R300, R400 or Superlight R

[L100NYY]

Having just sold my R300 I have now realised that I cannot live without a Caterham. I would like advice as to which is the best bet - an R300, R400 or a Superlight R. Is an R400 really worth £10k more than a Superlight R? I have driven all three but not back to back and plan to do this next tuesday all being well, but some thoughts from you guys beforehand would be much appreciated.

[jeremyc]

What is your budget, and what do you want the car for (road/track)?

Clearly Superlight Rs are the best.


And yellow ones are the fastest.

[rubystone]

In short, no - IMHO. But then I haven't driven an R400 but cannot imagine that roller barrels really make all that much difference.

Ray Cheung sold his SLR for £17k recently - prices are coming down on SLRs and I guess will continue to be depressed as more R400s are sold on in the secondhand market.

If you haven't driven a VHPD engined car, do - it'll make your R300 seem slow

I've just been out for a serious blat in my 200 bhp Caterham and cannot wipe the grin off my face

[iguana]

Ruby, how much was that cheap SLR on blatchat a little while back? circ £14k i seem to remeber, think it had seen a fair bit of track frollics, but even so it was (comparitivly) not a lot of dough for a heck of a lot of go

[jeremyc]

I don't think an R400 is going to give you noticably more over an SLR unless you want a newer car, change-up lights and RTBs.

I'd concur with Rubystone though: if you've had an R300 you must try an SLR/R400.

[rubystone]

Iguana - Simon Scott's car? £13,995 was what he sold it for - I know the car pretty well - Richard Phillips took me out in it at a SELOC day at North Weald - the bugger beat me in every event except the "wet bend" and I cracked a c/f front wing on the slalom in my SLR trying to better his time

Nothing wrong with it and actually a lot tidier than a number of SLRs I've looked at. Simon also owns the James Fielding SLR racecar that Murph355 and I nearly bought a couple of years ago (we didn't buy it as the engine had seen better days - as Mark Collins discovered later).

[L100NYY]

Sorry not been near a computer to reply. The car will be used for both trackdays and road driving and having spoken to Caterham they reckon that an SLR is the one to go for despite being that bit older. They describe the SLR as being more 'raw' feeling than an R300 which certainly appeals to me! All I've got to do is study my finances in great detail over the weekend and let my head and heart fight it out between them!

[jeremyc]

L100NYY said:

... an SLR is the one to go for despite being that bit older. All I've got to do is study my finances in great detail over the weekend and let my head and heart fight it out between them!

Good choice. And good luck with the head/heart thing - as we know, the heart usually wins.

[L100NYY]

Thanks again for your input, much appreciated. I will let you know how I get on but I've got a funny feeling the result will be an SLR I just want to make sure that I get it right.

[jeremyc]

If you are using it on the track I would recommend you try and find one which has a dry sump fitted.

[L100NYY]

Yes that is certainly something that I need to find. The R300 I've just sold didn't have a dry sump but the Superlight before that did and it does make a difference if only for peace of mind. I just can't wait to get back in a Caterham again as my company car doesn't have quite the same thrill factor!