R300D upgrades
Discussion
I've just bought a 2012 R300D. It's standard R300D spec ie 6 speed, wet sump and plastic plenum. Whilst I intend to enjoy it throughout the summer and not rush in to upgrading it, there are a few things I would like to do it over next winter, I'm just not sure how best to go about it.
The first is a dry sump. I probably don't need to do it, but my last car was dry sumped and I like not having to worry about oil surge and bearing damage on track days. I quite like the Raceline system but at the moment, because of the plenum and airbox setup, the only place for the DS tank to go is up front (ie the triangular tank). How does this compare to the shortened footwell and Pace easiclean tank setup in terms of cost, installation and performance?
If the answer is a shortened footwell setup, that would be fine (I had this on my K Series car and it worked well), as I also want to change the plenum to Caterham RBTBs. However, I've only ever heard of these being fitted R400s (or R300s as part of the 220bhp upgrade). Can it be done staying at 175bhp, or would this need a new ecu and bespoke map?
Thanks.
The first is a dry sump. I probably don't need to do it, but my last car was dry sumped and I like not having to worry about oil surge and bearing damage on track days. I quite like the Raceline system but at the moment, because of the plenum and airbox setup, the only place for the DS tank to go is up front (ie the triangular tank). How does this compare to the shortened footwell and Pace easiclean tank setup in terms of cost, installation and performance?
If the answer is a shortened footwell setup, that would be fine (I had this on my K Series car and it worked well), as I also want to change the plenum to Caterham RBTBs. However, I've only ever heard of these being fitted R400s (or R300s as part of the 220bhp upgrade). Can it be done staying at 175bhp, or would this need a new ecu and bespoke map?
Thanks.
The triangular tank up front works well and would be the easiest option as it is the factory set-up and all the parts are easily available. But there are some compromises with it in terms of cleaning and weight distribution. So it is really up to you if you want the 'best' dry sump possible, or something that retains the cars originality with a standard Caterham upgrade.
I personally think you would be wasting your time and money fitting roller barrels without the R400 upgrade too.
I personally think you would be wasting your time and money fitting roller barrels without the R400 upgrade too.
Edited by DCL on Sunday 15th April 14:14
Thanks DCL, I was hoping you'd be along to offer your knowledge 
I agree with you about the roller barrels being a waste on their own, but thought I'd check anyway. I'm still getting used to the car, and not having had a 7 for over 3 years, I'm happy with the performance for now. The engine does seem very tractable too so the next thing will be to get a cat bypass pipe for it to pop and bang a bit more
On the dry sump, is there that much difference in the handling with the DS tank up front? Shortening the footwell is my preferred option but it is a hassle to do and obviously limits leg room so I need to make an assessment of whether it's worth it. Also, do you know where I can get the triangular tank from as CC want over £800 for theirs!
I agree with you about the roller barrels being a waste on their own, but thought I'd check anyway. I'm still getting used to the car, and not having had a 7 for over 3 years, I'm happy with the performance for now. The engine does seem very tractable too so the next thing will be to get a cat bypass pipe for it to pop and bang a bit more
On the dry sump, is there that much difference in the handling with the DS tank up front? Shortening the footwell is my preferred option but it is a hassle to do and obviously limits leg room so I need to make an assessment of whether it's worth it. Also, do you know where I can get the triangular tank from as CC want over £800 for theirs!
I went down the route of the 220hp R400+roller barrel upgrade to my car and it does really change the character of the car completely. At R300 spec it was fast but relatively benign and friendly on the road. The upgrade has turned it into a bit of a snarling beast. Whether this is a good thing or not depends very much on what you're looking for. i love it, but for the first couple of drives I'm not ashamed to say it scared me more than once! R500/620Rs must be insane.
Oh and exhaust pops and bangs come as part of the deal - even with a cat fitted.
Hi Andrew,
After 4yrs I've just upgraded mine from your current spec on a SuperSport R model to R400 spec with a dry sump and roller barrels, all done at the same time by CC.
I did much research into it before doing so, particularly with regards to the dry sump. IMHO I believe there is much less chance of problems on a Duratec with the raceline wet sump than perhaps people had in the past with a wet sump on the K series cars. The raceline wet sump is a nicely baffled arrangement and whilst not perfect seems to do its job well. It's also simple with little to go wrong with it except perhaps whacking it and cracking it on a speed hump so it does have simplicity on its side. That said i did upgrade mine for ultimate piece of mind but I've just it on track regularly without issue in the past.
Now it's been done, I think the triangular tank arrangement is rather good. It's aluminium so weighs very little in and of itself. It's also a bit of a work of art and looks really neat. Yes it has oil in it but then so did the wet sump before it so in terms of extra weight up front it can't be a great deal. Also the benefit of having it placed in that location is that the pipe runs to/from the tank, DS and oil cooler are all very short lengths which makes for a neat and simple setup.
