Dare I mention....Top Gear....?

[VWPowered]

the BTCC article was very good

i used to work for Dymag who used to supply magnesium wheelks for the 90's Mondeos, Cavalier, Rallye Team Toyota etc

 

but not as cool as this beasty

 

 

There are cars and then there are big boy toy cars – the new Caterham R500 falls without doubt in the second category. The latest model from the British sportscar manufacturer takes the Lotus Seven philosophy to a new level combining more power with even less weight. To be precise, Caterham’s engineers shaved an extra 9 kg or 20 lbs off the already featherweight RS400, bringing the total weight down to just 506 kg or 1,115 lbs.

 

Powering the RS500 is a heavily modified all-alloy 2.0 litre Ford Duratec engine. The normally aspirated, four-cylinder unit delivers an amazing (for a non turbo engine) 263 Hp and 177 lb-ft of torque. Power is transmitted to the rear wheels by either a standard 6-speed gearbox or the optional Caterham Motorsport engineered sequential transmission. The flagship Caterham is capable of sprinting itself from standstill to 60 mph (96 km/h) in 2.88 seconds.

 

Apart from the modified powertrain, the 2009 R500 now comes with keyless ignition start, a redesigned digital dash featuring flush fitted switchgear, ACES sequential gear change lights and a new Stack display with scrolling textshift lights along with an optional launch control. On sale immediately in the UK, the factory built R500 starts at £36,995

Caterham Superlight R500 Technical Specification

 

Engine 2.0-litre Caterham Powertrain (CPT) Ford Duratec

Max Power 263bhp @ 8500rpm

Max Torque 177 lbsft @ 7200rpm

0-60mph (claimed) 2.88 seconds

Top Speed 150mph

Wheelbase 2225mm

Overall length 3100mm

Overall width 1575mm

Height 800mm

Ground clearance 80mm

Kerb Weight 506kg (516kg sequential gearbox)

Standard Equipment

 

* 2.0-litre Caterham Motorsport Ford Duratec

* 6 Speed Caterham Gearbox

* Limited Slip Differential

* Superlight Suspension (wide track front and de Dion rear with Watts linkages)

* Carbon dash, nose cone, rear and front cycle wings

* ACES change-up lights

* Ventilated front brake discs with 4 pot calipers

* 13†Anthracite eight-spoke alloy wheels with Avon CR500 tyres

* Carbon interchangeable wind deflector

* 4 point Road Harnesses

* Quick-release Momo Steering Wheel with integrated indicator switches

* Carbon Kevlar seats

 

Optional Performance Upgrades

 

* Sequential Gearbox - £2950

* Launch Control - £350

* Carbon Induction Airbox - £450

* Suspension package consisting Eibach Springs and dampers derived from the C400 race series - £1250

Umm 35k versus 1.5millions Euros

 

 

they can keep the veyron...

[garycox]

I've never seen one of those saloons before...

 

 

EB218 sedan

[Mr Lobster]

Enjoyed Top Gear this week. The BTCC stuff was superb and whole Pork Sword / Wizards Sleeve might be a bit silly but made me ROFL OMG etc etcThe Caterham looks brilliant. Would really really like one of them for Christmas please Santa. Thx.

[CortinaDave]

If its the same motors as was used before, they were all "hired" from a local scrappy, someone on another forum stuck some pics up of the mk3 cortina... it was in HORRENDOUS condition. An absolute no hoper. There wasnt even much in the way of bits worth having from the look of the pics i saw of it.

[Rocket88]

The Vietnam episode, finniest yet? Discuss.......................

[pandamonium]

The Vietnam episode, finniest yet? Discuss.......................

I concur. It seems the winning formula is.... Keep those fools away from cars!

[RedSparrow]

Yes it was more like a tongue-in-cheek travel documentary!Certainly made me want to visit Vietnam.

[bigstraight6]

Yes it was more like a tongue-in-cheek travel documentary!Certainly made me want to visit Vietnam.

Me to! not sure about the deep fried sparrows though! but what a stunning Country.....

[reallyloud]

This has been the first TG I've seen in quite a while, but I have to say I quite enjoyed it. Same old plot really, 3 blokes messing around taking the piss out of each other, but as mentioned before Vietnam was fascinating. I'm not into bikes at all, but I have to say maybe this is the way forward - put their lives in danger and make them suffer. I'd like to see them experiencing a crabbing expedition in the berings sea next.Speaking of bikes, I saw 'The worlds fastest Indian' earlier. Top grade film!

[STUNO]

We British subjects in the far-flung colonies have to suffer some really unusual tortures. Today it's TOP GEAR . Channel 5 new years eve (today!) TG starts at 3:10 pm and runs until 11:55 pm with only a half hour break for the news at 5:30.Mind you he opposition includes Shrek. Abba, and The sound of music (1965 version)Well maybe eight an a half hours of Clarkson etc isnt so bad after all ????

