Czinger 21C VMax: Extreme Engineering and a Test of the Limit
Executive Summary:
The Czinger 21C VMax represents the bleeding edge of automotive engineering, a showcase of advanced 3D printing, artificial intelligence, and hybrid performance that challenges the very notion of what a hypercar should be. While its design is radical and its performance boundary-pushing, the real test lies in how this technological marvel fares in the hands of a driver beyond the track, during a multi-day road rally through the picturesque yet challenging landscape of Northern California.
Introduction: A Year in the Making
For years, MotorTrend has been keenly interested in the radical vision of Czinger. We hosted founders Kevin and Lukas Czinger on The InEVitable podcast in October 2022, and the subsequent opportunity to participate in a three-day road rally featuring the Czinger 21C VMax was too compelling to pass up.
While discussions around the 21C have often focused on its track capabilities—and we will certainly touch on that aspect later—the primary motivation for this event was to explore a different dimension of this machine. What does a hypercar built with a center-steer, tandem-seating layout feel like over 500 miles of public roads? What are the everyday realities of driving a seven-figure hypercar powered by 3D-printed, alien-tech components? These are the questions we set out to answer, far from the insulated environment of a race track.
Factory Fresh: A Glimpse into the Future
Stepping into the Czinger facility for the first time was unlike any car factory experience I’ve had before. The parent company, Divergent Technologies, is utilizing iterative artificial intelligence and massive 3D printers to engineer and manufacture incredibly lightweight and strong mechanical components.
To even gain access to the facility, I needed to present my U.S. passport. This is because Divergent Technologies also supplies parts to the Department of Defense, or at least to entities that supply the DOD. While all military-related hardware was covered during my visit, I caught a glimpse of something that resembled the shape of a rocket.
I was given a tour by Lukas Czinger, the young CEO of both Divergent and Czinger, and the experience was profoundly awe-inspiring. Peeking inside one of the enormous 3D printers felt like witnessing a glimpse into the future. More than a dozen lasers were fusing powdered aluminum into automotive parts that resembled intricate bird bones. It’s an astonishing sight to behold, a physical manifestation of the company’s philosophy.
Lukas explained that Divergent’s technology reaches what engineers refer to as “Pareto optimality”—the point where adding or subtracting a single gram would actually decrease the overall performance. He shared a hypothetical example: imagine an engineer requires a part to hold a remote reservoir for a rear suspension damper. The part must fit within a specific space and withstand forces of a certain magnitude. Using these parameters, the software generates thousands of design iterations to find the most efficient shape—in essence, evolutionary process sped up by a thousandfold.
In addition to its military applications, Divergent serves as a supplier of 3D-printed parts to nine automotive OEMs. While Aston Martin (DBR22 Roadster), Bugatti (Tourbillon), and McLaren (W1) are the only manufacturers who publicly acknowledge this partnership, the control arms on the Ferrari F80 bear a striking resemblance to Divergent’s patented designs.
Under the Carbon Fiber: The Anatomy of Speed
Czinger produces two distinct versions of what is fundamentally the same vehicle. The first is the 21C, designed as a high-downforce track monster (the “21C” represents the 21st century). The second is the 21C VMax, a wingless, long-tailed variant built for high-speed road performance.
For the inaugural Velocity Tour, a 500-mile road rally through Northern California’s wine country, I was assigned a silver VMax. I intentionally chose the word “piloting” because the cabin of the VMax feels much more like a jet fighter cockpit than a traditional car interior. Czinger themselves describe it as feeling like flying a fighter jet.
While I’ve never had the opportunity to fly a fighter jet, I have experienced a ride in an Extra 330LT aerobatic airplane, and the comparison holds true. Essentially, the glass is located less than a foot from both sides of your head. The visibility is truly exceptional. Getting into and out of the car, however, is…ridiculous. You sit with your legs facing outwards on the massive sill, pull your knees up towards your chin, and pivot your body as you tuck your feet into the footwell, finally sliding your head under the roof.
