The Caterham Experience...
Discussion
I've pretty much decided to change my motoring focus. I'm currently driving a 1969 Porsche 912 as my weekend/fun car. However the classic scene is very much on the social, driver to X and sit in a field polishing it. I don't really want to track it and classic days are pretty limited anyway (I'd rather not be on track with evo's and chavs in Corsas') it's not the easiest car to do work on either and parts can be expensive if you bend it.
I did consider a newer 911 (80's) that I could actually use but have decided against.
Next I was thinking track days and of course a '7' is perfect for this and much cheaper than an Atom or similar.
I've since discovered the Academy and that looks interesting as well.
How much space and what sort of skills do you need to build one of these? (Dad and I built a Robin Hood years back in a single garage).
What is it really going to cost me for a years racing or a years track days?
What happens if I bend it? A big bill I guess...
I've signed up for an experience day in October, will that give me a good feel for the cars?
Will my wife divorce me?
I'm quite close to Caterham so a visit is probably in order.
I did consider a newer 911 (80's) that I could actually use but have decided against.
Next I was thinking track days and of course a '7' is perfect for this and much cheaper than an Atom or similar.
I've since discovered the Academy and that looks interesting as well.
How much space and what sort of skills do you need to build one of these? (Dad and I built a Robin Hood years back in a single garage).
What is it really going to cost me for a years racing or a years track days?
What happens if I bend it? A big bill I guess...
I've signed up for an experience day in October, will that give me a good feel for the cars?
Will my wife divorce me?
I'm quite close to Caterham so a visit is probably in order.
Bullett said:
How much space and what sort of skills do you need to build one of these? (Dad and I built a Robin Hood years back in a single garage).
Single garage is enough - they are small cars. It's quite meccano-like - no need to fabricate your own bits etc. I didn't build mine but have done some fairly big work on it (engine swap) with the help of some friends.Bullett said:
What is it really going to cost me for a years racing or a years track days?
See the Academy threads for more detail but an Academy season ~£25k including test days, track days, damage, etc, but you get to keep the car at the end!Bullett said:
What happens if I bend it? A big bill I guess...
Not necessarily - depends what you do but parts are relatively cheap and you can do as much or as little as you want to yourself. Insurance is available for trackdays and racing.Bullett said:
I've signed up for an experience day in October, will that give me a good feel for the cars?
Yes, although it might be wise to leave the chequebook/credit card at home 
Bullett said:
Will my wife divorce me?
My OH loves the Caterham.If you built ANY other kit car, a Caterham is easy (really easy, my kit got delivered thursday evening and I had it running by the end of the weekend)
Academy, brilliant (my first Caterham build experience) and excellent if you want to start racing and be in a relatively level playing field. first year £22k-£25k but with a racing car to keep at the end
However, if you know you want to race, buy second hand racing car, RSB RSA or grads car and junp in the deep end
If you want to see what the grads have to offer we're at Snett in a few weeks www.graduates.org.uk
if you have a major prang, enough to properly bend the chassis, it's about 3-5 large to get someone else to do it or £2k and a lot of running round to do it yourself
Academy, brilliant (my first Caterham build experience) and excellent if you want to start racing and be in a relatively level playing field. first year £22k-£25k but with a racing car to keep at the end
However, if you know you want to race, buy second hand racing car, RSB RSA or grads car and junp in the deep end
If you want to see what the grads have to offer we're at Snett in a few weeks www.graduates.org.uk
if you have a major prang, enough to properly bend the chassis, it's about 3-5 large to get someone else to do it or £2k and a lot of running round to do it yourself
A Caterham is a great track car, properly driven only something mega-powerful will be quicker round a lap on a trackday. I started with trackdays in 2004 in an old ex-race Caterham, then decided I wanted to go racing when I got sick of being held up by badly-driven 911s round the bends.
I looked at both Grads and Academy and decided that I didn't want to sprint or hillclimb, and that I could have 3 times the number of races for half the money in Grads. Of course the downside of that is you miss out on all novices together, though to be fair I think the Academy has moved away from that concept a bit, as people seem to be spending a lot of money and taking it very seriously these days.
