Caparo Top Gear lap time
Discussion
I'm not someone to jump on the internet for a rant 
, but ...
... I've just seen the Caparo (or rather the Craparo) on Top Gear and what a disappointment. Ugly as hell, unreliable and by the sounds of it not a very well sorted car either. It did clocked an amazing 1:10 lap time on the TG track but, credit to Clarkson, he stripped it off the leaderboard as it clearly isn't a road car. And who would pay £ 235000 for it ? Not me.
It's a real shame that the GTR's 1:12 was not mentioned. You must agree that the Ultima still retains the outright (proper) road car record, by some margin. And perhaps a hot lap in the GTR would produce a sub 1:10 anyway.
The Ultima is still number 1 !!
Tony.
, but ...... I've just seen the Caparo (or rather the Craparo) on Top Gear and what a disappointment. Ugly as hell, unreliable and by the sounds of it not a very well sorted car either. It did clocked an amazing 1:10 lap time on the TG track but, credit to Clarkson, he stripped it off the leaderboard as it clearly isn't a road car. And who would pay £ 235000 for it ? Not me.
It's a real shame that the GTR's 1:12 was not mentioned. You must agree that the Ultima still retains the outright (proper) road car record, by some margin. And perhaps a hot lap in the GTR would produce a sub 1:10 anyway.
The Ultima is still number 1 !!
Tony.
. The main reason & probably the only reason why Top Gear Have not had the Ultima GTR on the show is because the car already existed before Top Gear re-started again five years ago & is not classed as a 'new' car... Yet incredibly for instance The 911 is constantly on the show in different guises like Turbo/GT3 etc so it's bo
ocks. If thats the case the GTR 640/720 are similar in respect regarding the 911 etc. I personally think Top Gear should have the GTR on their show just merely too show that a small British car company can mix it with the big boys plus dissapointingly the recent 1.12 lap wasn't even mentioned tonight which would have shown it could mix it with the 'Supercar' brigade. However, 'Thumping' is more appropriate & flying the British flag too as when especially sadly recently British companies like TVR, Marcos etc have recently perished. Finally if this is the case i'm sure Ultima could bring out a slightly different derivative of the GTR without losing any of it's stunning looks then they would be no excuses from Top Gear/BBC perhaps. To be honest the 'crappy' Top Gear track incredibly seems to be a the benchmark in the UK for a timed lap it's about time the GTR smashed The Ring record which it would easily & by a large margin as the Ring seems to be the World's benchmark for timed laps not a bleek Airfield in the South of England somewhere & crucially the only record Ultima dont hold & would own forever maybe......
After watching the 'Craparo' lap again it had Pirelli Corsa Road/Track tyres on as well which are amazing when warmed up on a dry track. The GTR 720 with them on & the Stig lapping for a day a 1.10 lap would be eclipsed easily...
ocks. If thats the case the GTR 640/720 are similar in respect regarding the 911 etc. I personally think Top Gear should have the GTR on their show just merely too show that a small British car company can mix it with the big boys plus dissapointingly the recent 1.12 lap wasn't even mentioned tonight which would have shown it could mix it with the 'Supercar' brigade. However, 'Thumping' is more appropriate & flying the British flag too as when especially sadly recently British companies like TVR, Marcos etc have recently perished. Finally if this is the case i'm sure Ultima could bring out a slightly different derivative of the GTR without losing any of it's stunning looks then they would be no excuses from Top Gear/BBC perhaps. To be honest the 'crappy' Top Gear track incredibly seems to be a the benchmark in the UK for a timed lap it's about time the GTR smashed The Ring record which it would easily & by a large margin as the Ring seems to be the World's benchmark for timed laps not a bleek Airfield in the South of England somewhere & crucially the only record Ultima dont hold & would own forever maybe......After watching the 'Craparo' lap again it had Pirelli Corsa Road/Track tyres on as well which are amazing when warmed up on a dry track. The GTR 720 with them on & the Stig lapping for a day a 1.10 lap would be eclipsed easily...
Edited by shaunsmith on Sunday 11th November 22:39
My favourite part was the gaggle of mechanics that kept looking at the car as if it had just bitten them! With this and the fifth gear incident I think they need to go away and have a bit of a rethink about their advertising. Some expression about shooting yourself in the foot springs to mind...
Not that I'm an expert. Oh yeah and I'm pretty biased towards Ultima, being a customer and all.
But still, hats off to the 1:10 lap time! That number speaks for itself...
...but I won't be buying one just yet :-)
Not that I'm an expert. Oh yeah and I'm pretty biased towards Ultima, being a customer and all.
But still, hats off to the 1:10 lap time! That number speaks for itself...
