Hello, I've ordered a Supersport 140

[framerateuk]

Far Cough said:

Half hood for me would interfere with getting in and out the thing - I`m rather tall !

How did you work that one out? If anything there's a little more room getting in with a half hood...

[ghibbett]

anniesdad said:

As far as noise is concerned I must say that the trackday exhaust on mine is on the right side of noisy, certainly at this moment in time I don't feel the need for a peashooter.

There's no doubt about it, the peashooter is seriously loud. I drive with decent ear plugs and even then it's loud. When I pull up onto the drive, I often remove an ear plug and am shocked at how loud it is.

However on the positive side, the Wife reckons she can hear me coming from a good half mile away, thus can get a cuppa on the boil

[downsman]

Talking about hoods/half hoods:

1. I can't believe there is no zip on the full hood now, the ventilation trick works really well, but the brilliant thing with the zip is it makes it really easy to get luggage out of the boot which the full hood keeps really dry.

2. I'm pretty tall and wonder about access with a half hood because at least the full hood is quite a bit higher once your head is through the aperture.
I like the look of the easy in zips soft bits do, but can anyone tell me how much they leak and whether the hood flaps around more than a half hood without the zips?

Duncan

[Mellow7]

ghibbett said:

There's no doubt about it, the peashooter is seriously loud. I drive with decent ear plugs and even then it's loud. When I pull up onto the drive, I often remove an ear plug and am shocked at how loud it is.

However on the positive side, the Wife reckons she can hear me coming from a good half mile away, thus can get a cuppa on the boil

Or the milkman off the premises....

[Mellow7]

ghibbett said:

There's no doubt about it, the peashooter is seriously loud. I drive with decent ear plugs and even then it's loud. When I pull up onto the drive, I often remove an ear plug and am shocked at how loud it is.

However on the positive side, the Wife reckons she can hear me coming from a good half mile away, thus can get a cuppa on the boil

Or the milkman off the premises....

[SidewaysSi]

Sounds like a couple of you have come from GT3s. I'd be interested to know how the Supersport 140 compares to the Porsche as a fun car on the road. I have my eye on a GT3 or something air cooled but need it to be fun on the road and not just when sliding around a track.

[anniesdad]

Far Cough said:

Bit late to the party here but congrats on your new toy. Looks lovely

Caterham are a funny lot .... you pay thousands and thousands of pounds and get a car that doesn`t quite work properly ! Yet, we as owners and buyers put up with it and treat it like TADTS !! Imagine walking into a Porsche dealer and putting £30k across the counter and the salesman says , "oh , by the way , the electric window doesnt work and neither does the heater" .... you`d be furious !!!

Not had mine long either so I`m still learning all about the perky little car. Observations so far are

Full hood is superb - with practice takes minutes if less to put up. I have no zip in the rear window as has been mentioned but mine does not steam up. Half hood for me would interfere with getting in and out the thing - I`m rather tall !
The car demands many "little 2 minute jobs" - like tightening a stud - calibrating the speedo - oil level check - touch up where the doors rub the bodywork etc etc - it keeps me entertained
People are very courteous to you out on the road - a huge noticeable difference from the GT3
You feel particularly vulnerable parked next to an HGV in traffic looking at his wheelnuts !
Again , having come from a GT3 - everything is so cheap

What plans do you have for the car ? Euro trip , trackdays ????

Thanks. Well I've not had to do too many jobs so far, I've swapped the wipers over and put a sticker on it. I've not even cleaned it yet.

The car brings universal appraisal, especially from old boys and young boys. I had chance to open it up tonight on some of my favourite roads and frankly I'm wondering why the hell I didn't get one sooner. Honestly I'm totally smitten. I never loved the GT3 the way I love this thing, and this is my third day of ownership! Plans for the car include a bit of everything. Hoping to get to Spa in Sept. a few mates are doing the 'ring in Aug but I can't make it sadly. Will be looking to book Oulton in the coming weeks. Meanwhile I'll look to find the limits of grip on a couple of car parks I know. Other than that I'll just drive it as much as I can, still got people waiting for a passenger ride the list is getting longer!

My 996 GT3 cost me a fair bit was great while it lasted but I don't miss it. My kids LOVE the Caterham whereas the GT3 simply didn't register...I want to make sure of their enthusiasm moving forward, it's important to me.

[anniesdad]

ghibbett said:

There's no doubt about it, the peashooter is seriously loud. I drive with decent ear plugs and even then it's loud. When I pull up onto the drive, I often remove an ear plug and am shocked at how loud it is.

However on the positive side, the Wife reckons she can hear me coming from a good half mile away, thus can get a cuppa on the boil

Haha brilliant! Some tell me I should get the peashooter, honestly, I'm delighted with the exhaust note as is, the requisite pops and bangs are all there and I really don't think I need it louder. I can totally understand why some might say the peashooter is a must but for me, right now, I'm not one of them.

