Caterham R500 vs 620R
Discussion
Hi everyone,
I no this is probably considered swearing on this forum but I currently own a Westfield Megabusa (hayabusa bike engine) and am seriously considering selling it after a year of owning it (with several costly issues) and moving to a Caterham which raises a few questions. The Megabusa gets from 0-60 in around 3.2 or 3.4 seconds depending where u look and I'm looking for Caterham with at least the same or hopefully better performance. My concern with the bike engine is that it is designed to push a 260kg bike and not a 500kg car and although people say if they are kept standard they are bullet proof I know of a few people blowing standard engines beyond repair.
Anyway I'm looking at Caterhams with 2.0 duratec engines. The R500 states 0-60 in 2.88 secs and the 620R states 2.79 if that is accurate is seems crazy that adding a supercharger made such an insignificant different to the same engine? I love both the R500 and the 620R but I was concerned that 310bhp is too much and the car would be all over the place but if I went for the R500 I may regret not going for the 620R. I should add I do hillclimbs, sprints, track days and road use, I do want a car that is ridiculous, I love the shock and adrenaline of mental power and learning to tame a beast of a car with no driver aided assistance. I'm interested in people who have owned or driven either car for their points of view. Also if I did go for a used R500 it would have to have sequential change which is standard in the 620R. Any opinions in the quality difference between Westfield and Caterham would be interesting too.
Thanks in advance Mitch.
I no this is probably considered swearing on this forum but I currently own a Westfield Megabusa (hayabusa bike engine) and am seriously considering selling it after a year of owning it (with several costly issues) and moving to a Caterham which raises a few questions. The Megabusa gets from 0-60 in around 3.2 or 3.4 seconds depending where u look and I'm looking for Caterham with at least the same or hopefully better performance. My concern with the bike engine is that it is designed to push a 260kg bike and not a 500kg car and although people say if they are kept standard they are bullet proof I know of a few people blowing standard engines beyond repair.
Anyway I'm looking at Caterhams with 2.0 duratec engines. The R500 states 0-60 in 2.88 secs and the 620R states 2.79 if that is accurate is seems crazy that adding a supercharger made such an insignificant different to the same engine? I love both the R500 and the 620R but I was concerned that 310bhp is too much and the car would be all over the place but if I went for the R500 I may regret not going for the 620R. I should add I do hillclimbs, sprints, track days and road use, I do want a car that is ridiculous, I love the shock and adrenaline of mental power and learning to tame a beast of a car with no driver aided assistance. I'm interested in people who have owned or driven either car for their points of view. Also if I did go for a used R500 it would have to have sequential change which is standard in the 620R. Any opinions in the quality difference between Westfield and Caterham would be interesting too.
Thanks in advance Mitch.
Edited by Fodey87 on Sunday 18th September 12:57
Edited by Fodey87 on Sunday 18th September 13:02
Edited by Fodey87 on Sunday 18th September 13:04
Thanks for the advise guys. I appreciate the comments. I know it must seem like I am only focused on the 0-60 and bhp times but other than getting info from owners or people who have driven the cars I'm struggling to find a way to compare the R500 with the 620R. You make a good point when you says that knocking 1/10th of a sec off a 0-60 is more impressive than it seems since there isn't much room for improvement. When looking for comparisons online I haven't actually found a head to head comparison which you often see when a particular model is superseded. The top gear laps aren't worth comparing as the R500 went out on a DRY track and produced a very impressive time of 1min17.9secs where as the 620R did a 1min22.3secs on a WET track. You really get no useful info from this as one was a dry lap and the other was wet.......and we all know what 7's are like in the wet.
I understand what you're saying about traction and that is always a concern with hillclimbing especially now the MSA have changed the tyre regs. Some of the competitors have spent silly amounts of money on big power in 7 based cars and waste a lot of time spinning the wheels and loosing out to lesser powered cars as they can't put the power down. There is a video on YouTube where autocar tests the 620R and when he's going around corners you can hear him letting off the throttle constantly and drifting. Don't get me wrong this looks like a lot of fun and I would love to do that but is so much power in the 620R a waste if u cannot use it the majority of the time? I read somewhere that in a straight line it'll spin the wheels still in 3rd gear, I don't get wheel spin in the lighter Megabusa in 2nd or any gear other than first and am assuming I'm making the most out of the power available. If the two Caterhans where the same price I wouldn't be concerned I just wanted more insight on if the extra £20,000ish a 620R would cost over a R500 would be justifiable?
In reality I would probably come away from hillclimbing and sprinting and do more track days (with track day insurance) if I choose a 620R as I'd be worried about damaging it and I think I'd be less concerned about general wear and tear with a older R500, perhaps the 620R is too expensive to really push on the limit just incase something happened. If you think like that you may as well save £20k and have the R500 and probably have more fun?
Interested for any info in the reliability of the 2.0 duratec engines also please.
Thanks Mitch.
I understand what you're saying about traction and that is always a concern with hillclimbing especially now the MSA have changed the tyre regs. Some of the competitors have spent silly amounts of money on big power in 7 based cars and waste a lot of time spinning the wheels and loosing out to lesser powered cars as they can't put the power down. There is a video on YouTube where autocar tests the 620R and when he's going around corners you can hear him letting off the throttle constantly and drifting. Don't get me wrong this looks like a lot of fun and I would love to do that but is so much power in the 620R a waste if u cannot use it the majority of the time? I read somewhere that in a straight line it'll spin the wheels still in 3rd gear, I don't get wheel spin in the lighter Megabusa in 2nd or any gear other than first and am assuming I'm making the most out of the power available. If the two Caterhans where the same price I wouldn't be concerned I just wanted more insight on if the extra £20,000ish a 620R would cost over a R500 would be justifiable?
