Caparo T1

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Caparo T1
An orange Caparo T1 at the 2006 British Motor Show
Manufacturer Caparo Vehicle Technologies
Also called Freestream T1 (formerly)
Class Sports car
Body style(s) 2-door coupé
Layout Mid-engine, rear-wheel drive
Engine(s) 3.5 L naturally-aspirated V8
Transmission(s) 6-speed sequential
Wheelbase 2,900 mm (110 in)
Length 4,066 mm (160.1 in)
Width 1,924 mm (75.7 in)
Height 1,076 mm (42.4 in)
Curb weight 470 kg (1,000 lb)
Designer Ben Scott-Geddes

The Caparo T1 is a British mid-engine, rear-wheel drive, two-seat automobile built by Caparo Vehicle Technologies, founded by design director Ben Scott-Geddes and engineering director Graham Halstead, former engineers involved in the development of the McLaren F1.[1] The T1 was inspired by Formula One design, and intended as an affordable street legal race car.[2] The T1 was scheduled for production in mid-2007 for a price of GB£235,000 (approx. US$480,000 or €328,000, c.2007),[3] though it has not yet gone on sale.

Contents

[edit] Overview

[edit] Exterior

Above, a rear view of a Caparo T1. Numerous louvres for ventilation can be seen on the engine cover.
Above, a rear view of a Caparo T1. Numerous louvres for ventilation can be seen on the engine cover.

The exterior of the T1 closely resembles that of a racing prototype or Formula One racing car. It features a carbon fibre aerodynamic low drag body design, composed of individual sections, with an adjustable twin element front wing, single element rear wing, and fowler flaps, and a ground effect diffuser, allowing it to create 875 kilograms (1,930 lb) of downforce at 240 kilometres per hour (150 mph).[4] The wings are replaceable with road and track variations.

[edit] Interior

The interior of the T1 is a two-seat configuration, lacking any amenities and luxuries to reduce excess weight. The passenger's seat is set back from the driver's seat slightly, allowing the seats to be placed closer together, thereby reducing the overall width of the T1.[5] Offered are a head protection system, six-point harnesses for the driver and passenger, compatible with a HANS device, and is designed with a central safety cell made of a high-strength steel roll hoop with a fire system. The dashboard is multi-function with race data logging and speed sensors for traction control and launch control.

[edit] Chassis

The chassis of the T1 is composed of a carbon fibre and aluminium honeycomb monocoque with a front composite crash structure and a rear tubular space frame construction. The suspension is of a double wishbone design with tunable anti-roll bars, front and rear, and five-way adjustable race dampers. The braking system is composed of 355-millimetre (14.0 in) steel brake discs, with six-piston and four-piston callipers front and rear, respectively. The brake bias pedal box is fully adjustable and brake pads are available in various compounds.

[edit] Powertrain

The T1 sports a 116-kilogram (260 lb),[6] 3.5-litre, all-aluminium, naturally-aspirated V8 engine, lubricated via a dry sump oil system. The design of the engine has gone through several designs, previously including a smaller 2.4-litre supercharged unit. The production design generates a maximum power of 575 horsepower (429 kW/583 PS) at 10,500 revolutions per minute and a maximum torque of 310 pound-feet (420 N·m) at 9,000 revolutions per minute,[4][7] giving the car a power-to-weight ratio of 1,045 horsepower per tonne (779.3 kW/t). The engine is controlled via a fully tunable Pectel SQ6 engine control unit and the throttle is controlled via a throttle-by-wire system.[6]

The T1's gearbox is a 6-speed sequential made of a magnesium and carbon construction that has a variety of available gear ratios and utilizes a pneumatic actuator to shift, able to upshift in 60 milliseconds and downshift in 30 milliseconds.[8] Furthermore, the drivetrain incorporates a limited slip differential and equal length hollow tripod driveshafts.

[edit] Performance

The T1 is reported to be capable of exceeding an estimated maximum speed of 322 kilometres per hour (200 mph) on a low downforce setup.[9] From a standing start, it has an estimated 0–96 kilometres per hour (0–60 mph) under 2.5 seconds and onto 160 kilometres per hour (100 mph) just over 5 seconds, depending on tyre setup.[9]

[edit] History

[edit] Unveiling

The T1 was officially unveiled by His Serene Highness The Sovereign Prince of Monaco, joined by Murray Walker, at the Top Marques auto show in Monaco on April 20, 2006.[10] The show car unveiled was a prototype, painted orange as historic McLaren cars were due to the nature of the T1's designers being ex-McLaren engineers. Another test vehicle was reported to have been under construction at the time.

