What Caterham 7 for £21k !?
Discussion
Hi all,
I'm seriously looking at getting myself a quick Caterham 7.
Ideally used, and I'm after something blisteringly fast. The practicality issues etc are not going to be a problem for me as it will be a real weekend car, with the occasional track day (maybe 3 a summer.....not much at all).
I love the Superlight/SuperlightR/R500 and their new incarnations R300/R400/R500....and ideally would like a superlight based chassis. I'd like an aeroscreen (is that what they're called?!) too, I'm not bothered about a window and/or doors.
So........my question is to everyone, what would I be looking at for £21k !?! Also, related to this, does the running cost increase dramtically as you go up through the range (R300/400/500) ? I'll be doing about 4 - 5k miles a yr in it
Thanks all for any help you can give
Tony
I'm seriously looking at getting myself a quick Caterham 7.
Ideally used, and I'm after something blisteringly fast. The practicality issues etc are not going to be a problem for me as it will be a real weekend car, with the occasional track day (maybe 3 a summer.....not much at all).
I love the Superlight/SuperlightR/R500 and their new incarnations R300/R400/R500....and ideally would like a superlight based chassis. I'd like an aeroscreen (is that what they're called?!) too, I'm not bothered about a window and/or doors.
So........my question is to everyone, what would I be looking at for £21k !?! Also, related to this, does the running cost increase dramtically as you go up through the range (R300/400/500) ? I'll be doing about 4 - 5k miles a yr in it
Thanks all for any help you can give
Tony
That'll get you a good Superlight R and maybe even an R400.
Maintenance costs increase sharply once you get to the R500.
When looking give some consideration to how you want to use the car: mostly road, mostly track or a mixture. This will dictate the relative importance of dry sump, wheel/tyre types, weatherproof gear etc.
Oh, and good choice.
Edited to add: check the classifieds here on PH, on www.blatchat.com, www.bookatrack.com and www.caterham.co.uk.
>> Edited by jeremyc on Tuesday 19th August 15:39
Maintenance costs increase sharply once you get to the R500.
When looking give some consideration to how you want to use the car: mostly road, mostly track or a mixture. This will dictate the relative importance of dry sump, wheel/tyre types, weatherproof gear etc.
Oh, and good choice.
Edited to add: check the classifieds here on PH, on www.blatchat.com, www.bookatrack.com and www.caterham.co.uk.
>> Edited by jeremyc on Tuesday 19th August 15:39
Cheers guys,
Ideally I want to get an opportunity to take out both an R300 and an R400 to compare the 2 - so a trip up to Caterham next week I think.
I've taken a look around blatchat.com and caterham.co.uk and tho nothing there at the moment that tickles my fancy, I will keep on returning to see.
I've never really been a massive fan of 7's, but I've just spent the weekend in Minister Power's 2.3 Ford Duratec demo car....absolutely AWESOMELY quick and, quite frankly, I've fallen in love !
I'll do only a couple of track days, so it will be 99% road miles. Like I say, I fancy the idea of an aero screen - no window or doors or anything like that. Also quite want the R500 Kevlar seats - I think they are brilliant.
Thanks again for all the comments guys - much appreciated
Tony
Ideally I want to get an opportunity to take out both an R300 and an R400 to compare the 2 - so a trip up to Caterham next week I think.
I've taken a look around blatchat.com and caterham.co.uk and tho nothing there at the moment that tickles my fancy, I will keep on returning to see.
I've never really been a massive fan of 7's, but I've just spent the weekend in Minister Power's 2.3 Ford Duratec demo car....absolutely AWESOMELY quick and, quite frankly, I've fallen in love !
I'll do only a couple of track days, so it will be 99% road miles. Like I say, I fancy the idea of an aero screen - no window or doors or anything like that. Also quite want the R500 Kevlar seats - I think they are brilliant.
Thanks again for all the comments guys - much appreciated
Tony
tonyhetherington said:Get the plastic ones instead; look the same from a distance (and when people are sitting in them) and save you a small fortune.
Also quite want the R500 Kevlar seats - I think they are brilliant.
Unless you choose your roads very carefully you might get fed up with the aeroscreen for so much road use. There again, there are those who travel to Le Mans with no windscreen so it can be done....
tonyhetherington said:Yes, but it isn't an instant swap. You need to swap the scuttles, and connect up the wipers, heated windscreen and washers (at least thats the way it is on mine).
hmmmm.
Is it possible / viable to have an aeroscreen, and fit a windscreen on as and when needed (or vice-versa) !?
I guess it might be possible to have both aeroscreen and windscreen able to be fitted to the one scuttle with all the windscreen wipers/washers fitted, but think of all that extra weight you'd be carrying around.
I'm going to have to have a long hard think about aeroscreen vs windscreen I guess!
Thing is - I'm not looking for practicality in the slightest. I'll probably wear a helmet when driving it if I have an aeroscreen.
I'm after sheer fun, raw speed, and REAL driver's car that I can be proud of and take care of.
I think a Caterham 7 might be it .........?
Thing is - I'm not looking for practicality in the slightest. I'll probably wear a helmet when driving it if I have an aeroscreen.
I'm after sheer fun, raw speed, and REAL driver's car that I can be proud of and take care of.
I think a Caterham 7 might be it .........?
Tony,
The new range (R300, £400 and R500) come with the option (at a cost) of an interchangeable aeroscreen. That is they can be specced with full weather gear so they have a scuttle with windscreen, windscreen wipers etc fitted, you can very easily then remove the windsreen and doors (in about 10 minutes) and then fit the interchangeable aeroscreen (complete with mirrors and rear view mirror) which uses the same fixings as the windscreen (about 5 minutes).
