Goodbye 911 hello Caterham - but which one?

[huwdm]

Decided to sell my 997 911 and get a Caterham instead.
Just not sure what type so any advice appreciated.
Would like to spend about £20k but flexible down and up.
Will be using frequently on track days.
Would like something factory built and fairly new and standard as my engine skills are non existent.
Was thinking R400 - not sure if budget will stretch to R500.
I live in South Wales so closest dealer appears to be Millwood Motor Company near Stroud.
Any thoughts in any of above welcome.

[ewenm]

Definitely talk to the guys at Millwood - they are very friendly and helpful.

[EVS777]

Ah Huw , You've seen the light!!! Theres not too many Superlights out there at the moment! for 20k you are really looking at a Rover K engined car, theres a nice red R400k on Caterham classifieds for £23k , 200bhp..which is a good bhp for road and track!If You could stretch to £28k there a cracking yellow R400 Duratec SV with less than 2000miles on the clock,210bhp, that new has got to be £35k +, seems alot of car for the money!! It was a bit of a squeeze when you sat in mine (no offence!!) and the walking boots didn't help!! so an SV widebodied car may fit you better, I dont think Millwoods has too many cars in stock at moment, so maybe have a day out to one of Caterham dealerships or even better hire one for the day, but they are standard roadsports 125bhp which will feel quick at first,but they would give you a test drive in all the Superlights even R500 if you really interested I would think, probably take your 997 p/x too!!

[taffyracer]

definitely go for R400, I bought a VVC from Millwoods but always hankered after an R400, so swapped engines to an R400 last year and it was all that I expected it to be, great mix for track/road and reliability. I'm actually going the other way, I sold my 7 and will be soon swapping into a 997 but will be back in an R400 before too long.

Millwood's are great to deal with, Jon is a real decent bloke

[StephenDJM]

EVS777 said:

If You could stretch to £28k there a cracking yellow R400 Duratec SV with less than 2000miles on the clock,210bhp, that new has got to be £35k +, seems alot of car for the money!! It was a bit of a squeeze when you sat in mine (no offence!!) and the walking boots didn't help!! so an SV widebodied car may fit you better

Thats my old mans SV in classifieds. We put it on there today. Think its putting out in the region of 250bhp. I am 6ft 3' and I need to put the seat forward to drive it, just to give you an idea if space is an issue. The car was bought through Jon at Millwood who knows the car well, so probably just need to ask him.

Edited by StephenDJM on Monday 19th April 23:23

[S47]

Hugh
Tintop to a real sportscar - are you man enough? can your hairdo take the pressure?
Hope to blat with you when/if you buy one.
Mal

[sjc]

StephenDJM said:

EVS777 said:

If You could stretch to £28k there a cracking yellow R400 Duratec SV with less than 2000miles on the clock,210bhp, that new has got to be £35k +, seems alot of car for the money!! It was a bit of a squeeze when you sat in mine (no offence!!) and the walking boots didn't help!! so an SV widebodied car may fit you better

Thats my old mans SV in classifieds. We put it on there today. Think its putting out in the region of 250bhp. I am 6ft 3' and I need to put the seat forward to drive it, just to give you an idea if space is an issue. The car was bought through Jon at Millwood who knows the car well, so probably just need to ask him.

Edited by StephenDJM on Monday 19th April 23:23

Have PM'ed via the advert with a few questions.

[Chris71]

If you want to spend a lot of time on track then there are cheaper ways to get R400/500 performance. There are plenty of 'lesser' Caterhams modified to that sort of performance. You see a reasonable number of K-Series Superlight Rs are the like that have been taken to over 200bhp for way less than £20k.

I do understand the appeal of a factory standard car, but bear in mind there are a number of very reputable Caterham specialists and a lot of knowledge out there. A modified car doesn't have to be a DIY job built to a non-standard spec by a greasy oik. Many are built with the same care as the factory cars and often the upgrades are actually the same - Caterham don't grind cams or program ECUs in-house, so you can buy the same bits off the shelf. If you take your standard K-Series to Caterham they can uprate it to full R400 spec, for example. Servicing, parts availability, reliability and so on will all be the same whether it left the factory at that spec or was converted later on. The downside is the cars tend to be more spartan (race seats, full cage etc) and they will be worth less than a 'real' example, but if you want a cost effective way of getting on track they'd be great.

Either way, have fun. Just be warned, they're addictive.

[MikeO996]

If it's any help - I've just bought an R300 and suddenly my 996 feels very sluggish - on paper the difference isn't huge 0-60, but the lack of inertia means instant go. Hugely quicker through the twisty bits - but obviously is a lot more of a toy rather than a day to day car.

[rubystone]

Test drive the new Duratec R300 - it's all the Caterham that you will ever need IMHO - broad torque curve yet revvy engine, easy to lap consistently on a trackday, good handling once set up (and I think the "race" setup was not too extreme for the road too). A very good car indeed.

I went from 285bhp of 964RS (dynod fwiw) to 138bhp of Caterham 1.6 Supersport back in 2001. Took me 6 months to learn how to drive the thing and then I needed more power....I went to a Superlight R and enjoyed that a lot...yet I bet that the DR300 is every bit as quick as that SLR was.

HTH

[huwdm]

The search continues. Went to Millwood Motor Company today. Very helpful guy and I learnt alot. Unfortunately nothing used there for me today but he is looking. I think based on comments will concentrate on looking for R400 or R300.