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Stick an engine that shares much with a Formula One race machine into a car weighing just over half a tonne, screw on a numberplate and you're away — very fast. Flash the lights at Garth Tander's V8 Supercar up ahead because you're travelling faster than him.
That's the sort of performance from the Caparo T1, an English road racer that features safety systems and materials developed for F1. Caparo T1 is described as a track-biased production car.
Hardened sports car enthusiasts can use it on the road but it is most at home as a track car at racing circuits. No distributor has yet been appointed in Australia, but there is little to stop it from coming here providing it meets Australian Design Rules. It is, after all, built as a right-hand-drive in its tight, two-seat cockpit.
The T1 has a 2.4-litre V8 aluminium engine, generating 358kW of power at a screaming 10,000rpm. And it weighs just 570kg. It runs a six-speed sequential gearbox with paddleshift.
At just 1076mm high and most of the bodywork is well under that level and it can produce cornering forces of 3G.
It consists of a carbon composite tub with a carbon nose cone designed to absorb energy in a crash and protect the driver and passenger.
“Even though the T1 is exceptionally light, the very high speeds it is capable of means that conventional road car safety systems can't manage the extreme levels of kinetic energy that could be involved in a crash,” says Ben Scott-Geddes, a co-designer along with Graham Halstead.
“To solve this we have incorporated many of the safety systems proven in F1, where drivers regularly walk away from horrific accidents that would be fatal in normal road cars.”
Caparo also helps ensure that its customers have the ability to control the car — each owner is required to attend a training course that will help them safely enjoy the car's performance.
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