First time Caterham buyer from an exige

[KieranR]

Hi All,

I'm not quite sure how or why but Saturday morning I found myself visiting the new Caterham dealership at Donnington Park. Having had my Exige for nearly 3 years my interest into a 7 is growing.

Firstly I wanted just to get a feel for one, having never sat in a 7 before I wasn't sure I would even like it..... Big mistake.

There was only a 360r available when I went but as soon as I clambered in it felt right.

My question really is for what I'm looking for what would suit me best? I thought getting a few ideas from past / current owners would be a good start. r400 /r500/ 360r / 420 etc

I'm looking to use the car mainly as a weekend / nice evening toy with the occasional track session. It would be used by myself an the wife so I think a screen / roof / doors for some protection if we get caught out in the rain. Power wise, this is the unknown. My exige is in the 280bhp area and I do enjoy the sensation of speed you get from that but obviously it weighs more . Body widths, I think I need to sit in a few. with and without the lowered floors. I'm 5"11 and around 12 stone but its more about shoulder widths I think with me.

I don't necessarily want a new one either but I thought it was the best place to start.

Here's the old girl that may get replaced

Edited by KieranR on Tuesday 17th May 11:51

[KieranR]

Sorry , that would help.... I thought I had written it in the original.

I would be looking around 30k tops really. By the time I have sold all the bits from the exige I have that's the ball park.

[KieranR]

Thanks all for the Comments.

I've been away thinking about it and somehow ended up back at bookatrack yesterday.

I think my minds made up that I'm going to have to get myself one, much to my wife's displeasure as she's trying to get me into an evora.

I also think that if we intend to do a few trips with it a sv would make the justification a little bit easier.

I just need to get out in one now .... oh and put a for sale add in the exige.

[KieranR]

Reviving an old thread.

Right the exige sold and in between now and then a good friend managed to sort a few of us a slalom day at bookatrack which I thoroughly enjoyed. The great thing was I got the opertunity to drive both body's.

I think with the right shoes a s3 is for me so now I'm on the look out for a nice duratec car......

[KieranR]

mike150 said:

I went to extent of getting on a plane last Saturday and flying over to Caterham South to have a look after deciding a month ago I NEED another one! I had an R400d before so I want at least that again, really it's enough for the road but more is always better!

I test drove an R500D and a 620S, the R500 is full of character with lots of induction noise and pops and bangs on the overrun, its quick enough feeling like a revvy tuned R400d which it is. The 620s is mad, I expected it to have a noticeable supercharger whine but it can't be heard, it's really quick and grunty, it definitely has more go than you need on the road but I like it, it might be a handful on a B road though but maybe no more so than an R500d as it has a nice smooth power curve where the R500d has a jump in power in the midrange. The R500 was not a great example and needs a lot of TLC and is not priced well enough with this in mind, there are no 620s's available yet with a 10 month lead time + its a lot of cash for a 7. They have 2 R400's but the colours are not nice imo.

I want a manual S3, they tell me SV's make up 70% of orders now but they just feel too big for me.

Looking an R400, 500 or maybe a 620s.....................

Is it worth buying a new 420R at just under 40k???? It would be a Mazda 5 speed boxed one as the 6 speed box is £2500 extra and the consensus is that it's not worth it.

I know what you mean, although I have seen a 620s in the classifieds today.

I'm sure I saw a r500 om ebay last week in yellow but I can't see it listed now????

[KieranR]

Question. Would I be disappointed with a R400 k series car rather than a duratec??

Power wise there both roughly 200bhp but I guess power delivery is different.

Kieran