Discussion
Hi guys hoping to venture into the caterham ownership very soon with a budget of around 14 thousand and from reading various threads this seems to get me into the superlight territory. Now i have never even sat in a caterham let alone drive one and i was wondering if its worth test driving one of the new superlights at caterham, will this give me the kind of idea of how the original superlight drives ? Also does anybody know how many superlights were actually built ?
My mrs thinks i am bonkers to buy one and that i should just buy a normal car
used to have pug 106 gti and a clio 172 cup good cars but just got bored with them.
Cheers Mark
My mrs thinks i am bonkers to buy one and that i should just buy a normal car
used to have pug 106 gti and a clio 172 cup good cars but just got bored with them. Cheers Mark
I live in lees, Oldham. Dad owns a S1 Lotus Exige which i am insured on and drive regular when its not raining but really fancy a 7, just joined the Lotus 7 club and am hoping to pop along to one of the meets in Bolton soon and maybe have a chat and get some advice.
Where abouts are you from ?
Where abouts are you from ?
Altrincham, cant blame you on your choice of car.My R300 is my second caterham i had a 1.8 supersport first, had that twelve months and then changed to the r300 about six months ago. If you want a look round one and a sit in one it may well be worth a visit to oulton park on march 25th, its total kit car live. I dont know if caterham themselves will be there but mine should be weather dependant, your more than welcome to have a look round it and sit in, should be others there aswell.
Thanks very much will try and get along to Oulton Park, is it on a Saturday ? Take it yours is the yellow one in your profile looks fantastic would love an r300 but budget dont allow, was initially thinking of elise but cant get caterhams out of my head at the moment, even pulled one of the old evo mags out when they were trying to pick one for their longtermer, just love the madness of them. Dont seem to be many superlights around at the moment i know 2 sold really quick on here but the ones at the factory are close 2 twenty grand and i thought you could get a new one for around that price. Just have to be patient, hope you dont mind me asking but were did you purchase yours from ?
ive bought both mine from Millwoods Motor Company, they dont tend to keep many caterhams in stock (usually anything from 3 to 10), but i have found them alot better to deal with than caterham. They would also allow me to test drive which caterham wouldnt, claiming because i was under 25 theyre insurance wouldnt cover me.When i bought the r300 they were also 3 grand cheaper on a balance to change than caterham on a practically identical car.The service is that good i woudlnt deal with caterham myself.
They made less than 200 of the original Superlights (I've got car number 32!). The advantage with the SL is that you get widetrack front suspension, adjustable spring platforms, LSD, AP 4 pot brakes with vented disks, carbon nosecone and front wings (some had carbon rear I believe). The standard engine was the 1.6 Supersport - about 135bhp and they came with the 6 speed gearbox. As standard they came with an aeroscreen (no windscreen or weather gear) and lowback composite race seats but many were specified with windscreen/weather gear and leather seats and even in my case a heater! Original tyre fitment was Avon ACB10 which are light weight semi-slicks but many owners will have changed to a more road friendly tyre. The interior of the SL is bare ali - no carpet or sound deadening.
The new SL has a very similar specification but with a 1.8SS engine (140bhp).
The new SL has a very similar specification but with a 1.8SS engine (140bhp).
Thanks for the replies guys just a couple of things is a heater needed, also would prefer one with the race seats and have seen a few for sale with the leather, wud it be possible to have the leather changed for the sports seats at a later date and do you have any idea of cost ?
Also with regards to insurance am 27 but also have another car runabout do you get the 7 on classic insurance my dad does this with the exige or do you have to use all your no claims bonus on the Caterham ?
Sorry for all the questions.
Mark
Also with regards to insurance am 27 but also have another car runabout do you get the 7 on classic insurance my dad does this with the exige or do you have to use all your no claims bonus on the Caterham ?
Sorry for all the questions.
Mark
Heater - depends on how much winter road driving you do. My car has one and it does make a difference and my wife wouldn't be happy without it. However on high speed runs, most of the warm air gets sucked out of the car quickly.
For insurance take a look at my reply on this thread. Go for a specialist policy - they don't have a no claims bonus as such but you may get a discount if you have not made claims on your other insurance.
