Caterham race fuel usage ?

[Dibba]

Does anyone here race a Caterham 7 in the CSCC Magnificent Sevens series ?

If, so, I need some advice please ........... how much fuel do you use in the 40 minute races please ?

I have a K series R400 which I am hoping to enter later this year but it only has the small bag tank (30 litres I believe), so in reality I would only have ~ 25-26 litres of fuel for a 40 minute race ...........

Thanks in advance for your assistance.
Steve

[factor7]

It depends both on where you race and how you race but when I was running 7's, we used to find that a K-Series R400 would use up to 44 litres of fuel per hour (so 30 litres for 40 minutes). The other problem with the smaller tanks is "surge".

Steve

[Dibba]

Hi Steve,

Very many thanks for the information.

Looks like I need a new (larger) bag tank for a 40 minute race - looks like the next ATL one up for the Caterham is the 55 litre version - the price is going to hurt though !

[Kickstart]

The plus point with a bigger tank is that when you go to Spa you can run for the full hour

[sfaulds]

You should be ok with the smaller (32l) tank, assmuing it's all plumbed internally as it should be. We've run 40 minutes at Spa before, and that's without the mandatory pitstop the CSCC have. It'll be tight though.

[Dibba]

sfaulds said:

You should be ok with the smaller (32l) tank, assmuing it's all plumbed internally as it should be. We've run 40 minutes at Spa before, and that's without the mandatory pitstop the CSCC have. It'll be tight though.

Hi - that's very interesting - was that a K series R400 / R500 that you ran at Spa ?.
Apologies for my lack of knowledge, but can you expand on what you mean by "all plumbed internally as it should be" please ?
I have not spent a lot of time looking at the details of the tank yet, but it definately has an external fuel pump.

Many thanks for your help.

[Graham]

IF you stick the 55l tank in there you can come and join our 1 hour spa race in October, without having to refuel :-)

[taffyracer]

Graham, sounds interesting, email sent

[jimmyslr]

I am racing tomorrow and I can categorically assure you that 15 litres will be just right for 40 mins

I used to use 24 litres in 40 mins, but the engine has just been rebuilt, remapped and fuelling changed so I'll probably just fill the tank and see what happens. It's maybe 10 extra kilos which is really a slighly lardier driver so not end of world.

I'll be in the silver Superlight R with orange nose band, no 16. See you tomorrow

James

[andy rob]

I cant belive you will only use 24ltrs in 40 min race ?
even my Xr2 uses 1 ltr/min & the falcon uses well over 2 ltrs/min

[jimmyslr]

andy rob said:

I cant belive you will only use 24ltrs in 40 min race ?
even my Xr2 uses 1 ltr/min & the falcon uses well over 2 ltrs/min

Definitely was the case last year. I've just done 40 min race in Mag 7s (with a bit of safety car...) at Brands. I brimmed it as a test to see what it would use in the new configuration. What's the betting????

[sam919]

I brimmed it at Snetterton and was ok, had about 5 litres left.......although i did feel a slight stutter on the last lap, its close. Duratec 400.Standard tank should be ok.

By the way, whats the score with Spa and re-fuelling?! ok in the pits with a dump jug?

[jimmyslr]

jimmyslr said:

Definitely was the case last year. I've just done 40 min race in Mag 7s (with a bit of safety car...) at Brands. I brimmed it as a test to see what it would use in the new configuration. What's the betting????

Just refilled the car to see what it used in 40 mins at Brands. Answer was 22 litres... There was 5 mins of safety car so the original 24 litres is about on the money. This is a tuned 1900 k-series which was running second for much of the race until we had a safety car / driver change / tactics balls-up and muggins had to come back from 18th to 8th which is where we started (ie we weren't pootling around).

[Dibba]

jimmyslr said:

Just refilled the car to see what it used in 40 mins at Brands. Answer was 22 litres... There was 5 mins of safety car so the original 24 litres is about on the money. This is a tuned 1900 k-series which was running second for much of the race until we had a safety car / driver change / tactics balls-up and muggins had to come back from 18th to 8th which is where we started (ie we weren't pootling around).

That is excellent information - and even better news for my bank balance / overdraft as I don't need to open my wallet to buy a new bag tank !! - very many thanks.
It also sounds like you are well on the pace too - where as I have only driven my 7 once to date and so will be no doubt driving like Miss Daisy when I eventually get out to race with you at the end of the year - slow but very economical ! :-)

Many thanks again for the info.