What's the news?
Caterham has announced that it will surpass the performance benchmark set by the R500 Superlight road car by launching an even faster model - the R600 Superlight racer. As well as being Caterham's fastest ever model, the car will also represent the company in the R600 Superlight Championship in 2013.
Exterior
Being a race model, the usual features you'd find on a normal Caterham are missing. Headlights, a windscreen, rear lights and number plates are all absent from this model; but the classic Seven shape still remains.
Interior
As we received no interior shots from Caterham, we can only expect that - like traditional racing Caterhams - that there is precious little inside to photograph. We know there's a steering wheel, a single racing bucket seat with racing harnesses and most probably a fire extinguisher; however, don't expect luxuries such as carpets as these have almost definitely gone in the skip.
Mechanicals
It's here that the R600 shines. The R600 Superlight is the first Caterham ever to sport forced induction, courtesy of a supercharged 2.0-litre Ford Duratec engine sending a massive 275hp to the rear wheels via a six-speed sequential gearbox. No 0-62mph figures have been released, but we'd definitely expect a sub-three-second time. The wheels are shod in either Avon slicks or wets, and work alongside a Titan limited slip differential to handle all the power.
As well as the racing harnesses inside, a full roll-cage has been fitted to protect the driver if the car rolls.
Anything else?
The Caterham R600 Superlight will set you back £44,995. For those who have just bought the R300 racing model need not despair either; as Caterham will upgrade those to R600 Superlight specification too, although the company has yet to tell us how much this will cost.
James Giddings - 9 Oct 2012