RE: Driven: Caterham SP/300.R
Discussion
"with only a starter toggle and a basic brake bias knob to add to the compulsory kill-switch and fire extinguisher lever. Even the steering wheel knobs, Caterham coyly admits, are there more for the look of the thing - the right-hand of the two used for nothing more complex than adjusting the brightness on the digital readouts for water temperature and oil pressure."
Top job by caterham here, no complexity and bulls
t because all you need in a race car is brake-bias and that's it in terms of adjustablity.
How all motor sport should be.
Top job by caterham here, no complexity and bulls
t because all you need in a race car is brake-bias and that's it in terms of adjustablity.How all motor sport should be.
fbrs said:
up that to 15 trackdays and theres no contest. cant argue about the sound of that engine though 
Remember; you cant use it on the road.
An engine rebuild every year.
It'll loose lots of cash, I *think* they've not sold the amount they thought they would a year, hence all the media rides etc.
I'd take the GT3
Krikkit said:
Riggers said:
Krikkit said:
What a machine. Suddenly, as alluded to, a GT3 doesn't look quite so hot - one of these, a Brian James trailer and a decent Range Rover would come in at the same cost, yet do everything better.
And how many consumables would you get through in the Porsche??Rebuilds is a scary one for people. But bear in mind that a track day puts nowhere near as much stress on the engine/box than endurance races. In racing they recommend doing the engine and box (same box) at 80 hrs. Talking to people who run them, provinding you keep an eye on it all, you should be able to run 100+ easily as a track day toy. As you simply cannot drive these cars balls out for hours at a time in trackday traffic. Having helped run a Radical before this I can tell you that the BEC/gearbox rebuilds are required much more frequently. Still don't fool yourself that it'll be cheap, it really wont... So budget for it.
Otherwise they're not that heavy on consumables. We do about 100 litres of SUL a track day. Which I don't think is that bad. The brakes hold up pretty well to the abuse also.
That's another thing to bear in mind. A lot of the tech in that car is built for endurance racing and endurance race cars are properly tough things. We drove 6 months with only one clutch plate and didn't really notice!
They are absolutely, amazingly, gobsmackingly brilliant things to drive. You do have to completely re-learn how to drive them which a lot of time seems to be pure belief that the car can do certain things then when you do it, realising it can go much, much quicker. They are the biggest rush to drive and properly addictive. Honestly the level of fun these things are is just like nothing else out there.
My parting shot is that anyone who does get one of these for trackdays is; don't be a dick. single seaters got banned for various reasons (that I may not agree with), robbing us non-competitive enthusiasts of some proper cheap as chips track toys. DO NOT GIVE THEM AN EXCUSE TO BAN PROTOS! That does mean being super courtious and non-aggressive. You will be massively quicker in something like that that anything with number plates on it, and you're just going to warp in behind them. Give them a chance. Hopefully the Caterham has fairy lights ( best thing we stuck on ours
). I'd love to see more cars like these on trackdays, but only driven responsibly. You really have nothing to prove.Edited by juansolo on Wednesday 11th April 21:14
Thanks for that juan - I went for new slicks on eBay to keep it fair in a comparison with the GT3, but I know a couple of mates who picked up the same size slicks for £50/set or less from friendly sources.
Hopefully this isn't the kind of car that'll get banned anytime soon, single seaters being banned at most days is bad enough!
Hopefully this isn't the kind of car that'll get banned anytime soon, single seaters being banned at most days is bad enough!
A brand new set of slicks is about £800 (same for wets).
We, errm, get them for nowt more often than not now Like I say, most race teams just want shot of them. You're not chasing that last fraction of a second so used rubber is just fine.
Loads of info on my site about the car and running it (on my profile).
Also I keep very detailed accounts of all costs and I can happily say that it'll be a lot less than tracking a GT3 (a GT3 will muller it's tyres/brakes/fuel), but quite a bit more than a Caterham Seven...
We, errm, get them for nowt more often than not now
Like I say, most race teams just want shot of them. You're not chasing that last fraction of a second so used rubber is just fine.Loads of info on my site about the car and running it (on my profile).
Also I keep very detailed accounts of all costs and I can happily say that it'll be a lot less than tracking a GT3 (a GT3 will muller it's tyres/brakes/fuel), but quite a bit more than a Caterham Seven...
Edited by juansolo on Wednesday 11th April 22:07
Krikkit said:
Hopefully this isn't the kind of car that'll get banned anytime soon, single seaters being banned at most days is bad enough!
It shouldn't as long as people are sensible. To be honest the worst offenders are usually racers that can't turn off their ego. The problem is that they tar all race cars with that brush. It's all really about perception, and I'm trying to spread the proto love 5678 said:
Riggers said:
5678 said:
What sort of speed did you get up to on the banked turn?
A sense of self-preservation meant I didn't go anywhere near how fast it could have gone.Caterham tells me you can take it flat which, with the way the SP300 was geared for Rockingham, means a whisker under 150mph. I was doing between 135 and 140mph...
Krikkit said:
juansolo said:
Loads of info on my site about the car and running it (on my profile).
An interesting read! What are your plans for it this year?
doogz said:
Krikkit said:
Hopefully this isn't the kind of car that'll get banned anytime soon, single seaters being banned at most days is bad enough!
Where are single seaters banned from trackdays?Or do you mean, open wheeled cars can't be on track at the same time as 'saloon' cars?
Chris Sideways said:
I can't see that getting into the 44's at Brands that's the times we used to do back in the Britsport days and are cars were much bigger with more aero the front running Jades Juno's and SR8's we're I'm the low 44's as I remember I think that will be in the high 45's at best.
Not speculation, fact...Also, is it smaller than an SR8??
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