Bending it on trackdays is very rare unless you're driving like a total arse; you're much more likely to have a mechanical failure so make sure whatever you track is well-prepared. I didn't in my trackday year, but was relatively lucky and lots of people helped me out as I didn't know one end of a spanner from another. And still don't, pretty much.
Racing is a whole other kettle of worms, thankfully big smashes are very rare and the Grads (and some other series) have centralised tech support who can fix almost anything to get you back out racing. At the upper end of Caterham racing like R300s they all run pro team support but that's monumentally expensive in comparison and much less of a friendly paddock than the more basic, cheaper cars.
Caterham will doubtless try to get you into a car on your experience day, after all they are in business and that business is selling cars. The Grads is a non-profit member-run club and one of our mantras is to keep costs down as far as possible. As Incorrigible says why not come along to Snetterton and have a look and a chat...?
I looked at both Grads and Academy and decided that I didn't want to sprint or hillclimb, and that I could have 3 times the number of races for half the money in Grads. Of course the downside of that is you miss out on all novices together, though to be fair I think the Academy has moved away from that concept a bit, as people seem to be spending a lot of money and taking it very seriously these days.
Bending it on trackdays is very rare unless you're driving like a total arse; you're much more likely to have a mechanical failure so make sure whatever you track is well-prepared. I didn't in my trackday year, but was relatively lucky and lots of people helped me out as I didn't know one end of a spanner from another. And still don't, pretty much.
Racing is a whole other kettle of worms, thankfully big smashes are very rare and the Grads (and some other series) have centralised tech support who can fix almost anything to get you back out racing. At the upper end of Caterham racing like R300s they all run pro team support but that's monumentally expensive in comparison and much less of a friendly paddock than the more basic, cheaper cars.
Caterham will doubtless try to get you into a car on your experience day, after all they are in business and that business is selling cars. The Grads is a non-profit member-run club and one of our mantras is to keep costs down as far as possible. As Incorrigible says why not come along to Snetterton and have a look and a chat...?
Thanks for all the advice.
Grads certainly sounds interesting. (Especially if it can be done cheaper than Academy) The CA appealed for the all in nature and beginners package. I think I'll try and take a look at both. I do want to race, I've enjoyed Club100 Karting and the odd experience but haven't done any track days at all. Hence not really wanting to drop myself too far in to the deep end.
I guess my concerns over race incidents is the cost rather than the personal risk. I don't want to be holding back for fear of the cost, I want to compete but I can't afford to throw money away.
I think I have guests on the w/e 25th but I'll see what I can do. It's quite a way over to Norfolk! I also notice there is an Acadamy day at Brands in October.
Assuming the car is £18k what are the other year one costs?
Safety gear - Helmet, race suit, gloves, boots. Anything else?
Transport? - Trailer rent or buy? I have an Octavia to tow with.
Anything else I will need to go racing?
Ongoing costs
Fuel?
Spares and repairs?
Accomodation
Track and test days?
Instructors?
Entrance fees, license fees?
Grads certainly sounds interesting. (Especially if it can be done cheaper than Academy) The CA appealed for the all in nature and beginners package. I think I'll try and take a look at both. I do want to race, I've enjoyed Club100 Karting and the odd experience but haven't done any track days at all. Hence not really wanting to drop myself too far in to the deep end.
I guess my concerns over race incidents is the cost rather than the personal risk. I don't want to be holding back for fear of the cost, I want to compete but I can't afford to throw money away.
I think I have guests on the w/e 25th but I'll see what I can do. It's quite a way over to Norfolk! I also notice there is an Acadamy day at Brands in October.
Assuming the car is £18k what are the other year one costs?
Safety gear - Helmet, race suit, gloves, boots. Anything else?
Transport? - Trailer rent or buy? I have an Octavia to tow with.
Anything else I will need to go racing?
Ongoing costs
Fuel?
Spares and repairs?
Accomodation
Track and test days?
Instructors?
Entrance fees, license fees?
The main costs of getting started are in this paper from the Grads site (or follow the link on the homepage) http://www.graduates.org.uk/2010/docs/Start%20raci...