If your going to have a crack at buying and fitting the bits yourself from raceline etc and are after the tank then I believe they are fabricated for CC by Brise:
http://www.brise.co.uk/Tanks.html
They'll custom make something to your own design but doubtless would also know what the spec of the standard CC setup is as well.
Tom
After 4yrs I've just upgraded mine from your current spec on a SuperSport R model to R400 spec with a dry sump and roller barrels, all done at the same time by CC.
I did much research into it before doing so, particularly with regards to the dry sump. IMHO I believe there is much less chance of problems on a Duratec with the raceline wet sump than perhaps people had in the past with a wet sump on the K series cars. The raceline wet sump is a nicely baffled arrangement and whilst not perfect seems to do its job well. It's also simple with little to go wrong with it except perhaps whacking it and cracking it on a speed hump so it does have simplicity on its side. That said i did upgrade mine for ultimate piece of mind but I've just it on track regularly without issue in the past.
Now it's been done, I think the triangular tank arrangement is rather good. It's aluminium so weighs very little in and of itself. It's also a bit of a work of art and looks really neat. Yes it has oil in it but then so did the wet sump before it so in terms of extra weight up front it can't be a great deal. Also the benefit of having it placed in that location is that the pipe runs to/from the tank, DS and oil cooler are all very short lengths which makes for a neat and simple setup.
If your going to have a crack at buying and fitting the bits yourself from raceline etc and are after the tank then I believe they are fabricated for CC by Brise:
http://www.brise.co.uk/Tanks.html
They'll custom make something to your own design but doubtless would also know what the spec of the standard CC setup is as well.
Tom
uremaw,
I don't mind admitting that even in R300 spec my car has scared me a couple of times
Then again, as I mentioned earlier, I've only just got it and I'm well out of practise with sevens so it'll take me a few drives to get used to it. A good friend of mine has a R400D upgraded to 220bhp with RBTBs as yours is and I agree it's a different car and really something I want to do. His is on a decat and the pops and bangs are hilarious (if slightly childish 
) BTW, I read your blog and it genuinely made me laugh!
Tom,
many thanks, that's exactly the advice I was after! I do occasionally let my OCD ways get the better of me and end up over-analysing things, hence I thought I'd ask the question before committing to the ballache of shortening the footwell and sorting out the oil pipes. I probably wouldn't notice the slight handling difference anyway! I went the DIY route with my last superlight and whilst I enjoyed it, it was a faff and not exactly straight forward, so giving it to CC and taking it back when they're done has merit. The only snag is the extra cost vs DIY.....
I don't mind admitting that even in R300 spec my car has scared me a couple of times
Then again, as I mentioned earlier, I've only just got it and I'm well out of practise with sevens so it'll take me a few drives to get used to it. A good friend of mine has a R400D upgraded to 220bhp with RBTBs as yours is and I agree it's a different car and really something I want to do. His is on a decat and the pops and bangs are hilarious (if slightly childish ) BTW, I read your blog and it genuinely made me laugh!Tom,
many thanks, that's exactly the advice I was after! I do occasionally let my OCD ways get the better of me and end up over-analysing things, hence I thought I'd ask the question before committing to the ballache of shortening the footwell and sorting out the oil pipes. I probably wouldn't notice the slight handling difference anyway! I went the DIY route with my last superlight and whilst I enjoyed it, it was a faff and not exactly straight forward, so giving it to CC and taking it back when they're done has merit. The only snag is the extra cost vs DIY.....
I had RBTBs fitted to my R400D, by Luke Stevens, with a remap and some other odd bits to bring it to 220.
It’s much more flexible, idles much better and sounds great.
It’s easily managed on the road and is only ‘frightening’ if you’re silly with the throttle when it can get a bit wild.
It’s much more flexible, idles much better and sounds great.
It’s easily managed on the road and is only ‘frightening’ if you’re silly with the throttle when it can get a bit wild.
I bought my r400 in 2007. It was a very early duratec car and came with a wet sumo as a result. Over time I added the cc dry sump (works perfectly well) and did the 220 rbtb upgrade. As has been said, it totally transformed the car. It was superb on track - great power and acceleration, and the handling was excellent too after it had been properly flat floored and set up. I would highly recommend all these upgrades.
As for the CC location of the dry sump and handling impact, you won’t notice anything detrimental if the car is set up right. No point sticking it in the footwell for no appreciable benefit but lots of guaranteed hassle.
As for the CC location of the dry sump and handling impact, you won’t notice anything detrimental if the car is set up right. No point sticking it in the footwell for no appreciable benefit but lots of guaranteed hassle.
