Caterham RST-V8

[Svensson]

Mindgam3 already posted a topic (http://www.motorworld.net/forum/showthread.php?t=16512) on Caterham's new RST-V8 but now there's also some video footage!

You will notice that the RST-V8 doesn't sound as high-pitched as the Radical SR8 (http://www.motorworld.net/forum/showthread.php?t=21677) but it has a much louder induction roar, coming from those individual throttle bodies. Just listen to how it roars!

http://www.c7mle.co.uk/v8/rstv8_large.wmv
http://www.c7mle.co.uk/v8/rst-v8.wmv
http://www.c7mle.co.uk/v8/andy-run-3.wmv
http://www.c7mle.co.uk/v8/rst-v8-bedford2.wmv

Engine specs:
Capacity - 2 Litre
Cylinders - 8
Number of Valves per cylinder - 5 (Total of 40)
Bore - 75mm
Stroke - 56mm

Additional Information:
4 x 40mm twin injector throttle bodies
Wide open throttle torque - 104lbs/ft at 1500 rpm
Max torque - 190lbs/ft at 7800 rpm
Rev's up to (road setup) 10,200 rpm
Rev’s up to (race setup) 12,500 rpm

http://www.evansm.plus.com/v8/html/image/d2040-04_copy.jpg
http://www.evansm.plus.com/v8/html/image/d2040-12_copy.jpg
http://www.evansm.plus.com/v8/html/image/img_7508.jpg
http://www.evansm.plus.com/v8/html/image/v8_cat_card_1_088.jpg

Quote from their website http://www.rst-v8.com
"The RST-V8 is to be fitted in a Lotus Elise, work is currently underway to combine the easy handling of the Lotus Elise with the awesome power of the RST-V8."

Just imagine, that would be awesome! :twisted:

[PeleProdigyGTO]

320 BHP in the Elise??? That would be spectacular. It would also be my new official dream car! Thanks for the vids

[Svensson]

^Actually it's even 340bhp at the moment. The Elise with RST-V8 engine would be my dreamcar too.
The Radical SR8 is even more powerful and faster, but that's way too hardcore and unpractical for me, as you'll have to wear a helmet all the time, so nobody can even see who you are... :P

[Chingachgook]

Fantastic mate ! I love that car,it' just impressive all that power in such a car. I hope it will be built even in the normal chassis, not only in the large SV

[exhausted mules]

standard 10200 rpm?

tested to 15000!?!? wholly shit!

[mrpushrod]

I've got a big silly grin on my face now, love it!

[yg60m]

I can't download it :?

[Svensson]

^ I just checked all the links and they worked fine, try again man. :)

[yg60m]

Yeah, it works now, thanks :wink:

[gobs3z]

can't wait to see that elise, they should put it in the exige instead.

[Svensson]

I've just read that a company named Hartham is planning to produce a trackday car/sportscar to take on Radical's new SR8. It will use a 2.4L version of the same RST-V8 engine that powers the Caterham:

http://www.hartham.com/images/GTPimages/GTPnews20050110-sliced_06.gif

For a bigger image: http://www.hartham.com/images/GTPimages/HarthamGTP_render1.gif

Hartham Announce New GTP Trackday Car
Hartham are pleased to announce the new Hartham GTP sportscar. This striking, mid-engined trackday car developing 750bhp/tonne is designed to go head to head with the new Radical SR8. The GTP will also be suitable to race in Britsport and other prototype series.

Developed by Hartham, following discussions in the Gulf and the US, the Hartham GTP will use a 2.4 litre variant of the proven 2.0 litre RST-V8 engine developed by Motopower's experienced Russell Savory. This ultra compact powerplant produces 400bhp normally aspirated, with a super charged version available later in the year. The stunning GTP boasts an advanced carbon monocoque and lightweight six-speed sequential gearbox, giving a complete powertrain solution weighing only 115kg.

With the full spec model targeted to come in at around the £70K mark, the car promises fantastic performance and represents excellent value for money in today's sportscar arena. James Painter, Director of Hartham noted: 'From our previous Le Mans programme experience we have close relationships with many top quality motorsport companies. This puts Hartham in a strong position to produce a superbly competitive and reliable sportscar.' The first car is timetabled to start testing in May and Hartham intends to contest several Britsport rounds with the GTP during the second half of the 2005 season.

