RE: Caterham Levante Sold Out

[grahamw48]

JimSuperSix said:

Awesome car, but it really is quite ugly - what's with all the lights? It just looks like somebody couldn't stop designing it.

I'm sure all the wings are essential aerodynamically but they really don't sit well with the overall Seven shape. At least it doesn't have a huge wing on stilts at the back.

Edited by JimSuperSix on Sunday 19th October 10:15

Then again, looked at in the cold light of day a F1 car is pretty ugly too...function over form I guess.

[ro_butler]

cvegas said:

ro_butler said:

andrew.delamare said:

Isn't the caparo's engine very similar to this one?

I seem to remember its a 2.4 litre V8 from Evo magazine. Same people or different?

I thought Caparo were going to use this engine but it didn't prove to be reliable enough?

Caparo uses a detuned US race car engine.

I did read that the RS performance engine was also going to be used in the Atom?

I realise they use the menard engine now, I was merely pointing out that caparo considered this engine
(even using it in development) but rejected it, allegedly because it was too unreliable.

[lotusmark]

I like caterhams, but I just do not like that.
(each to their own though)

[stripy7]

M400 NBL said:

CEC to descibe a car-engined car.

Or presumably just "car" will suffice.

[Mars]

JimSuperSix said:

It just looks like somebody couldn't stop designing it.

That's a really good phrase. I might have to borrow it from time to time.

Oh, and I agree about the lights, and many of the other design-aspects of the car, however that engine is quite special so the overall car is a winner for me, even at that price.

I'm certain you could put one of those engines into a Caterham yourself, with the new Quaife 6-speed sequential and have change from £50K but that's not the point of the Levante where they have pored over every design aspect with a view to making it (subjectively)better. If that appeals to 6 people with £115K then I applaude British engineering for doing the whole eccentricity thing all over again..!! It's brilliant.

[Tim.C]

Amazing car; horrible 'styling'.

Cobra hoops look nasty as do lights. I suppose that there's some sort of options list though? Full cage, perhaps Gulf colours... now we're talking.

[Noger]

AFAIUI the "options list" was just "Whatever you want, sir".

[atom-ick]

ro_butler said:

cvegas said:

ro_butler said:

andrew.delamare said:

Isn't the caparo's engine very similar to this one?

I seem to remember its a 2.4 litre V8 from Evo magazine. Same people or different?

I thought Caparo were going to use this engine but it didn't prove to be reliable enough?

Caparo uses a detuned US race car engine.

I did read that the RS performance engine was also going to be used in the Atom?

I realise they use the menard engine now, I was merely pointing out that caparo considered this engine
(even using it in development) but rejected it, allegedly because it was too unreliable.

The engine is being used in an Atom (in direct response to RS performance doing the seven). I think that is possible because the engine is now built under license by an engine builder so "anyone" can buy one and bolt it into a car.

Apparently Gordon Murray has the first prototype engine in the back of an original Fiat 500!

As mentioned above, Caparo didn't reject the engine due to reliability issues - read my other post for an explanation.

I completely agree with the opinions on the look of the car - not my cup of tea, but if it has to look like that then i guess i can live with it. The thing is so bloody fast nobody would see much more than a blur anyway!

[rhinochopig]

I liked the concept, but having watched the vid someone posted, I have to say that I would personally be extremely disappointed if I'd spent 115k on it. It sounded like a BEC, the gearbox clunked and banged like a BEC, yet costs 5 times as much. It just didn't seem to different enough to normal bike powered Caterfield to justify the price tag.

Much as I hate myself for saying this, I suspect it has too much power - the engine just seemed to dominate the experience. The driver in the vid didn't seem to be enjoying the typical tactile seven experience, it seemed more of a case of get the wheels straight and then boot it down the road / track.

I'd rather have a normal BEC and something with a roof for the same overall price.

[Stevie Mojo]

Dear me, there's some touchy buggers on this thread.

[stripy7]

Stevie Mojo said:

touchy buggers .

