Fitted some 13" CXRs and CR500 this morning

Fitted some 13" CXRs and CR500 this morning

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framerateuk

Original Poster:

2,730 posts

183 months

Saturday 19th April 2014
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Finally (after nearly 11 months) got round to getting my CXRs onto the car.

Off came the 15" Superlight wheels, I had some new CR500 (175/55/13 all round) fitted by a mobile fitter today. I was a bit worried where the weights would go since there's not much clearance between the rim and caliper, but thankfully there's about a 1-2 mm gap between them!

Had a quick 10 minute drive to check everything was ok (and took the chap who fitted the tyres out for a quick spin since he hadn't been on a 7 on the road before). While I didn't have a chance to throw it around, initial impressions are the ride feels a bit softer and less crashy - both positives!

Quite pleased with how they look, though the rear wheel does look a little lost in the arch compared to the 15s! Ride height should be about 1cm lower, but I already had the car running quite high since I'd planned for these a few months ago. There's not much room to increase the front height anymore, so I'll have to hope this is enough. The lower arm is parallel to the floor, so I should be ok.









Edited by framerateuk on Saturday 19th April 16:34

cyderbelly

73 posts

141 months

Saturday 19th April 2014
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You selling the 15 inch ?

framerateuk

Original Poster:

2,730 posts

183 months

Saturday 19th April 2014
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cyderbelly said:
You selling the 15 inch ?
Not yet wink

Still lots of tread left and I'm planning on wearing them out at trackdays first.

ghibbett

1,898 posts

184 months

Sunday 20th April 2014
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Hi Andy,

Looking good thumbup

Are those the new style wheels? Do you low how they compare weight-wise with the 'regular' 13"s?

Also interested to hear your thoughts once you've done a few more miles with them.

Finally, how do you get through the MOT without any cycle wing repeaters?

framerateuk

Original Poster:

2,730 posts

183 months

Sunday 20th April 2014
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ghibbett said:
Hi Andy,

Looking good thumbup

Are those the new style wheels? Do you low how they compare weight-wise with the 'regular' 13"s?

Also interested to hear your thoughts once you've done a few more miles with them.

Finally, how do you get through the MOT without any cycle wing repeaters?
They're Compomotive CXRs. I bought them before Caterham introduced the new wheel, but had no stock of the old wheel! To be honest, given how badly my 15's have flaked thanks to Caterham's paint job, I was looking for something with a better quality finish. They're a little heavier than the Caterham wheels (about 200g per wheel, they're just under 5KG), but the paint finish is excellent and I'm hoping they'll still look decent after a few years! (They're nowhere near as light as the new style Apollo wheels though, but I'm keen to hear some real world feedback on those before buying a set! Does anyone know who produce those wheels for Caterham?

No idea! I was under the impression that the cycle repeaters were a requirement for IVA but not MOT? It didn't have any when I bought it and I've had it MOT'd twice and it's never been mentioned...

Edited by framerateuk on Sunday 20th April 22:09

halstock

73 posts

137 months

Sunday 20th April 2014
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I don't have cycle wing repeaters on mine. It's only been through one MOT in my ownership (and one before) but I gather that different MOT stations/testers can view the requirements differently. They are supposed to be able to stand in line with the rear wheels and one metre away from the car and see that you have your indicator on at the front.

I spoke to my usual place beforehand to check their understanding (and flexibility) and they seemed not to have considered the possiblity of a car without side repeaters and said "we'll have to see it to decide". I then found a more Caterham-friendly place only 25 miles away (the owner has had a number of Caterhams) and they said they have passed them without before so there would be no problem (and there wasn't).

So the quick answer is it can vary from station to station but they will pass at at least some of them.

Andy




framerateuk

Original Poster:

2,730 posts

183 months

Sunday 20th April 2014
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That's interesting to hear that halstock, I've heard quite a few things on Sevens are down to the interpretation of the rules.

I wonder if the "old" style larger, higher lights on mine are one of the reason it's managed to pass? I'm pretty sure you's see the front indicator from the angle described, where as on a car with the new style low lights, it might be a lot more difficult. This is just a guess though since I haven't actually stood buy the car and tried it.

framerateuk

Original Poster:

2,730 posts

183 months

Monday 21st April 2014
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Ok, so I went for a drive earlier on a road I know pretty well to see how the 13 inch wheels compared to the 15s.

