Advice or thoughts on thes two cars please

[Gromit37]

Hi folks,

I have been thinking of upgrading my 05 plate 1.6 K series Classic to SS cams/ECU, adjustable platforms, CR500 tyres and 'Apollo' anti cav... but these two might be options. £17.5K is my absolute limit.

http://www.caterham.co.uk/assets/html/preowned/pre...

http://www.caterham.co.uk/assets/html/preowned/pre...

The superlite looks interesting, but is much older. I'm wary of swapping my pretty tidy car for something that may be a cash cow. How reliable are the older SLs? What to look for? Doesn't mention an anti-cav tank, so assume it would have to be added later?

Would be my only car, but no commuting. Lots of B road blats and maybe three trackdays a year.

Any thoughts or advice welcome :-)

Ian

Edited by Gromit37 on Saturday 9th January 18:35

[allen l]

I have swapped a few cars the last couple of years. If you know yours is reliable, I'd simply add the stuff you want. With a bit of bad luck you'll be bug fixing for a while. That's what I've been doing for the last couple of months, after 15 years of carefree driving.

[Matt W]

What has the mango car got that your current one doesn't have? Given that it's 5 speed and no LSD I doubt it would be enough to a step up to be worthwhile. The SL would be lovely and more of a step up in terms of spec. Age needn't be an issue so long as it has been well maintained.

[SLR400]

If it's mainly for road use, then I would go for the newer roadsport, which you can always upgrade if you so wish once you've decided you want to do more track work. I think, from my own experience the 5 speed box was pretty well suited to road use. If it's mainly track use from the start, then I would go for a superlight, with more power.

[Gromit37]

The mango car is an SS 135bhp with adjustable platforms... both of which are missing from mine. Also a trackday roll bar and it's lower mileage than mine (7082 v >14000 on mine). And slightly newer.

After adding the same bits to mine, I'd have spent less overall.

The Superlight sounds nice, but the age worries me slightly. It will cost me an extra £2K, which is around the same as upgrading mine (to the lower spec).

Maybe I'll try and arrange a test drive with the SL.

[Scotty996T]

Have seen both. Mango car is a S/S but apart from that, spec is low. Superlight is a bit of an acquired taste colour but I liked it when I saw it.

Our supersports have superlight/widetrack suspension, 6 speed, Big brakes. FIA rollbar, lightened flywheel and carbon bits (dash etc). Mango car is young but light in spec. Our other Gulf livery car also has LSD, race box and exhaust, brake bias - lovely bits

I'd wait if i were you. Good luck.

[Chris71]

I'd echo the comments above: it doesn't seem like a huge change in spec, I'd be tempted to stick with your existing car and possibly treat it to a few upgrades.

Haven't been watching the classifieds lately, but I'd also guess you could get better value elsewhere - the going rate for a smart privately sold Superlight seemed to be £14.5-16k back in the summer.

Edited by Chris71 on Monday 11th January 10:22

[Alex Gurr]

I swapped an Elise 111s for a 1997 Superlight, which I ran for 2 years and 20,000 miles as my only car. I ought to add that I did so with only an aeroscreen too

It was fantastic and in all honesty no more stressed than a regular roadsport. Mine was starting to get a bit tatty around the edges, with some corrosion on the suspension and chassis frames, but it lived on the street and I drove it rather than polished it.

If well looked after a Superlight should be good for years and big mileages. It will hold its value better than the Roadsport too, but if I were you and had a £17.5k budget I would be searching out an SLR.

Good luck

[Chris71]

Alex Gurr said:

It was fantastic and in all honesty no more stressed than a regular roadsport.

They're not actually that different are they?

IIRC The engine in a standard Superlight is exactly the same as the 1.6 Supersport found in many Roadsports; the gearbox, diff, wide track and big brakes are all common options on the 'lesser' cars. I think I'm right in saying it's only really the carbon bits that are intrisically Superlight and while they look nice I'd be more worried about scratching or cracking a carbon fibre mud guard or nose cone than the standard ones.

It is without doubt a great spec, but I don't see that a Superlight has a huge advantage over a similarly specced Roadsport until you start looking at the R versions.

