Bought myself an R400
Discussion
Just had to share it with everyone, I'm so chuffed! Test drove it yesterday and I have to say that even having previously owned 4 Sevens this car absolutely blew my socks off - and I thought my R300 was fast! As for the noise, well, I've heard quieter WWII aircraft which could cause a few problems on trackdays but hell it's worth the aggrovation!
Hi Jeremy,
The pics will follow shortly but the spec is as follows:
2002 R400 in Monte Carlo Blue
std R400 spec plus;
interchangeable aeroscreen (full carbon)
Cat by-pass pipe
13" mag wheels
FIA rollbar
currently having the '7' on the grill painted orange as I thought would contrast nicely with the dark blue paint finish. The bars across the grill will be painted black (as apposed to the normal silver) to give the '7' the appearence of 'floating'in the nosecone. I dis a similar thing with one of my old Superlights and it looked very good, albeit in yellow. What do you think, will orange look okay?
The pics will follow shortly but the spec is as follows:
2002 R400 in Monte Carlo Blue
std R400 spec plus;
interchangeable aeroscreen (full carbon)
Cat by-pass pipe
13" mag wheels
FIA rollbar
currently having the '7' on the grill painted orange as I thought would contrast nicely with the dark blue paint finish. The bars across the grill will be painted black (as apposed to the normal silver) to give the '7' the appearence of 'floating'in the nosecone. I dis a similar thing with one of my old Superlights and it looked very good, albeit in yellow. What do you think, will orange look okay?
L100NYY said:Sounds great: if it were me I might be inclined to have the '7' in silver, but given some of the colour schemes you've had in the past I think you should do whatever you fancy.
currently having the '7' on the grill painted orange as I thought would contrast nicely with the dark blue paint finish. The bars across the grill will be painted black (as apposed to the normal silver) to give the '7' the appearence of 'floating'in the nosecone. I dis a similar thing with one of my old Superlights and it looked very good, albeit in yellow. What do you think, will orange look okay?
Congrats, Ben - I too took the plunge recently having been similarly mesmerised by the finest repertoire of automotive hoonery I suspect one can get away with on public roads. Although by the time it arrives I suspect the Dartford Massiv will be well underway with the R900...
Quick question for yourself and the main man, McCopenheim - namely, the selection of 13" versus 15" wheels - allowing the greater choice of tyre? What's the inside track then, Guvs?
The only thing I'm slightly disconcerted about is the necessitude for some of those ridiculous, ever so slightly minceworthy driving boots which seem unavoidable given the paucity of space in the tub's footwell.
Roll on...er, autumn!
Quick question for yourself and the main man, McCopenheim - namely, the selection of 13" versus 15" wheels - allowing the greater choice of tyre? What's the inside track then, Guvs?
The only thing I'm slightly disconcerted about is the necessitude for some of those ridiculous, ever so slightly minceworthy driving boots which seem unavoidable given the paucity of space in the tub's footwell.
Roll on...er, autumn!
derestrictor said:13" wheels are lighter and give you the choice of ACB10s, CR500s, slicks or a multitude of other specialist rubber from Yokohama and others. The 15" wheels limit you more in your choice of rubber and only pander to aesthetics (and fail in my opinion), to say nothing of the increase in unsprung weight.
Quick question for yourself and the main man, McCopenheim - namely, the selection of 13" versus 15" wheels - allowing the greater choice of tyre? What's the inside track then, Guvs?
The only reason to fit larger diameter wheels on pretty much any car is to make room for bigger brakes which is totally unnecessary in this application. There is an arguement that you can sharpen up the handling characteristics through using lower profile tyres, but again the extensive experience of the Caterham community seems to favour the ride and handling afforded by the smaller wheels.
Any road oop - you'll soon be smitten by the upgradeitis that afflicts every Caterham owner so you'll have an opportunity later to try whatever 'bling' additions you feel necessary.
Looney - I've given the same treatment to every 7 I've owned - it'll look great in orange. Sounds a nice car - did it come from Scotland by any chance?
DeR - I'm interested in answers to that question too. Conventional wisdom is that 13 inchers rock - but I had wondered whether 15 inchers with lower profile tyres might be just as good. I had 15 inch prisoners with Goodyear Eagle F1s on my Supersport and it made a good fist of performing like a toboggan. OTOH my SLR was a honey on 13 inch mags and R500s and my current steed runs R500 and AO21Rs and seems just as good as the SLR on that combo.
Autumn is a good time to drive a powerful Caterham, forget the steering wheel and use your right foot
edited to add "C" to "R500s" (ie Avon CR 500 tyres not Mike Barmby R500 rims)
>> Edited by rubystone on Wednesday 7th July 15:56
DeR - I'm interested in answers to that question too. Conventional wisdom is that 13 inchers rock - but I had wondered whether 15 inchers with lower profile tyres might be just as good. I had 15 inch prisoners with Goodyear Eagle F1s on my Supersport and it made a good fist of performing like a toboggan. OTOH my SLR was a honey on 13 inch mags and R500s and my current steed runs R500 and AO21Rs and seems just as good as the SLR on that combo.
Autumn is a good time to drive a powerful Caterham, forget the steering wheel and use your right foot
edited to add "C" to "R500s" (ie Avon CR 500 tyres not Mike Barmby R500 rims)
>> Edited by rubystone on Wednesday 7th July 15:56
I must admit I wasn't too sure what colour to do it, one of the reasons for the orange was to mimic the colour schemes of the 60's GP teams ie. BRM et al. I saw an R500 not long ago in a very dark green with an orange noseband and that looked very cool in a retro kind of way, but I suppose if I don't like the orange '7' it's no great pain to change it.
