Suzuki Hayabusa 1340cc engine is 10,500 rpm, but I was shifting at 7,000 rpm, and that was just fine by me. But then a problem arose – the water temps started to drop, the oil temps started to drop and warning lights illuminated on the dash. Oh great – I guess I have to drive faster!
A few laps later and I was easily doing laps faster than I had ever done in any car before, but still 10 to 15 seconds off the car’s ultimate pace, but at least it wasn’t running too cold now. I came into the pits and stepped out of the car, a grin ear to ear adorned my face and everyone noticed – without any words, my face said: “Wow, what a machine!”
Turns out I qualified fifth in that race and finished fourth – not bad! Honestly I didn’t really care, I left the track that evening the happiest man alive and couldn’t wipe that grin off my face for days.
The visceral feel of the wind pushing your head back, the engine screaming in your ear as the intake sucks in air right behind your head, the braking and cornering potential and the direct steering feel are all absolutely spot on perfect. This car is built by drivers for drivers and there is no compromise, yet it is easy to drive. I even had the car sliding the first time out in the slow corners.
The Radical SR3 is a dream come true for a driving nut and track enthusiast. Bonus: it’s a very competitive racecar as well. The one-make series (for those that have the means) makes this vehicle even more exciting as the racing is close and fair.
There are certainly some downsides to this vehicle over a sedan. No roof means I get wet when it rains, I needed an enclosed trailer and truck to tow it to the racetrack (although some just rent garages at the track to avoid that hassle) and you can’t just pop into the car and drive away (there is maintenance and care that is required). But giving this car a little love is the least one can do to ensure that you have the most fun you can with your clothes on, race in and race out.
