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The Superlight R500 represents the ultimate expression of Colin Chapman’s fundamentals.
Big power isn’t the only route to big kicks; the R500 is all about lightweight performance
– be it on the road or track. Stripped to the bare essentials, all unnecessary comforts
are removed to save weight and reduce mass. As with the other Caterham 7 Superlight
models, the result is a car with performance to take your breath away by delivering
driving thrills in the purest form. However, the R500 takes these values and triple
distills them into super refined Class A, 101 octane, artillery caliber, weapons
grade driving thrills.
The original R500 was legendary, with the old Rover K-series powered machine rewriting
performance records for 0-60mph and 0-100-0mph times. This new variant has been equipped
to supersede its predecessor by embracing the very latest in lightweight engineering
techniques and technology.
Whilst the Superlight R500 shares some common parts with the other Superlight model,
it has many bespoke standard and optional items that define its intentions of being
the ultimate performance model in our range. Weight savings are achieved through
a philanthropic application of carbon-fibre goodies, bringing the total weight of
the car in at just 506kgs. Extreme performance is attained through cramming the engine
bay with as many horses as possible – 263 of them to be precise. Mathematicians amongst
you will have already calculated that anyone committed enough to strap themselves
into the Kevlar race seats will be deploying a mighty 520 bhp-per-tonne with their
right foot, capable of firing the car from 0-60 mph in just 2.88 seconds.
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