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"..the Callaway doesn’t just improve on the mighty sports car, it leaves it for dead"

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http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/driving/in_the_showroom/article4356712.ece

From The Sunday Times
July 20, 2008
Callaway C16 Speedster
Based on the C6 Corvette, the Callaway doesn’t just improve on the mighty sports car, it leaves it for dead, says Pat Devereux

Based on a C6 Chevrolet Corvette – America’s 186mph two-seater sports car – the supercharged 700bhp C16 Speedster looks fast because it is. Very. At the last count 210mph was the most anyone had seen on the clock. The chances are, it could have gone even faster.

Callaway, the Connecticut tuning company, has a long, petrol-soaked history of exceeding all normal motoring parameters. Built more as adverts for the firm’s racing and engineering businesses, the cars it turns out are some of the fastest in the world.

Back in 1988, well before the Veyron was even a twinkle in Bugatti’s eye, Callaway turned out an 898bhp Vette monster nicknamed Sledgehammer that topped 254mph. So, adding a few more mph to the Speedster’s 210 probably wouldn’t be an issue.

Whether or not that would be wise is less certain. With no more wind protection than a couple of tiny fly-screens, the Speedster is already the world’s fastest hairdryer. Adding even more speed would just rip your hair out and make your face explode.

There is more defence from the elements available for the driver and passenger. Press one of the D Spots - touch-sensitive areas used instead of handles to open the doors - and part of the bodywork behind the seats pops up to reveal two custom-made full-face helmets. Built of carbon fibre, they each weigh less than a bag of sugar but cost £5,000 apiece.

So you can just imagine how much the Speedster’s carbon fibre bodyshell costs to make. The company could have made it out of glass fibre instead, as it’s much easier to paint and doesn’t weigh that much more. But as carbon fibre is one of Callaway’s specialities, it made sense to go the difficult route. The result is a shape that looks strangely familiar yet foreign, like a friend who’s had a facelift.

It’s all the work of Paul Deut-schman, a long-time Callaway collaborator. He’s scraped away all the detail, apart from a bonnet hump, giving the car a slippery, taut look. The visual massaging hasn’t been reserved for just the exterior. The standard Corvette cabin’s black hole of cheap plastic has been ripped out and replaced with an all-leather interior that looks and feels like something you’d find in an Aston Martin.

The dials and a few buttons are carried over from the donor car, but everything else is new. The only weird bit is the rear-view camera - used instead of standard door mirrors - that, to be blunt, doesn’t work. Unlike the mechanical bits of the car, which do.

A Callaway C15 Corvette race car won the European FIA GT3 team championship last year, against loads of Astons, Ferraris and Lamborghinis. The same team that built that car, built this one.

To create the performance to match the Speedster’s looks, Callaway drops a supercharger and air intake system into the 6.2litre V8, boosting the standard car’s 431bhp to a much more satisfying 700bhp. It then fits some adjustable race-developed Eibach shock absorbers to the suspension and bolts on racing StopTech carbon brakes that are so strong they make your eyes pop out, if you’re not careful. These are followed by a set of bespoke magnesium and carbon fibre wheels that have the strength of a bridge yet are so light they’d probably float away if they weren’t bolted to the car.

The result is a vehicle that doesn’t just improve on the mighty Corvette muscle car, it takes it outside and murders it. It might cost around six times as much as GM’s supercar for the masses, butit’s worth it. The fact that you can order yours through Callaway Germany in right-hand drive is better still.

The straightline performance goes from quick to warp, the stopping from good to neck-snapping and the cornering from fun to feeling like you’re in a giant centrifuge. And, with the way the dollar is at the moment, it is almost good value. Spaceships might be a shade faster than the Speedster, but I bet they aren’t this much fun.

Details

- Thanks to its 700bhp supercharged V8, this is the fastest, meanest Vette on the block. It’ll turn heads and get wolf whistles - from men. Just don’t take it to LA or you’ll be carjacked

- Uprated carbon ceramic fibre discs mean the brakes are more than capable of keeping the C16 Speedster’s massive performance in check

- To give the car clean lines, Callaway has ditched door mirrors and fitted a rear-view camera in the cockpit instead

- Catch a good look at this view; should you find yourself on the road behind the Speedster, it will disappear all too quickly

- The minimalist aero screens deflect air, but on the move it still feels like the world’s fastest hairdryer

- The interior features some switchgear carried over from the existing Chevrolet Corvette but most of it is unique to the Callaway C16 Speedster and echoes Aston Martin

Callaway C16 Speedster

ENGINE 6200cc, eight cylinders
POWER 700bhp @ 6200rpm
TORQUE 660 lb ft @ 4750rpm
TRANSMISSION Six-speed manual or auto
FUEL n/a
CO2 n/a
PERFORMANCE 0-60mph: 3.2sec
TOP SPEED 210mph
PRICE From £152,000
ROAD TAX BAND G (£400 for 12 months)
VERDICT Bespoke American muscle car for the 21st century
 

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