£20k +

[PAULJA]

When looking at 7's in excess of £20k would you still consider the K series a good option or is it better to maybe pay a bit more for a Duratec.

Looking for my first 7 - Thinking R300 / R400 / Supersport R

Any advice greatly appreciated

Thanks

[Grubbster]

K or Duratec usually starts a great debate as people tend to prefer whichever they have

I have a high powered K and love it, enough torque from below 4k and screams to beyond 8.5k. Never had a head gasket fail either

Duratec is a bit more torquey and tractable lower down the revs, more modern engine, a bit heavier and not so 'zingy'.

In your price range a couple of brilliant examples -

http://www.blatchat.com/t.asp?id=232980

and

http://www.blatchat.com/t.asp?id=232822

These are very different from each other - but both pretty awesome in my opinion!

[fatvik]

As Grubbster said one of the major differences between the two is the nature of the engine. So it depends on your driving style. I know with a K you need to keep the revs up for the power but I understand with the D you can get it at almost all the rev range. So if you are the type not to constantly be changing gears a D might be better.
Also, for me, the exhaust positioning - with the K your passenger burns their legs if they are not careful and on a D its you the driver
When I was looking I was leaning towards the D too and almost all of that was due to the K might go pop issue. I am happy with my K

[PAULJA]

Grubbster said:

K or Duratec usually starts a great debate as people tend to prefer whichever they have

I have a high powered K and love it, enough torque from below 4k and screams to beyond 8.5k. Never had a head gasket fail either

Duratec is a bit more torquey and tractable lower down the revs, more modern engine, a bit heavier and not so 'zingy'.

In your price range a couple of brilliant examples -

http://www.blatchat.com/t.asp?id=232980

and

http://www.blatchat.com/t.asp?id=232822

These are very different from each other - but both pretty awesome in my opinion!

It was the first one that caught my eye

Also

I was looking at this one, its been for sale for a while, not sure why its not sold ?

http://www.woodcotesportscars.com/car-sales/detail...

[Grubbster]

That also looks like a nice car, price might be a little steep. I wonder if it was a Caterham demo/press car based on the stickers on it? Of course they might not have anything to do with anything!

The yellow R300 with upgraded engine looks great, really nice spec. I'd want to fit a dry sump if it was going to be used on track though, otherwise it sounds brilliant.

The red Duratec is an awesome car, lot's of us in Lotus 7 club know it and it is a fantastic example - possibly a bit extreme (depending on what you want to do with it).

If this is to be a first 7 then certainly worth getting out in a couple to see what you like, when you get into these higher powered versions they can easily catch you out. You might be able to find a newer/lower mileage car with a bit less power for the same money? It depends of course on what you are used to.

[PAULJA]

Recently hired a 125 SV for the day - it was ok, more torque that expected but not exciting enough. Also on the North York's roads the rear suspension knocked when under compression (maybe a BMW diff / d'tube issue?). Did have a good day out though, never spoken to so many strangers.

Went to CCM a couple of weeks ago and drove a 140 - not much different to the 125 (no rear suspension knock but the roads are smoother), didn't do it for me.

Then tried the Supersport R - now that was FUN FUN FUN.

Edited by PAULJA on Saturday 17th August 17:19

[tomwoodis]

Have you considered buying and building a supersport R yourself?

I went through a similar thought process to you, tried a few cars including the standard supersport and thought it wasn't quick enough so bought the supersport R instead. It comes on Wednesday and am really looking forward to getting it built.

In the end, ii'd kind of settled on r300 performance but at the time I was looking at 22k ish for a k series based car. I felt more comfortable paying a little more and going for a new car / Duratec based car for the piece of mind.

I think the R will be quite a sort after spec in a few years time as the r300 has been so in hoping it will hold its value pretty well.

[PAULJA]

Building a Supersport R is an option. The main issue is the price when I tick all the option boxes !!!!

[uremaw]

True indeed. Very easy to add ~£7k to the base price without even trying. It still stings that i paid £1,700 for them to paint it.

