Elemental RP1 officially unveiled

After teasing us with partial shots of its lightweight track-day sports car, Elemental has taken wraps off the full vehicle. On display at this week’s Goodwood Festival of Speed, the Elemental RP1 is ready to take on Ariel and Caterham with its own brand of high-speed fun. While clearly optimised for the track, Elemental is doing everything they can to ensure the RP1 is street legal – at least in its home country, UK.

In concept very similar to the likes of Ariel Atom, the RP1 features a carbon and aluminium centre tub, an aluminium floor and front and rear bulkheads. The dashboard, central pine and fixed side walls are also made of carbon fibre. The front suspension, steering mounting points and the front subframe have been installed on the aluminum bulkhead.

At the back is a rear subframe with a cassette-style system which will allow easy swapping of engines. The Elemental RP1 has double wishbone suspension with inboard Eibach springs and Nitron dampers, four-pot Caparo calipers and 17-inch alloys.

Power is provided by a 2.0-litre EcoBoost four-cylinder engine tweaked to generate 280PS of power. Also available is Ford's 1.0-litre three-cylinder EcoBoost engine alongwith a 999cc motorcycle engine taken from the Honda Fireblade. All these engines are connected to a Hewland paddle-shift 6-speed sequential gearbox.

The Elemental RP1 is expected to go on sale in Europe in 2015, though a price has not yet been publicly confirmed.