However if you decide to buy this after buying a car I think the fibre glass one is about £350 + mirrors and the CF one is >£500 + mirrors.
When I bought my SL (2nd hand) it had been fitted from new with a CF aeroscreen and therefore it had a light weight scuttle with no wiper mechanism etc.
I decided I wanted to use it on the road so paid CC to fit weather gear which entailed changing the scuttle. After a couple of months I decided it was much more fun with an Aeroscreen so stripped all the weather gear off and fitted another aeroscreen (the JPE perspexs type for £170). So now I can interchange between windscreen or aeroscreen in about 30 minutes (if I had any inclination to refit the windscreen which I don't
).
FWIW If I were in your position I'd buy a 2nd hand SLR with weather gear and then spend £300 on a JPE aeroscreen and CF mirrors. As has also been mentioned if you're planning on doing trackwork then I'd definitely go for a dry sump system.
BTW How did you manage to get a go in a Duratech? I've been investigating the option of putting a 250bhp Duratech into my SL but would like to try one first
cheers,
Mike.
The new range (R300, £400 and R500) come with the option (at a cost) of an interchangeable aeroscreen. That is they can be specced with full weather gear so they have a scuttle with windscreen, windscreen wipers etc fitted, you can very easily then remove the windsreen and doors (in about 10 minutes) and then fit the interchangeable aeroscreen (complete with mirrors and rear view mirror) which uses the same fixings as the windscreen (about 5 minutes).
However if you decide to buy this after buying a car I think the fibre glass one is about £350 + mirrors and the CF one is >£500 + mirrors
. When I bought my SL (2nd hand) it had been fitted from new with a CF aeroscreen and therefore it had a light weight scuttle with no wiper mechanism etc.
I decided I wanted to use it on the road so paid CC to fit weather gear which entailed changing the scuttle. After a couple of months I decided it was much more fun with an Aeroscreen so stripped all the weather gear off and fitted another aeroscreen (the JPE perspexs type for £170). So now I can interchange between windscreen or aeroscreen in about 30 minutes (if I had any inclination to refit the windscreen which I don't
). FWIW If I were in your position I'd buy a 2nd hand SLR with weather gear and then spend £300 on a JPE aeroscreen and CF mirrors. As has also been mentioned if you're planning on doing trackwork then I'd definitely go for a dry sump system.
BTW How did you manage to get a go in a Duratech? I've been investigating the option of putting a 250bhp Duratech into my SL but would like to try one first
cheers,
Mike.
Thanks for all the comments guys,
Mike - definately worth a thought that. That way I have a slight degree of practicality in the windscreen (and consequently wet weather gear) for when it's needed). I went to play in the Duratec because my best mate works for Minister Power (who build road and race engines, as well as cars themselves for 7's, elises, exiges) and the Duratec is their demo car). Absolutely sodding AWESOME!!!
Here...can you put a tonneau type cover over the passenger side and around the drive with just an aeroscreen on !?
If you seriously are considering, drop me an e-mail at tony_hetherington@hotmail.com and I'll try and help you sort out a test drive.
They're based in Lordswood, Kent (chatham junction of M2).
Mungo: thanks !
Pablo: I will be doing a few European track days. Spa I have done but will hope to do a few others too in the Caterham (if I get one) - as I have a few European based friends so it's a good opportunity.
Adam...well it's not so much decided against the Cerbera. Basically, I've spent months looking into them. They are lovely cars (awesome) and I've met some really nice people who have helped me in looking. However, recently TVR insurance has doubled for me - I'm now going to be looking at £3500 to insure it. That plus the ever present risk of getting an unreliable one (no matter how much you look into it and learn, there is always the risk) basically means that I am forced to take the sensible route and maybe put it off for a year or two. Dont get me wrong though - I WILL own one !!!
I'm now really looking into the Caterham because of the weekend I just spent in one. Phenominal car which I quite literally fell in love with.
Thanks again everyone for your comments - greatly appreciated
Mike - definately worth a thought that. That way I have a slight degree of practicality in the windscreen (and consequently wet weather gear) for when it's needed). I went to play in the Duratec because my best mate works for Minister Power (who build road and race engines, as well as cars themselves for 7's, elises, exiges) and the Duratec is their demo car). Absolutely sodding AWESOME!!!
Here...can you put a tonneau type cover over the passenger side and around the drive with just an aeroscreen on !?
If you seriously are considering, drop me an e-mail at tony_hetherington@hotmail.com and I'll try and help you sort out a test drive.
They're based in Lordswood, Kent (chatham junction of M2).
Mungo: thanks !
Pablo: I will be doing a few European track days. Spa I have done but will hope to do a few others too in the Caterham (if I get one) - as I have a few European based friends so it's a good opportunity.
Adam...well it's not so much decided against the Cerbera. Basically, I've spent months looking into them. They are lovely cars (awesome) and I've met some really nice people who have helped me in looking. However, recently TVR insurance has doubled for me - I'm now going to be looking at £3500 to insure it. That plus the ever present risk of getting an unreliable one (no matter how much you look into it and learn, there is always the risk) basically means that I am forced to take the sensible route and maybe put it off for a year or two. Dont get me wrong though - I WILL own one !!!
I'm now really looking into the Caterham because of the weekend I just spent in one. Phenominal car which I quite literally fell in love with.
Thanks again everyone for your comments - greatly appreciated
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