Just about to order....
Discussion
Right - had an awesome few hours with Dom at Caterham. He was superb and it was decided that at 6ft 6in I am not really built for the Caterham Academy!! So we looked at other cars and chassis and eventually decided that I liked the Roadsport SV which has a wider chassis and loads more room (well not loads!!).
We then ripped it around the roads for a bit and I got a great feel for the car! They truly are awesome and my mate and I have decided that to mark our 30th birthdays (this year), we are going to buy and build! Speced the car out to a nice £22,000 and this is with most of the options - black pack, leather seats etc & a non-standard metallic paint.....still trying to work out which one!!
So we will get delivery in January we think and start the building process...........Dom says its not too hard but somehow I dont think it is going to be that easy!!!
So we shall be entering the world of Caterham owning and be using it for weekends away and track days!!
Am I making the right decision or there any other options people would really "not live without" things I should get?
We then ripped it around the roads for a bit and I got a great feel for the car! They truly are awesome and my mate and I have decided that to mark our 30th birthdays (this year), we are going to buy and build! Speced the car out to a nice £22,000 and this is with most of the options - black pack, leather seats etc & a non-standard metallic paint.....still trying to work out which one!!
So we will get delivery in January we think and start the building process...........Dom says its not too hard but somehow I dont think it is going to be that easy!!!
So we shall be entering the world of Caterham owning and be using it for weekends away and track days!!
Am I making the right decision or there any other options people would really "not live without" things I should get?
Edited by djwimbledon on Saturday 8th September 15:54
6 speed box, tillets to replace the leather seats, interchangeable aeoroscreen, 160 bhp (at least) 13 inch wheels, FIA rollover bar, perhaps adjustable platforms, get it flat floored by a recognised racing team.
"Blackpack" you mean they're still trying to charge you extra for ordering your screen and headlights in black? Are they 'aving a laugh?
If you spec it wrong, it'll be hard to sell in the future and you'll suffer a serious bout of upgradeitis.
Join Lotus 7 Club, peruse www.blatchat.com, visit your local L7 Club area meet and seek the advice of owners BEFORE speccing your car.
"Blackpack" you mean they're still trying to charge you extra for ordering your screen and headlights in black? Are they 'aving a laugh?
If you spec it wrong, it'll be hard to sell in the future and you'll suffer a serious bout of upgradeitis.
Join Lotus 7 Club, peruse www.blatchat.com, visit your local L7 Club area meet and seek the advice of owners BEFORE speccing your car.
Rubystone's got it just about right....
Find out where your local L7GB Area meet is and pop along one night, just mention that you're thinking about buying and ask the spec question; then stand back. you'll get a different answer from just about everybody present! AND that's the fun of Caterham ownership. People get really involved with their cars.
As far as building goes - then the most difficult part is most often getting all the parts in the right place at the right time. That said, be patient and it's all very worthwhile - there's no better feeling (well almost) than when the SVA examiner gives you the thumbs up and you drive away in your brand new car that you built yourself.
Have fun
Find out where your local L7GB Area meet is and pop along one night, just mention that you're thinking about buying and ask the spec question; then stand back. you'll get a different answer from just about everybody present! AND that's the fun of Caterham ownership. People get really involved with their cars.
As far as building goes - then the most difficult part is most often getting all the parts in the right place at the right time. That said, be patient and it's all very worthwhile - there's no better feeling (well almost) than when the SVA examiner gives you the thumbs up and you drive away in your brand new car that you built yourself.
Have fun
Edited by john morris on Monday 10th September 08:21
Hi,
After waiting six months for my kit I got it in June (Roadsport 125) took me seven weeks to build on my own,and believe me I aint no mechanic. It went through its SVA first time and I'm now reaping the benefits. Went out today for a seventy mile blast and I'm still smiling.
Place your order tomorrow you won't regret it I promise.
Best of luck
Ham.
After waiting six months for my kit I got it in June (Roadsport 125) took me seven weeks to build on my own,and believe me I aint no mechanic. It went through its SVA first time and I'm now reaping the benefits. Went out today for a seventy mile blast and I'm still smiling.