In reality I would probably come away from hillclimbing and sprinting and do more track days (with track day insurance) if I choose a 620R as I'd be worried about damaging it and I think I'd be less concerned about general wear and tear with a older R500, perhaps the 620R is too expensive to really push on the limit just incase something happened. If you think like that you may as well save £20k and have the R500 and probably have more fun?
Interested for any info in the reliability of the 2.0 duratec engines also please.
Thanks Mitch.
Do you record any footage witha GoPro when you do the Spanish time attacks? I'd love to see a vid if you do! I'll have to make the trip one day, perfect weather and quiet roads sounds to good to resist!
The final event for me this season is in the middle of October and then I'll put the Megabusa up for sale. I'm in no rush to get another car as its not going to get much use if any before April next year but I will definitely like to come and meet you see yours. There are a couple of used 620R's I need to have a look at also.
Cheers Mitch.
The final event for me this season is in the middle of October and then I'll put the Megabusa up for sale. I'm in no rush to get another car as its not going to get much use if any before April next year but I will definitely like to come and meet you see yours. There are a couple of used 620R's I need to have a look at also.
Cheers Mitch.
Edited by Fodey87 on Wednesday 21st September 23:08
Really appreciate the insight Greig! You've put my mind at rest from a few apprehensions I had of the 620R. I think the R500 is out of the window now because I know I'd regret not having the extreme power the 620R possess. Saying that I will test a few cars before purchasing anything. How long have you had your 620R for and what are the running cost like? Do you service it yourself if not how much is a service? Do you know the mpg your getting
(I know that's not what you brought it for but still of interest) how do you find the reliability of the 620R? I had an insurance quote from Footman James Yesterday for £178 fully comp for the year including 35 days of driving in any European country plus you could add 3 track days to the policy for about another £100, what a bargain!
Hi cwin the event I'm entering isn't the Magnificent sevens although that sounds fun, it's a local hillclimb at Tregehan Manor House in Cornwall. There is an Sprint this Sunday but I'm going to miss it as I've just had to have the Megabusa's gear box rebuilt, that's part of the reason I want to sell it and get a car engined Caterham I'm hoping to get a lot more reliability from it.
Hi JackG you mentioned you are picking up a new 620R soon. How did you find the process of ordering the car from Caterham and do they have room for negotiation from the prices stated on there website?
Cheers Mitch.
(I know that's not what you brought it for but still of interest) how do you find the reliability of the 620R? I had an insurance quote from Footman James Yesterday for £178 fully comp for the year including 35 days of driving in any European country plus you could add 3 track days to the policy for about another £100, what a bargain!
Hi cwin the event I'm entering isn't the Magnificent sevens although that sounds fun, it's a local hillclimb at Tregehan Manor House in Cornwall. There is an Sprint this Sunday but I'm going to miss it as I've just had to have the Megabusa's gear box rebuilt, that's part of the reason I want to sell it and get a car engined Caterham I'm hoping to get a lot more reliability from it.
Hi JackG you mentioned you are picking up a new 620R soon. How did you find the process of ordering the car from Caterham and do they have room for negotiation from the prices stated on there website?
Cheers Mitch.
I was going off the Megabusa and wanted to change to a car engined Caterham because of serious issues with the engine and gearbox and seeing other Hayabusa engines 7's going bang at events. I'd assumed that spending £50k plus on a 620R would mean trouble free motoring for several years. It is quite disappointing to learn that even with a new one there are still issues. It's good to know the true facts going in though as you wouldn't get this information from a salesman. Obviously problems with the engine and gear box will likely be the most expensive to resolve and they would be new and are reliable on a 620R which is the main thing. As mentioned when other niggly things go wrong it's a good opportunity to upgrade and hopefully not too expensive or in warranty. Perhaps Caterham should release the 620R mk2 with these issues ironed out.
Does anyone know if Cateham have room for negotiation on new cars (620R especially) from the prices stated on the website?
Regarding the issues you had Greig did Caterham resolve these for free under the warranty or did you fix the problems and how much warranty do you receive with a new car from them?
Cheers Mitch.
Does anyone know if Cateham have room for negotiation on new cars (620R especially) from the prices stated on the website?
Regarding the issues you had Greig did Caterham resolve these for free under the warranty or did you fix the problems and how much warranty do you receive with a new car from them?
Cheers Mitch.
Should of mentioned also I had a look at the Meteor Motorsport website from you mentioning Greig it looked really good. As Simon has raced 7's for years he seems like the ideal man for the job!
If you were buying a new 620R again what would you do regarding the suspension knowing that you would get Simon to redo it? Caterham only do the 620R as a factory build but would they let you have it without any suspension? At least this way it may save some money to put towards Simons set up? Also you mentioned the Westfield Megabusa handling being better which may be because of the wide stance did you have the wide body on your 620R I see it's a £2500 option on the spec but would you recommend it? If there's anything else (optional extras) you would have or thing you would do differently if buying a new 620R again I would be very interested to hear them please mate
If you were buying a new 620R again what would you do regarding the suspension knowing that you would get Simon to redo it? Caterham only do the 620R as a factory build but would they let you have it without any suspension? At least this way it may save some money to put towards Simons set up? Also you mentioned the Westfield Megabusa handling being better which may be because of the wide stance did you have the wide body on your 620R I see it's a £2500 option on the spec but would you recommend it? If there's anything else (optional extras) you would have or thing you would do differently if buying a new 620R again I would be very interested to hear them please mate
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