AKA "target practise"

[sam919]

rhinochopig said:

I liked the concept, but having watched the vid someone posted, I have to say that I would personally be extremely disappointed if I'd spent 115k on it. It sounded like a BEC, the gearbox clunked and banged like a BEC, yet costs 5 times as much. It just didn't seem to different enough to normal bike powered Caterfield to justify the price tag.

You would have liked it to sound like the high revving engine you have just spent 115 big ones on! Have you ever driven a car with a sequential race gearbox, thats what they sound like and mechnically work like.

If you had 115 grand to spend on a performance car then your going to have done your homework a bit and gone for a drive in it spoke to RS etc etc, if you havent and just bought it on a whim and then discovered you didnt like it then you'd flog it and get on with life.

If you didnt have 115 grand to spend on a performance car and are never likely to have 115 grand to spend on a performance car then your going to pick snags with a car of that price through envy.

And the best of it, everyones forgot the Radical SR8, now its half the price but if RS/ caterham or whoever decided to make them in the same numbers perhaps that would reflect a price closer to 55+ grand of the radical.

Its a beast its extreme and i wouldnt give two hoots if it looked like the back end of a bus if it went like this thing does, would you care if you were that financially backed to afford one

[sam919]

sam919 said:

rhinochopig said:

I liked the concept, but having watched the vid someone posted, I have to say that I would personally be extremely disappointed if I'd spent 115k on it. It sounded like a BEC, the gearbox clunked and banged like a BEC, yet costs 5 times as much. It just didn't seem to different enough to normal bike powered Caterfield to justify the price tag.

You would have liked it to sound like the high revving engine you have just spent 115 big ones on! Have you ever driven a car with a sequential race gearbox, thats what they sound like and mechnically work like.

If you had 115 grand to spend on a performance car then your going to have done your homework a bit and gone for a drive in it spoke to RS etc etc, if you havent and just bought it on a whim and then discovered you didnt like it then you'd flog it and get on with life.

If you didnt have 115 grand to spend on a performance car and are never likely to have 115 grand to spend on a performance car then your going to pick snags with a car of that price through envy.

And the best of it, everyones forgot the Radical SR8 that never seem to get a royal sgging off, now ofcourse its half the price but if RS/ caterham or whoever decided to make them in the same numbers perhaps that would reflect a price closer to 55+ grand of the radical.

Its a beast its extreme and i wouldnt give two hoots if it looked like the back end of a bus if it went like this thing does, would you care if you were that financially backed to afford one

[rhinochopig]

sam919 said:

sam919 said:

rhinochopig said:

I liked the concept, but having watched the vid someone posted, I have to say that I would personally be extremely disappointed if I'd spent 115k on it. It sounded like a BEC, the gearbox clunked and banged like a BEC, yet costs 5 times as much. It just didn't seem to different enough to normal bike powered Caterfield to justify the price tag.

You would have liked it to sound like the high revving engine you have just spent 115 big ones on! Have you ever driven a car with a sequential race gearbox, thats what they sound like and mechnically work like.

If you had 115 grand to spend on a performance car then your going to have done your homework a bit and gone for a drive in it spoke to RS etc etc, if you havent and just bought it on a whim and then discovered you didnt like it then you'd flog it and get on with life.

If you didnt have 115 grand to spend on a performance car and are never likely to have 115 grand to spend on a performance car then your going to pick snags with a car of that price through envy.

And the best of it, everyones forgot the Radical SR8 that never seem to get a royal sgging off, now ofcourse its half the price but if RS/ caterham or whoever decided to make them in the same numbers perhaps that would reflect a price closer to 55+ grand of the radical.

Its a beast its extreme and i wouldnt give two hoots if it looked like the back end of a bus if it went like this thing does, would you care if you were that financially backed to afford one

I used to own a blackbird westy (and have driven other BECs) so am familiar with this type of 'box. However, my point still stands 115k for, effectively, a BEC is not worth it IMHO. It's simply not different enough from a standard Caterfield to warrant that price. But hey, if we all like the same thing life would be boring.

[btdk5]

fbrs said:

Wilder said:

Its a simple fact that they are refered to as BEC by most people

I owned a westy for 3 years, been in the owners clubs, hired lots of caterhams and done hundreds of laps in cat race cars and I have never once heard "BEC". Probably because its a stupid inaccurate word.

