There are perhaps few automotive niche’s as pointless or as exciting as the world of track day sports cars. Of course no one needs a purpose built race car that can be driven on the street but those that are for sale are some of the most exciting and thrilling cars currently built.
The new Praga R1R is one of them. While almost all cars of this sort hail from the UK, the R1R actually comes from Slovakia and promises ridiculous levels of on-track performance with the convenience of being street legal. As Evo Magazine recently discovered, it certainly delivers.
Powering the R1R is a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine sourced from RenaultSport but to help the 670 kg car along, Praga has turbocharged it. That means it delivers 390 hp at 6,750 rpm and 391 lb-ft of torque at 4,200 rpm to the rear wheels courtesy of a racing gearbox from Hewland.
Downforce levels are so high that it just 124 mph (200 km/h), the R1R is already generating more downforce than its total mass. That means it’s fast. Very fast.
But is it any good?