The seats are easily replaced. Original SL's had a low back composite race seat which was pretty extreme so a lot of people went for leather. Later, Caterham introduced the Tillet composite high back race seat which is actually very confortable. All 3 types are interchangeable - 4 bolts per seat!
For insurance take a look at my reply on this thread. Go for a specialist policy - they don't have a no claims bonus as such but you may get a discount if you have not made claims on your other insurance.
The seats are easily replaced. Original SL's had a low back composite race seat which was pretty extreme so a lot of people went for leather. Later, Caterham introduced the Tillet composite high back race seat which is actually very confortable. All 3 types are interchangeable - 4 bolts per seat!
R300 CYA said:
Altrincham, cant blame you on your choice of car.My R300 is my second caterham i had a 1.8 supersport first, had that twelve months and then changed to the r300 about six months ago. If you want a look round one and a sit in one it may well be worth a visit to oulton park on march 25th, its total kit car live. I dont know if caterham themselves will be there but mine should be weather dependant, your more than welcome to have a look round it and sit in, should be others there aswell.
oo might see you there
with regards the heater shaun wont be using the car everyday but will use as much as possible when the roads are dry,
what does your missus think of the car as mine said she will not go anywere in it as people will laugh at her, not got any car knowledge wot so ever !
Was wondering what your other halves think about the cats and whether you've got the same problem as me, although she does keep telling me to get one if i really want one and im sure i caught her peeping through Low Flying the other day.
Maybe she's slowly changing her mind, not that it will make any difference as i will get one.
what does your missus think of the car as mine said she will not go anywere in it as people will laugh at her, not got any car knowledge wot so ever !
Was wondering what your other halves think about the cats and whether you've got the same problem as me, although she does keep telling me to get one if i really want one and im sure i caught her peeping through Low Flying the other day.
Maybe she's slowly changing her mind, not that it will make any difference as i will get one.
My wife drives the car (road and track) although she did get fed up with it when I was doing the rebuild over winter 2004 and the engine upgrade winter 2005. I have vowed to just use the car this year and she drove it at the weekend for the first time in ages - hopefully she will get back "into it". She will be driving at Llandow at the end of the month as well. We both enjoy the social aspect of the L7OC and as long as we don't talk exclusively about sevens, she is more than happy to join in.
Shaun_E said:
My wife drives the car (road and track) although she did get fed up with it when I was doing the rebuild over winter 2004 and the engine upgrade winter 2005. I have vowed to just use the car this year and she drove it at the weekend for the first time in ages - hopefully she will get back "into it". She will be driving at Llandow at the end of the month as well. We both enjoy the social aspect of the L7OC and as long as we don't talk exclusively about sevens, she is more than happy to join in.
Hi Shaun, who's organising the track day at Llandow? did the first of the season there last weekend, but haven't found another advertised?....
paid £14,500 for my SL last year and never looked back...
Cheers
Jon
See here - www.blatchat.com/T.asp?id=95981
There's another here - www.blatchat.com/T.asp?id=101172
>> Edited by jaseb on Thursday 9th March 10:57
There's another here - www.blatchat.com/T.asp?id=101172
>> Edited by jaseb on Thursday 9th March 10:57
Jase - see you there.
Jaycee - yes Llandow is a great little circuit and the sevens only days that Dave organises are brilliant - very relaxed.
Recommend you join the club if you want to do sevesn only trackdays - the club days at Brands, Cadwell, Oulton, etc. are great and good value compared with most of the mainstream track day operators.
Jaycee - yes Llandow is a great little circuit and the sevens only days that Dave organises are brilliant - very relaxed.
Recommend you join the club if you want to do sevesn only trackdays - the club days at Brands, Cadwell, Oulton, etc. are great and good value compared with most of the mainstream track day operators.
[quote]mine said she will not go anywere in it as people will laugh at her[/quote]
My other half calls our 7 the smiling car as it always provokes a positive reaction and more often than not the
I too came from a Clio Cup and I wouldnt be without the 7 would I would like a 'normal' car as well
My other half calls our 7 the smiling car as it always provokes a positive reaction and more often than not the
I too came from a Clio Cup and I wouldnt be without the 7 would I would like a 'normal' car as well
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