Thanks all for the helpful advice, it's much appreciated
I've decided to book the car in to CC for the dry sump to be fitted in a few months time when we're on holiday. It'll be a nice present to come home to. I priced up the individual bits today to see if the cost difference for DIY'ing was worth it...it's not and after a bit of thought I really can't face shortening a footwell again having done my previous car.
The 220 upgrade with the RBTBs will be done over the winter together with a respray and some other cosmetic bits.
First though, time to drive the car a bit more now the sun is threatening to come out
I've decided to book the car in to CC for the dry sump to be fitted in a few months time when we're on holiday. It'll be a nice present to come home to. I priced up the individual bits today to see if the cost difference for DIY'ing was worth it...it's not and after a bit of thought I really can't face shortening a footwell again having done my previous car.
The 220 upgrade with the RBTBs will be done over the winter together with a respray and some other cosmetic bits.
First though, time to drive the car a bit more now the sun is threatening to come out
Hi Andrew,
Dry sump is definitely a good idea as is fitting a dual oil pressure oil temperature gauge, just so you can keep an eye on oil temp. Whilst we do fit the Caterham tank, I do prefer the shortened footwell option with an easy clean tank. You can't wash the Caterham tank out very easily. We also fit a sight tube on our dry sump installations so oil level can easily be checked without needing to remove the nose cone or oil filler cap.
We also offer a very neat Laminova installation to look after oil temperature. We plumb this in on the oil return line so there are no issues with oil pressure as some have mentioned (never had a problem ourselves). This not only looks after maximum oil temperature but also brings oil up to operating temperature much quicker.
We also offer an ultralightweight flywheel and clutch now which is over 2 kgs lighter than the Caterham light weight option. This has a big impact on throttle response and makes the engine more responsive. You would be surprised the effect this has on, on track driveability.
Finally we also offer our 225bhp upgrade which features 170lbsft of torque. I believe this is 15lbsft more than the Caterham R400 upgrade and very noticeable when driving.
If you are interested in discussing any of the above, please drop me a line at stuart@premierpowerengines.com
Regards
SKC
Dry sump is definitely a good idea as is fitting a dual oil pressure oil temperature gauge, just so you can keep an eye on oil temp. Whilst we do fit the Caterham tank, I do prefer the shortened footwell option with an easy clean tank. You can't wash the Caterham tank out very easily. We also fit a sight tube on our dry sump installations so oil level can easily be checked without needing to remove the nose cone or oil filler cap.
We also offer a very neat Laminova installation to look after oil temperature. We plumb this in on the oil return line so there are no issues with oil pressure as some have mentioned (never had a problem ourselves). This not only looks after maximum oil temperature but also brings oil up to operating temperature much quicker.
We also offer an ultralightweight flywheel and clutch now which is over 2 kgs lighter than the Caterham light weight option. This has a big impact on throttle response and makes the engine more responsive. You would be surprised the effect this has on, on track driveability.
Finally we also offer our 225bhp upgrade which features 170lbsft of torque. I believe this is 15lbsft more than the Caterham R400 upgrade and very noticeable when driving.
If you are interested in discussing any of the above, please drop me a line at stuart@premierpowerengines.com
Regards
SKC
REALIST123 said:
I had RBTBs fitted to my R400D, by Luke Stevens, with a remap and some other odd bits to bring it to 220.
It’s much more flexible, idles much better and sounds great.
It’s easily managed on the road and is only ‘frightening’ if you’re silly with the throttle when it can get a bit wild.
Hi realist123,It’s much more flexible, idles much better and sounds great.
It’s easily managed on the road and is only ‘frightening’ if you’re silly with the throttle when it can get a bit wild.
Sorry to mither about an old thread but was just wondering how your intake set up got on over the years. I think I wanna do the same to my csr260. What length trumpets your car got? I think mine are 100mm. The px600 is sooo tight under the bonnet on mine. It’s an itg filter yours isn’t it?
Cheers
Eck5980 said:
REALIST123 said:
I had RBTBs fitted to my R400D, by Luke Stevens, with a remap and some other odd bits to bring it to 220.
It’s much more flexible, idles much better and sounds great.
It’s easily managed on the road and is only ‘frightening’ if you’re silly with the throttle when it can get a bit wild.
Hi realist123,It’s much more flexible, idles much better and sounds great.
It’s easily managed on the road and is only ‘frightening’ if you’re silly with the throttle when it can get a bit wild.
Sorry to mither about an old thread but was just wondering how your intake set up got on over the years. I think I wanna do the same to my csr260. What length trumpets your car got? I think mine are 100mm. The px600 is sooo tight under the bonnet on mine. It’s an itg filter yours isn’t it?
Cheers
The car has always and still does run really well. Starts well and idles steadily at about 850. Release the clutch and it’ll crawl away with no further throttle.
