caterham levante v6

[rossb]

thought i was pretty much acclimatised to quick 7's - i have had one for years with an alloy bdg and took it for a play last weekend for the first time in ages - it was good / bordering on irresponsible fun on the road and gave a few friends an insight into brisk motoring in a brick shaped sportscar

yesterday was over at Russell Savory's and had a passenger ride in a levante - with a v6 2.2 with rotrex/sadev sequential etc - 510 bhp with low boost - 600 possible - probably weighs about 690kg (think approx 740-870bhp/tonne) - looked reasonably innocuous had a screen - no badges - only the central stack derived dash with 12000 rev counter and twin two box silencers either side hinted at was to come. not ridiculously noisy although at road speeds the sadev box was clearly agricultural at road speeds

we went for a gentle pootle around the lanes to warm things up - traction control turned off - and then with an empty straight - he used half throttle and short shifted at 8500 rpm. forget cammy 4 pot 2 litres - this thing has proper torque

i can assure you a priest would struggle not utter a stream of profanities the first time he experienced that level of acceleration - at approximately a ton - clean wheelspin for about 20 yards - he then shortshifted as i uttered a few expletives and then burst out laughing in shock.

i promise you - untill you have been in one and you think a 300/400/500bhp/tonne 7 is quick you will not believe the other worldly g that these things pull on acceleration - it has really recalibrated my understanding of the word quick. i went on to a meeting afterwards and could not stop babbling and had pupils which suggested i had been liberally sampling some pure colombian marching powder.

inevitably you find yourself asking the question of how much - which is £100-130k if you are interested. i asked what happened if you revved it out and used full throttle - apparently with traction control switched off it can get a bit exciting on a bumpy road but the power delivery is just linear fk off stomp. Obviously it's a road legal track car really - Russell told me a customer took his to a trackday in France recently and completely monstered an MP4.

We all know you do not need to have that much power to have fun in a 7 - of course you don't - but it is nevertheless utterly intoxicating/stupid/brilliant. I want one. I salute the lucky few who have got a Levante.

I am now on the way to my local - a quick detour for some Euro lottery tickets will be in order - it would be another toy that would get hardly used - but fk me - what a way to blow out the cobwebs

Edited by rossb on Friday 9th August 19:00

[rossb]

Noger said:

Isn't it a V8 ?

Or is he now S/Cing a V6 ? Interested to know the derivation if it is.

But as the OP says, the Levante is mind-warpingly fast. To be honest I didn't like it at first, it was all too much. I know, MTFU !

No - V6 is latest derivative - supercharged - they have done a number of derivatives i think based on original engine architecture. did not see under the bonnet but it is obviously going to be shorter - and even with rotrex might be lighter - i am not sure - i seem to recall they said that the V6 can run more boost too when you are chasing big numbers. they have a 2.4 v8 in build for a customer - n/a - which i think on balance might be the one as at least you get a chance to max it out on a long enough road - and the sound is fab from the n/a v8. so saying on a track with big run off areas like silverstone and slicks fitted the s/c car must be amazing. sadly not a spec choice dilemma i need to ponder at the moment! the pneumatic actuated paddle shift was pretty hardcore too - cumbersome at traffic speeds - but when you are opening the taps - both hands on the wheel seemed like a good plan...