Pics of the Caterham Fireblade

[Scaff]

I have seen these before, but I had no idea the power in these things were so small. 140HP is not enough. How much extra HP can you add to it in GT4? I love little cars with around 300HP, but this one seems to little in power. Top speed in the thing is what, 120MPH? Not enough for racing for my tastes. But, I bet I'll have fun with it. It looks cool.

You miss the point of the Caterham Fireblade; its not about adding stupid amounts of power, but lowering the weight of the car. It has a power to weight ratio of 325 bhp per tonne, should be more than enough.

Also the top speed on most Caterhams (with this PTW ratio) is around 145 - 150 mph.

I think the Fireblade will suprise a lot of people.

 

[Civicterror]

it's ****ed-up that the Donkervoort isn't showed in the game yet....

my country (dutch) in the game has only the Spycker (as far as we know)

but if the Donkervoort was there to, think then to the dragstrip.

!! Caterham v.s Donkervoort !!

that would be hot!!

 

[den brakke]

Wat engine does it have? A 900 or a 1000?

 

[daan]

Wat engine does it have? A 900 or a 1000?

I built one myself (an MK) the engine is from a Honda Fireblade
motorbike and is 919cc in size with a 6-speed sequencial box.

 

[Scaff]

Wat engine does it have? A 900 or a 1000?

"Which Fireblade engine do I need?


You need the engine out of a CBR900RR’W’ – these have carbs and were produced between 1998 and 1999. We use this engine with carbs because they are plentiful and easy to maintain – after all this is a budget car to some extent."

Taken from http://www.caterhamfireblade.com/page8.html

 

[RallyRacingFan]

A FireBlade motorcycle will complete a standing quarter mile in 10.16 sec with a trap speed of 142.1mph. 0-60 in about 3 seconds, 153.5 HP and the bike weighs less than 200kgs.

http://www.sportrider.com/features/146_0406_comp_drag/

For comparison a McLaren F1 (road car) takes 11.1 secs and finishes with a trap speed of 138mph over the quarter mile. 0-60 in 3.3 seconds.

http://www.stevecarter.com/sq.htm


If you want a seriously fast road vehicle then why not just get a FireBlade bike, or any liter bike for that matter?

 

[alister667]

If you want a seriously fast road vehicle then why not just get a FireBlade bike, or any liter bike for that matter?

Cause I can go round corners much quicker

Seriously, it takes a fair amount of skill to drive a car quick (I don't claim to be a fast driver) - it takes a great deal of skill to ride a bike quick. I also fancy my chances *slightly* more in the car in the event of an accident! And, crucially, I can't ride a bike, dont have a bike license, and I can't be bothered spending 10 years learning to ride well. :-)

Any Caterham / Seven will top out at in around 120-130mph because of the aerodynamics. Basically it doesn't have any. It was designed by Colin Chapman in 1957 or so. I think Westfield and Caterham did spend time seeing if it could be made more aerodynamic but short of enclosing the wheels (as in a Fisher Fury say) nothing seems to have gained wide acceptance.

To be honest I've had mine up to 115 or so round Kirkistown and I chickened out before the car started to slow! The steering gets kinda light and you can't get away from the feeling that you're doing 115mph in something resembling a bath that might just take off any moment.
Very exilherating!

At track days with bigger cars (TVRs, Porsches etc) generally the BECs (bike engined cars) are quicker, we have similar lift out of corners, but we brake MUCH later and can carry a lot more speed through corners. On a longer straight getting up past 80-90mph the big cars will tend to gain. I've seen a mate of mine in a locost Fireblade he built himself (for £2500) do Kirkistown in 1'06 while on the same day a Porsche 911 Turbo was doing it in 1:14. I was on the stopwatch, that's what convinced me to build mine. Admittidly he did have the loan of a set of racing slicks, but even on road tyres he can scare some very expensive hardware.

That said, these cars aren't about doing 150mph up an Autobahn, they are about small snaking B-roads - and they're very good at it.

 

[Jedi2016]

I have seen these before, but I had no idea the power in these things were so small. 140HP is not enough. How much extra HP can you add to it in GT4? I love little cars with around 300HP, but this one seems to little in power. Top speed in the thing is what, 120MPH? Not enough for racing for my tastes. But, I bet I'll have fun with it. It looks cool.

I agree with what they said above.. it's not about the power, it's about the weight. 140hp goes a long way when it's put into a car you and a friend could pick up and put in the back of a pickup truck.

That Top Gear video of the Ariel Atom might change your mind, and give you an idea of what even a small amount of power can do in a lightweight body. Although the Atom does have more power than the Caterham Fireblade, that little Caterham still has a power-to-weight ratio that rivals, or beats, most Ferraris (higher than the 575, or the 360, and almost as high as the McMerc SLR). I imagine this car is going to be seriously quick. And handle like it's on rails, because it has virtually no weight. I can't wait to take it out on the 'Ring.

