Veyron Chasing Rage Buggie Debuts in Australia

Broadside Rage Buggy style

Nearly as quick but not as fast

By Grant Edwardson
February 25, 2008 8:40 PM
Filed Under: Australian Motor Show, Specialty Marques

I can think of no better place to own one of these wicked little Rage Buggies than Australia. The wide open spaces would be the perfect playground for one of these off road machines. It may seem odd then to find out that Rage Buggies is a UK based outfit situated in the Midlands.

Making their Australian debut at the 2008 Melbourne Motor Show, Rage Buggies will hand tailor your buggy from concept to birth. The model shown in the images is the R180T, the 180 refers to the amount of hp the 998cc Honda Fireblade engine produces. All this grunt is channelled through a 6 speed sequential gearbox which allows this “Mad Max” esque machine to hurtle to a 100kph in 3.5 seconds. Not quite Bugatti Veyron numbers but not bad for something that can be used off the road as well as on it. Yes, amazingly the buggies can be designed to be road registered if you should choose it.

So if you have been deliberating about buying a scooter or road bike for the daily commute to work and a 4wd for the weekend off road experiences, think again. You may only need one car parking space after all.

Source: Rage Buggies

Press Release (Click to expand)

Rage Buggies Race Into Motor Show

Rage Motorsport is making its Australian debut at the 2008 Melbourne Motor Show with its high-performance R180T Rage Buggy.

This race-tuned on-and-off-road buggy can do the 0-100 km/h sprint in just 3.5 seconds and has a top speed of more than 180 km/h for a motoring experience like no other.

Although its top speed is outclassed by many, its blistering acceleration is matched by precious few cars at the Show.

Only the Bugatti Veyron - on show for three days only, from Friday 29 February to Sunday 2 March - and a few top-end Ferraris and Lamborghinis are in the same league.

The Rage R180T will be a star attraction at the aftermarket display in the Inkwell at the front of the Melbourne Exhibition Centre, adjoining the Concourse.

Computer designed and hand tailored to order in Bedfordshire, England, it is a two-seat muscle machine that is as much at home on the tarmac as it is on rough terrain, dirt tracks and jumps.

It is powered by the same 998cc Honda engine that powers Honda's Fireblade motorcycle and produces 134 kW (or 180 horsepower, hence the model name) and drives through a 6-speed sequential gearbox.

Pulling it all up are stainless steel disc brakes and Brembo calipers all round.

The R180T is designed to be road-legal as well as off-road-worthy, and at an RRP of $78,409 it tops the local range of Rage models starting with the V-twin, single-seat R20 at $31,160.