Does anyone know this car?

[keo]

Hi everyone I read this forum a bit and I have always had a Caterham itch but as of yet I haven’t scratched it..

Does anyone know this car?

https://turn7.co.uk/showroom/superlight-r300/

This will be my first Caterham. I sold my immaculate Exige 410 a few weeks ago and honestly I probably didn’t use it much as I was always a bit worried about keeping it perfect.

Hence spotting this 7… it says it is priced well? (Not sure I have been looking at 310r’s though and they seam a bit more) but this is because it could do with a respray. This appeals to me as I will hopefully use the car more and not be as precious about it!

I also want a car I can enjoy on the road so I think a lower powered one might be best. I don’t do track-days so just want fun on the road. From reading R300/ 310 cars are a bit of a sweet spot. Is the 310 lighter with the 1.6 though?

Thanks

[AndrewGP]

I don’t know that specific car but I have a virtually identical spec R300 Duratec car from 2012. They’re quite a rare car as they didn’t produce them for very long before rebranding them to 360r. I think the spec changed a little at the same time to include less kit and they hiked the price.

I test drove a genuine 310r before I bought my R300D, it was a good car, quite rev happy and fun but didn’t have the torque the Duratec has. People say you can tell the greater weight over the front axle but I found it subtle at best and having had my car properly set up with corner weighting, mine handles perfectly with a lovely rear bias.

The whole 5 speed vs 6 speed has been done to death but FWIW I have the 6 speed box in my car like the one you’re looking at and it’s sublime. It’s no motorway cruiser but rowing through the gears on local B roads is a thing of joy. If you like that sort of thing, you’ll love the combination of Duratec and the 6 speed, you can make rapid progress and overtakes are easy.

The fact it needs a respray isn’t necessarily a bad thing. You can just drive it and then get it done at your leisure. I did the same as mine was cosmetically scruffy and I hated the colour. I had it resprayed and PPF put on; it still looks mint after 5 years and I don’t have to worry about stones and gravel getting kicked up. The cost was £3k for the paint and £650 for the PPF.

So I’d say get it bought! They’re great cars and I love the fact I can ring its neck on the road without it being too much and getting frustrating. If it isn’t enough an upgrade to R400/420r spec isn’t tricky, it’s a cam change and an ECU flash so pretty straightforward. I would check which LSD it has though as Caterham had problems with them in that era. Mine has a Tracsport diff in now which wasn’t cheap.

Link to my car’s thread is here if you are interested.



BTW did you do a readers cars thread on your Exige? If it’s the one I’m thinking if, it was a great looking car.

[keo]

Thanks for the reply Andrew, I have read about your car it looks great. I think you might have a Porsche I have read about on here as well? Yes I had a thread on my Exige. Thanks it was stunning but it was time to move on.

You make good points about 310/420 r300/400. I really don’t know what to do for the best. Iv read about 5/6 speed and I would want a 6 speed. Thanks for the tip about the lsd.

[Turn7]

Personally , I don’t the D is the right engine for a 7.

I have a Sigma which isn’t to bad , albeit hard to get more HP from.

If I bought again, I’d buy a sorted 160/170hp K on roller barrels .

[AndrewGP]

keo said:

Thanks for the reply Andrew, I have read about your car it looks great. I think you might have a Porsche I have read about on here as well? Yes I had a thread on my Exige. Thanks it was stunning but it was time to move on.

You make good points about 310/420 r300/400. I really don’t know what to do for the best. Iv read about 5/6 speed and I would want a 6 speed. Thanks for the tip about the lsd.

Yes, I did threads on my 987.2 Cayman and my 981 Boxster. Just swapped the 981 for a new 718 Cayman which I collected a week ago and is my daily driver. So far so good, it's amazing. On the 7, I'd suggest going for a test drive to help decide.

Turn7 said:

Personally , I don’t the D is the right engine for a 7.

I have a Sigma which isn’t to bad , albeit hard to get more HP from.

If I bought again, I’d buy a sorted 160/170hp K on roller barrels .

Interesting, my first 7 was a Caterham R300 Superlight spec car with a 1.8 K series on roller barrels with 160bhp. Sounded great, but I prefer the Duratec which just highlights that we're all different and a test drive of the various 7 models is crucial

[keo]

Congratulations on the 718, have you done a thread on it yet? Will keep an eye out. Porsche and Caterham must be a pretty good two car garage!

[keo]

Seen another car I might be interested in. I really wasn’t a fan of the colour at first but it is growing on me. I think a 420 might be a bit much for the road? Although I can’t see it keep accelerating as speeds got higher like my old Exige did. So it might be ok. It looks a good price for the spec I think?

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/2025031301...

[Turn7]

Nice R400D just come up on Facebook …

[keo]

I don’t have facebook

[thegt]

That 420 on Autotrader looks awesome and a great price too.

I was interested in the R300 at Turn7, Callum there sent me a video he'd taken of the car that shows the condition really well. I may have bought it if I hadn't found a different R300D on Facebook that I got instead, just waiting for them to stop salting the roads here to get some use out of it.

I sold a 996.1 C2 (I only have room for 1 toy at a time), but the two together would have covered every base.

Good luck with the search.

[Turn7]

keo said:

I don’t have facebook

Actually, it’s in our local 7 group…
Could get contact details if required

[keo]

Thanks Turn 7! Yes please that looks great.

[keo]

thegt said:

That 420 on Autotrader looks awesome and a great price too.

I was interested in the R300 at Turn7, Callum there sent me a video he'd taken of the car that shows the condition really well. I may have bought it if I hadn't found a different R300D on Facebook that I got instead, just waiting for them to stop salting the roads here to get some use out of it.

I sold a 996.1 C2 (I only have room for 1 toy at a time), but the two together would have covered every base.

Good luck with the search.

Thanks gt, I think I am seeing a theme where a Caterham and a Porsche are a great two car garage. I’m going to concentrate on getting the Caterham first though

[Turn7]

Turn7 said:

Nice R400D just come up on Facebook …

Caterham R400 Superlight for sale

9,900 miles, may increase slightly with use

Series 3, 2011

Ballistic Orange with black decal stripes

Duratec 2.0 with Caterham Dry Sump system and factory Roller Barrell upgrade giving 220bhp

Normal high factory specification on Superlight, 6 speed, LSD, Watts Linkage, Superlight wheels 6” front 8” rears, Lightened Flywheel, Adjustable Widetrack Suspension, Big front brakes with uprated master cylinder, FIA Roll Bar

Carbon dash, sill protectors, rear wing protectors and front cycle wings.

Lowered floors, Change up lights, Heater, Tillett Seats with seat padding inserts, Carbon leather tunnel top, Windscreen, sidescreens and full weather gear.

Fitted with larger quieter Raceco silencer, original silencer and cat included with car.

Excellent condition low mileage factory specification R400 Duratec with power upgrade. Recent full service and MOT to March 26.

Please drop me a message for further details and to arrange a viewing

Based near Bedford

£29,750

[Tiggers]

I've seen this car in the flesh and it is stunning; from what I know of the owner, it will have been very well maintained! We've bought different parts off each other a few times now!