£12,000 to spend - Advice needed

[nicsando]

Hi all

I've started the search for my first (second hand) Caterham - bloody exciting times.

Ideally I'd like to spend less than £12,000 and am looking for something performance oriented, yet something I can drive to a country pub where my girlfriend wont try to murder me because it's too uncomfortable!

I anticipate I would use the car for weekend blasts out to the country side (I live in London), and perhaps the odd track day here or there.

Is anyone able to give me some advice of what I should be looking at?

What model / engine / HP do you think I should be looking at based on my budget?

Is there anything I should be steering away from?

Thanks in advance!

[Steve Campbell]

I'll start the bidding.

I'd be looking for a 10-15 year old 1.6k Supersport (135bhp) but you might struggle for £12k if you want a well looked after pristine version and might need to stretch it a bit.

I'd also get myself down to Caterham South and kick a few tyres + go to a club meet somewhere local. What you need / want will be very personal in the end and may also be linked to what you have experienced before in "performance cars" (ie if you've never driven anything "performance" related, 120bhp may be "enough"...if you have or are an ex-biker .. maybe not).

Edited by Steve Campbell on Wednesday 14th August 18:15

[banana]

Maybe this

http://www.blatchat.com/t.asp?id=232600

[BertBert]

I think you should try for a 1600 supersport with 6 speed box. I reckon that's possible with patience for the budget.
Bert

[chris_speed]

My ex-race 1600 S/S with 6 speed was £11. with a trailer four years ago. Should imagine old Roadsport A's and similar are still knocking about at the £10k mark. Mine's 20 years old next year though!

[nicsando]

Thanks Banana. I keep a close eye on the classifieds on Piston Heads so I'd seen that one already. Do you recommend any other classifieds I can keep an eye on?

banana said:

Maybe this

http://www.blatchat.com/t.asp?id=232600

[nicsando]

Thanks Steve. Is there really an real on-road difference between a 135hp car and 120hp car?

I do actually have quite a bit of driving experience in some swift cars, including on track experience in a Ford Mk1 Escort I restored a few years back, and also in a Formula Ford. Really keen to get something 'punchy'!

Steve Campbell said:

I'll start the bidding.

I'd be looking for a 10-15 year old 1.6k Supersport (135bhp) but you might struggle for £12k if you want a well looked after pristine version and might need to stretch it a bit.

I'd also get myself down to Caterham South and kick a few tyres + go to a club meet somewhere local. What you need / want will be very personal in the end and may also be linked to what you have experienced before in "performance cars" (ie if you've never driven anything "performance" related, 120bhp may be "enough"...if you have or are an ex-biker .. maybe not).

Edited by Steve Campbell on Wednesday 14th August 18:15

[nicsando]

G'day BertBert! Thanks for your suggestion. Forgive me but I'm new to Caterhams and am not quite up with the abbreviations yet. What age would you suggest for the below car? Are you referring to a K series or Xflow engine? What kind of hp would you anticipate it would be putting out? Thanks!

BertBert said:

I think you should try for a 1600 supersport with 6 speed box. I reckon that's possible with patience for the budget.
Bert

[nicsando]

Thanks Chris_Speed. I'm new to Caterhams.... So when you say 'S/S' I assume you're meaning 'Supersport'? If so, what kind of age are we talking? Is that with a K series or Xflow engine? What kind of hp would you expect to be putting out? What is a 'Roadsport A'?.

Sorry for the barrage of questions, just trying to get my head around all of this! Steep learning curve at the moment. Thanks again.

chris_speed said:

My ex-race 1600 S/S with 6 speed was £11. with a trailer four years ago. Should imagine old Roadsport A's and similar are still knocking about at the £10k mark. Mine's 20 years old next year though!

[Grubbster]

For your budget you ought to be able to get a reasonable K series car - 1.6 or 1.8. the 1.6 S/S (supersport) would be a fine choice. 6 speed box preferable but will be stretching the budget, not much wrong with the 5 speed for a first Caterham - in fact both of my 7's have 5 gears and they are fine. Personally I'd avoid the slightly cheaper cars with carbs (Crossflows, Vauxhall 8v) as they tend to need a little more tinkering - fuel injection makes life easier. In terms of age you could be looking at 1997 - 2002 I expect. Worth getting someone who knows what they are looking at to check it over for you. Ex race cars put people off for some reason but are worth looking at, often very well maintained and a bit cheaper than their road equivalents.

If you get lucky and find a car with widetrack suspension, limited slip diff, big brakes etc within your budget then these are nice to have so a bit of a bonus.

I don't know this particular car so I can't advise, it is only a 1400, but it looks quite sweet for the money http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/c...

Edit to add - just noticed someone else has already given you a link to the same car.

[tomwoodis]

With the car being so light there is no doubt you'd notice the difference between 120 and 135hp.

