I though that this was going to take a long time before it actually came out in the open, but this must be the shortest-lived suspense story in the history of automobile industry. I have seen some ‘codes’ being broken pretty quickly, but this was probably the most unentertaining of them all. There is a certain thing about building up the right build to an event. It must touch that high note before reaching a point of metamorphosis. Anything below that is too early and anything above that is too late.
The all new Caterham R500 Superlight is here and apart from the changes under the hood and the few tiny alterations on the top, its looks are the same as last time around. Far from the rumored 2.4 liter supercharged RS Performance V8 engine, the R500 will receive a reworked 2.0-liter Duratec Ford engine which pumps out 263bhp and revs to 8,500 rpm. Standard is a 6 speed manual transmission but as an option a Quaife 6 speed sequential transmission is available plus launch control. The car is a ‘Superlight’ and so I expect it to be obviously very light.
On the exterior the R500 gets the all new CSR nose, aero wishbones, 13-inch anthracite wheels and clear lens tail-lamps. Beyond that, there is nothing new if you have seen the older version. The car costs around £37,000 and when it can hit 60 mph in 3 seconds then it must be worth it. It still is a bit of a balancing act.