...but I won't be buying one just yet :-)
GTWayne said:
I am more than happy being a smug little sod and knowing that 'we chosen few' are the lucky ones that can see the light am constantly at odds when I read through a thread like this and can not understand WHY? so many crave recognition for the car, what will it change?
Resale value maybe?Both cars are road cars and Clarkson's point of taking it off the board was that it wasn't capable of dealing with speed bumps, which any real road car should be able to do.
To still keep the Ultima off Top Gear for spurious reasons is becoming harder to justify, however I would ask what other cars would they have to consider if they allowed it to be admitted. The Ultima is tagged with a kit/component car monica, but so is a Caterham, Westfield XTR and a Radical, and those have made it onto the show.
Top Gear owe it to the public and ALL motor manufacturers, to clearly explain the selection criteria and to not become a biggoted organization like the FIA, who have a history of creating rules to suit themselves.
From the small list below of cars that have completed recorded laps, we can see that the cars are not standard from the factory cars that anyone can order and either have to be constructed from scratch, or need some high levels of fettling to get them evolved to where they are now and this is, in essence, no different to the Ultima.
Brabus Biturbo Roadster 1.26.2
Roush Mustang 1.28.0
BMW Alpina Z8 1.29.0
VW Golf W12 1.29.6
Bowler Wildcat 1.39.4
Overfinch Range Rover 1.44.0
Chris
To still keep the Ultima off Top Gear for spurious reasons is becoming harder to justify, however I would ask what other cars would they have to consider if they allowed it to be admitted. The Ultima is tagged with a kit/component car monica, but so is a Caterham, Westfield XTR and a Radical, and those have made it onto the show.
Top Gear owe it to the public and ALL motor manufacturers, to clearly explain the selection criteria and to not become a biggoted organization like the FIA, who have a history of creating rules to suit themselves.
From the small list below of cars that have completed recorded laps, we can see that the cars are not standard from the factory cars that anyone can order and either have to be constructed from scratch, or need some high levels of fettling to get them evolved to where they are now and this is, in essence, no different to the Ultima.
Brabus Biturbo Roadster 1.26.2
Roush Mustang 1.28.0
BMW Alpina Z8 1.29.0
VW Golf W12 1.29.6
Bowler Wildcat 1.39.4
Overfinch Range Rover 1.44.0
Chris
Edited by bridgland on Monday 12th November 10:47
LuckyP said:
Damn. Missed it.
What I find most impressive is that something we all put together in our spare time can be only 3 seconds off something costing 5 times as much and designed/built by ex Maclaren bods....
When can I take delivery of my GTR720 for £47k?What I find most impressive is that something we all put together in our spare time can be only 3 seconds off something costing 5 times as much and designed/built by ex Maclaren bods....
I think 3.5 times as much is probably more accurate, if somewhat picky.
YIIHAA said:
LuckyP said:
Damn. Missed it.
What I find most impressive is that something we all put together in our spare time can be only 3 seconds off something costing 5 times as much and designed/built by ex Maclaren bods....
When can I take delivery of my GTR720 for £47k?What I find most impressive is that something we all put together in our spare time can be only 3 seconds off something costing 5 times as much and designed/built by ex Maclaren bods....
I think 3.5 times as much is probably more accurate, if somewhat picky.
Oh yeah. Factory built. Doh!
bridgland said:
Both cars are road cars and Clarkson's point of taking it off the board was that it wasn't capable of dealing with speed bumps, which any real road car should be able to do.
To still keep the Ultima off Top Gear for spurious reasons is becoming harder to justify, however I would ask what other cars would they have to consider if they allowed it to be admitted. The Ultima is tagged with a kit/component car monica, but so is a Caterham, Westfield XTR and a Radical, and those have made it onto the show.
Top Gear owe it to the public and ALL motor manufacturers, to clearly explain the selection criteria and to not become a biggoted organization like the FIA, who have a history of creating rules to suit themselves.
From the small list below of cars that have completed recorded laps, we can see that the cars are not standard from the factory cars that anyone can order and either have to be constructed from scratch, or need some high levels of fettling to get them evolved to where they are now and this is, in essence, no different to the Ultima.
Brabus Biturbo Roadster 1.26.2
Roush Mustang 1.28.0
BMW Alpina Z8 1.29.0
VW Golf W12 1.29.6
Bowler Wildcat 1.39.4
Overfinch Range Rover 1.44.0
Chris
wasent there a prodrive prototype that also completed a lap?To still keep the Ultima off Top Gear for spurious reasons is becoming harder to justify, however I would ask what other cars would they have to consider if they allowed it to be admitted. The Ultima is tagged with a kit/component car monica, but so is a Caterham, Westfield XTR and a Radical, and those have made it onto the show.