Its just a joke...

Someone at some point has died driving a BEC so changing the meaning to Bike Engined Coffin isnt really that hard to get your head around is it???

Anyway why would people in an owners club be joking about dying in a car that they love to drive. Bit of a silly statement really.

[rhinochopig]

btdk5 said:

fbrs said:

Wilder said:

Its a simple fact that they are refered to as BEC by most people

I owned a westy for 3 years, been in the owners clubs, hired lots of caterhams and done hundreds of laps in cat race cars and I have never once heard "BEC". Probably because its a stupid inaccurate word.

Its just a joke...

Someone at some point has died driving a BEC so changing the meaning to Bike Engined Coffin isnt really that hard to get your head around is it???

Anyway why would people in an owners club be joking about dying in a car that they love to drive. Bit of a silly statement really.

My Westy was factory built, and when we went to visit the factory to see the car in-build, they were panelling the inside of the cockpit. It was indeed identical in shape to a coffin. It was the first thing my wife pointed out - and that she hoped it wasn't an omen.

[sam919]

rhinochopig said:

sam919 said:

sam919 said:

rhinochopig said:

I liked the concept, but having watched the vid someone posted, I have to say that I would personally be extremely disappointed if I'd spent 115k on it. It sounded like a BEC, the gearbox clunked and banged like a BEC, yet costs 5 times as much. It just didn't seem to different enough to normal bike powered Caterfield to justify the price tag.

You would have liked it to sound like the high revving engine you have just spent 115 big ones on! Have you ever driven a car with a sequential race gearbox, thats what they sound like and mechnically work like.

If you had 115 grand to spend on a performance car then your going to have done your homework a bit and gone for a drive in it spoke to RS etc etc, if you havent and just bought it on a whim and then discovered you didnt like it then you'd flog it and get on with life.

If you didnt have 115 grand to spend on a performance car and are never likely to have 115 grand to spend on a performance car then your going to pick snags with a car of that price through envy.

And the best of it, everyones forgot the Radical SR8 that never seem to get a royal sgging off, now ofcourse its half the price but if RS/ caterham or whoever decided to make them in the same numbers perhaps that would reflect a price closer to 55+ grand of the radical.

Its a beast its extreme and i wouldnt give two hoots if it looked like the back end of a bus if it went like this thing does, would you care if you were that financially backed to afford one

I used to own a blackbird westy (and have driven other BECs) so am familiar with this type of 'box. However, my point still stands 115k for, effectively, a BEC is not worth it IMHO. It's simply not different enough from a standard Caterfield to warrant that price. But hey, if we all like the same thing life would be boring.

true

[wiler]

hello just like any other bike engined car how many bec have 550 bhp all aspects of the car have been sorted to cope with this power even down to a carbon prop shaft with bigger joints please look at the engineering aspect of this power in a caterham when commenting

[rhinochopig]

wiler said:

hello just like any other bike engined car how many bec have 550 bhp all aspects of the car have been sorted to cope with this power even down to a carbon prop shaft with bigger joints please look at the engineering aspect of this power in a caterham when commenting

There are actually quite a few highly developed blown busa engined cars with that sort of power and more. I have absolutely no doubt that the engineering of the levante will be lovely, but just because you can do something doesn't mean you should.

You're missing the point though (or perhaps I am, which is just as likely), a seven is ALL about delicate handling, and the acceleration kind of comes as a by product of that. The thing with the Levante is that it will be pointless on the road - too fast, not enough weather protection, sequential box. On the track it will be frustrating as hell on a normal TD as you would spend all day waiting to pass. It would only be "fun" on a TD for race cars and then you would be frustrated that you'd spent over 100k to be getting passed by radicals and formula cars. My personal view is that it has gone beyond what is practical in a seven.

I'm genuinely curious to see how much faster it will be than a R500 around a track.

[btdk5]

Exclusivity counts for a lot though…..there are many people that wouldn’t consider 115k a lot of money to part with to bolster their car collection.