There's no arguing that the Caterham R500 is an amazing piece of four-wheeled machinery. In fact, it may just be the quickest way around a race track short of a Formula 1 car. We're equally as certain that the Ducati Hypermotard is an awesome motorcycle, so putting both of these performers on the same track and letting them have at it is certain to entertain. Autocar must have thought so, too, and udging by the video posted after the break, the event didn't let anybody down. As is usually the case when a bike is put up against a car, the race was close. In the longer straight sections of the track, the Duck's power-to-weight ratio allows it to pull away from the Caterham. The Caterham, with twice the number of contact patches, easily out-brakes the Ducati rider and can carry more speed throughout the turn. So, is the race that will finally put an end to the age-old question about which is faster around a given course? Probably not, but it sure is fun to watch. Want to know who won? Hit the jump, and be sure to pay attention as the Caterham goes airborne.
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I'm a big fan of 'less is more' and would rather take off weight than add horsepower. I'm also an admitted Mustang fan and was wondering just how much flab could be removed from a new Mustang. Ford lists a 5-speed GT at 3,300 lbs, which isn't too bad, but can you imagine how much better it would be at 3,100 or even 3,000 lbs? My research eventually led me to the Ford Racing web site where I tried to find out how much the FR500S Mustang race car weighed. After all, they don't get more stripped down than that. They don't offer much in the way of specifications, but they do have a downloadable window sticker. Vehicle description, standard equipment, pricing information, wait...what's this? This is no ordinary window sticker. The Ford Racing guys decided to add a little bit of extra flair. For example:
Fuel economy: "Green flag: gulps fuel. Yellow Flag: sips fuel. Red flag: uses no fuel at all"
Warranty: "What, you expected 5-years, 50,000 miles?"
Estimated Annual Champagne Cost: "Big Bucks!"
Click the image above to view the FR500S window sticker and the rest of the Ford Racing funnies.
And I still don't know how much the FR500S weighs. Anybody know?
After getting teased and then leaked on, we officially have details on Caterham's new Superlight R500. The stats are as insane as we predicted, with a naturally aspirated 2.0-liter Ford Durtec sending 263 hp and 177 lb.-ft. of torque to the rear wheels through either a six-speed manual or a six-speed sequential gearbox equipped with launch control. With 520 hp per ton (it weighs 506 kg, or 1,116 pounds) the R500 can rocket to 60 in exactly 2.88 seconds, but that's only part of the performance equation.
Caterham fitted the R500 with a "Carbon Induction Airbox," Eibach springs and dampers pulled from the C400 Caterham racer, four-piston calipers in front and two-piston rotors out back, Avon C500 track-day rubber, and replaced many of the components with aluminum and carbon fiber to shed 9 kgs from the chassis. The R500 is also equipped with a new electronic IP nestled into a full carbon fiber dash. If you're in the UK and have £36,995 to spare, you could do worse for you next track-day excursion.
Caterham has released a teaser to follow in the over-powered, stripped-down footsteps of its predecessor, the R400. The Superlight R500 is rumored to be powered by a 2.0- or 2.3-liter Ford four-pot, hits 60 in under 3.4 seconds and tops out at around 150 mph. With a curb weight less than 500 kg (1,100 pounds) and body panels, dashboard and seats made up of carbon fiber, the R500 is expected to crest the 500 hp/per ton mark with ease. Sales will begin later this year with pricing expected to be around £40k.
If there's anything better than racing on TV, it's racing on HD TV. Just a few days after the first customers received their Mustang FR500S race cars, Discovery Channel's HD Theater announced that it would be doing a three-part television series on the special Ford Mustang Challenge racing series that exclusively features these pony cars. The show will take a detailed look at the inaugural year of the series, from the first testing sessions this month all the way until the last race in September. Miniature in-car HD cameras will capture all of the action on track, and the identical specs of each Mustang ensure that there will be plenty of it. There's no word on when the series will actually debut on HD Theater (we asked, they really don't know).
Nineteen Ford Racing FR500S Mustangs are now in the hands of their owners. In case you've forgotten, the Mustang FR500S is the $75,000, 325-horsepower racing car introduced at SEMA and offered directly to customers by Ford for use in the new single-make Ford Mustang Challenge for the Miller Cup series. Starting this May at Road Atlanta, a series of eight Challenge races will take place in support of larger Grand-Am, HSR and NASCAR regional events, culminating with a September doubleheader at Miller Motorsports Park, for which the series and trophy are named.
Last weekend, the FR500S owners made a pilgrimage to the racetrack in Salt Lake City, UT where they attended performance driving school, participated in seminars about the series, and, most importantly, took delivery of their racers. Kudos to the pair of drivers who strayed from the norm, opting for black and red cars instead of the white chosen by everyone else. Once all the talking ended, the group headed out to the track for open practice sessions in their cars. May's not that far off, and the next time this group of racers gets together, they'll be competing for championship points.
Being Jay Leno has its perks. Aside from having the kind of cash and car collection every petrolhead dreams of, his ties with NBC have netted him some seat time behind the wheel of the new Mustang 500KR known as KITT. Not only does the late-night talk show host get to pull a few e-brake turns in a commercial neighborhood outside his world-famous garage (it's good to be the King), he gets to pilot the remote-controlled version of the black steed, albeit briefly, from a fixed steering wheel and pedal setup. According to the designer of the system, KITT can be driven from up to a mile away using the remote controls – something that's pegged our hoon-meter in the red.
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