Pops and bangs just about right and sounds great.
On paper it’s not much more power but it certainly feels it at higher speeds on track.
I’m not sure but I think the trumpets are 110mm. I’m away at the mo, home in a couple of days, happy to check and let you know. Yes, ITG filter.
All fits under the bonnet OK and has always passed noise tests.
REALIST123 said:
Eck5980 said:
REALIST123 said:
I had RBTBs fitted to my R400D, by Luke Stevens, with a remap and some other odd bits to bring it to 220.
It’s much more flexible, idles much better and sounds great.
It’s easily managed on the road and is only ‘frightening’ if you’re silly with the throttle when it can get a bit wild.
Hi realist123,It’s much more flexible, idles much better and sounds great.
It’s easily managed on the road and is only ‘frightening’ if you’re silly with the throttle when it can get a bit wild.
Sorry to mither about an old thread but was just wondering how your intake set up got on over the years. I think I wanna do the same to my csr260. What length trumpets your car got? I think mine are 100mm. The px600 is sooo tight under the bonnet on mine. It’s an itg filter yours isn’t it?
Cheers
The car has always and still does run really well. Starts well and idles steadily at about 850. Release the clutch and it’ll crawl away with no further throttle.
Pops and bangs just about right and sounds great.
On paper it’s not much more power but it certainly feels it at higher speeds on track.
I’m not sure but I think the trumpets are 110mm. I’m away at the mo, home in a couple of days, happy to check and let you know. Yes, ITG filter.
All fits under the bonnet OK and has always passed noise tests.
Oooooh, I’d forgotten I’d started this thread
Part 1 of the upgrades is complete; I had the Dry Sump system fitted by Williams Caterham near Bristol back in late summer. They did a great job and I was very happy with the standard of the work. Caterham themselves were pretty useless though sending the wrong bits out first, then trying it on with other bits saying they weren’t included when they were, which delayed things a few weeks.
I went for the standard Duratec DS kit with the triangular tank up front, rather than messing about with the footwell as I did on my old K Series car. I couldn't tell any difference in handling afterwards, although that was on the road not on track.
This winter the car got resprayed in Renault Liquid Yellow (image in the pictures thread) so the R400 RBTB upgrade will have to wait until winter 2020. Interested to hear other people experiences with it, so keep the comments coming
Part 1 of the upgrades is complete; I had the Dry Sump system fitted by Williams Caterham near Bristol back in late summer. They did a great job and I was very happy with the standard of the work. Caterham themselves were pretty useless though sending the wrong bits out first, then trying it on with other bits saying they weren’t included when they were, which delayed things a few weeks.
I went for the standard Duratec DS kit with the triangular tank up front, rather than messing about with the footwell as I did on my old K Series car. I couldn't tell any difference in handling afterwards, although that was on the road not on track.
This winter the car got resprayed in Renault Liquid Yellow (image in the pictures thread) so the R400 RBTB upgrade will have to wait until winter 2020. Interested to hear other people experiences with it, so keep the comments coming
I may be a little late to there party - but make sure you have the newer diff cage - our's (same spec as yours) just catastrophically failed with customers on board. They should have done it, but only if they knew who the owner was at the time or it went through a Caterham dealer. They only keep records of the cars that were fixed, not the cars that have not been (crazy I know).
Easy way to tell: right hand side, at the top of the diff cage is solid (you can see it on the parts site now: https://caterhamparts.co.uk/differentials/6026-bmw...
The ones that were recalled were in two parts instead of a single solid plate, the lower piece being pretty thin. I have pics of mine (broken) if you want to check, but sharing pics on PH is a PITA so ping me a PM and I'll send you an email with the pics in,
Recall was for potential brake line damage, rather than anything else, so we're having to wrangle with them now to (1) get it sorted and (2) get subsequent damage fixed. Plus the car is in the south west of France in the mountains, so getting it back to them to fix is not cheap or fast.
DVLA has details, under the SV model, but effected all cars with the BMW diffs fitted.
It's a great car otherwise though - hope you are still enjoying it!
Easy way to tell: right hand side, at the top of the diff cage is solid (you can see it on the parts site now: https://caterhamparts.co.uk/differentials/6026-bmw...
The ones that were recalled were in two parts instead of a single solid plate, the lower piece being pretty thin. I have pics of mine (broken) if you want to check, but sharing pics on PH is a PITA so ping me a PM and I'll send you an email with the pics in,
Recall was for potential brake line damage, rather than anything else, so we're having to wrangle with them now to (1) get it sorted and (2) get subsequent damage fixed. Plus the car is in the south west of France in the mountains, so getting it back to them to fix is not cheap or fast.
DVLA has details, under the SV model, but effected all cars with the BMW diffs fitted.
It's a great car otherwise though - hope you are still enjoying it!
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