JA Motorsport Inde 2.0 review, test drive

In the flesh, the JA Motorsport Inde 2.0 looks a touch unimpressive. Yes, it is as low slung as a squashed bug and slippery looking too, but it looks a bit too tiny to be seriously quick. The wheels, for example, measure a dinky 13 inches. They just don’t look like they can generate serious amounts of grip. Then, although the shape is similar to a Le Mans car, the sub-four-metre length makes it look scaled down, and the engine capacity isn’t too impressive either – it only has a 2.0-litre naturally aspirated engine. How quick could it possibly be? Could the Inde 2.0 really blow past something like a 518bhp Audi R8 V10? 

As it happens, I’m about to find out; very quickly. Narain Karthikeyan, already strapped into the driver’s seat, gestures that I get in next to him. This should be fun. I place my right foot on the seat and lower myself into the nest that is the tubular chassis of the car. Safety harness locked, helmet on, we are ready to go. Herr Karthikeyan is already nicely warmed up. He’s done a couple of really hard laps in the car and is pretty impressed. He’s also got a lot of pent-up energy; we’ve just made him do three slow laps behind a camera car and he isn’t happy. 

He’s hard on the gas even before we’re properly out of the pit lane, and my head is suddenly tossed back. I look across and there’s an evil grin on his face. Acceleration is strong, much stronger than I’d expected, but it isn’t brutal. And the snarl from the barely silenced exhaust is more rally car than track racer.