Experienced and hugely successful race car constructor Adrian Reynard commented: 'I have spent a lot of time with the people from Hartham; their skill set, determination and ambition has convinced me they will be successful. This is an exciting and well structured sportscar programme from a dynamic and innovative company, which is great for the British Motorsport Industry. I'm looking forward to seeing the car testing in a few months time. I expect Hartham to become a major player in motorsport design and manufacture.'

From: http://www.hartham.com/

They're calling it "trackday car" so you'd expect there will also be a road-going version. That would be awesome! Looking forward to that very much... :)

[mindgam3]

I've just read that a company named Hartham is planning to produce a trackday car/sportscar to take on Radical's new SR8. It will use a 2.4L version of the same RST-V8 engine that powers the Caterham:

http://www.hartham.com/images/GTPimages/GTPnews20050110-sliced_06.gif

For a bigger image: http://www.hartham.com/images/GTPimages/HarthamGTP_render1.gif

Hartham Announce New GTP Trackday Car
Hartham are pleased to announce the new Hartham GTP sportscar. This striking, mid-engined trackday car developing 750bhp/tonne is designed to go head to head with the new Radical SR8. The GTP will also be suitable to race in Britsport and other prototype series.

Developed by Hartham, following discussions in the Gulf and the US, the Hartham GTP will use a 2.4 litre variant of the proven 2.0 litre RST-V8 engine developed by Motopower's experienced Russell Savory. This ultra compact powerplant produces 400bhp normally aspirated, with a super charged version available later in the year. The stunning GTP boasts an advanced carbon monocoque and lightweight six-speed sequential gearbox, giving a complete powertrain solution weighing only 115kg.

With the full spec model targeted to come in at around the £70K mark, the car promises fantastic performance and represents excellent value for money in today's sportscar arena. James Painter, Director of Hartham noted: 'From our previous Le Mans programme experience we have close relationships with many top quality motorsport companies. This puts Hartham in a strong position to produce a superbly competitive and reliable sportscar.' The first car is timetabled to start testing in May and Hartham intends to contest several Britsport rounds with the GTP during the second half of the 2005 season.

Experienced and hugely successful race car constructor Adrian Reynard commented: 'I have spent a lot of time with the people from Hartham; their skill set, determination and ambition has convinced me they will be successful. This is an exciting and well structured sportscar programme from a dynamic and innovative company, which is great for the British Motorsport Industry. I'm looking forward to seeing the car testing in a few months time. I expect Hartham to become a major player in motorsport design and manufacture.'

From: http://www.hartham.com/

They're calling it "trackday car" so you'd expect there will also be a road-going version. That would be awesome! Looking forward to that very much... :)

radical are planning a twin 1500 hayabusa derived V8... so a 3.0litre V8 very soon....

As for the elise, z cars do a 400bhp turbocharged hayabusa conversion ;)

[findleybeast]

Love it love it love it. I nearly stained my pants when I originally read about this new Caterham, and now that you said the engine may go into an elise... i'm about to... oh... *grabs tissues* ;)

btw I remember reading they had a huge power improvement when they changed it to dry sump. funny to think having the crankshaft churning up the oil can sap so much power.

[deth]

that engine w/ that sound in an exige.......................did a quick google, and the engige by itself runs from £14,000-20,000! :( ...so u're looking at a £50,000 exige w/o labour, but it'll pull the pants down on pretty much everything! :wink:

[coombsie66]

We got a lecture from the guy who was the chief CAD designer for this V8 project for radical. That was a while ago when they were just Dynoing the first ones, they put them on the dyno for the first time, tuned em up, and got over 100 bhp MORE than they were planning for!!
That was the 1300 hayabusa one i think.

[cooperluke]

Amazing!!!
Must be a blast to drive!!

[jereomen]

Thanks for the videos. Very Nice.

[mike_sayer]

Yeah the bloke that designed that Radical V8 is called Steve Prentice, came to lecture us and was a very interesting guy. I met him again at the Autosport show a couple of weeks back, he was on the Radical stand next to his engine looking very proud and pleased with himself!

That RST V8 looks awesome though, was also at Autosport and it's a very neat little package. And no doubt it'll go like shit off a hot shovel...

[caneswell]

He's also the guy in the pictures on the Radical SR8 post at the top of the page.

Both very impressive engines, unfortunatly the caterham one uses yamaha ex-up cylinder heads. Which are no longer in production, so difficult to get hold of. Not great planning there!

[SDX]

thank's for a link, the greatest news since release of Caterham CSR, now my dream funcar must be something like Caterham with 300+hp but you know, If such upgrade costs 20000pounds while CSR 260 costs 36500, maybe even 260hp would stil be enough :lol:

[ikon2003]

Great updates! I love this - the lightweight car w/ the high revving V8, and then the possibility for it in an elise! incredible! thanks for the vid links too.

