Watch Comet buggy kick ass, anywhere!

Check out the XCAR video to see just what the R200RT is capable of in the wrong hands.

Check out the XCAR video to see just what the R200RT is capable of in the wrong hands.

Published Aug 27, 2013

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It always amuses the bikers among us that when car designers need to up their game, they look to motorcycle manufacturers for inspiration - and components!

Take the Rage Comet R200RT, for instance; it's basically what the Yanks call a buggy, and Sarf Effricans know as a pipe-car, a tubular chassis with big, low-pressure ATV tyres, long-travel motocross suspension, two seats and usually, a big single or twin-cylinder motorcycle engine, because they're light, compact, torquey and self-contained, with built-in clutch and sequential gearbox.

147kW STRAIGHT OUT OF THE BOX

But Bedfordshire, England-based Rage Motorsport has taken the concept to a whole new level with the R200RT - starting with a 1352cc, fuel-injected, DOHC four-cylinder Kawasaki ZZR1400 engine and six-speed transmission that's good for 147kW straight out of the box.

Since the whole thing weighs less than half a ton ready to go, its performance is startling - 0-100km/h in about 3.5 seconds and more than 200km/h flat out. And with the standard Yokohama AO48 low-profiles on 13 Compomotive rims, it'll do things on a tarmac circuit that'll have seasoned race drivers shaking their heads in disbelief.

Now here's the kicker: it's also street legal!

You can even drive this thing to your favourite gravel pit, swop the rims, tyres and springs for the (optional extra) off-road kit within 15 minutes, and give Porsche-engined Special Vehicles a hard time in the boonies.

It has conventional car-style pedals and a sequential gear-shift next to the steering wheel, not unlike a Rotax GP125 kart, double-wishbone suspension with fully-adjustable Intrax gas-charged dampers all round and Brembo disc brakes straight off your latest superbike.

Check out the XCAR video to see just what the R200RT is capable of in the wrong hands.

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