During the MPH '07 auto show, on October 30 through November 2 and later November 13 through November 16, 2007, Caparo, in conjunction with the London Metropolitan Police, unveiled a prototype police vehicle variant of the T1 named the Rapid Response Vehicle (RRV).[11][12] However, Top Gear and Edmunds reported that the car would not be put into production.[12][13]

[edit] Incidents

Jason Plato was injured in a prototype T1 in October 2007 at the Bruntingthorpe proving ground when it caught fire at an estimated 250 kilometres per hour (160 mph).[14] The T1 was being tested during filming for Five's Fifth Gear. Plato described what happened as:

There was a slight loss of power, I looked in the mirror and saw some smoke, there was a slight smell of oil and then suddenly there was this intense heat. The car spontaneously erupted into a ball of flame and I was sat in the middle of a fireball. I hit the brakes, brought the car to a stop as quickly as I could and jumped out.[15]

In the associated episode of Fifth Gear, first broadcast October 15, 2007, presenter Vicki Butler-Henderson suggested the fire was caused by a "faulty oil sealing component," which now identified, will be fully rectified by Caparo.[16]

While being tested for competing British television programme Top Gear, first broadcast on November 11, 2007, a floor panel came loose from the test vehicle as it was being driven at speed by Jeremy Clarkson. Afterwards, there was a problem with the car's petrol injection system. In the same review, Clarkson mentioned two more incidents, one at the press launch, when "some aspect of the front suspension came adrift" while a Dutch journalist was driving, causing him to veer off road, and one at the Goodwood Festival of Speed when the throttle stuck open.[3]

[edit] Reviews

On November 11, 2007, the T1 surpassed the Top Gear Power Board leader's time of 1:17.6, held by the Koenigsegg CCX, with a time of 1:10.6. Though immediately having declared the time and placed it on the Power Board, presenter Jeremy Clarkson removed the record because it did not meet the show's rule that the car must be able to go over a speed bump, despite it being street legal.[3] However, Ben Scott-Geddes of Caparo has stated that, "the model we supplied to Top Gear was one of our final engineering vehicles without adjustable ride height and electronic active driver control systems which are standard on our production models. When driver's select the 'road' setting, the car is more tractable in slower speed conditions and the ride height is fully adjustable to bring the car up to 90 mm clearance, making it more than capable of driving over speed bumps."[17]

[edit] References

[edit] Citations

  1. ^ Caparo creates advanced vehicle technology group. Newspress (2006-03-13). Retrieved on 2007-10-13.
  2. ^ Grabianowski, Ed. Howstuffworks "How the Caparo T1 Works". Howstuffworks. Retrieved on 2007-06-10.
  3. ^ a b c "Series 10 Episode 5". Top Gear. BBC. BBC Two. 2007-11-11.
  4. ^ a b Chilton, Chris (2007-08-30). Carmagazine's First Drives: Caparo T1. Carmagazine. Retrieved on 2007-10-20.
  5. ^ Murray, Gordon (July), Caparo T1. The Inside Story of an Exotic Supercar, vol. 58, Road and Track, pp. 98 
  6. ^ a b 2007 Caparo T1 Final Testing.
  7. ^ Caparo T1 official brochure. Caparo. Retrieved on 2007-06-23.
  8. ^ Caparo T1 - Race car with Number Plate. AutoCar. Retrieved on 2007-11-24.
  9. ^ a b Brown, Joe (October 2006). "Go, Street Racer, Go". Popular Science 269 (4): p. 21. ISSN 0161-7370. “Its 480hp engine (using a $13,000 gearbox) can blast the car to 60 mph in less than 2.5 seconds and top out at 205 mph.” 
  10. ^ Waterman, Stuart (2006-04-25). Caparo T1 unveiled in Monaco. Autoblog.com. Retrieved on 2007-02-01.
  11. ^ Neff, John (2007-10-31). Speeders are screwed! Caparo T1 police edition. Autoblog.com. Retrieved on 2008-02-01.
  12. ^ a b Siren Song: Caparo Makes a Cop Car. Edmuds (2007-11-07).
  13. ^ Caparo: police issue. Top Gear (2007-10-31). Retrieved on 2008-02-01.
  14. ^ Jason Plato suffers burns in Caparo T1 track test. Energy Efficient Motorsport (2007-10-09). Retrieved on 2007-10-10.
  15. ^ Plato injured during filming. BTCC.net (2007-10-09). Retrieved on 2007-10-10.
  16. ^ "Season 12 Episode 7". Fifth Gear. Five. 2007-10-15.
  17. ^ Potter, Brian (2007-11-21). Caparo T1 Destroys Top Gear Lap Record. World Car Fans. Retrieved on 2008-02-23.

[edit] External links