Considering Caterham has a lineup of nine cars and all but one look virtually identical, it would be understandable to confuse one for another. Further complicating matters is the addition of the 7 Superlight R600, although there’s an easy way to keep this one straight. The Superlight R600 is the fastest 7-based car Caterham’s ever built.
The R600’s title as fastest Seven ever built is due largely to its supercharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder provided by Ford, which produces 275 hp and 200 lb-ft of torque. Not only is the R600 the fastest Seven, but it’s also the first Seven to receive forced induction. Routing power to the ground is a six-speed sequential gearbox. This setup is not dissimilar, Caterham claims, from the track-focused Le Mans Prototype–lookalike SP/300.R. The R600 also adds a limited-slip differential and an option of slicks or wet-weather tires.
The choice of slicks or wets would be a bit odd if not for a Superlight R600–specific race series Caterham has planned for next year. The British sports-car manufacturer is expecting a grid with 16 cars for 2013 and 30 entrants the year after.
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The R600’s predecessor, the R300, can be updated to full R600–spec. Caterham isn’t saying how much that will cost, but it has revealed that an R600 fresh from the crate will set you back £44,995 (that’s roughly $73,800 in colonized money). That’s a trash bag’s worth of cash, but for the fastest 7 ever built, we think there might be a rational case to be made for it. Read full story »
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/caranddriver/blog/~3/DV6FhSwzx8A/
Jim Hall Duncan Hamilton Lewis Hamilton David Hampshire Sam Hanks
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