More than onesupercarhas used the thoroughbred racing machines ofFormula 1as divine guidance , but Caparo Vehicle Technologies is ready to take that idea to its consistent last – a street - sound F1 cable car . The Caparo T1 is a two - backside , open - bicycle car with a higherhorsepower - to - weight proportion than any previously available product manikin .
In this clause , we ’ll look at how the Caparo T1 is like to race cars , how it journey so fast and why , even though it ’s as fast as a slipstream cable car , it ’s still street effectual .
Street Racer
The Caparo T1 could be considered the sibling of the classicMcLaren F1 , intend by many to be " one of the great events in the chronicle of the car " [ beginning : Autocar ] . Two of the railroad engineer creditworthy for the T1 ’s excogitation , Ben Scott - Geddes and Graham Halstead , were also heavily Byzantine in the creation of the McLaren F1 [ Source : Newspress ] . But where the F1 ( and theFerrari Enzo , which was tested by F1 star Michael Schumacher ) were animate by F1 elevator car , the Caparo T1 strives tobeone . It has an open - wheel design with the familiar F1 intermission struts seeable . Front and rear wings create route - huggingdownforce . The driver sit in an enclosed central cockpit , with space behind for one passenger . More importantly , the T1 was design from the ground up to be as light as possible . It will not be the fastest or most herculean production car ever made , but it ’s fundamentally as close-fitting to a Formula 1 cable car with headlight as any automobile will ever be .
Caparo is n’t bring out the T1 to prove their in high spirits - carrying out street " cred " ( though they ’ll bring forth a average amount of it ) . The T1 is a display case for Caparo ’s lightweight vehicle technologies . The company markets its expertise at designing automobile using very lightheaded materials as a way for car maker to create more effective car , at long last reducing pollution and push uptake . Toward that ending , they employ Formula 1 designer and McLaren F1 innovation alum Gordon Murray , who is known for shaving every Panthera uncia of excess weight from racing car [ reference : Autocar ] .
The Caparo T1 Engine
To motivate the T1 , a rear - wheel - drive car , Caparo uses a 3.5 liter , naturally suck out V-8enginewith an all - aluminum stoppage . This replaces the original locomotive engine , which was to be smaller , but supercharged [ informant : Autoblog ] . While the car ’s 480 H.P. ( hp ) ca n’t refer W-16 beasts like theBugatti Veyron , the T1 is so light that it will seem like it ’s power by a upstanding fuel arugula . Thedry sump systemtypical of mellow - functioning cars pretermit the plaza of gravitational force by allowing lower engine mounting . The power plant life is link to a 6 - speed gear box made of carbon and magnesium with a limited slip differential , all controlled via steering wheel put on thumb paddle , just like those found on an F1 car . Tech - savvy owners will have several geartrain and net drive ratios to pick out from when their T1 is ordered .
Although Caparo has not submitted any T1s for self-governing testing , they exact a top speed of about 200 mph , with a 0 to 60 time of 2.5 seconds and a 0 to 100 sentence of five second .
Drive It Upside Down
The fully tunable suspension and adjustable aeromechanics , including adjustable front wing , rearward wing , " fowler flaps , " and substitute extension options for route or track operation think of the T1 genuinely sticks to the road . At 150 mph , and with the proper wing contour , Caparo claims the T1 bring forth enoughdownforcethat it could drive through a burrow upside down ( at which pointedness the downforce would be"upforce " ) [ Source : Yahoo.com ] .
This mean the T1 can generate more flowing downforce than the actual weight of the car . That is potential , in part , because the T1 is one of the lightest supercars ever built . At 470 kg ( about 1,036 Lebanese pound ) and 480 hp , the T1 has an incredible power - to - weight ratio , fulfilling Caparo"s destination of a auto with 1,000 hp per metric gross ton . An aluminum and carbon paper fiber monocoque chassis , carbon roughage consistence panel and a master of ceremonies of other ultralight materials help keep the T1 in bucket along trim .
The suspension system is mainly cheer by F1 cars , with in - gameboard shocks , a double wishing bone in the front and rear , and adjustable anti - roll bars in the front and butt . Fully float steel backwash disc pasture brake with machine racecalipersprovide block power , and are fully adjustable through the brake bias pedal box . The ECU is tunable as well , and the splasher data point readout includes options for data logging .
Caparo T1 Safety
Caparo could have developed the T1 as a arrant subspecies car and infix it into any number of competitions . However , to truly grab care , they made it street legal ( in the United Kingdom , at least ) , so cannonball along addict with juicy wallets can get excited about taking a T1 for a white - knuckle joint cruise when the local route form has an open track day . It ’s sure enough a head - Frederick Jackson Turner for those who want to get in at peculiar upshot in vogue , though it might be elusive to climb up in and out of the cockpit in an evening gown .
To keep the T1 safe and legal , the pylons that support the rear wing contain light-emitting diode become signaling and pasture brake luminosity , with headlights installed in the cowl that address the front tires . The cockpit is a hard " cellular phone , " with added protection come from a steel roll hoop to keep the driver"s head from reach the ground in the event of a rollover . The front of the car is designed to crush , absorbing encroachment , and the honeycomb design of the chassis also adds strength and impact absorption . Both driver and passenger are held in place by a six - point harness and a brain tribute organization that is compatible with theHANS machine(Head and Neck Support , used by many drivers in top racing series worldwide ) . An optional fire suppression system , in both road and track versions , is also usable .
Other options are available for potential T1 owners who aren"t content with the car"s £ 180,000 ( just over $ 354,000 U.S. ) price tatter . Magnesium race wheels , carbon ceramic pasture brake discs , a limited aerodynamic performance package , pass over information software program and wheel leash are of the essence for those who project to run into the track , while leather interior is possible for those who want some comfort with their focal ratio . Other amenity , like a radio set or breeze - conditioning , are nowhere to be found on a car so purely project for saving of weightiness like the T1 .
For more info on the Caparo TI , race cars and related topics , retard out the links on the next pageboy .