Top Gear owe it to the public and ALL motor manufacturers, to clearly explain the selection criteria and to not become a biggoted organization like the FIA, who have a history of creating rules to suit themselves.
From the small list below of cars that have completed recorded laps, we can see that the cars are not standard from the factory cars that anyone can order and either have to be constructed from scratch, or need some high levels of fettling to get them evolved to where they are now and this is, in essence, no different to the Ultima.
Brabus Biturbo Roadster 1.26.2
Roush Mustang 1.28.0
BMW Alpina Z8 1.29.0
VW Golf W12 1.29.6
Bowler Wildcat 1.39.4
Overfinch Range Rover 1.44.0
Chris
Edited by bridgland on Monday 12th November 10:47
i dont care if it doesent get a chance at the leaderboard ( though it should )but it still deserves to at least get a smoken hot lap!
ezakimak said:
bridgland said:
Both cars are road cars and Clarkson's point of taking it off the board was that it wasn't capable of dealing with speed bumps, which any real road car should be able to do.
To still keep the Ultima off Top Gear for spurious reasons is becoming harder to justify, however I would ask what other cars would they have to consider if they allowed it to be admitted. The Ultima is tagged with a kit/component car monica, but so is a Caterham, Westfield XTR and a Radical, and those have made it onto the show.
Top Gear owe it to the public and ALL motor manufacturers, to clearly explain the selection criteria and to not become a biggoted organization like the FIA, who have a history of creating rules to suit themselves.
From the small list below of cars that have completed recorded laps, we can see that the cars are not standard from the factory cars that anyone can order and either have to be constructed from scratch, or need some high levels of fettling to get them evolved to where they are now and this is, in essence, no different to the Ultima.
Brabus Biturbo Roadster 1.26.2
Roush Mustang 1.28.0
BMW Alpina Z8 1.29.0
VW Golf W12 1.29.6
Bowler Wildcat 1.39.4
Overfinch Range Rover 1.44.0
Chris
wasent there a prodrive prototype that also completed a lap?To still keep the Ultima off Top Gear for spurious reasons is becoming harder to justify, however I would ask what other cars would they have to consider if they allowed it to be admitted. The Ultima is tagged with a kit/component car monica, but so is a Caterham, Westfield XTR and a Radical, and those have made it onto the show.
Top Gear owe it to the public and ALL motor manufacturers, to clearly explain the selection criteria and to not become a biggoted organization like the FIA, who have a history of creating rules to suit themselves.
From the small list below of cars that have completed recorded laps, we can see that the cars are not standard from the factory cars that anyone can order and either have to be constructed from scratch, or need some high levels of fettling to get them evolved to where they are now and this is, in essence, no different to the Ultima.
Brabus Biturbo Roadster 1.26.2
Roush Mustang 1.28.0
BMW Alpina Z8 1.29.0
VW Golf W12 1.29.6
Bowler Wildcat 1.39.4
Overfinch Range Rover 1.44.0
Chris
Edited by bridgland on Monday 12th November 10:47
i dont care if it doesent get a chance at the leaderboard ( though it should )but it still deserves to at least get a smoken hot lap!
Full list can be found here http://www.bbc.co.uk/topgear/show/powerlaps.shtml
CarMad426 said:
Yeah i agree totaly, i wonder if they will ever mention the Ulitma...
At least PH is talking about it. Perhaps that will provide some motivation. Finding two seconds will be an excellent challenge.Edited by Builder on Tuesday 20th November 15:42
Pb3 said:
It also confirms that the Ultima would be eligable for that leader board so why can't they just do it. I did like the flames though, mine does it but I have never seen them myself.
Not necessarily. I think that TG will always take the standpoint that the Ultima isn't eligable is available for component build (blatant double standards as they don't apply the same to Caterham).The truth is more simple, they know damn well that it would embarrass the mainstream manufacturers. Why spend all that dosh on a Veyron when a GTR720 will blow it into the weeds?
But in the main, people (who can afford this sort of stuff) buy cars for image - not performance.
Dale B said:
GTWayne said:
I am more than happy being a smug little sod and knowing that 'we chosen few' are the lucky ones that can see the light am constantly at odds when I read through a thread like this and can not understand WHY? so many crave recognition for the car, what will it change?
Resale value maybe?
Nice thought - but I doubt it
Builder said:
CarMad426 said:
Yeah i agree totaly, i wonder if they will ever mention the Ulitma...
At least PH is talking about it. Perhaps that will provide some motivation. Finding two seconds will be an excellent challenge.Edited by Builder on Tuesday 20th November 15:42
Of course, you could do it just by fitting slicks
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