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Caparo T1


The Caparo T1 is a British mid-engine, rear-wheel drive, two-seat sports car built by Caparo Vehicle Technologies, founded by design director Ben Scott-Geddes, engineering director Graham Halstead, engineers formerly involved in the development of the McLaren F1 and Sean Butcher, marketing director and financier. The T1 was inspired by Formula One design, and intended as a relatively affordable road legal racing car. The T1 was scheduled for production in mid-2007 for a price of GB�235,000 with approximately 25 cars per year built but as of 2012, 16 examples have been sold in the United Kingdom.

The T1 has an estimated maximum speed of 205 miles per hour (330 km/h) on a low downforce setup. From a standing start, it has an estimated 0�100 kilometres per hour (0�62 mph) time under 2.5 seconds and onto 160 kilometres per hour (99 mph) in 4.9 seconds, depending on tyre setup. It is also capable of an estimated lateral acceleration of up to 3 g and braking deceleration of 3 g, depending on tyre setup.

On 11 November 2007, the T1 surpassed the Top Gear Power Board leader's time of 1:17.6, then held by the Koenigsegg CCX, with a time of 1:10.6. Immediately after having declared the time and placed it on the Power Board, presenter Jeremy Clarkson removed the record because it did not meet the show's rule that the car must be able to go over a speed bump. However, Ben Scott-Geddes of Caparo has stated that, "the model we supplied to Top Gear was one of our final engineering vehicles without adjustable ride height and electronic active driver control systems which are standard on our production models. When drivers select the 'road' setting, the car is more tractable in slower speed conditions and the ride height is fully adjustable to bring the car up to 90 mm clearance, making it more than capable of driving over speed bumps."

When driving the Caparo, Clarkson had stated that limited aerodynamic downforce is created at slow speeds, saying that it would be an excellent excuse for a policeman since "[he] has to take that corner at a thousand mph because if [he] takes it at thirty, [he'll] crash." The car had low levels of lateral traction while cornering if it was not being driven rapidly. Aerodynamically, this vehicle is designed such that air passing over the body at high speed "pushes" the vehicle against the road (allowing for higher cornering speeds). He criticized the handling characteristics, finding that the vehicle was difficult to control around corners at low speeds, and that on a wet or cold day (these factors negatively affect grip) there were problems even at higher speeds.

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