http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Features/articleId=108353

European First Drive: 2005 Caterham CSR

Excerpts:

Quote :

"The Caterham CSR is the exception, the new king of supercar-slaying performance for a sports car with a sub-six-figure price tag. It's set to go on sale in the U.S. early in 2006, but we didn't want to wait that long to drive this 260-horsepower, 1,265-pound rocket of a road car. Did I mention the car's 0-60-mph time of 3.1 seconds? As for the U.S. market, sales of roughly 50 cars per year will be the norm. The good news is that you can count the 260-hp CSR — there is also a 200-hp model that will not be sold in the States — among them. Caterham USA is taking orders for the CSR, priced at about $65,000 in kit form, with delivery expected in spring 2006. Should you choose to have the car built by one of the 10 Caterham dealers Stateside, add another $3,000 to $4,000 to the price. "

12/10/2005 7:15:08 AM

I'm not sure I could see 65,000$ unassembled, for a cabin that ugly, regardless of its performance.

12/10/2005 7:35:40 AM

prepare to be torched

12/10/2005 7:50:16 AM

Dude, that's 65k for a car that can fucking beast pretty much anything you can commonly find on the road, including motorcycles. I don't care if it looks like the black plague attacked the interior, it doesn't matter. It's purpose built. You obviously don't get that.

12/10/2005 7:53:30 AM

I'm with Gimmick.

12/10/2005 8:03:56 AM

Quote :

"Dude, that's 65k for a car that can fucking beast pretty much anything you can uncommonly find on the road"

For eg, cars which are 2 to 10 times its price:

Maranello
Modena
911 Turbo
Carrera GT
Murcielago
Gallardo
SLR
Viper
Z06
Ford GT
Vanquish
DB9
Vantage

etc, etc, etc.

The only two cars that might beat it on the track are the Enzo and the McLaren F1.

Might.

12/10/2005 8:16:24 AM

So I'm taking from your enthusiasm that this is the first time you've discovered a kit car on the Internet? Because there are many kit cars at or around that price point that aren't HALF that ugly that deliver stellar performance. I know what fast is, I don't need a lecture about fast, what you need to do is pop the fast-glans out of your mouth-hole and take a moment to appreciate how truly ugly this car is.

12/10/2005 8:23:45 AM

Oh dear god, the interior is ugly. Well fuck me, let me go find something else. Keep bitching, it has a functional interior, and in my opinion, it isn't an ugly car.

12/10/2005 8:26:46 AM

Look up the Atom.

12/10/2005 8:35:23 AM

i seem to remember this car blowing asshole on GT4

AND YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS RIGHT

12/10/2005 8:44:13 AM

Also, to properly understand this car, you need to realize that it's the direct descendent of the Lotus Seven. That's why it looks the way it does.

Awesome that they'll be sold here. I can't see any way that thing is street legal though. Crash tests? Not so much.

12/10/2005 9:17:05 AM

kit cars dont have to pass crash tests

12/10/2005 10:44:33 AM

kick ass

12/10/2005 12:05:43 PM

jus get a viper

12/10/2005 12:17:57 PM

so what exactly is the difference between this and the kits you've been able to buy for years?

12/10/2005 12:20:09 PM

well, it's a lot uglier for one

12/10/2005 1:17:30 PM

^^yeah, that's what i'm not clear on. i bet it has IRS, for one thing. the only reason i see that this is news is that one of the 10 stateside caterham dealers will assemble it for you for a fee, and this is an actual Caterham Seven...not a replica.

^are you kidding? those two cars aren't even SLIGHTLY comparable

Quote :

"Dude, that's 65k for a car that can fucking beast pretty much anything you can commonly find on the road, including motorcycles."

i doubt it. not in a straight line. a sportbike would keep pace and probably pull ahead from 0-60, and crush it by the end of the 1/4. the middleweights are running very low 10s, and the liter classers are running into the 9s...and i haven't even seen this year's crop tested.

plus there's no way the Seven would beat them on top speed, either. the middleweights are doing high 160s/low 170s i think, and the liters are somewhere around mid 180s or so.



but yeah, i think i'd prob go for an Ariel Atom if i were gonna spend a bunch of money on a toy.

12/10/2005 1:38:36 PM

i think an extra 60 lbs of turbo would be 60lbs well spent

12/10/2005 1:54:20 PM

you wouldn't be able to put it to the ground...esp around a circuit

and nobody here is good enough to exploit it


for that matter, look at sportbikes. the GSX-R 750 is usually right there in the hunt with the liter bikes around a circuit, even with magazine testers and racers riding. it usually beats a couple of the liter machines (maybe not with the latest crop of liter bikes, but at LEAST up until then, and maybe even still). increasing power comes to diminishing returns at some point.

12/10/2005 2:10:39 PM

bikes have the whole front wheel issue... if you make the bike long it doesn't turn if you make it short the wheel comes up... cars don't really have that.

12/10/2005 2:26:59 PM

12/11/2005 6:42:31 AM