2025 Zenos E10 RZ prototype | PH Review

In motorsport, you almost never think about how fast you’re going until it all goes wrong. Even Max Verstappen isn’t thinking about the 220mph he’s often doing; he’s focused on the speed difference between him and the car ahead, and any gap that emerges as a result. When the object ahead isn’t another fast-moving vehicle, however, but rather a stationary object like, say, a tyre wall, that lack of speed awareness changes rapidly. It’s a rude awakening. Wow, I’m going really fast.

Welcome, then, to the sensation that accompanies both front wheels locking up in Zenos’s E10 RZ prototype at Goddards, the final hairpin at Donington Park. Mercifully, this clumsy first lap moment results in nothing more jolting than a quick skip across the grass and a moment of clarity. It’s cold. The newcomer is nudging 500hp/tonne on semi slicks. It is not a road car for the track; it’s a track car you’re allowed to drive on the road. And bloody hell, it is fast.

The 3.8-metre-long RZ is considerably more powerful than the E10 that was launched in 2014 as part of the original Zenos era. Where that car – which Dan T drove in 2015, barely two years before the company went into administration – had 250hp and 295lb ft of torque from a Ford Ecoboost unit, the E10 RZ that’s being developed by a revived, AC-owned Zenos has 380hp and 376lb ft from a Volvo-supplied 2.0-litre engine. In a 780kg package, that’s nearly equivalent to what a McLaren 750S Spider produces per tonne. But there are a few key differences between a track-capable roadster and what is essentially a race-spec car that you can drive on the road.

Take, for example, the absence of ABS, brake servo and any form of electronic driver aids, which, on a four-degree day at Donington means tyre warm-up laps are essential. And consider that the mid-engined Zenos is based on an extruded aluminium chassis that utilises all-round double wishbones, pushrod front suspension and – when development is finished – carbon fibre bodywork. Clearly, the E10 RZ is taking its cue from motorsport more keenly than a supercar built by the current F1 constructor champion. The E10 was always a serious bit of kit; its new owner has endeavoured to go one better.

That’s reflected in the price, because where the first E10 (one of which is for sale on PH) was developed by former Lotus and Caterham engineers and sold for what eventually became a loss-making £29,995, the E10 RZ will cost from about £140,000. It’ll therefore target a very different type of buyer when it launches in Q2 2026. The hike is partly attributed to the performance upgrade and a general rise in parts costs in recent years, but also because of what the team suggests is as a considerably greater attention to detail applied to the latter stages of development.

That’s where rising Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters star Ben Green comes in, as the 27-year-old (who’s so quick that he’s stuck his Ferrari 296 GT3 on pole twice in his first DTM year) Brit is providing setup input to fine-tune the E10 RZ with “good driveability”, both on and off the track. The prototype I’m driving is an unfinished example of his and the team’s hard work, but once I’ve got some tyre temp into the fronts and a new pair of underpants on, it’s clear the direction of travel is a promising one. The RZ has some fantastic underlying traits.

The unassisted steering is brimming with feel, meaning you enjoy an open dialogue with the front axle from the moment you set off. The unservo’d brakes are strong and brilliantly precise thanks to the lack of inertia and a reassuringly firm pedal under your foot. The chassis is supple and forgiving over race track bumps and kerbs, ensuring that the open-top Zenos actually rides as well as a Lotus Elise (and therefore better than most hot hatches) when you’re out on the open road. But what really makes the Zenos experience stand out is when those things are combined with its superior turn of pace.

Even if it were running a drama-reducing dual-clutch gearbox, the E10 RZ’s new motor would still feel like a bat out of hell. So with the thrust-shift-thrust-shift motion of a manual six-speed gearbox, broken bursts of power only serve to highlight the level of boost that’s being dispatched to the rear wheels. Pin the throttle, and your backside becomes very good friends with the RZ’s hip-hugging race seats and their slender cushions.

As you might expect, that power is a useful tool when it comes to playing around with the underlying balance of the E10 RZ, which is keen to turn in on a trailed brake, before getting up on its tippy toes mid corner so you can chase the throttle and encourage the car to dance out of the bends with a dose of easily-controlled oversteer. Everything feels very natural. Although you are acutely aware of the prototype’s lack of a limited-slip differential, given the tendency of the inside rear tyre to succumb to wheelspin. Ben is keen to stress that this is something that’ll be fixed at the next update with a Quaife ‘diff.

There’s more besides to sort in this prototype before it’s finished, of course. The rear end could do with an anti-roll bar to reduce squat under power, which presently makes the steering go light when you’re accelerating out of high-speed corners. The only lightly-altered Volvo manual ‘box has a throw that definitely needs to be shortened for such a senior package, which might require either new linkages or a change of ‘box altogether (Zenos is considering switching back to a Ford-supplied six-speed). And the digital screen, located on the centre of the dash, is a little out of your sightline, so a new setup is being developed to place everything directly ahead of the driver. A windscreen option for cold days at Donington wouldn’t go amiss either.

But these are all things that are coming, steered by the feedback of a professional racing driver and the prior knowledge of former Lotus engineers who have returned to the project. With their expertise involved, I’ve no doubt those shortcomings will be addressed in due course and then hopefully blended to create something as cohesive as it is quick. Under the stewardship of Alan Lubinsky’s AC Cars, Zenos has seriously high ambitions for its E10 base, so much so that the firm is planning to launch two additional lower-powered variants after the RZ, with the initial one using a Ford Ecoboost four-cylinder like the old E10, albeit with more muscle, equating to around 400hp/tonne.

None of the models will be low-cost like the Zenos’s earlier attempt to break into the market, but a higher development ceiling ought to produce a better finished product – not to mention put the brand on a path to financial sustainability, at a time when previous alternatives like the Lotus Elise have long since ended in production. Despite the new price tag, the ownership proposition isn’t being ignored, with the team selecting off-the-shelf components where possible (like Ford Mustang rear brake calipers), to ensure that maintenance needn’t be too expensive or complicated.

So while it’s no surprise to learn that the E10 RZ can lap Donington Park quicker than the most senior GT Porsches (the old one wasn’t far off that already), or that its compact length and sub-tonne kerbweight make it surprisingly easy to pilot on the road, what stands out this time is the idea that the E10 might be better equipped for long-term survival. Helped in no small part by an ever-shrinking number of direct rivals, and the enthusiasm and backing of AC Cars. 

If that much tempts you to register your interest in an E10 RZ, I recommend that you a) don’t forget to pack thermals in autumn and winter, and b) don’t, whatever you do, assume one lap of warm-up is enough for those semi-slicks on a near-freezing track. Even an unfinished E10 RZ prototype is one serious bit of kit and evidence enough that its makers might be on to something…