R400 duratec, is it due an "upgrade"?

[griffchris]

Hi, after years of deliberation, I'm just about ready to order an R400 kit. The duratec R400 has been on sale for a good few years, the R300 and R500 are now discontinued. The position of the R400 in the range looks a bit "asymmetric" at the moment, the Supersport R is pretty close spec wise, with the only major differences being the 6 speed box and "only" 30bhp, then above the R400 there's a 100bhp gap to the 620R (the CSR is a bit of a different proposition).

Does anyone think (or know) if there might be any plans to "upgrade" the R400 in the near future (R450 maybe)? The 160 and 620R are now developed and on sale, might be something to keep the development engineers occupied for a bit. I appreciate model upgrades are few and far between, and the cycle of model updates used by mainstream car manufacturers does not apply.

Thanks

Chris

[DCL]

The R400 is a sweet spot in terms of road use and from a engine point of view, 210/220 BHP is as far as you want to go on a stock engine. IMHO, more power just makes it harder work and those wanting that challenge can go for the 620R.

[coppice]

The upgrade to have an R400D is the roller barrel TB kit which although it only produces allegedly 10bhp more feels several times that . Also increases driveability and the noise is amazing. Quick enough for me - and for most I suspect .

[mike150]

I'm contemplating an upgrade from the R400d................

To a nice R500d manual! If I see one.

It's either sell the R400 privately and wait for an R500 to come up or trade it in.

I was considering the weight loss program and the roller barrels for the car but it's a lot of money for little gain.

An R400 is fast enough for the road though, but I always want more! My GSXR1000 has 1000bhp/ton so I guess I want to get closer to that

[huwp]

coppice said:

The upgrade to have an R400D is the roller barrel TB kit which although it only produces allegedly 10bhp more feels several times that . Also increases driveability and the noise is amazing. Quick enough for me - and for most I suspect .

A good friend has the R400D with throttle bodies. In a word "amazing". Very jealous...

[framerateuk]

To answer your question, will the R400 be replaced? No idea, anything we say will be just speculation, but I wouldn't be surprised to see it replaced by two models to bridge the gap between the current R400 and the 620R, and follow the naming convention of the new cars.

All that said, if an R400 replacement did appear, I can't see the specs being any different to the current R400. It's not like there's an engine change coming soon. The only thing I suspect we may see is another supercharged 7, but perhaps not as powerful as the 620? All guesswork mind!

[griffchris]

OK thanks, as has been said, I'm sure >400 bhp/ton will be enough for me, even for what I plan to be a track biased car. I just don't want to put my money down, only for a new spec to be released immediately after - though as always there are no guarantees against this.

I think I'll leave the roller barrel upgrade to start with , might be something to keep me on my toes if the standard 210bhp begins to feel a bit pedestrian...