[BertBert]

Chris71 said:

IIRC The engine in a standard Superlight is exactly the same as the 1.6 Supersport found in many Roadsports; the gearbox, diff, wide track and big brakes are all common options on the 'lesser' cars. I think I'm right in saying it's only really the carbon bits that are intrisically Superlight and while they look nice I'd be more worried about scratching or cracking a carbon fibre mud guard or nose cone than the standard ones.

You are right Chris. The original 1600 superlight was just a specific (rather brilliant) configuration. 1600 k-supersport, 6speed, no screen, no heater, carbon front, rear wings and nosecone, apollo tank, big front brakes, LSD, no weather gear, no wipers, widetrack, harnesses no inertia belts, quick rack, ACB10s, minilite wheels, standard seats (before tillets), carbon dash, cutout switch (option?) and probably a few more.

So no more stressed than a 1600 SS roadsport. Poss less so as it was lighter.

Bert

[Gromit37]

Thanks for the advice guys. I've discounted the mango roadsport, but still thinking about the SL. Caterham Midlands aren't doing any test drives due to the weather, so I can go and see it, but not drive it yet :-)

For mine, I had in mind adding the SS cams, anti cavitation tank, adjustable platforms and some 175/55/R13 CR500 tyres (I've currently got 13" rims on 185/70/R13) for which I'll be charged around £2200 all in.

Caterham say mine's worth circa £14K as is and the SL is £15,950, so the cost is the same either way.

SL has LSD, my car doesn't.
I have a 5 spd box on mine, SL has 6 spd.
Widetrack superlight suspension against my standard kit.
Upgraded brakes on the SL, standard on mine.

Does these make a huge difference for spirited road driving?

Ian

[Tango7]

Gromit37 said:

For mine, I had in mind adding the SS cams, anti cavitation tank, adjustable platforms and some 175/55/R13 CR500 tyres (I've currently got 13" rims on 185/70/R13) for which I'll be charged around £2200 all in.

Caterham say mine's worth circa £14K as is and the SL is £15,950, so the cost is the same either way.

SL has LSD, my car doesn't.
I have a 5 spd box on mine, SL has 6 spd.
Widetrack superlight suspension against my standard kit.
Upgraded brakes on the SL, standard on mine.

Does these make a huge difference for spirited road driving?

Ian

I think you will find the Superlight to be eye-opening in comparison to your current car. The 6 speed box will transform the car and make it feel much more responsive to your driving and they make excellent A road blatting cars. Having the LSD / 6 speed box / big brakes and widetrack would cost well over £2,500+ even at secondhand prices plus fitting. Aeroscreen it and I reckon you would be pretty happy for a fast road car for a while to come!

[Scotty996T]

Ian, we have all those upgrades on our yellow Supersport and it's a big favourite with customers. I've driven cars without that spec and you can feel the difference. The Gulf car has an LSD and I love it even more. Also has Superlight R split rims and larger CR500 rears - huge grip. Six speed is great fun and lightened flywheel takes away a bit of inertia which also feels good. Best of luck.

Scott.

[Gromit37]

Thanks folks. Still waiting on Caterham Midlands for a test drive.

[Chris71]

Gromit37 said:

Caterham say mine's worth circa £14K as is and the SL is £15,950, so the cost is the same either way.

If that's the case I'd buy the Superlight.

I could have sworn the price difference was greater than that when I was looking. Plus, if yours doesn't have things like the 6 speed 'box already then obviously this will make a bigger difference than just putting some carbon fibre bling on a near-SL spec car.

Do you know much about the history of the car? I'm sure it was a one off mistake, but I nearly got caught out by a Superlight on sale at Caterham South that wasn't what it claimed to be.

[BertBert]

Gromit37 said:

Caterham say mine's worth circa £14K as is and the SL is £15,950, so the cost is the same either way.

Ian, what do they mean by "worth"? Are they prepared to pay you that in px? Or what they think you can sell it for? If the latter, are they bigging it up to get you to buy the SL from them?

Bert

[Gromit37]

Bert, they would give me circa £14K in PX, but as I bought mine for £16K around 15 months ago, I can't complain too much. I've trebled the mileage on it since then.

There seems to be a shortage of 2nd hand cars at the moment