Which Suzuki Gearbox does the 170/Super Seven use?

[Gasket999]

Hi folks.

Having owned a few Caterhams, I’m all-but finalised on an order of a 170 with the R pack pending test drive next month.

My past Sevens have been older, have largely been live axle and there’s something about them that I love even though the De Dion owned was a technically superior car: might be the lighter weight.

I do have a concern about the Suzuki underpinnings: I’m likely to keep the vehicle for life so I’d like to be able to check out reliability/issues/obselesence in their OEM application as well as possibly stockpiling some spares for the future.

While the engine is well publicised, I can’t find anything specific on the gearbox and back axle. I have emailed Caterham tech and had no response yet (it is Christmas though).

Does anyone happen to know the details?

Specifically, I’m looking for the internal Suzuki code for the units - so I can look at the vehicles these were fitted to as well as reviewing any issues.

I’d also be interested in the gear ratios (5-speeds plus diff) but that’s just from idle curiosity as well as roughly what mods Caterham make to the box.

There’s no earth shattering issue and the car clearly performs well but this is an really big commitment for me and I don’t want to be stuck with a vehicle that I struggle to service down the line.

I am aware that Caterham has changed the gearbox lately (but don’t know from what to what or why).

Thank you.

Edited by Gasket999 on Wednesday 28th December 20:06

[nammynake]

Gear ratios are in the manual:

[Gasket999]

That’s really helpful, thank you very much for sharing.

Still no word back from Caterham tech on the gearbox model, not sure if they’ll be willing to tell me but hope so. Guess I’ll find out next week after the bank holiday.

[CanAm]

I think the original reviews mentioned that the gearbox and rear axle came from the Suzuki kei-class light commercial.

[Gasket999]

Thank you - the only mentions I’ve had are that they came from the Suzuki Every van. But this has been inconsistent in the motoring press so I’m not 100% sure if the spec just yet.