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Light sports cars powered by superbike engines. Hardly a new idea.
British niche manufacturers such as Westfield, Caterham and Radical all offer superbike engines (Suzuki’s Hayabusa mill is quite popular) within their product portfolios.
The appeal is simple – low mass and tremendous performance, two engineering principles that tie in perfectly with the light sports car design mantra.
It's a ripper, mate
Australia is the latest region to produce a superbike powered sports car and its called the Spartan V.
This is, of course, hardly surprising, because Australia has a proud superbike racing tradition.
What is surprising is that the Australians have taken a rather original line with the V's design - specifically pertaining to the choice of engine.
Unlike Caterham, Westfield and Radical's offerings, Spartan's chosen Ducati's 1198S V-twin, to be mounted midships, instead of one of the typical Japanese superbike fours.
Thanks to its tubular spaceframe construction and composite bodywork, Spartan’s V weighs only 300kg. Factor in the Duke V-twin’s 125kW and the performance claims (280km/h top end, 0-100km/h in three seconds) can hardly be rubbished.
The Spartan V engages its rear wheels via a chain-driven, limited-slip differential supplied by Drexler motorsport of Germany.
A six-speed sequential transmission modulates speed and all the data is logged by a Ducati 1198 Digitek LCD instrument pod.
Naturally, the characteristic Ducati V-twin acoustic signature has been retained - something which remains key to the Spartan V's appeal.
Harmonised performance
To ensure the required levels of agility and stopping power for something so rapid, Spartan’s engineers have double-wishbone wheel attachments managing each 17-inch wheel’s individual oscillation requirements.
For owners who wish to do their own suspension fine-tuning, there are Ohlins adjustable dampers available too.
The Spartan V’s agility is further shored up by its American-sourced steering and brake components.
Woodward’s racing quick-ratio rack-and-pinion steering ensures centimetre-perfect placement of the V via its tiny Sparco helm, whilst deceleration is well catered for by 300mm Wilwood rotors - actuated by four-piston callipers at both axles.
Beyond the V’s epic braking performance (300mm rotors should stop a 300kg car with crushing ease) safety features include stylish double-hoop rollover bars designed to keep occupants from being crushed in the unfortunate event of a flip.
Although it remains unclear what the tenuous link is (if at all) between the ancient Greek city-state and contemporary Australian performance motoring, the Spartan V has the makings of a mightily appealing track-day machine. Its Spartan helmet motif nestled in the middle of the front air ducts looks awesome so we'll forgive it for not having a proper Australian racing heritage nameplate.
Spartan plans to build only 300 Vs, retailing at R600 000 each – which is a lot of money for a four-wheeled superbike.
Then again, is there really a price that can be attached to the novelty of owning four-wheeled V-twin sports car?
British niche manufacturers such as Westfield, Caterham and Radical all offer superbike engines (Suzuki’s Hayabusa mill is quite popular) within their product portfolios.
The appeal is simple – low mass and tremendous performance, two engineering principles that tie in perfectly with the light sports car design mantra.
It's a ripper, mate
Australia is the latest region to produce a superbike powered sports car and its called the Spartan V.
This is, of course, hardly surprising, because Australia has a proud superbike racing tradition.
What is surprising is that the Australians have taken a rather original line with the V's design - specifically pertaining to the choice of engine.
Unlike Caterham, Westfield and Radical's offerings, Spartan's chosen Ducati's 1198S V-twin, to be mounted midships, instead of one of the typical Japanese superbike fours.
Thanks to its tubular spaceframe construction and composite bodywork, Spartan’s V weighs only 300kg. Factor in the Duke V-twin’s 125kW and the performance claims (280km/h top end, 0-100km/h in three seconds) can hardly be rubbished.
The Spartan V engages its rear wheels via a chain-driven, limited-slip differential supplied by Drexler motorsport of Germany.
A six-speed sequential transmission modulates speed and all the data is logged by a Ducati 1198 Digitek LCD instrument pod.
Naturally, the characteristic Ducati V-twin acoustic signature has been retained - something which remains key to the Spartan V's appeal.
Harmonised performanceTo ensure the required levels of agility and stopping power for something so rapid, Spartan’s engineers have double-wishbone wheel attachments managing each 17-inch wheel’s individual oscillation requirements.
For owners who wish to do their own suspension fine-tuning, there are Ohlins adjustable dampers available too.
The Spartan V’s agility is further shored up by its American-sourced steering and brake components.
Woodward’s racing quick-ratio rack-and-pinion steering ensures centimetre-perfect placement of the V via its tiny Sparco helm, whilst deceleration is well catered for by 300mm Wilwood rotors - actuated by four-piston callipers at both axles.
Beyond the V’s epic braking performance (300mm rotors should stop a 300kg car with crushing ease) safety features include stylish double-hoop rollover bars designed to keep occupants from being crushed in the unfortunate event of a flip.
Although it remains unclear what the tenuous link is (if at all) between the ancient Greek city-state and contemporary Australian performance motoring, the Spartan V has the makings of a mightily appealing track-day machine. Its Spartan helmet motif nestled in the middle of the front air ducts looks awesome so we'll forgive it for not having a proper Australian racing heritage nameplate.
Spartan plans to build only 300 Vs, retailing at R600 000 each – which is a lot of money for a four-wheeled superbike.
Then again, is there really a price that can be attached to the novelty of owning four-wheeled V-twin sports car?