The supersport being referred to would be a k series car.

I'm with Bert, holding out for a 1600cc K series supersport should be possible although it would be interesting to know what a 1400 k series super sport would put out HP wise. In sure someone will confirm shortly. That one linked to earlier in the post looks good for the price I'd say.

Personally I'd steer clear of an Xflow based car. Bit long in the tooth now and quite thirsty. Certainly nowt wrong with them but the k series is newer technology and worth paying the extra for in my opinion.

If you want it to feel decently quick and your opting for one with around 120-140hp then the 6 speed gearbox probably is worth trying to find.

[nicsando]

Thanks Grubbster. Appreciate your advice. Do you know where I can get some information on these specific cars? I'd done some reading on the k series engine (Wikipedia, and some other sites) but I'm still not sure what version is in the S/S....

For example, is the 1.6 S/S K series engine double overhead cam? Is there a specific engine model number / engine number that I can use to help research? Sorry if these questions sound silly but I'm not familiar with this line of engines. I do have some experience with Xflow engines, but I'll take your advice and do my best to avoid... Ideally I'd like an engine that is as modern as possible, and some decent fuel economy is always nice.

Can you recommend a resource on the web (or elsewhere for that matter) where I can find this kind of information?

Grubbster said:

For your budget you ought to be able to get a reasonable K series car - 1.6 or 1.8. the 1.6 S/S (supersport) would be a fine choice. 6 speed box preferable but will be stretching the budget, not much wrong with the 5 speed for a first Caterham - in fact both of my 7's have 5 gears and they are fine. Personally I'd avoid the slightly cheaper cars with carbs (Crossflows, Vauxhall 8v) as they tend to need a little more tinkering - fuel injection makes life easier. In terms of age you could be looking at 1997 - 2002 I expect. Worth getting someone who knows what they are looking at to check it over for you. Ex race cars put people off for some reason but are worth looking at, often very well maintained and a bit cheaper than their road equivalents.

If you get lucky and find a car with widetrack suspension, limited slip diff, big brakes etc within your budget then these are nice to have so a bit of a bonus.

I don't know this particular car so I can't advise, it is only a 1400, but it looks quite sweet for the money http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/c...

Edit to add - just noticed someone else has already given you a link to the same car.

[nicsando]

Thanks Tomwoodis. Appreciate your advice.

tomwoodis said:

With the car being so light there is no doubt you'd notice the difference between 120 and 135hp.

The supersport being referred to would be a k series car.

I'm with Bert, holding out for a 1600cc K series supersport should be possible although it would be interesting to know what a 1400 k series super sport would put out HP wise. In sure someone will confirm shortly. That one linked to earlier in the post looks good for the price I'd say.

Personally I'd steer clear of an Xflow based car. Bit long in the tooth now and quite thirsty. Certainly nowt wrong with them but the k series is newer technology and worth paying the extra for in my opinion.

If you want it to feel decently quick and your opting for one with around 120-140hp then the 6 speed gearbox probably is worth trying to find.

[Steve Campbell]

Further resources to explore. If you haven't yet found them, the club are a great resource (you will get both Pro and Con arguments as to whether the club is good or bad...my personal experience is very good). You need to join to be able to post on "blatchat", the clubs forum.

www.blatchat.com/default.asp

http://7faq.com/owbase/ow.asp?FrequentlyAskedQuest...

For info on what the supersport is...read through the general section here :

http://kengine.dvapower.com/

[Andy Bell]

for someone with little or no knowledge of cars/Caterhams I would say the club has been invaluable to me and no doubt I will renew when time comes. So much information on there and so many truely helpful people. One guy just saved me cost of new ECU on it.

[framerateuk]

Plus one for the club too.

After hearing all the complaining on here I wasn't going to sign up, but I'm glad I did as the advice has been excellent! Lots of helpful people. I tend to stick to the tech talk area but I've seen no problems at all.

[rubystone]

K Series = Metro engine. Also used in Maestros, Montegos, Elises, Exiges, MGFs, Freelanders and no doubt more... DOHC All aluminium, clever design with some cost-driven compromises.

Perfectly suits the character of a 7. reliable if treated with care - warmed up properly for instance....

1400 SS - 130 bhp with narrow powerband, 1600 and 1800 broader powerband, more torquier.

Don't discount a 2.0 Vauxhall powered car - rare now, but great engine...a little heavier but the car will still be a revelation coming from anything else.

[chris_speed]

Look on the 7 club site and get yourself to your local area meeting and have a natter, ride in some cars.

[coppice]

Pedant mode- the K started life in the Metro but I don't think ever appeared in Maestro and Montego did it? ISTR O series ?

[Grubbster]

A couple you could look into here http://www.woodcotesportscars.com/car-sales/stock....