[anniesdad]

SidewaysSi said:

Sounds like a couple of you have come from GT3s. I'd be interested to know how the Supersport 140 compares to the Porsche as a fun car on the road. I have my eye on a GT3 or something air cooled but need it to be fun on the road and not just when sliding around a track.

I don't ever remember my 996 GT3 mk2 being much "fun" on the road, it commands respect of that there's no doubt, when pressing on it's very focussed and so should you be. It's similar to the Caterham in that it rewards good driving technique but the lightweight car for me seems to be much more fun. The GT3 is a track car really...a race car with a nod to road driving. One could argue that the Caterham is too, but if it's fun your after even with my limited time behind the wheel I would say that the Caterham has it in bucketloads.

[Far Cough]

framerateuk said:

How did you work that one out? If anything there's a little more room getting in with a half hood...

I was referring to most of the guys I`ve seen with half hoods in that they leave them fitted and in position all the time. Yes I agree comparing full hood to half hood when both are up then the half hood probably gives a little more room.

I`m in the full hood camp as I like the fact that it really does a great job and makes the car nice and cosy. I drove from Spa back to the UK in torrential rain all the way with the full hood up and it performed exceptionally keeping me dry and warm. Plus it doesnt cost any extra as it came with the car !

Anniesdad - Incidentally - one very worthwhile bit of kit to get is a long nose shower cap. Very useful when away to keep prying eyes out the car and protection too

[framerateuk]

Far Cough said:

I was referring to most of the guys I`ve seen with half hoods in that they leave them fitted and in position all the time. Yes I agree comparing full hood to half hood when both are up then the half hood probably gives a little more room.

I`m in the full hood camp as I like the fact that it really does a great job and makes the car nice and cosy. I drove from Spa back to the UK in torrential rain all the way with the full hood up and it performed exceptionally keeping me dry and warm. Plus it doesnt cost any extra as it came with the car !

Anniesdad - Incidentally - one very worthwhile bit of kit to get is a long nose shower cap. Very useful when away to keep prying eyes out the car and protection too

That's fair enough. I did a trip to the factory in Dartford on a cold November day and the full hood was quite appreciated that day. That said, I hardly ever use the hood; it's only there as a last resort if I'm caught out in the rain, or if it rains when we're touring.

Another +1 for the long nose shower cap. Fantastic piece of kit!

[anniesdad]

Had a couple of great blats in the car today. Early this morning took the car over Saddleworth on my own then this evening took Annie out...she approves! It's fantastic. No hunting this morning, car behaved impeccably, then this evening hunting but it didn't stall.

[anniesdad]

[scz4]

Looks fantastic, especially with the decal pack. Is that the cheaper non metallic yellow? Colour looks spot on.

Edited by scz4 on Monday 21st July 16:23

[knight]

Looking good

[anniesdad]

scz4 said:

Looks fantastic, especially with the decal pack. Is that the cheaper non metallic yellow? Colour looks spot on.

Edited by scz4 on Monday 21st July 16:03

Cheers, yeah its Firecracker Yellow with the Superlight decal pack.

[scz4]

Also, did the factory apply the decals for you? Or just supply. Not a cheap option, but gives the car more character.

Ride height at the rear doesn't look too bad compared to others I've seen recently. Did you request a lower ride height to standard? Can't tell if you ended up buying 8" rears which help, or stuck with 6". Like this...



Sorry last question, the "7" grill is painted black yes?

Can you tell I'm still working out my ultimate spec as a potential buyer?

Edited by scz4 on Monday 21st July 16:28

[anniesdad]

scz4 said:

Also, did the factory apply the decals for you? Or just supply. Not a cheap option, but gives the car more character.

Ride height at the rear doesn't look too bad compared to others I've seen recently. Did you request a lower ride height to standard? Can't tell if you ended up buying 8" rears which help, or stuck with 6". Like this...



Sorry last question, the "7" grill is painted black yes?

Can you tell I'm still working out my ultimate spec as a potential buyer?

Edited by scz4 on Monday 21st July 16:28

Factory supplied and applied decals. The ride height is standard Supersport and it's running 6" rears, I think those in your picture are the 8" ones, which to these eyes look somewhat weird? The "7" Grille is in standard colour which is black.

Edited by anniesdad on Monday 21st July 16:43

[ghibbett]

Good points:

Car looks cracking
Car looks cracking
Love the little 'hazardous bends' sticker
Car looks cracking

Bad points:

Northern weather! It's lovely down here (and as far as I'm concerned, this is North!)

[anniesdad]

Ha, mid morning raid after rain the day before. Cleared up later on and was cracking the flags. Really sunny and hot today, not had chance to drive the car though. The sticker is an interesting one...;)