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Caterham USA's R400


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Looks like Caterham USA sold their R400 demonstrator. Anyone know who bought it?

 

It went to an Infinity dealer in Florida. It's unknown whether it was for himself or for the dealership. I asked Ben to make sure the new owner was made aware of this forum.

 

I had a chat with Ben at Caterham USA and he said they have just received 6 kits, 5 of which went to owners or dealers. The 6th is an R500 which will be assembled and sent to the car magazines for testing.

 

Ben said the R500 segment on TG last week has really increased their web and phone traffic.

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Wow, that number shocks me. I would have been surprised at anything over 15 or so.

 

Have we seen anything like 15 new model year kit/car owners in one year on here ever?

 

For that matter, how many active posters on here have new 2007/2009 models???

 

Just curious.

 

Tom

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Tom,

Yup I was right, 2007 in Automoble mag, (good article too) again that was the factrory rep but I am guessing it had to be @ 30 then... the clip and the link to the article... (which is good to read anyway)....

 

http://www.automobilemag.com/reviews/convertibles/0603_caterham_csr260/index.html

 

 

"Caterham builds 500 cars a year, and thirty to fifty make it to the States in left-hand-drive form. Customers can choose from three chassis: the entry-level Series 3 faithfully replicates the dimensions of the Lotus Seven; the SV is 4.3 inches wider and 3.2 inches longer; and the CSR is a beefed-up SV. Each chassis can be customized with a mind-boggling array of options. Further complicating matters, cars are also sold in kit form and as racing models".

 

ps, I had no idea this web site exsisted , (untill after I had bought the car), for some reason this site does does not show up with a typical googley search , untill a friend told me; so maybe there are many more owners out there in the void.

Edited by DB6
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Yellowss7/Tom,

 

Are you asking for a count? I'll start it. Of course, I'm not sure if I qualify as an "active" poster, but I'm on, and have a 2007 SV.

 

Taber

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DB6,

 

I first sat in a Caterham in southern England in 1980. I got back out--I had asked to try the one with the full weather equipment--and removed my boots, got back in, and couldn't operate the pedals with my size twelves. then I weighed about 160, but was 6'3" and now I weigh 212, still same height and shoe size. I figured the SV was my best option!

 

As far as handling, I can't remember that first drive well enough to comment. But the SV is all of the fun I expected, and since I don't race/autoX/etc. it is great for my purposes.

 

taber

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I have been looking for a year now. I have yet to see more than one SV available for sale.

 

There seems to be a reasonable supply of 96-04 cars, but newer than that and they just don't seem to be available. I wonder if it is because many are still in the build process?

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  • 1 month later...

 

How do they arrive at the 420 bhp/tonne figure?

 

What is the formula and is the tonne they refer to equal 1,000 kilograms or 2,000 lb? The hp quoted is 210 and the weight is quoted at both 515 kg and 525 kg.

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How do they arrive at the 420 bhp/tonne figure? :confused:

 

What is the formula and is the tonne they refer to equal 1,000 kilograms or 2,000 lb? The hp is listed at 210 and the weight is quoted at both 515 kg and 525 kg.

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Thanks Hank, I was getting 407 but I was using 2,200 for the tonne.

 

Using that formula for my car I get 491.5 rwhp/tonne. Mazda, Bob D. and some others must be somewhere north of 600 hp/tonne.

 

As I have said before, too much horsepower is just about right. :D

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