Well, that was one of the most short lived teasers of recent memory. CarTribe.co.uk has busted the nut open just one day after we posted our smart teaser article. According to CarTribe, Caterham recently had a viewing of the vehicle and some press materials were made available.
Far from the rumored 2.4 liter superharged RS Performance V8 engine, the R500 will receive a reworked 2.0-liter Duratec Ford engine which pumps out 263bhp and revs to 8,500 rpm. Standard is a 6 speed manual transmission but as an option a Quaife 6 speed sequential transmission is available plus launch control. Unfortunately, no weight figures have been given, yet. Where's my calculator...
On the outside the R500 Superlight to non-afficionados looks exactly like every other Caterham, however, for those in the know, the R500 gets the CSR nose, aero wishbones, 13-inch anthracite wheels and clear lens tailamps.
The R500 Superlight costs a tear jerking £37,000 but teletransports itself to 60mph in under than 3 seconds!?! For supercar thrill seekers, that's a bargain...
Caterham R500 Superlight Official Details and Specs
Caterham R500 Superlight
0 - 60 mph in 2.88 seconds
By Brian Potter
April 11, 2008 10:09 PM
Filed Under: Caterham, European, Specialty Marques
Comments
super_car_muscle_man
April 12, 2008 5:44 PM
rapid! would have been awsome is they did put in the 2.4 V8. that would have been something different and f1-ish. although i suppose the 2.0 turbo will have more torque, but at 500kg it probably wouldnt have made much of a difference!
Bremen_Koenigsegg
April 15, 2008 8:07 AM
Caterham do not design their own engines, do they? Assuming that is the case, I imagine producing a limited number of 2.4 litre S/C V8s would put them in the red. Though who knows, I for one am a fan of low-displacement V8s and V12s; I think they're quaint. And I'm quite sure I'm not alone in that belief.
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