New Caterham SP300R

thanks Tim!

can't believe that hasn't been posted before. really cool.

hopefully they will have a spec racer series like Radical, too....

 

Now, THAT is sex on wheels for sports cars types!

 

let me fill out that order sheet....

Deliver to: TestShoot.com, Pasadena CA....

 

THAT is cool as hell.

 

at least I'd never lose....

 

other than Modeler here - http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showpost.php?p=140206177&postcount=2075

Cool looking car seems to be just another Radical... Caterham should be building something unique rather than derivative (IMHO).

 

Toaster-weight, cheap, bullet-fast... That's why I love Caterham.

I'm sure this car has been in the works for a while. I'd like to see something "motor sport" come out of this Lola collaboration.

It's a great answer to Lotus' track-car. And about time Caterham took it to the next level. Evidently they have a new group of cars they'll be showing at Geneva, or Paris.

 

cheap?

it's $100k.

 

It's a crowded stage now. Hard for specialty cars and manufacturers to get critical mass. Lots of these cars mooted, but few succeed. The SP300R is far advanced over the tube-frame Radical but looks similar, a hard sell when you're talking $100K. Unless there is a place to race it like VdeV or a spec series, it will be limited to a track day car...

 

There will be a spec series. It will be awesome...

 

Fantastic!! the radical was the 333sp from the 90's and this is the porsche spyder from 2010's. hopefully will do ok with so many country club tracks around

 

Relatively speaking. Many Radicals go for around the same price. For track performance like this, 100K seems pretty reasonable. And when you consider how much the R500's and Atom's are, it's not too far out of the ballpark. Price a new R500 Superlight and a pair of slicks and we'll see how close the $$ signs come.

 

a spec Miata is "cheap".

this car (and its competitors), while they may provide value, can't be classified as "cheap" (unless your other track car is a Corse Clienti Ferrari F1 car )

 

Damit, I said "relatively!"

Those F1's are a decent deal, actually.

 

pretty reasonable in my view - the big boys at my track run 997 Cup cars and this is way cheaper. If the engine is not overstressed I bet it is way cheaper to operate than a Cup, as tire, engine and (maybe) gearbox will be less to keep up. Problem will be parts and service to maintain. You shred some bodywork and I bet it could be weeks if not months of downtime.

I still like it a lot! It can be raced right now in NASA, given the permissiveness of that organization. Would be an interesting car to run the Thunderhill 25 hour race in. Anyone want to go in on such an endeavor?

 

With 6-speed sequential, plumbed-in fire suppression and full-roll cage, my 2009 R500 was about $90k. The R500 is an aerodynamic brick with no aero aids. The only drawback of the SP300R in terms of being a streetable track car might be ground clearance.

I already asked about the supercharger being fitted to the R500 - the factory says that they haven't done that yet.

 

Interesting, a couple years ago, Lola had a Radical-like sports racer on their website, but then came the downturn. Looks like they did some co-branding to save the project.
Interesting in the UK you can license this sort of thing for the streets, in some ways they are more libertarian than we.

I hope they sell some, although seems like a mighty small market. Even in the US I'd think you could only use it in rare open-wheel/sports racer run groups.

 

If Caterham PR is genuine, it appears they are indeed selling. From Pistonheads:

REF: http://www.pistonheads.com/news/default.asp?storyId=23296

 

Now offering test drives! http://www.pistonheads.com/news/default.asp?storyId=23725

 

This is very sexy looking...

So what would people have? SR8 or this?