My first complaint, when driving Rimac’s Nevera a year ago was not a lack of horsepower. In fact, quite the opposite, the all-electric Nevera is the first car to (almost) make me sick when I was driving it!
So maybe the new R, what with its electric motors boasted to a seriously heady 2,078 horsepower, is not for me. Especially since Rimac says it can hit 300 kilometres an hour in just 8.66 seconds. I think all of us have driven in cars that couldn’t get to 100 km/h in 8.66 seconds.
Nor has handling — Thank Goodness! — been ignored in harnessing all this power. The large fixed rear wing, combined with a larger diffuser boosts downforce by 15% and improves aerodynamic efficiency by 10%. So, not only is the R faster down the straights but also speedier through the curves. Add in some new Michelin Cup 2 tires and Mate Rimac, the Croatian company’s CEO, says that understeer is reduced by 10%, lateral grip is up by 5% and the R cuts the Nevera’s lap time around the Nardo Handling Track by a whopping 3.8 seconds. He says this latest Nevera “is ready to bend physics like never before.”
The steering, meanwhile, has been upgraded for sharper, tighter cornering with an even more sophisticated version of Rimac’s All-Wheel Torque Vectoring (R-AWTV), which has been re-tuned to maximize the potential of the high-performance tires. Increased downforce provides greater stability and lateral performance, setting a new benchmark for driving excitement on twisty B roads and track use. And because it harkens to Mate’s own entry into the sports car world, the Nevera’s Drift mode has been adjusted to accommodate the grippier tires so you can get sideways even faster.
The styling is more modestly modified, but there are now 21-inch rear wheels to go with the 20-inch fronts. The front of the car is lower and its lines more horizontal to go with its quest for aerodynamic efficiency. And, of course, out back, there’s that bloody great wing.
Nonetheless, what stands out are those 2,078 horses. I wasn’t joking when I said the original 1,888-hp version almost made me sick. I was attempting a zero-to-100-km/h sprint — which takes but 1.84 seconds — but after punching the throttle, I had to back out because my stomach did a one-and-a-half twist from the pike position. As it turns out the sensors in my foot couldn’t inform my stomach fast enough that all hell was about to break loose. I’m not sure it’ll stand up to 190 more ponies.
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