February 26, 2008 1:50 PM by Michael Gauthier Filed Under: Caterham
Caterham is already well known for making some insanely fast vehicles, and now the company has announced an official performance arm. Teaming up with RS Performance, the company has managed to squeeze 500+ horsepower and 300 ft-lbs of torque out of a 2.4L supercharged V8 engine. Considering the Caterham RS Seven only weighs 520kgs, 0-60 mph times should take less than 3 seconds. The power to weight ratio is a Bugatti beating 1000hp per ton, however top speed is limited to 150 mph.
For those less adventures souls among us, the company will also offer a naturally aspirated version which will produce 380 hp and 190 ft-lbs of torque. Handling all this raw power is an advanced electronics system which includes traction and launch control. To help keep weight down, the Caterham RS features extensive use of carbon fiber and Kevlar seats.
A twelve week waiting period is required for production and potential owners should be prepared to handover at least £115,000.
Caterham announces official performance arm: powerhouse V8 engine delivers 1,000 plus bhp-per-tonne
For those wanting an expression of British sportscar exclusivity, Caterham Cars has joined forces with RS Performance to offer the ultimate in bespoke Seven coachbuilding. Caterham has long been the epitome of personalised motoring with almost every version of the 12,000 Sevens on the road differing from one another. The joint venture takes that famous philosophy to an altogether new level.
RS Performance is an exclusive, niche engineering house. Born out of the passion and pedigree of its founder, Russell Savory, it will offer an ‘everything is possible’ service to Caterham customers wanting cars truly ‘built to order’.
Using the motorsport-honed Caterham chassis and benchmark technology as a cosmetic and engineering base, RS Performance, will “turn imagination into reality,” says Savory.
The heartbeat of every RS-monikered Seven will be the unique RST-V8 engine. With more than 16 years of development behind it by Russell Savory, the 40-valve, 2.4 litre engine reliably delivers an incredible 400bhp in normally aspirated mode, or over 500bhp as a supercharged varient, whilst weighing only 90kg in full running gear.
The unbridled lightness of the RST-V8 matched to the already featherweight Seven chassis delivers a power-to-weight ratio of over 1000bhp per tonne – more than double of a Bugatti Veyron. This unique partnership will be open to customers looking for the ultimate in exclusivity, and carry a price tag to reflect the tailoring, detail and hand-built craftsmanship that will go into every RS-badged Caterham.
Validation of the engineering house’s abilities comes in the form of the supercharged ‘Levante’. This is the first Seven to rollout of RS Performance’s Hertfordshire doors and which only seven more of this type will be available.
With a 12 week waiting time and costing over £115,000, this supercharged engineering masterpiece boasts a modern interpretation of the Seven’s classic looks with a sophisticated electronics package with traction and launch control to help get the phenomenal power to the floor. Weight reduction runs throughout the car, from the carbon fibre interior finished with Kevlar seats down to the hosing used on the cooling systems
The RS Performance badge will sit alongside the established, and soon to be expanded, Ford powered Caterham Seven range.
“Caterham and Russell Savory have a long history, and this seemed a natural progression of that relationship and shared engineering philosophy,” explained Ansar Ali, Caterham Cars managing director.
I agree- this is THE BEST WAY TO SPEND £115,000. It's the ultimate car for track days!!! It's obvious this company is getting bigger, the level of technology is great!
It is the engine that weighs 90kg, not the car! This looks mean...