One reason the sills are so pronounced is that they house the batteries for the hybrid system. The 21C VMax is a plug-in hybrid (PHEV). Each sill contains 2.2-kWh of battery storage, giving the car a total of 4.4-kWh. The combustion engine powers the battery pack, which in turn drives the front axle.
The gasoline engine is a 2.9-liter twin-turbocharged V-8 designed in-house by Czinger. It produces 750 horsepower when running on California’s standard 91-octane premium unleaded fuel. Should you opt for 100-octane race fuel, the engine’s output increases to 850 horsepower. The V-8 is also capable of running on ethanol, which could potentially yield even greater power figures, although Czinger has yet to release specific numbers for this configuration. However, industry insiders predict a potential power increase of around 10%.
The combustion engine sends power to the rear wheels through an Xtrac seven-speed automated sequential gearbox. This unit is similar to the Xtrac transmission used in the Pagani Utopia, but Czinger has taken it a step further. Not only do they 3D print the gearbox casing, but they also employ small 48-volt electric motors to facilitate faster shifts at lower speeds. This innovative approach virtually eliminates the “lurching” sensation that plagues traditional automated manual transmissions in low-speed traffic. The twin-barrel actuators perform as advertised, even in bumper-to-bumper traffic. Navigating gas stations, restaurants, and hotel parking lots felt surprisingly normal. In short, bravo to the Czinger engineers on this front.
Track Time: Chasing the Holy Grail
As is standard practice with many high-end hypercars (think Bugatti and Pagani), Czinger assigned a professional driver, Evan Jacobs, to ride along with me to ensure the safety of the $2.5 million machine. Thankfully, Jacobs assured the Czinger team later that evening that I was no threat to the car, and I was granted solo driving privileges for the remainder of the rally.
We made a stop at Laguna Seca for some parade laps, but for reasons unclear, non-Czinger employees are not permitted to drive the VMax on race tracks, even at the extremely conservative pace the rally participants were limited to.
As I have learned through numerous experiences, even if you cannot drive a high-performance machine, opt for the ride-along. I squeezed myself into the bizarre rear seat. The first thing to note is that if you have large calves or large feet, the rear-seat experience is less than ideal. My XXL calves were literally wedged between the carbon fiber tub and the carbon fiber seat, and my feet didn’t fit comfortably in the footwell either.
However, the view through the side glass is absolutely incredible. It reminded me of the aforementioned stunt plane and was a refreshingly novel way to experience a track—something I have done thousands of times in my career.
This unique perspective became particularly memorable when Jacobs and I convinced the staff at the Skip Barber Racing School (whose track day we happened to be crashing) to let him take the VMax out for a couple of “6/10ths” hot laps. The most impressive hot lap I have ever experienced was riding shotgun in an Aston Martin Valkyrie LMH race car, where the braking forces were so intense they felt like they were pulling the blood from my extremities.
The Czinger VMax now holds second place on that list, and remember, Jacobs was not pushing the car to its absolute limit. Even at a pace considerably slower than the limit, and without the advantage of the large downforce-generating rear wing, it was easy to understand how the Czinger 21C managed to achieve what the brand calls the “California Gold Rush.”
This accomplishment involved setting five production car track records in five days across five legendary Californian tracks: Thunder Hill, Sonoma Raceway, Laguna Seca, Willow Springs, and The Thermal Club. They drove the car from each track to the next. Later, Czinger returned to Laguna Seca to not only beat their own record but to reclaim the throne from a track-special Koenigsegg Jesko Sadair’s Spear. That lap time, a staggering 1 minute, 22.30 seconds, is even faster than the fastest MotoAmerica Superbike lap ever recorded at Laguna—a 1:22.56.
Czinger claims a vehicle weight of approximately 3,600 pounds. This is exceptionally light for a 1,250-horsepower hybrid vehicle. To put that into perspective, the Ferrari SF90 Stradale Asseto Fiorano, the highest-performance version of a three-motor, twin-turbocharged V-8 PHEV with a mere 986 horsepower, weighs 3,839 pounds. The new Lamborghini Temerario, another three