Place your order tomorrow you won't regret it I promise.
Best of luck
Ham.
Hi Cuzza
Yep going with lowered floor and that seems to do the trick.........will need the leather seats though I think! The wife refuses to sit on anything else plus my boney ass rubs on the others!!
Excellent feedback from everyone thank you ever so much......Il keep u posted......but the colour scheme has been picked (Gulf Racing Colours)
Yep going with lowered floor and that seems to do the trick.........will need the leather seats though I think! The wife refuses to sit on anything else plus my boney ass rubs on the others!!
Excellent feedback from everyone thank you ever so much......Il keep u posted......but the colour scheme has been picked (Gulf Racing Colours)
Hmm, on the join the owners club and get people's opions before you buy statement. Beware of this, lots of people have some very strongly held and sometimes bizarre views on the cars. Many of them have driven at best a handful of the available range and think their own spec is the best to ever take to the road or track.
As an example I have driven a couple of cars that the owners thought were awesome and much enhanced over standard. Unfortunately these particular examples were not in the rudest of health and one of them had a fault that was immediatley obvious to me. The owners in both cases were blissfully unaware because they hadn't driven another car!
The current crop of salesman at CC South seem to be a decent enough bunch and I am sure if you are clear with them what you want to do, they will try to get you in the right car. Sometimes other owners (no doubt with the best of intentions) will lead people right up the garden path and the person ends up with a car the don't like!
Oh and on the blackpack thing, it does contain a few more things than the windscreen surround and exhaust guard now. I believe the stoneguards will come in carbon and the sill protectors too! OK it might not quite justify the price, but have you seen the price of some options on other performance cars? Ridiculous doesn't quite cover it!
As an example I have driven a couple of cars that the owners thought were awesome and much enhanced over standard. Unfortunately these particular examples were not in the rudest of health and one of them had a fault that was immediatley obvious to me. The owners in both cases were blissfully unaware because they hadn't driven another car!
The current crop of salesman at CC South seem to be a decent enough bunch and I am sure if you are clear with them what you want to do, they will try to get you in the right car. Sometimes other owners (no doubt with the best of intentions) will lead people right up the garden path and the person ends up with a car the don't like!
Oh and on the blackpack thing, it does contain a few more things than the windscreen surround and exhaust guard now. I believe the stoneguards will come in carbon and the sill protectors too! OK it might not quite justify the price, but have you seen the price of some options on other performance cars? Ridiculous doesn't quite cover it!
dino ferrana said:
Hmm, on the join the owners club and get people's opions before you buy statement. Beware of this, lots of people have some very strongly held and sometimes bizarre views on the cars. Many of them have driven at best a handful of the available range and think their own spec is the best to ever take to the road or track.
As an example I have driven a couple of cars that the owners thought were awesome and much enhanced over standard. Unfortunately these particular examples were not in the rudest of health and one of them had a fault that was immediatley obvious to me. The owners in both cases were blissfully unaware because they hadn't driven another car!
The current crop of salesman at CC South seem to be a decent enough bunch and I am sure if you are clear with them what you want to do, they will try to get you in the right car. Sometimes other owners (no doubt with the best of intentions) will lead people right up the garden path and the person ends up with a car the don't like!
Oh and on the blackpack thing, it does contain a few more things than the windscreen surround and exhaust guard now. I believe the stoneguards will come in carbon and the sill protectors too! OK it might not quite justify the price, but have you seen the price of some options on other performance cars? Ridiculous doesn't quite cover it!
Dino - you yourself have very strong opinions that some might regard as incorrect - I'm sure people think the same of me too. When I first bought a Caterham, the help I received from people who had actually owned these cars and drove them was invaluable. Without that input I'd have ended up paying over the odds for a 5 speed 110bhp 1400 K with flared wings and rusty chassis.As an example I have driven a couple of cars that the owners thought were awesome and much enhanced over standard. Unfortunately these particular examples were not in the rudest of health and one of them had a fault that was immediatley obvious to me. The owners in both cases were blissfully unaware because they hadn't driven another car!
