New Superlight 20 Limited Edition
Discussion
L100NYY said:
I have to admit that I hadn't heard about this model.......until I happened to stroll past the Caterham stand at The Revival on Friday and an old chum that happens to work for Caterham cajoled me into having a proper look.
I was besotted straight away as I owned an original Superlight many years ago prior to my R300 and R400 and I still cite it as one of my favourites. Mine was bare carbon and ali with aeroscreen so obviously the '20'is ticking all my boxes.
As mentioned by a previous poster (I think) the reason behind this particular spec/power/etc was to hark back to as close as possible to the original Superlight spec and was the brainchild of two of the oldguard (sorry if you're reading this chaps
) who have fond memories of the original car too.
I really, really want one and have the brochure to the side of my laptop here
That's great to hear,,glad it got the juices flowing for you too! I was besotted straight away as I owned an original Superlight many years ago prior to my R300 and R400 and I still cite it as one of my favourites. Mine was bare carbon and ali with aeroscreen so obviously the '20'is ticking all my boxes.
As mentioned by a previous poster (I think) the reason behind this particular spec/power/etc was to hark back to as close as possible to the original Superlight spec and was the brainchild of two of the oldguard (sorry if you're reading this chaps
) who have fond memories of the original car too.I really, really want one and have the brochure to the side of my laptop here
Do I smell another order in the offing I wonder?.
ghibbett said:
Think the engine is the TI-VCT, so slightly different to my 'standard' Sigma 140, however mine pulls with greater vigour from 5000rpm [than the 125] and pulls hard till 7000rpm, just ever so slightly tailing off to the 7200rpm limiter. It's a great little engine 
Cheers Grant,So do we know what the actual differences of the new engine compared to the previous ones?
SKC said:
ghibbett said:
Think the engine is the TI-VCT, so slightly different to my 'standard' Sigma 140, however mine pulls with greater vigour from 5000rpm [than the 125] and pulls hard till 7000rpm, just ever so slightly tailing off to the 7200rpm limiter. It's a great little engine thumbup
Cheers Grant,
So do we know what the actual differences of the new engine compared to the previous ones?
Hi Nigel,
The Ti-VCT Sigma is the latest generation Sigma featuring Twin Independent Variable Cam Timing. The earlier "fixed cam" sigma has now gone out of production. Caterham have been using this revised engine for several years in their export EU4 models but with a very tame 110bhp. I believe this proven installation from a Ford vehicle was used for this Caterham, in that the installation met EU4 emission regulations when fitted to the Ford vehicle, so it must do when fitted in a Caterham!!
The main differences with this engine are the top end and engine management system used to run the new engine. We've developed a 200bhp version of this engine which is up and running in our Caterham demonstrator which is a similar spec to this new model. We're using a Life Racing Engine Management System to control the engine and the fully functioning VVT, which we've spent many hours developing and the results are very impressive. We'd previously developed a 200bhp fixed cam Sigma which we really liked but the Ti-VCT engine is something else. I've driven many Caterhams, R400s Duratecs, Supersport Rs Duratecs and 2.3 CSR Durtaces and this version of the Ti-VCT just seems much more lively. Again we've lightened the Sigma by a further 8kgs making it 23 kgs lighter than a Duratec, or as Caterham would say nearly 50kgs per ton lighter than an R400. Throttle response and low to mid range rpm drive-ability has been further improved with the VVT. R & D is nearing completion now with new parts being available later this week before final calibration on the rollers this weekend. Anyone purchasing one of these new Caterhams or one fitted with the new Ti-VCT Sigma is welcome to a run out in our car to compare.
Three other versions of this engine will shortly be available from us, an entry level 140bhp, 155bhp and 175bhp. Keep an eye on the forums and the club magazine for further details.
Regards
SKC
Hi SKC,Think the engine is the TI-VCT, so slightly different to my 'standard' Sigma 140, however mine pulls with greater vigour from 5000rpm [than the 125] and pulls hard till 7000rpm, just ever so slightly tailing off to the 7200rpm limiter. It's a great little engine thumbup
Cheers Grant,
So do we know what the actual differences of the new engine compared to the previous ones?
Hi Nigel,
The Ti-VCT Sigma is the latest generation Sigma featuring Twin Independent Variable Cam Timing. The earlier "fixed cam" sigma has now gone out of production. Caterham have been using this revised engine for several years in their export EU4 models but with a very tame 110bhp. I believe this proven installation from a Ford vehicle was used for this Caterham, in that the installation met EU4 emission regulations when fitted to the Ford vehicle, so it must do when fitted in a Caterham!!
The main differences with this engine are the top end and engine management system used to run the new engine. We've developed a 200bhp version of this engine which is up and running in our Caterham demonstrator which is a similar spec to this new model. We're using a Life Racing Engine Management System to control the engine and the fully functioning VVT, which we've spent many hours developing and the results are very impressive. We'd previously developed a 200bhp fixed cam Sigma which we really liked but the Ti-VCT engine is something else. I've driven many Caterhams, R400s Duratecs, Supersport Rs Duratecs and 2.3 CSR Durtaces and this version of the Ti-VCT just seems much more lively. Again we've lightened the Sigma by a further 8kgs making it 23 kgs lighter than a Duratec, or as Caterham would say nearly 50kgs per ton lighter than an R400. Throttle response and low to mid range rpm drive-ability has been further improved with the VVT. R & D is nearing completion now with new parts being available later this week before final calibration on the rollers this weekend. Anyone purchasing one of these new Caterhams or one fitted with the new Ti-VCT Sigma is welcome to a run out in our car to compare.
