Caterham released today details on the 2008 Superlight R300, an out-of-the-box racer. Because Caterham builds basically modern (not really) Lotus 7s, it’s no surprise that the R300 follows the maxim of Lotus founder Colin Chapman, "To add speed, add lightness." The basic Caterham doesn’t usually come with many creature comforts, but the Superlight series eliminates even more (such as wet weather equipment) to ’add lightness’.
The R300 is powered by a 2.0-liter Ford-sourced Caterham Powertrain (CPT) Duratec engine that delivers 175bhp @ 7000 and a peak torque of 139 lbs-ft @ 6000. It makes the 0 to 60 mph sprint in 4.5 seconds and can hit a top speed of 140mph.
The Superlight R300 will go on sale in the U.K. in the spring of 2009 at a price of £24,995. No word yet on if it will make it to the U.S., but hopefully Caterham is keeping a closer eye on its American cousin with the launch of its North American website. Then again, we already have its bigger brother, the 263 hp Superlight R500 available in the States.
Press release after the jump.
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