The current crop of salesman at CC South seem to be a decent enough bunch and I am sure if you are clear with them what you want to do, they will try to get you in the right car. Sometimes other owners (no doubt with the best of intentions) will lead people right up the garden path and the person ends up with a car the don't like!
Oh and on the blackpack thing, it does contain a few more things than the windscreen surround and exhaust guard now. I believe the stoneguards will come in carbon and the sill protectors too! OK it might not quite justify the price, but have you seen the price of some options on other performance cars? Ridiculous doesn't quite cover it!
Yes one has to filter what one hears, but when 90% of the people advise you to go with 13 inch wheels and a 6 speed 'box and FIA rollbar when you tell them you want to do track days, "asking the audience" does seem to deliver the goods.
I would tend to agree with Dino 
So there you have differing views already. I believe you can still search on Blatchat, even if you are not a member.
Also give Jon at Millwood-mc.com at call, they are a Caterham dealership in Gloucestshire, he is a decent chap and can advise. But all owners will have their own thoughts and views, for me, the best of the bunch are the R300's
But if I was buying new, then I would fit a Duratec, but if you read Blatchat tech, there seems to be a problme with the cabin heat of the new Duratec's R400's.
So there you have differing views already. I believe you can still search on Blatchat, even if you are not a member.Also give Jon at Millwood-mc.com at call, they are a Caterham dealership in Gloucestshire, he is a decent chap and can advise. But all owners will have their own thoughts and views, for me, the best of the bunch are the R300's
But if I was buying new, then I would fit a Duratec, but if you read Blatchat tech, there seems to be a problme with the cabin heat of the new Duratec's R400's.
casbar said:
I would tend to agree with Dino So there you have differing views already. I believe you can still search on Blatchat, even if you are not a member.
Also give Jon at Millwood-mc.com at call, they are a Caterham dealership in Gloucestshire, he is a decent chap and can advise. But all owners will have their own thoughts and views, for me, the best of the bunch are the R300's
But if I was buying new, then I would fit a Duratec, but if you read Blatchat tech, there seems to be a problme with the cabin heat of the new Duratec's R400's.
Casbar - you're in the same boat as Dino and I - man of strong opinions! So there you have differing views already. I believe you can still search on Blatchat, even if you are not a member.Also give Jon at Millwood-mc.com at call, they are a Caterham dealership in Gloucestshire, he is a decent chap and can advise. But all owners will have their own thoughts and views, for me, the best of the bunch are the R300's
But if I was buying new, then I would fit a Duratec, but if you read Blatchat tech, there seems to be a problme with the cabin heat of the new Duratec's R400's.
Yes ther is a problem with cabin heat from the R400 - no surprise there, the racers had air ducted from outside through a pipe in the pedalbox and Caterham are trying to work out a reasonable solution...to a problem that they knew about for bloody ages. That's when they find time to sort out the woeful quality of the carbon and weather gear issues....and the diffs....
rubystone said:
...Caterham are trying to work out a reasonable solution......
Way back when, some enterprising soul took a couple of vent apertures from something like an old escort (rectangular jobbies that you close/open via mini-Venetian blinds in the aperture. If you know what I mean) and inserted them into the end of the footwell (the angled panel that rises up from the floor).Could be flicked open/closed easily enough and gave a decent blast of cooled air. And couldn't be seen from outside.
NACA ducts would also be easy to let into the side skins if you didn't mind some vent holes.
Why are they finding it so hard to solve? Or have they allocated all spare staff to finding out who shuffled all the diffs on the shelves?
sfaulds said:
Or because people don't complain about their own work?
How cynical! I didn't put the Duratec in my S3 and don't suffer this burning feet issue. Maybe because of the manifold design, or engine position, or radiator arrangement. The side tunnel gets too hot for shorts from the gearbox though.
as Danny and i can testify there's nothing wrong heat wise with a Duratec in an S3 chassis. From my understanding (not that I've even seen a new R400 Duratec yet) the issue is Caterham have fitted a radiator cowling which stops any cold air bypassing the radiator and cooling the engine bay - so through a highly technical simulation technique I've concluded the the issue can be resolved by ditching the cowling, how difficult is that FFS!
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