Three other versions of this engine will shortly be available from us, an entry level 140bhp, 155bhp and 175bhp. Keep an eye on the forums and the club magazine for further details.
Regards
SKC
Many thanks for that information. Some great details there.
Of course more power would be nice, but at this stage its just nice to think would could be done easily to get more power from the existing unit that will be supplied in our cars.
It's early days to start dreaming about engine upgrades though, but we all like to idly window sop don't we!
Again it will be interesting to see if Caterham themselves come up with any upgrade packs for the new Superlight in the future.
It's nice to know 200 BHP can be achieve from that engine though, I should think they would be awesome in a light Caterham !
Thanks again.,
panickyjabofoppo said:
Regarding the tarnishing of bare ally, is using a clear wrap not an option these days? Wrapping tech has come a long way since '96!
Yep I actually wondered about that too.As companies such as armour fend etc do panels for small,areas, no real reason why Troy could,not make a film wrap to cover the whole body?
Might be worth further investigation!
jimmyVX said:
Well after a good look around the car today I placed a deposit on number 16. It will be my first Caterham after a run of VX220's and a Westfield many years ago.
Going to be a long 6 months!
Oh good man!Going to be a long 6 months!
Did you see Peter Heaton there today too, he was taking pictures for our Facebook owners group page!
Here it is, if Facebook is your thing!
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1046165542068718/
Feel free to come and join the group,and our banter too!
Cheers fellow Twenty owner !
jimmyVX said:
I did meet another gentleman there today but didn't catch his name, he ordered number 17 at the same time as I was going through the order sheet. I will add myself to the group thanks.
Yes James, that will be Pete! As he has ordered no 17!Did you also get some pics that we can share on the group too?
Let us know if you are going to be building yours too, as myself, James and Pete will be, so we can all share lots of build tips if that's your thing.,
As you say, going to be a long wait though!
Not updated this thread for a while, so here goes.
We now have a very active Facebook group for the prospective new owners, and friends and interested parties too.
Most of us have placed our second deposits now, and locked in the spec.
We don't have an assured delivery date from CC as yet, but as expected, it seems that those of us who ordered our cars as kits, will mostly likely get them delivered in early March.
Seems that the guys who are having them built at the factory might have to wait until end of March or early April.
7 months from order to delivery is an agonisingly long time to wait to get a new car,so I for one really hope it's going to be worth it.
A lot of us have been busy doing planning around the build, and of course buying lots of new tools for our builds too!
We now have a very active Facebook group for the prospective new owners, and friends and interested parties too.
Most of us have placed our second deposits now, and locked in the spec.
We don't have an assured delivery date from CC as yet, but as expected, it seems that those of us who ordered our cars as kits, will mostly likely get them delivered in early March.
Seems that the guys who are having them built at the factory might have to wait until end of March or early April.
7 months from order to delivery is an agonisingly long time to wait to get a new car,so I for one really hope it's going to be worth it.
A lot of us have been busy doing planning around the build, and of course buying lots of new tools for our builds too!
L100NYY said:
Sounds great Nigel, I'll seek out the fb group :thimbup:
I see that Caterham Cars have Build #1 up for sale.
No problem Ben, I have also started a blog in preparation for my build too:-I see that Caterham Cars have Build #1 up for sale.
http://superlighttwenty.blogspot.co.uk
L100NYY said:
Excellent, really do need to get myself another Caterham.......
The #1 car at Crawley has your name on it Ben! Sorry forgot link to Facebook owners page.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1046165542068718/
Message me from thre and we can add you to the group.
Cheers!
Just an update on my Superlight Twenty, to keep this thread fresh.
Caterham have told me that my car started it journey on the production line at Dartford this week!
At this stage they are not giving a committed delivery date, so the approximate delivery date is the first or second week in March.
Still the time does seem to be moving quickly now, so I need to get working on finishing tidying the garage!
Caterham have told me that my car started it journey on the production line at Dartford this week!
At this stage they are not giving a committed delivery date, so the approximate delivery date is the first or second week in March.
Still the time does seem to be moving quickly now, so I need to get working on finishing tidying the garage!
L100NYY said:
Hmmm.......there are a couple of lovely early R500's for sale on here!
Agreed buddy!If I did not have my twenty almost ready, I would have bought this!
http://uk.caterhamcars.com/pre-owned/1729-seven-62...
However I can't run to that type of cash right now, so I will stick with my little twenty!
L100NYY said:
This is the one that caught my eye....
http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/c...
Although I do like the idea of a more recent Supersport R type affair....
Yes I noticed that R500 k series too, lovely looking thing! http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/c...
Although I do like the idea of a more recent Supersport R type affair....
But then I would say that, as its in the same mango colour scheme as my previous R400 k series!
Seems a bit pricy though, considering its age.!,
Still I am sure someone will buy it as is, the miles and usage is just so low!
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