Caterham SuperLight R300 – allowed to hit the roads!
Caterham Superlight R300
Good news for all roadsters fanatics. British Caterham is famous of it’s light, fast and exceptionally drivable roadsters. This particular Superlight R300 model is equipped with 2 liter 170 HP engine. Like every Caterham, doesn’t have a roof, has hardly any equipment. Just 2 seats, raw body, visible suspension and an engine.
And don’t think that it’s simplicity means – “old-fashioned”. It’s built using carbon fibre. And the engines are modern and clean (produced by Ford).
The producer says about the car:
The Superlight R300 is designed with a sole purpose in mind; enjoyment.
Following in the footsteps of its more powerful Superlight siblings, it stays true to Chapman’s magic recipe for the ultimate sports car; performance through lightweight. Traditionally the R300 is our best selling Superlight model as it blends just the right amount of performance with pleasure and exploitability, creating a tool in which to remind yourself what it is to enjoy simple, purified motoring thrills. Still, with well over 300bhp-per-ton on offer, only in the rarified world of Caterham is this anything other than a bonkers-fast car. The Superlight R300 is truly a piece of uncompromised driving hardware.
When the original Superlight R300 was launched it was heralded to boast the best blend of high performance and all round usability of any of the models that we offered. Breaking the 300bhp-per-ton mark, it was considered to be in the ‘sweet spot’ where the chassis and engine seemed to work as one and make driving thrills accessible to a much wider audience. The new R300 has been engineered to supercede the original in every way. With more power and importantly a better power delivery, the new 2.0L Caterham Powertrain (CPT) tuned motor has had a large impact on the character of the R300. Along with this increase in power and torque, the new iteration of this legendary car has been honed in the cut-throat habitat of Caterham racing, where we have extensively tested and developed the car ready for its use in a new race series. This has blessed the car with brilliant handling, excellent balance and bulletproof reliability. In combination with these developments the car has also learnt as much as possible from its angry older brother, the R500. It features a similar up-rated dash design and keyless ignition system as the R500, as well as its 2.0L motor which is directly related to that housed within the more powerful car.
The aim of this car is to provide as many thrills as possible to as many people as possible. The R300 is the people’s champion and is genuinely a piece of hardware that facilitates ultimate driving pleasure.
The R300 version weights only 515 kg (1135 lbs)! That is a half of new Ford Fiesta. As mentioned above R300′s BHP is 170. The Caterham naming system (R300, R400, R500) is based on power to weight ratio. This particular one is the “softest” version, which claims “only” 339 BHP per tonne. Two more powerful brothers, break the limits of 400- and 500-BHP per tonne. As the 170 BHP doesn’t sound impressive at all (You can buy a family sedan diesel more powerful than this without any problem), in this car it allows You to reach 0-62 mpg in 4,5 seconds!
Which car lets You do that? Bugatti? Ferrari or Porsche? All great… but Caterham starts from 25k GBP (40k USD). You CAN’T buy a regular car that will reach this performance for less. Not even close.
And this one is not only a “master of straight”. It’s hardly beaten on the turns. It’s stronger brother Superlight R500 managed to beat the 1000 HP Bugatti Veyron on track (thanks to it’s better power-weight ratio!) and won the “Top Gear: Car of the year award” – thanks to this record lap:
This is what I call a “budget supercar”.
And it will hit the roads!
There was a downside of Caterham cars – as not all of them could be driven outside the race track. Recently this model (Superlight R300) achieved a European road homologation. In few weeks You will be able to buy it and drive on regular roads to work – not only on track.
Soubce: www.caterham.co.uk
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