The Caparo T1 has been spotted on the road for the first time, and it's been caught on video -- see link below -- and PH was first to get it.
About the T1
The Caparo T1 is a two-seater that delivers 1,000bhp-per-tonne, which is twice the power to weight ratio of a Bugatti Veyron. The high power to weight ratio has been achieved by applying the principles of lightweight vehicle design resulting in a compact 2.4 litre V8 engine delivering a high specific output of 480bhp to a hybrid aluminium, steel and carbon composite car whose entire vehicle mass is no more than 465kg. It means the T1 shares the same power output of a typical American muscle car, but has only a quarter of the weight and much better performance on the track.
The car promises phenomenal dynamic agility with rapid acceleration, braking and cornering. The combination of high engine output and ultra lightweight design endows the car with performance characteristics including 3g cornering and a 0-60mph time of 2.5 seconds. Proving the point that reducing vehicle mass is the best way to enhance performance the T1 can accelerate from zero to 100mph and then brake down to rest again in approximately 8.5 seconds.
The inventors
The idea for the car came from Caparo Vehicle Technology design director Ben Scott-Geddes and engineering director Graham Halstead. The two honed their design talents with Gordon Murray, who in turn was inspired as a teenager by the genius of vehicle lightweighting guru Colin Chapman.
Murray, who recently joined Caparo Vehicle Products as director of advanced concepts, said: “Ben and Graham both worked with me as young engineers on the McLaren F1 project. They represent the next generation of designers able to carry forward the principles of lightweight vehicle design. This is clearly demonstrated in their T1 project, which 14 years on from the F1, is less than half its weight. That’s progress for you.
“As a technology demonstrator the Caparo T1 is a new beacon for the automotive industry for the simple reason that whether you’re racing on the track or picking up the groceries from the supermarket, vehicle mass is the single biggest enemy of so many aspects of vehicle performance – not the least being carbon emissions. And the same principles of lightweight vehicle design applied to the T1 can be similarly applied to the average family car.”
Caparo has embraced the T1 project to highlight its ambition to become a leading supplier of advanced composite materials to carmakers needing to reduce CO2 emissions.
“The point is you can reduce carbon emissions without compromising vehicle performance,” says Caparo group chief executive Angad Paul: “Irrespective of where cars are designed, manufactured and sold – whether that’s North America, Europe, India or China - our view is that the global automotive industry really has no alternative but to embrace lightweight materials technology. It may take 15 to 20 years to achieve, but in the end we will see an increasing number of carbon composite applications in series production vehicles as material costs are driven down. Already, we’re seeing it in low and medium volume vehicles.”
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