Road driving r400

[vantage83]

Hi,

I just want to see how many people drive their cars on the road as well as track?

I have had my car 1m nearly and have only drove it on the road. How will this affect wear and tear?

Also i have realised that this car is probably forever going to need little jobs through it time with me just small things due to it's hand built and specialist nature.

So far I have pulled the little catch for the weather gear to hard the one one from the doors to pop inside hence a opening door on today's drive. What a drive it was today though!!

Anyone's advice on running costs expected and how much a new catch will be?

Regards newbie

[pikeyboy]

New poppers are a few pence from caterham, cheaper still from automotive trimers. If you are handy you can swap them yourself or an automotive trimer could swap it for a few pounds. Takes minutes with the right tool!

Can't help with running costs but my cat fireblade gets driven on road and track. They in general are cheap ro run as the low weight means you don't eat tyres and brakes like you would in say an E36 M3

[greengreenwood7]

ok so mine's a tiger kit and not a Caterham but have to admit the odd wry smile when guys with kit/handbuilt cars occasionally can be overheard worrying about whether their pride and joy will start, stop or fall to pieces if overused. ( this comment is not levelled at Cats per se).....
to my mind these are all cars, built with normal components - yes the 'bareness' of the cars may mean the odd bit of adjustment or checking of bolts, but why should that be significantly different to a 'tin top'?
FWIW the Tiger gets rolled out weekends year round, the exception being snow as its then marooned across the garden and i cant get it out....it gets treated well but no different to the tin tops we have and rewards with 10-12k miles a year. Yep the occasional fault comes up but thats to be expected, it gets properly used.
Its light on tyres about a years worth a set, costs next to nothing to insure and aside from a failed coilpack and an alternator hasn't needed anything other than a normal regular service.

So i'd say drive your car and enjoy every mile whether its on the road or on the track. Either way its miles of smiles :-)

[BlueSe7en]

Bought my Caterham in 2002 and driven nearly 100,000 miles in it in all weather conditions.... Running costs are really quite reasonable. The only problem (if you can call it that) was with the oil pressure and water temperature senders... probably got through a few dozen of them over the years but have now moved to mechanical gauges.

I managed to crack the sump on one occasion - easily fixed though. Find like-minded Se7eners (Lotus 7 club, Westy boardroom, se7ens.net) and you'll find a fantastic community of enthusiasts that will help you (if you want them to) with many little jobs (and big jobs) around the car...



It's a car. Don't worry about it. Just drive it and enjoy it.

[Noger]

Sevens like to be used regularly. Yes, you will get "wear and tear" but leaving it in a garage for a month between runs also has a downside. Switches don't work, brake callipers seize etc.

Running costs will be dwarfed by upgrade costs anyway

The really great thing is that the consumables like tyres and brake pads are pretty cheap (compared to other similar performance cars) and don't really wear out that much on the road.

[vantage83]

I have to say the car is amazing the support from the factory seems great very good with questions


Yesterday I drow it over the hartside pass from Haydn bridge to Penrith.
This is the highest road pass in the uk and also Brian Johnson (ac/dc) and fellow northern petrol head fave world in the road.

The car was amazing on the twisties it felt even more amazingly powerful than before handled like a dream but I respected what the car is capable of doing ie to much throttle and an intro over the big verges!!!

I love learning how to drive it properly

[BlueSe7en]

I can whole heartedly recommend taking a high performance driving course to get the most out of the car and out of yourself.

[Steve Campbell]

In 2 years I've only had oil, tyres and a new brake light switch.....and fitted a new set of change lights.

Oil, tyres, brake pads etc should be considered consumables anyway.

It's not an expensive car to maintain (except for tyres) :-) :-)

[vantage83]

Yeah I had been thinking of some driving courses.

Any good ones in the North?

Yeah I have 3 millimetres on the tyres I think Im gonna buy some new front and rear.