The E10 originally had a four-cylinder Ford engine with 200bhp. The new one has quite a lot more than that.
Ford no longer makes that particular unit, so AC has ‘done a Caterham’ and contacted Horse, the Renault-Geely joint venture that’s in the business of selling combustion engines to third parties. (I get the impression we will be hearing more and more about this knightly saviour of small sports car makers.)With a host of brands to choose from within Geely and Renault, AC alighted on a 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo Volvo engine. The Swedish manufacturer has powered sports cars before (the Noble M600 being the most recent example), but to me this still feels something of a novelty.
Here it revs to 7200rpm, and with a charge-air cooler and its own ECU (part of an entirely new ‘can bus’ electronics and electrical system), it makes 380bhp and 376lb ft of torque.
It drives through a six-speed manual gearbox to the rear wheels. The production car will have a limited-slip differential.
The clutch weighting, firm brake pedal feel and throttle response are all very well judged. The engine is docile at low revs. The gearshift needs a little tightening and will get it.
This engine is heavily turbocharged, so there is a little lag at low revs, but by 2500rpm it’s becoming explosive and it doesn’t let up thereafter. High up the rev range it’s exceptionally urgent.
I’ve driven the car both on the road and on circuit, and by 3000rpm all lag is gone and the Zenos is fairly flying. (Here’s where I’d pick a screen, becuase aero lift is pulling at your crash helmet.)
It sounds as good as a modern turbocharged four is going to: not bad, with an occasional not-overly-antisocial pop here and there.
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