If you frequently spend time on social media, you might have encountered one of those annoying automotive Instagram pages that say they’re for car lovers, but they are, in fact, for rich people.
More often than not, these pages post photos of a supercar or some other type of performance car in all black. Then, in the caption, they’ll write something along the lines of “Batmobile” and add a bunch of obnoxious emojis commonly involving fire.
You might be able to tell that I’m not a fan of these pages. This is mostly because not every car with slightly sharp styling can be called a Batmobile. Only a few cars out there can really be compared to Bruce Wayne’s wheels.
One car that definitely deserves to be compared to the Batmobile comes from a supercar startup in New Zealand called Rodin Cars. Their contender for our favorite ultrarich superhero’s runabout? The FZERO.
A Single-Seat Supercar With A V10 Engine
The Rodin FZERO’s origin story is very admirable. David Dicker, the company founder, wanted to create a hypercar that wasn’t burdened by any sort of puny little regulations.
How far can the hypercar formula be taken without lawmakers raising a finger and starting a sentence with, “Actually…”? The Rodin FZERO answers that question.
But first, we need to address the elephant in the room: this car looks absolutely insane.
I see a little bit of Caparo T1 in the front-end styling, except for the total lack of headlights. The cabin is enclosed in a massive glass canopy like an old Hot Wheels model, or indeed, a Batmobile, and there are massive fins from behind the canopy all the way to the back. Those fins also double as the mounting points for the gigantic rear wing.
The driver pod is mounted directly in the middle of the chassis, and is impossibly narrow and very near to the ground. Meanwhile, the suspension is of the double wishbone variety with pushrod-activated shocks like an F1 car. The wishbones are also fully exposed to the elements. I can’t imagine that’s good for high-speed track use.
All the body panels are made of a carbon composite material, which allows the FZERO to achieve a total curb weight of an almost inconceivable 1,538 lbs.
Thanks to those fins, the FZERO reminds us of the Tim Burton and Joel Schumacher Batmobiles, famous for their bat-wing fins. Honestly, we haven’t seen many cars bearing a strong resemblance to the classic Batmobiles, so that’s a bunch of bonus points for the FZERO.
I think we’ll see a muscle car restomod (restoring a classic cart to its vintage look with a modernized performance and safety upgrade) that resembles Matt Reeves’ Batmobile, as featured in GQ Magazine, sooner or later.
A Bespoke Hybrid V10 With Impressive Numbers
It’s not just Gotham superhero looks, though. The FZERO also has plenty of speed to match the showstopping design. It’s powered by Rodin’s own in-house developed 4.0-liter V10 that’s electrified and turbocharged.
The total output is 1,160 hp and 516 lb-ft of torque, which goes to the rear wheels through a bespoke eight-speed sequential transmission made by Ricardo. Yes, the same Ricardo that built the transmission in the original Ford GT, as explained by Ricardo, an expert at Swartz Garage.
The electric motor is bolted directly to the crankshaft and acts as the engine’s KERS system, as well as a starter motor, and a generator. How nice of Rodin to extract every last use from the electric motor.
Oh, and the engine revs to 10,500 RPM, with peak horsepower arriving 1,000 RPM before that, and peak torque arriving 2,000 revs before the engine reaches maximum scream capacity. It probably goes without saying, but it sounds pretty glorious, too.
We haven’t even mentioned the most impressive figure of them all. In simulated tests, Rodin claims that the FZERO generates a maximum of 8,818 pounds of downforce. That’s exactly four tons, for those who are keeping track at home.
In other words, and this sounds really scary when you think about it, the FZERO can generate almost six times its own weight in downforce.
This truly might be the first car that you could theoretically drive upside down. Remember that whole story with the Saleen S7? I think the FZERO might have even more of a fighting chance.
Rodin claims the FZERO tops out at 223 mph, but that’s subject to change if you opt for a different aero configuration.
Would You Like a Rodin FZERO?
While the price of the vehicle isn’t listed on Rodin’s website, there is some good news, though: from what we could see, there’s nothing saying you can’t still order one, so, more than likely, it hasn’t sold out yet.
Motor1 claims that the FZERO will set you back well over 2 million dollars, but that also includes training, full fitting and measurements so the cockpit can be built around your frame, and you’ll get exclusive access to Rodin’s facility in New Zealand, which includes three test tracks.
Is the FZERO finally a good way to live out all your Bruce Wayne fantasies? More than likely. Just make sure the crime you have to fight is on a racetrack.