The reason I went for 13" mags was for the simple reason that the tyre choice is pretty much endless withh this size. I really want to invest in some slicks to use for trackdays so 13" was the logical choice. My previous R300 had the 15" wheels and handled superbly but for me they seemed to take away some of the urgency and directness from the steering which could be seen as either a good thing or a bad thing I guess. And no it didn't come from Scotland, but down sarrf!
Ta for that lot!
Jezmondo - your wheels are mag-alloys, right? Are the latest 13" jobs still multi-spoke in the precise fashion of the 15s? (I cannot deny liking the style.)
Wouldn't surprise me if they do handle better with these - similar thing on the 16 versus 18" rims for the Tamora in the latest EVO mag.
One thing I couldn't see on the options list was cruise control - a ludicrous ommission.
Jezmondo - your wheels are mag-alloys, right? Are the latest 13" jobs still multi-spoke in the precise fashion of the 15s? (I cannot deny liking the style.)
Wouldn't surprise me if they do handle better with these - similar thing on the 16 versus 18" rims for the Tamora in the latest EVO mag.
One thing I couldn't see on the options list was cruise control - a ludicrous ommission.
derestrictor said:Mine are the original Superlight R mag alloys; Caterham have been through a couple of iterations since then - the R500 mag alloys (produced by Mike Barmby) and the 'new' mag alloys that you probably noticed on the R300 you test drove (and yes, similar in style to the 15" wheels).
Jezmondo - your wheels are mag-alloys, right? Are the latest 13" jobs still multi-spoke in the precise fashion of the 15s? (I cannot deny liking the style.)
You will have the option of these:
13" wheels are the way to go.
The biggest brakes you currently need on a 7 will fit inside a 13" rim, and a good 13" rim and tyre combo will *always* weigh less than a similar quality 15" rim and tyre combo. Which is a very good thing.
Whilst taking about aesthetics in the same sentence as a Caterham is missing the point by almost as much as Beckham misses penalties, there are a number of options for 13" rims.
Caterham do a few styles, there are plenty of race teams (or were) off loading the old style R500 rim (as they stopped using them for racing) and Joachim at MOG Racing has also done some wheels with Rial (which look good). Even Halfords seem to do wheels that look curiosuly like the Caterham ones, though I doubt they'll do 13" sizes as there's little call for it in the riced up Nova market.
To my eyes there's little on the road that looks meaner than a 7 on 13" rims, with 205/60 tyres on the back. It's like all good tools - it simply looks right for the job. Just like a Spitfire was bound to do well against the Messerschmits, you know a Caterham will kick arse against almost any road machinery.
PS The orange 7 will look great on your blue car - I'd go for a lighter shade and be prepared to keep repainting it.
Especially if you have minor indiscretions with leaf hidden kerbstones (sorry Ruby, I'll not do that next time
- and I'm not sure why you're pondering anything. You know what the score is. Just because you enjoy riding round in gauche pimp mobiles )
The biggest brakes you currently need on a 7 will fit inside a 13" rim, and a good 13" rim and tyre combo will *always* weigh less than a similar quality 15" rim and tyre combo. Which is a very good thing.
Whilst taking about aesthetics in the same sentence as a Caterham is missing the point by almost as much as Beckham misses penalties, there are a number of options for 13" rims.
Caterham do a few styles, there are plenty of race teams (or were) off loading the old style R500 rim (as they stopped using them for racing) and Joachim at MOG Racing has also done some wheels with Rial (which look good). Even Halfords seem to do wheels that look curiosuly like the Caterham ones, though I doubt they'll do 13" sizes as there's little call for it in the riced up Nova market.
To my eyes there's little on the road that looks meaner than a 7 on 13" rims, with 205/60 tyres on the back. It's like all good tools - it simply looks right for the job. Just like a Spitfire was bound to do well against the Messerschmits, you know a Caterham will kick arse against almost any road machinery.
PS The orange 7 will look great on your blue car - I'd go for a lighter shade and be prepared to keep repainting it.
Especially if you have minor indiscretions with leaf hidden kerbstones (sorry Ruby, I'll not do that next time
- and I'm not sure why you're pondering anything. You know what the score is. Just because you enjoy riding round in gauche pimp mobiles )Thanks Mungo, I pick the car up first thing Tuesday morning and I can't wait! I've been too long without a Caterham to 'play' with and after driving the R400 I just had to have it and having test driven many weapons this was the only car to have that effect (T350,111S etc included). I'm not sure if I'll sleep much between now and Tuesday!!
Don't forget to provide copious notes on your impressions.
I was re-reading Peter Tomalin's thoughts from EVO last night: he makes reference to the fact that even when you think you're going banzai-quick, there's still half a peddle's travel left...after which things get very Battlestar Galactica launch sceney!
I was re-reading Peter Tomalin's thoughts from EVO last night: he makes reference to the fact that even when you think you're going banzai-quick, there's still half a peddle's travel left...after which things get very Battlestar Galactica launch sceney!
It will be a pleasure to keep you updated on the R400, and I have to agree with Mr Tomalin that the performance really is quite unreal under full throttle. Having driven it in dry conditions and experienced wheelspin in 4th gear I can only imagine what driving it in the wet will be like as my R300 was bad (good?) enough!!! I can't wait to get it on a track and there's an EvoActive day coming up soon at Snetterton although may do Brands Indy first as I have greater experience there.
murph7355 said:
Especially if you have minor indiscretions with leaf hidden kerbstones (sorry Ruby, I'll not do that next time
You back in the UK then?...frankly I'm so embarrassed about the yellow wheels on my current car that I'd go to any lengths to avoid being seen in it...such as buying a classic 911 to use instead
BTW I'll need the V5 - tax is up on 31st July - 4got to tell you that when we spoke last week 
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