[bullet_1800]

A lot of money for nothing... How much faster will a Caterham be with this engine instead of an R500 Evo or CSR one? Already it needs 3.0 secs to get to 100kmph with the CSR engine. Shame Caterham isn't selling the CSR yet. They say they do but if u call to ask them they dont have a price tag yet. :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

Funny people....

[Svensson]

A lot of money for nothing... How much faster will a Caterham be with this engine instead of an R500 Evo or CSR one? Already it needs 3.0 secs to get to 100kmph with the CSR engine. Shame Caterham isn't selling the CSR yet. They say they do but if u call to ask them they dont have a price tag yet. :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

Funny people....If you only limit yourself to 0-100km/h times, then you're right, the RST-V8 won't be noticably faster than the Caterhams you mentioned. The question is what happens on the other side of 100km/h. I think that's where the RST-V8 will excel. Even way beyond 200km/h I expect it to pull vigorously, where cars like the R500 Evo will probably run out of breath soon. Not that a lot of people would like to go faster than 250km/h with no roof above their head, but still... :mrgreen:

Besides, 0-100km/h in under 3secs is only reached by very few roadcars. If you want to do it in ~2,5secs you're going to need slicks, because it's almost impossible on road tires.

And with cars it's not only about pure speed and acceleration times. It's about the feeling and emotion you get from driving a car and hearing the sound of the growling engine. That's a big reason why one would buy a Caterham RST-V8.

[mindgam3]

A lot of money for nothing... How much faster will a Caterham be with this engine instead of an R500 Evo or CSR one? Already it needs 3.0 secs to get to 100kmph with the CSR engine. Shame Caterham isn't selling the CSR yet. They say they do but if u call to ask them they dont have a price tag yet. :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

Funny people....

you have to bare in mind that this ISNT actually made and sold by caterham.....

[Svensson]

you have to bare in mind that this ISNT actually made and sold by caterham.....

Yeah that too, good point :D

[ikon2003]

A lot of money for nothing... How much faster will a Caterham be with this engine instead of an R500 Evo or CSR one? Already it needs 3.0 secs to get to 100kmph with the CSR engine. Shame Caterham isn't selling the CSR yet. They say they do but if u call to ask them they dont have a price tag yet. :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

Funny people....If you only limit yourself to 0-100km/h times, then you're right, the RST-V8 won't be noticably faster than the Caterhams you mentioned. The question is what happens on the other side of 100km/h. I think that's where the RST-V8 will excel. Even way beyond 200km/h I expect it to pull vigorously, where cars like the R500 Evo will probably run out of breath soon. Not that a lot of people would like to go faster than 250km/h with no roof above their head, but still... :mrgreen:

Besides, 0-100km/h in under 3secs is only reached by very few roadcars. If you want to do it in ~2,5secs you're going to need slicks, because it's almost impossible on road tires.

And with cars it's not only about pure speed and acceleration times. It's about the feeling and emotion you get from driving a car and hearing the sound of the growling engine. That's a big reason why one would buy a Caterham RST-V8.

well said.

I'd front the extra money if i had it for the RST V8. Very special indeed. (That engine in the elise is also a very attractive thought).

[bullet_1800]

Svensson i agree with what you have written in your post. And yes i know that this isnt made by Caterham as i was there one month ago because a friend of mine purchased one. That is how i got to know about the CSR model.

But as Svensson very well noted at this kind of speeds you do not feel very comfortable inside that car. It is not made for long freeway roads but for tracks and b-roads. As for the sound, i dont argue that the V8 is giving out a magnificent noise,but have you heard the sound an R500 makes?? This engine also haves Individual Throttle bodies and an exhaust that makes your head blow up.
Really if you ever get the chance to go for a ride with one of those things dont waste it. Demand it. Its something quite special.

[Svensson]

^ Unfortunately I havn't heard a R500 (Evo) in real life, just in videos, but I'm absolutely sure that it sounds incredible with its roller barrel throttle bodies and high revving engine. Videos just don't do a car justice soundwise. You hear a car in a video and you think, hmm that sounds quite nice, then you'll hear it passing by IRL and you're totally blown away by the noise and are left with goosebumps on your arms... :mrgreen:

But I understand your point that maybe the RST-V8 is a bit over the top and you can get almost the same thrills in a much cheaper car (R500). But for car-nutters with a lot of money, I can fully understand why they would choose the V8. :)