[pompei]

Did anyone else hear the "news" feature on the wireless the other day starring James May pontificating about blokes with suitcases on castors? FFS has the BBC got nothing better to broadcast? Then to top it all, I chanced upon an old TG repeat yesterday where Clarkson was blatting across the continent in some flamboyant footballer salary roadster whilst the hapless May and Hammond had to go via public transport. Yes, you guessed it, trolleys with wheels - grrr

[Rocket88]

Have any of you seen Top Gear Australis ? a total clone of ours, but much funnier, I have them all on disk if anybody needs a copyDUNC

Received mine yesterday, much obliged.....looking forward to them

[55bloke]

Speaking of bikes, I saw 'The worlds fastest Indian' earlier. Top grade film!

I saw this too- an unexpected delight, if bizarrely cast! Anthony Hopkins as a Kiwi? Bloody hopless effort at the accent, but I suspect he got the guy's character spot-on.

[r.welfare]

Apparently the real Bert didn't pee on his lemon tree - but nonetheless a great film.

[RedSparrow]

German version of the Top Gear vs D Motor thing:

 

German TV is a bit like US TV, watered down and exaggerated! BBC made this a 20 min article, whereas German TV made it into an entire episode. Also take note of the mention of the sound man who 'lost his arm in a previous Top Gear episode'! I don't recall this personally!

 

I'm just avoiding the mountain of paperwork I have to do really.

Here ya go:

 

1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yX859dvExE

 

2

 

3

 

4

 

5

 

Enjoy!

[RedSparrow]

For anyone who hasn't seen the preview:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxDo6i05ywg

 

I read about the 'ideal first car for a teenager' bit, sounds quite funny. And shit.

 

And this one:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hi1S_VgkVTI

Snowy rally Marina action. I wonder if they'll burn it at the end.

[morris_ital_lover]

At the risk of sounding like a bit of a mug this series looks like it will be awesome!!!! The last episode was amazing especially as it combined most of my interests!m0rris

[UltimateJames]

Love the cars they`ve got for this one, ill take the coupe

[UltimateJames]

Noooo why the body kit !!!

[pogweasel]

Is it repeated?

[UltimateJames]

Friday i think and also bbc3 sometime before ?

[Father Ted]

iPlayer + laptop + headphones = FTW

[pogweasel]

Oh yeah, I player. I haddant fort of dat. I'll watch it when she's gone to bed.

[RedSparrow]

It does get more and more childish/stupid.Luckily that fits my sense of humour well so I quite enjoyed it this evening.Sort of like Jackass but with middle aged men.Top banana!

[Pete-M]

I loved it as well.Can't wait for Zeem etc on the Practical Classics forum to start warbling on about how he'd have loved that Volvo and how it's terrible that it was destroyed by Clarkson etc. That makes TG even more enjoyable for me....

[ashmicro]

Just finished watching that on the iPlayer. Rather good I thought, esp. the Veyron vs F1. Give me the Big Mac any day - there's a reason why it's was worth the price of 2 Veyrons./pedant/ Hammond got the original price wrong - they were £634,500, not half a mil /pedant/I saw K4 MCL up close at Earl's Court many moons ago. They let me look in it, while all the time my brain was saying "just dive in head first, what's the worst that could happen?"

[Pete-M]

Just finished watching that on the iPlayer. Rather good I thought, esp. the Veyron vs F1. Give me the Big Mac any day - there's a reason why it's was worth the price of 2 Veyrons./pedant/ Hammond got the original price wrong - they were £634,500, not half a mil /pedant/

/double pedant/ The original price was 500,000, but they ended up costing more than 627k. If memory serves me right, the price was linked to the Euro - not the Pound. I seem to remember they were around €900,000

[ashmicro]

Just finished watching that on the iPlayer. Rather good I thought, esp. the Veyron vs F1. Give me the Big Mac any day - there's a reason why it's was worth the price of 2 Veyrons./pedant/ Hammond got the original price wrong - they were £634,500, not half a mil /pedant/

/double pedant/ The original price was 500,000, but they ended up costing more than 627k. If memory serves me right, the price was linked to the Euro - not the Pound. I seem to remember they were around €900,000

treble pedant (possibly?)/ was the Euro around then? I can't remember!

[Pete-M]

Just finished watching that on the iPlayer. Rather good I thought, esp. the Veyron vs F1. Give me the Big Mac any day - there's a reason why it's was worth the price of 2 Veyrons./pedant/ Hammond got the original price wrong - they were £634,500, not half a mil /pedant/

/double pedant/ The original price was 500,000, but they ended up costing more than 627k. If memory serves me right, the price was linked to the Euro - not the Pound. I seem to remember they were around €900,000

treble pedant (possibly?)/ was the Euro around then? I can't remember!

Fucked if I know, but I'm sure that's what they were linked to. I might be talking bollocks.

[retrogeezer]

I saw an F1 in a petrol station a couple of years ago - had no idea they were worth so much cash now!