Caterham R300
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Caterham R300
Caterham R300 #2
Caterham R300 #3
The Caterham 7 (or Caterham Seven) is a super-lightweight sports car produced by Caterham Cars in the United Kingdom. It is based on the Lotus Seven, a lightweight sports car sold in kit and factory-built form by Lotus Cars, from the late 1950s to the early 1970s. After Lotus ended production of the Lotus Seven, in 1972, Caterham bought the rights to the design, and today make both kits and fully assembled cars. 2007 marked the 50th year of production of the Lotus/Caterham 7.
The Caterham 7 is a small, lightweight, two-seater sports car renowned for its performance and handling. Various other manufacturers offer a sports car in a similar basic configuration, but Caterham owns various legal rights to the Lotus Seven design and name. The company has taken legal action in the past in order to protect those rights. In South Africa, it lost its case against Birkin (a competitor) on the basis that it never obtained the rights from Lotus that it claimed it had. The modern Seven is based on the Series 3 Lotus Seven, though Caterham have developed it to the point that no part is the same as on the original Lotus.
[B]Superlight[/B]
The Superlight is available in both S3 and SV chassis sizes. The list of standard equipment reflects the Superlight's bias to track work; Wide-track front suspension, 6 speed gearbox, Carbon fibre dashboard and front wings, GRP aeroscreen and seats, racing harness, removable steering wheel. Quoted weight for the Superlight is about 50 kg (110 lb) less than the Roadsport, due in part to the lack of a spare wheel and carrier. Engine options again are something of a temporary mix of incoming Ford Sigma (150 bhp) and outgoing Rover k-series (160 bhp) for the R300. Both the R400 and R500 use the 2 litre variant of Ford Cosworth Duratec engine, in different states of tune. The R400 is quoted at 210 bhp (160 kW), the R500 at 263 bhp (196 kW). With the launch of the R500 (April 2008), Caterham made available the options of a sequential gearbox and launch control. Quoted performance for the R500 is 0-60 in 2.88 seconds and a top speed of 150 mph (240 km/h). In October 2012 a supercharged model ('R600') for a race-series above the R300-class was released, including slick tyres and a sequential gearbox.
At the beginning of December 2008, the R500 was featured on the popular BBC television show Top Gear, putting in a timed lap of the Top Gear circuit of 1 minute 17.9 seconds. This is, to date, the eleventh fastest official lap timed by the show, faster than, amongst others, the Bugatti Veyron. This feat was considered even more impressive due to the coldness of the conditions which made it difficult for the test driver (The Stig) to get heat into the tyres. Shortly afterwards, on the 14th December show, Top Gear made the R500 its '2008 Car of the Year'.
[SIZE="1"]Source: Wikipedia[/SIZE]