V8 Caterham

[Vovchandr]

No discussion on this beast?

 

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1028966081794530/

 

2008 Caterham rst 2.4 v8 supercharged

 

 

Produced by Caterham in association with RS Performance in Hertfordshire. Sub 3 seconds to 60mph Unregistered Carbon Fibre Bucket Seats Sequential Gearbox 15" Image Alloy Wheels

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Vovchandr]

 

 

 

 

 

[Vovchandr]

While on the subject matter this appears to be a V6 S3

 

[Vovchandr]

 

[KnifeySpoony]

How much does that lump weigh?

[JohnCh]

Someone on the USA2005 tour had Caterham fitted with this engine.  2.4L, 400hp, 10k rpm.  It sounded like a Cosworth DFV whenever he took off.

 

 

-John

[panamericano]

Who knows what these V8s are?

 

I guess the first might be Rover/BOP?

[S1Steve]

Holy Cow that’s awesome. Pretty light on details, but the cylinder head looks similar to the engine in a Radical Sports Racer. I’m sure one would have to up the driving skills to handle this beast….  

[JohnCh]

26 minutes ago, panamericano said:

Who knows what these V8s are?

 

As I recall these were custom blocks with 5 valve Yamaha motorcycle heads.  The engine was used in special versions of the Levante, Ariel Atom, and the Radical and available as a crate engine in the day.  There was a 2.0L, 2.4L, and a supercharged variants and it was stupidly light.  200lb?  Hartley did (does?) something similar, although I believe he built them around Hayabusa heads.  

[panamericano]

Thanks.  Sounds (?) cool.

[DavidL]

there is also the Hartley H1 V8 made from two Hayabusa engines.  Custom machined block, Hayabusa heads but first test fit was in a Caterham (This is probably the same as the blue car above with the red heads):

 

https://www.h1v8.com/page/page/1562068.htm

 

https://www.h1v8.com/page/page/1821906.htm

 

and the Caterham on a chassis dyno, wait to the end to hear ~10k  rpm!

https://www.h1v8.com/page/page/4553428.htm

 

Cheers..

Edited August 26, 2023 by DavidL

[JohnCh]

19 minutes ago, DavidL said:

Custom machined block, Hayabusa heads but first test fit was in a Caterham (This is probably the same as the blue car above with the red heads):

 

No, the blue car pictured was fitted with a 2.4L RST V8.  As mentioned earlier, it uses Yamaha 5-valve heads vs. the Hartley's Hayabusa heads.  Similar in concept, just as nuts, and sounds just as fantastic, but not the same.

[Croc]

And then there is the Prototipo Synergy V8 out of NZ.  Only costs NZ$70K (about US$35-40K)

https://www.prototipo.co.nz/projects

 

An Article here with more detail since the Prototipo website is pretty sparse.

https://www.motortrend.com/features/1511-2014-subaru-brz-jun-auto-synergy-v8/

 

 

The problems with all of these V8s was the same:

1) Power delivery was hard to make work in a se7en

2) Gearbox was always going to be a weak link - allow for one a year

3) They have higher than regular refresh cycles and its not as if you can take it to your local mechanic to rebuild.  Figure every 3-5 years

 

RST has been wound up although Russell Savory has founded a new company called Motopower.  Not sure if all the bits to support the RSTV8 and V6 are still available.  

 

While Hartley is still around and one of their V8s has been installed in a Caterham (and road registered!), back in 2017 it took repeated phone calls before I could chat on buying an engine and even then the questions around intellectual property, should the owner pass away or company go under, were never resolved. 

 

My lesson was these V8s were a performance dead end.

 

My research in 2017-19 was the Millington I4 options were a long way better than any of these V8 engines.  Sensational engines but require more care and attention than our regular street based engines.  They are also a challenge to get in and out of the USA with customs being what they are.  They are also not street legal. 

 

https://www.millingtonengines.co.uk/

 

 

 

[bball7754]

On 8/25/2023 at 8:29 PM, DavidL said:

 

 

and the Caterham on a chassis dyno, wait to the end to hear ~10k  rpm!

https://www.h1v8.com/page/page/4553428.htm

 

Cheers..

With clamshells!!!

[CarlB]

If we want to talk about V-8s for Caterhams, I have a different one that isn't as cool as some of those mentioned but might actually work. Yamaha built an engine for Volvo with a 60-degree bank angle. It has been used in those very reliable Nobles, but I wouldn't blame that on the engine. It is reported on that always reliable site Wikipedia to weigh 416 lbs. The engine was used in Australian super cars maybe Croc can fill us in. Yamaha now builds a 425 HP version for an outboard motor. This engine is direct injected and has a 12 to 1 compression ratio. The fuel requirement is 89 Octane.