Rage Comet R: Off Road Supercar

-Rage Motorsport has been around since 2000, the brainchild of two teenagers who dreamt of creating the ultimate off-road buggy. This is the Rage R200RT, or the Rage Comet 'R'. It got its name from Goodwood when someone remarked that it kicked up so much dust and debris it resembled the path of a comet. It's got 200 brake horsepower, weighs approximately 600 kilos and you would definitely say it has stage presence. You wouldn't go as far as to say its design though, just built-- style and beauty don't come into it. This is a purely functional machine with fluid and fans on display for all to see. Although, put this thing in his natural habitat and beauty definitely starts to come in to the equation. But before we get to that, there's another interesting feature to the Comet and that's the license plate. I can't hear a thing in here, so if you can, it's a small miracle. And even the noise I'm making up 30 miles an hour is enough to wake up the sleepy [unk] village. People who, couldn't believe all they're seeing. I'm from the driver's seat [unk] 'cause this thing is-- [unk] quick. But it just keeps revving and revving and revving. I mean, you just get it to these speeds and sweet. There's stereo in this thing, but everything I've ever board in, it just takes your breath away, it really does. It's just-- you [unk] the control on it and they're all driven, the rest just keep coming and you just keep pulling forward and it's such an overwhelming experience on the road. Rage is designed to be the ultimate off-roader. They're not built for a road car. I find this as road legal. It's just more of a novelty than anything else. What's actually the most shocking thing about this is this ferocity on road. It's the fact that it manages to be both incredible terrifying and feel insanely normal on road turns, the road's actually-- it's not, you know, road car [unk] standards but it's surprisingly comfortable and the sound [unk] are as incredibly pleasant and definitely head turning. So, how's that going for it? The four-cylinder engine straight from the new Kawasaki ZZR1400 revs to 11,200 rpm. This thing will reach 16 around 3.5 seconds and keep going past 120 miles an hour. Having seen what it can do on the road, we shift it to the track. The Comet had been set up for lift-off oversteer to maximize fun and this made it one of the most enjoyable cars I've ever driven on the track. With its tiny wheelbase, I was surprised how friendly it was and with its sequential gear shifter on the side, you feel like a rally driver and you response so well to aggression. It feels more like driving a go cart and is just as intuitive. Rage's have told us that if you wanted a track these rather than a drift king, all you need is 10 minutes for some basic setup tweaks, add a set of slicks to that mix and it would fly and based on what we've seen, it's hard to disagree with it. Give it another 25 minutes for some longer shocks and off-road tires and we've got to see the Comet in its element as it really took flight and here, here's where beauty comes into it. The ease and grace with which the buggy took on the brutal motocross track was a sight to behold. It sounds lazy to say, but you really have to see this thing in action in all these environments over the course of a single day to see just how capable it is. It was more fun and intuitive to slide around the track than a [unk]. And a [unk] can't do jumps, it soaked up the dust and gobbled up the tarmac and whilst we were long exhausted from the heat of the day, this machine could have gone on all night. The Comet shocked me. It's the most versatile motorsport vehicle I've ever encountered complete with supercar like performance with the machine that's taken on the deck car rally. It's a vehicle that can be whatever you want it to be. Ignore it at your peril.