Re: the OP, I have the duratec Supersport R and the performance is more than adequate. Lots of torque down low for when you're pootling round town, but takes off like a scalded cat when you open it up. The engine isn't a screamer - the power feels pretty linear - but its ideal for the road. Will happily slide around on dry roads all day, and needs quick wits in the wet.

[PAULJA]

Yep - just totted up and its £33K give or take for the Supersport R (+£3k if its factory built), then there's, SVA / registration etc

Just need to find a good low miles / low owner / right spec Duratec R300 / R400 / SSR - anyone ?

[bonesX]

PAULJA said:

Recently hired a 125 SV for the day - it was ok, more torque that expected but not exciting enough. Also on the North York's roads the rear suspension knocked when under compression (maybe a BMW diff / d'tube issue?). Did have a good day out though, never spoken to so many strangers.

Went to CCM a couple of weeks ago and drove a 140 - not much different to the 125 (no rear suspension knock but the roads are smoother), didn't do it for me.

Then tried the Supersport R - now that was FUN FUN FUN.

Edited by PAULJA on Saturday 17th August 17:19

I went to CCM a few weeks back and did a similar thing - the 140 just didn't do very much for me, but the I thought the 180 Supersport R Duratec was about right.

Unfortunately they're rare and pricey. I've been looking at Westfields too - a fair few around with 2l Duratec & Ztec for half Caterham money

The Duratec is actually lighter than the K

[BSA]

Wrong the Duratec is not lighter than the K series Engine

[bonesX]

Chris Harris reckons it is

[jonnyleroux]

bonesX said:

Chris Harris reckons it is

bear engine maybe? still doubtfull, certainly by the time it's fully dressed the duratec is heavier.

[framerateuk]

bonesX said:

but the I thought the 180 Supersport R Duratec was about right.
Unfortunately they're rare and pricey.

Lots of R300 Duratecs around second hand surly? The Supersport R replaced them in the model structure, and aside from a couple of things they're pretty much the same car. (The R300 comes with a 6 speed box as standard - a worthwhile addition I would say.).

[BSA]

LOL Who many Caterham's has Chris Harris built none
The Duratec is at least 10 Kg heaver

[mg2959]

framerateuk said:

Lots of R300 Duratecs around second hand surly? The Supersport R replaced them in the model structure, and aside from a couple of things they're pretty much the same car. (The R300 comes with a 6 speed box as standard - a worthwhile addition I would say.).

Unfortunately not as many as you'd think!! I was looking at a new Supersport R as this pretty much meets my criteria, but as previously mentioned in this thread, too pricey when you add what you want, I came out at £34k.

I'm looking for a decent spec R300 for around the £25k mark. I've seen a few, but they really are a rarity on the classified markets. The good ones (a very nice one on the classifieds at the moment, a yellow, 2004, R300 upgraded to 210bhp, which I'm hoping to see next week if its still available) seem to shift very quickly! CC South have a 12 plate one for £32k.

Oh and the Duretec is heavier than the K series.

[bonesX]

mg2959 said:

Oh and the Duretec is heavier than the K series.

Ok, OK, just checking everyone's awake, as you were

[tomwoodis]

mg2959 said:

Unfortunately not as many as you'd think!! I was looking at a new Supersport R as this pretty much meets my criteria, but as previously mentioned in this thread, too pricey when you add what you want, I came out at £34k.

I'm looking for a decent spec R300 for around the £25k mark. I've seen a few, but they really are a rarity on the classified markets. The good ones (a very nice one on the classifieds at the moment, a yellow, 2004, R300 upgraded to 210bhp, which I'm hoping to see next week if its still available) seem to shift very quickly! CC South have a 12 plate one for £32k.

Oh and the Duretec is heavier than the K series.

Agreed, i got bored of searching and figured that if i did eventually find an R300d it would be close to the price of a Supersport R anyway

[bonesX]

tomwoodis said:

Agreed, i got bored of searching and figured that if i did eventually find an R300d it would be close to the price of a Supersport R anyway

Sums up what I've found over the past few months of looking

We're also trying to find cars in the best of all residual motoring group...