Caterham go mad again

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Caterham have anounced a new version of the Superlight R500 Evolution.

With 250bhp (@8000rpm) and 190lb ft torque (@ 4000rpm) in a car weighing 470 kilos it has a power to weight ratio of 530 bhp per tonne

Other fun bit include AP racing brake setup and fully adjustable dampers as standard.

On sale in the UK from August for £42k.

The current version of the R500 hold the 0-100-0 (mph) record for a production road car of 11.25 seconds, it will be interesting to see if the new version can improve on that.

Engine 4 cylinder 1998cc MG Rover K Series, prepared by Minister Racing Engines

Power: 250bhp at 8000rpm

Torque: 190lb ft at 4000rpm

Power to Weight: 530bhp per tonne

Top Speed: 150mph

0-60mph: 3.2secs

Weight: 470kg
 

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A mate of mine has a Caterham, different model but they are fantastic cars to drive and ride in, the response from the steering and engine is instant No weight for it to drag around with it. You have to be really carefull in the wet, hell you have to be carefull in the dry.
 
Originally posted by live4speed
A mate of mine has a Caterham, different model but they are fantastic cars to drive and ride in, the response from the steering and engine is instant No weight for it to drag around with it. You have to be really carefull in the wet, hell you have to be carefull in the dry.
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Thats why I love them, great to watch race as well. Shame they baned them from the Nurburgring 24 hrs race.
 
I drove one, and it was amazing. Such delicacy in the control inputs. Of course, I had it sideways constantly, but that was the idea!

The only two things I would say are:

- £42k is a lot of money.
- The K-Series has a really short life when it's developing that kind of power. Something in the region of 20,000 miles between rebuilds, so I hear. I know it's a track-day car, but that's expensive motoring.
 
Originally posted by GilesGuthrie
I drove one, and it was amazing. Such delicacy in the control inputs. Of course, I had it sideways constantly, but that was the idea!

The only two things I would say are:

- £42k is a lot of money.
- The K-Series has a really short life when it's developing that kind of power. Something in the region of 20,000 miles between rebuilds, so I hear. I know it's a track-day car, but that's expensive motoring.
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No argument from me on any of that; but it is principaly a track car, most will be transported to and from the track, so milage is most likely to be low.

Thats the thing about Caterham, the range starts at £15k and head up to £42k, and the basic 1.4 wil still hit 60 on 6.5 seconds and out handle most things.
 

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I back that up, Radical all the way!!! Has anyone read any reviews of the SR4? The SR3 is simply amazing though, N-ring Nordschleife track record... on the first go! Plenty of other track records as well, including one (that is most comonly seen in Fifth Gear) that beat out the Zonda and any other can ever tested there, in the wet.
 
Originally posted by eliseracer
I back that up, Radical all the way!!! Has anyone read any reviews of the SR4? The SR3 is simply amazing though, N-ring Nordschleife track record... on the first go! Plenty of other track records as well, including one (that is most comonly seen in Fifth Gear) that beat out the Zonda and any other can ever tested there, in the wet.
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Slight correction, it was a Radical SR3T which now hold the Nordschleife road car (on road tyres) track record with a time of 7 mins 19 seconds.

Phil Bennett (BTCC driver) drove the turbo charged version of the standard SR3 to take the record on his first hot lap. Radical only built 25 SR3T's.

The Radical press release (with pictures) can be found at the following link.

http://www.radicalmotorsport.com/news_folder/nordchliefe/index.php

A video of the lap can also be downloaded here, its a big file but well worth it:

http://www.radicalmotorsport.com/gallery/index.php

I had 5 passenger laps in a race prepared SR3 at Castle Coombe last year and it was amazing, the laterial g's through the corners was staggering, it corners totally flat, well worth £30.
 

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I was aware og the Turbo version, just didn't bother mentioning it :P

Worth mentioning is that the Radical beat out the previous record by 13 seconds :lol: I think it was some sort of modified Porsche worth a good 800+HP!
 
Originally posted by GilesGuthrie
I drove one, and it was amazing. Such delicacy in the control inputs. Of course, I had it sideways constantly, but that was the idea!

The only two things I would say are:

- £42k is a lot of money.
- The K-Series has a really short life when it's developing that kind of power. Something in the region of 20,000 miles between rebuilds, so I hear. I know it's a track-day car, but that's expensive motoring.
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I was under the impression that Caterhams were being sold in the US with the Zetec engine from the Focus. Is there going to be a parallel version to this lightweight sold here, pehaps using factory-proven SVT parts?
 
Originally posted by skip0110
I was under the impression that Caterhams were being sold in the US with the Zetec engine from the Focus. Is there going to be a parallel version to this lightweight sold here, pehaps using factory-proven SVT parts?
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The US Caterham agent does sell a Superlight version, based on the R500, with many R500 part options. The recomended engine option is the 2.0 Zetec unit you mentioned.

The higest tune spec this is supplied in (as standard by Caterham US) is 202 bhp @ 6,800 rpm) and 165 lb/ft torque (@ 5,000 rpm), they do however accept commisions for higher outputs. This would have the same cost/re-build issues as Giles mentioned with the K-series engine fitted to the UK spec car.

So, in theory its possiable to build a close match to the R500 Evolution in the US, you just need to be a bit mad and have the money.

Have a look at the site:

http://www.uscaterham.com/home.html
 
Originally posted by eliseracer
I was aware og the Turbo version, just didn't bother mentioning it :P

Worth mentioning is that the Radical beat out the previous record by 13 seconds :lol: I think it was some sort of modified Porsche worth a good 800+HP!
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Gemballa GTR Biturbo was the one, with a time of 7mins 32 seconds, set in 2001 by Wolfgang Kaufmann.

Still a bloody impresive time and a bit more practical day to day than a SR3T.
 

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Originally posted by Scaff
The US Caterham agent does sell a Superlight version, based on the R500, with many R500 part options. The recomended engine option is the 2.0 Zetec unit you mentioned.

The higest tune spec this is supplied in (as standard by Caterham US) is 202 bhp @ 6,800 rpm) and 165 lb/ft torque (@ 5,000 rpm), they do however accept commisions for higher outputs. This would have the same cost/re-build issues as Giles mentioned with the K-series engine fitted to the UK spec car.

So, in theory its possiable to build a close match to the R500 Evolution in the US, you just need to be a bit mad and have the money.

Have a look at the site:

http://www.uscaterham.com/home.html
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Cool! Still, if I were to go insane with a kit-car, I would do it with this Cobra clone.. (Its a lot of Mustang 5.0 and Thunderbird SC underneath.) One went 0-60 in 3.2 and engine and all, it comes to around $30,000 US. Not bad, if you ask me.
 
Originally posted by skip0110
Cool! Still, if I were to go insane with a kit-car, I would do it with this Cobra clone.. (Its a lot of Mustang 5.0 and Thunderbird SC underneath.) One went 0-60 in 3.2 and engine and all, it comes to around $30,000 US. Not bad, if you ask me.
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Thats one nice lookin kit car. The 0-60 time you post is for the comp version running race tyres. WIth road tyres it posted 4.7 seconds (the R500 manages 3.47 on road tyres).

Still, would not say no to either of them.
 

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I've had one of those on my "cars I hope to buy if / when I become rich" list for a while. Hovever, I'd put a full interior in, and use it as a real car, rather than just a track car. It'd be awesome to drive around in a Shelby Cobra Coupe. (or whatever it's called)

I'd also love to have a Super Seven or one of it's decendants.
 
See, here's the thing - if your car weighs 470kg, you could put the Daihatsu 1 litre 3 pot in it and it would still pull 13 second standing quarters.
 

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