It is written primarily for Classic Grads, Supers are £2-3k dearer to buy at around £11k and Megas are more like £12k. Sigmas are the newest ex-Academy/RSB cars with a metric chassis and Ford engine and they will have their own class next year, but I have yet to see one under £14k.
The cost of doing the Academy will be in many respects the same, the main difference is you pay for the brand new car.
We have our final championship round at Thruxton on 17 October if that's closer to home!! Or if you're anywhere near Newbury in Berkshire you're welcome to drop round and I'll show you a racecar or two!!
Oh, and if you've done Club100 you may know some of the guys who've done Grads as well - Tony Barson, Mark Roberts and Mike Rowland have all done both.
It is written primarily for Classic Grads, Supers are £2-3k dearer to buy at around £11k and Megas are more like £12k. Sigmas are the newest ex-Academy/RSB cars with a metric chassis and Ford engine and they will have their own class next year, but I have yet to see one under £14k.
The cost of doing the Academy will be in many respects the same, the main difference is you pay for the brand new car.
We have our final championship round at Thruxton on 17 October if that's closer to home!! Or if you're anywhere near Newbury in Berkshire you're welcome to drop round and I'll show you a racecar or two!!
Oh, and if you've done Club100 you may know some of the guys who've done Grads as well - Tony Barson, Mark Roberts and Mike Rowland have all done both.
Edited by coyoteracer11 on Friday 3rd September 16:23
coyoteracer11 said:
The main costs of getting started are in this paper from the Grads site (or follow the link on the homepage) http://www.graduates.org.uk/2010/docs/Start%20raci...
It is written primarily for Classic Grads, Supers are £2-3k dearer to buy at around £11k and Megas are more like £12k. Sigmas are the newest ex-Academy/RSB cars with a metric chassis and Ford engine and they will have their own class next year, but I have yet to see one under £14k.
The cost of doing the Academy will be in many respects the same, the main difference is you pay for the brand new car.
We have our final championship round at Thruxton on 17 October if that's closer to home!! Or if you're anywhere near Newbury in Berkshire you're welcome to drop round and I'll show you a racecar or two!!
Oh, and if you've done Club100 you may know some of the guys who've done Grads as well - Tony Barson, Mark Roberts and Mike Rowland have all done both.
Where are you then? Only reason I ask is I'm newbury too. Would love to drive thruxton in the 300.It is written primarily for Classic Grads, Supers are £2-3k dearer to buy at around £11k and Megas are more like £12k. Sigmas are the newest ex-Academy/RSB cars with a metric chassis and Ford engine and they will have their own class next year, but I have yet to see one under £14k.
The cost of doing the Academy will be in many respects the same, the main difference is you pay for the brand new car.
We have our final championship round at Thruxton on 17 October if that's closer to home!! Or if you're anywhere near Newbury in Berkshire you're welcome to drop round and I'll show you a racecar or two!!
Oh, and if you've done Club100 you may know some of the guys who've done Grads as well - Tony Barson, Mark Roberts and Mike Rowland have all done both.
Edited by coyoteracer11 on Friday 3rd September 16:23
Bullett said:
Brilliant document, explains it all clearly. Thanks.
I actually live in Sandhurst so Newbury is just up the road for me. Thanks for the offer.
No probs, and thanks, I wrote that! I am the Grads Club "new drivers" person. If you want to drop round at some point PM me, I have 2 racecars here at the moment (mine and a friend's, until Snett weekend in 3 weeks anyway) - one Supergrad one Megagrad.I actually live in Sandhurst so Newbury is just up the road for me. Thanks for the offer.
PW - I'm at Greenham Common. Don't want to be any more precise on a public forum!
coyoteracer11 said:
Bullett said:
Brilliant document, explains it all clearly. Thanks.
I actually live in Sandhurst so Newbury is just up the road for me. Thanks for the offer.
No probs, and thanks, I wrote that! I am the Grads Club "new drivers" person. If you want to drop round at some point PM me, I have 2 racecars here at the moment (mine and a friend's, until Snett weekend in 3 weeks anyway) - one Supergrad one Megagrad.I actually live in Sandhurst so Newbury is just up the road for me. Thanks for the offer.
PW - I'm at Greenham Common. Don't want to be any more precise on a public forum!
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