Initial thoughts, the car feels a little more frantic. It seems to pull through the gears a bit easier, and the ratios of the 6 speed box feel ever closer than they did before. I particularly noticed I was getting into 4th sooner. On the motorway this translated to higher revs than before. I was up over 4000rpm at 70 where as before it was just under. I think on a tour with some long motorway sections it could be quite annoying (I wouldn't have wanted to drive up to Scotland on these wheels). I think the best solution for those situations would be to use some AO21R with a higher profile - which may well be my plan once I've worn my old 15's out a bit and swap them for some 13's too. (You'd probably be ok if you had the larger 13x8 rear wheels, but I think they'd be overkill on a Supersport).

On the bumpy mountain road I often drive, the smaller wheels and higher profile tyres were a revelation! The ride was much softer (in a good way!), there was no crashing and it was no where near as jarring as before. Again, I think due to the increased revs, it felt more frantic, but the ride was so much better.

Grip seemed as excellent as ever. I didn't notice any lack of grip compared to the much wider 15s, though I think I'll have to wait for a trackday to really be able to tell the difference between the two.

Very happy though! Can't believe it's taken me so long to get them fitted, and I'm pleased to say I had no ground clearance issues - though I didn't have to go over any speed bumps.

EDIT: After adjusting the speedo correctly, and driving the car two-up. The car feels much better, doesn't feel that much different on the motorway and generally the ride is better all round. Can't see me going back to the 15's apart form maybe wearing the tyres out!

Edited by framerateuk on Monday 5th May 12:34

Gregs79

86 posts

129 months

Monday 21st April 2014
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It looks well. I really like that style of wheel. Wonder if I should change a set of my R500 wheels for a set?!

Rockets7

378 posts

129 months

Thursday 24th April 2014
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Hmmm that looks (and it may be my perception) terribly unbalanced ride height wise, it looks very nose heavy to me and a bit 4x4 at the rear.

ghibbett

1,898 posts

184 months

Thursday 24th April 2014
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^^^ Looks similar to my Supersport.

framerateuk

Original Poster:

2,730 posts

183 months

Thursday 24th April 2014
quotequote all
Rockets7 said:
Hmmm that looks (and it may be my perception) terribly unbalanced ride height wise, it looks very nose heavy to me and a bit 4x4 at the rear.
They all look like this with the smaller wheels at the rear. Remember that the 13x6 wheel is much smaller height wise than the 13x8 wheel fitted to more powerful cars (175/55 profile compared to the 205/55 which are an inch taller) - as a result it needs to be higher at the rear to keep the balance.

Same setup I used with the 15s and it's always been wonderfully balanced on track.

Edited by framerateuk on Thursday 24th April 10:00

Andy Bell

333 posts

138 months

Thursday 24th April 2014
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that's pretty standard look at mine https://mqkvlg.dm2304.livefilestore.com/y2pVp_Ga3n...

Yellow 7

177 posts

171 months

Sunday 27th April 2014
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Rockets7 said:
Hmmm that looks (and it may be my perception) terribly unbalanced ride height wise, it looks very nose heavy to me and a bit 4x4 at the rear.
Depends on the weight of the driver. Quite a few extra turns are needed on the driver damper ride height to get flat flooring. It will be more level with driver sitting in it;)

I always liked quite a lot of rake on my 7. Found it unstable under trail braking otherwise.

framerateuk

Original Poster:

2,730 posts

183 months

Monday 28th April 2014
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Just to add, I updated the speedo to account for the smaller wheels. Dead easy to do with the digital speedo, held the rubber button down while turning the ignition on, it then goes to an input mode where you can enter the new code by pressing the button, or waiting 3 seconds to go on to the next number.

One of the very few things that have worked first time! smile


Mellow7

219 posts

187 months

Thursday 1st May 2014
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framerateuk said:
Just to add, I updated the speedo to account for the smaller wheels. Dead easy to do with the digital speedo, held the rubber button down while turning the ignition on, it then goes to an input mode where you can enter the new code by pressing the button, or waiting 3 seconds to go on to the next number.

One of the very few things that have worked first time! smile
Sorry but what are you talking about? Are you referring to a Stack unit?

framerateuk

Original Poster:

2,730 posts

183 months

Thursday 1st May 2014
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Mellow7 said:
Sorry but what are you talking about? Are you referring to a Stack unit?
Nope, one of these:
http://caterhamparts.co.uk/product.php?id_product=...

(Fitted to cars from 2005 onwards apparently - previous cars had dip switched on the back).

  • Digital in that it's programmed digitally, not that the speed is shown digitally.
Edited by framerateuk on Thursday 1st May 14:00