 

[[SS]Ares]

Any Caterham / Seven will top out at in around 120-130mph because of the aerodynamics.
.

thats for the Donkervoort aswell, when i testdrove the Donkervoort D8 180 Bullit, (180 meaning 180bhp) it went like a rocket till 210, but then it would just stop accelerating. Awesome driving experience though!

 

[WRXLENT]

Calm down, no offence meant...

Thought you were talking about the Fast Fleet Caterham:

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/fastfleet/fastfleet_story.php?id=49126 💡

Cool, ok. No I was talking about the one the GT4 Caterham is based on.

The big thing about Caterhams, just like Elises, is the biggest thing we don't get in GT4. It's all about the feel and feedback as you drive. There's nothing like it. I know in the Elise I've driven it just makes my STi feel like a boat. I wish more sports car manufacturers would realise light weight and feedback is where it's at.

 

[Revheadnz]

You miss the point of the Caterham Fireblade; its not about adding stupid amounts of power, but lowering the weight of the car. It has a power to weight ratio of 325 bhp per tonne, should be more than enough.

Also the top speed on most Caterhams (with this PTW ratio) is around 145 - 150 mph.

I think the Fireblade will suprise a lot of people.

The Caterham R500 (which has the best PWR of all the Caterhams) managed a top speed of 148mph in EVO magazine so I don't think that the Fireblade (car) could do much more than 130-135mph.

Also, is the the Ariel Atom the supercharged one? It's got 275hp.

 

[Jedi2016]

The Atom has around 300hp (which is a whopping 600hp per tonne). But I think the Fireblade is a touch lighter. Maybe not quite as quick as the Atom, but I think it'll still surprise. It's not always about straight-line speed.. I'd wager the Fireblade could out-corner most of the other cars in the game.

 

[Moadib]

The EVO caterham which this car was modelled on was actually under 400kg, wet!!!! He even fitted a carbon fibre steering wheel to save weight

That's ridiculous - I hope the driver plans to lose as much weight from himself?! Several kilos could be saved from around many bellys that would take a lot of money to lose from a car.

Sorry, but that comes from mountain biking, where it's pretty ridiculous to see a 16 stone bloke paying thousands for a superlight titanium bike...

 

[MelloBoy]

well,
the best power to weight ratio in the world won't help a gearbox that's got super short gears on it....

i could have a 900hp mazda miata with stock gearing and there's no way it'll get past 160mph or whatever the gearing's limited to short of upping the redline or what not...

melloboy

 

[Scaff]

The Caterham R500 (which has the best PWR of all the Caterhams) managed a top speed of 148mph in EVO magazine so I don't think that the Fireblade (car) could do much more than 130-135mph.

Also, is the the Ariel Atom the supercharged one? It's got 275hp.

Caterham 7 1.6 Superlight '97-'02 122mph
Caterham 7 1.8 Superlight R '97-'02 147mph
Caterham 7 Classic £15,200 110mph
Caterham 7 R300 £22,400 130mph
Caterham 7 R400 £29,950 140mph
Caterham 7 R500 £34,200 146mph
Caterham 7 R500 Evolution £42,000 150mph
Caterham 7 Roadsport 115 £18,200 118mph
Caterham 7 Roadsport 140 £19,200 122mph
Caterham 7 SV £19,200 120mph

Not that far off my guestimate of 140-150mph, with a PTW between the R300 and the R400 around 135mph is a rough approximation.

The R500 evo is plain silly at a V-max of 150mph, thats some grunt to overcome the aerodynamics.

Edited to add
The Atom that is being discuss here is the Supercharged version.

 

[Revheadnz]

The Atom has around 300hp (which is a whopping 600hp per tonne). But I think the Fireblade is a touch lighter. Maybe not quite as quick as the Atom, but I think it'll still surprise. It's not always about straight-line speed.. I'd wager the Fireblade could out-corner most of the other cars in the game.

I wasn't saying that top speed is all that matters, I was just saying that the Fireblade probably couldn't do 145-150mph. And I don't disagree that Caterhams are utter cornering machines, in fact I can't wait to take on some rmuch bigger, more powerful cars in an Atom (my fav) and shame them. 👍

 

[Jedi2016]

You might be waiting a while.. the Atom isn't in the game, unless it's hidden.

But the Caterham and the Atom do have a lot in common... Most notably the extremely low weight. The Caterham isn't as fast and may not accelerate as quickly as an Atom, but I bet it's every bit as fast through the corners.

Given the choice, I'd also choose an Atom, don't get me wrong.. After seeing it on Top Gear, I love that car.. hehe. But since it's not in the game (that we know of), I settle for the next-best thing in that same "class" of vehicles, which is the Caterham.