RE: Unveiled: Caterham's Dramatic New SP/300.R

[James.S]

sparky21 said:

1/3 of the price!!!!

May I ask why it is in Voda/San livery?

[Martin Keene]

pw75 said:

Martin Keene said:

If I'd got the thick end of £70k to spend on a non-road legal toy, I'd be buying a Radical thanks very much. At least they can be made road legal if you so chose...

Plus the SR8, which is not lot more, has got something a lot closer to a purpose built race engine, than a lump from a Mondeo. And before anybody starts, the Duratec is a *very* good engine; light, strong, highly tunable, etc; but in a £72k car?

Humm, so you want a purpose built race engine for a track day toy? Presume you've done the maths on that? Also, radical today announced they also now use that old lump from a mondeo as well....but they only want £80k for it.

Keep the well reasoned arguments coming.

Really...

(Wanders off to read the news)

Ste, when did they get so expensive?

[Martin Keene]

sfaulds said:

sfaulds said:

Put simply, if you think it's expensive, you're not in the market for one.

Martin Keene said:

If I'd got the thick end of £70k to spend on a non-road legal toy, I'd be buying a Radical thanks very much. At least they can be made road legal if you so chose...

Plus the SR8, which is not lot more, has got something a lot closer to a purpose built race engine, than a lump from a Mondeo. And before anybody starts, the Duratec is a *very* good engine; light, strong, highly tunable, etc; but in a £72k car?

Like I said, you're not in the market for one.

Ah, yes. Sorry, I forgot this is Pistonheads, an opinion is against the rules unless your going to buy said article being debated tomorrow.



NTS: Ignore button for this thread...

[juansolo]

Lordbenny said:

WOW, this really is a heated topic! Just a quick question - If it is a track only car why has it got head lights?

For when it's dark...

[pw75]

James.S said:

sparky21 said:

1/3 of the price!!!!

May I ask why it is in Voda/San livery?

I presumed that was the new McLaren MP4-12C GTR racer?

[anonymous-user]

Martin Keene said:

sfaulds said:

sfaulds said:

Put simply, if you think it's expensive, you're not in the market for one.

Martin Keene said:

If I'd got the thick end of £70k to spend on a non-road legal toy, I'd be buying a Radical thanks very much. At least they can be made road legal if you so chose...

Plus the SR8, which is not lot more, has got something a lot closer to a purpose built race engine, than a lump from a Mondeo. And before anybody starts, the Duratec is a *very* good engine; light, strong, highly tunable, etc; but in a £72k car?

Like I said, you're not in the market for one.

Ah, yes. Sorry, I forgot this is Pistonheads, an opinion is against the rules unless your going to buy said article being debated tomorrow.



NTS: Ignore button for this thread...

Why would you get hung up on an engine closer to something bespoke, unless you are racing and looking for 1/10th? The smart move would be on a tuned standard ish 'thing' that anyone can go and get parts for? Also a Radical on the road is fairly hopeless, unless its for bragging rights

[Lordbenny]

pw75 said:

Also, radical today announced they also now use that old lump from a mondeo as well....but they only want £80k for it.

The 'SR8 will set you back a cool £88,750' it's got a '2.7-litre, 460bhp RPX V8 built by newly renamed sister company RPE'

If you can show me a Mondeo with one of them in it I'd be interested!


IMO Caterham want a piece of Radical's track day action. The '7' is getting a bit 'long in the tooth' now. Im sure It'll keep going for many more years but Caterham want to tap into the new breed of track day enthusiasts that are after something a little more........'radical'

[sfaulds]

Martin Keene said:

sfaulds said:

sfaulds said:

Put simply, if you think it's expensive, you're not in the market for one.

Martin Keene said:

If I'd got the thick end of £70k to spend on a non-road legal toy, I'd be buying a Radical thanks very much. At least they can be made road legal if you so chose...

Plus the SR8, which is not lot more, has got something a lot closer to a purpose built race engine, than a lump from a Mondeo. And before anybody starts, the Duratec is a *very* good engine; light, strong, highly tunable, etc; but in a £72k car?

Like I said, you're not in the market for one.

Ah, yes. Sorry, I forgot this is Pistonheads, an opinion is against the rules unless your going to buy said article being debated tomorrow.



NTS: Ignore button for this thread...

Martin Keene said:

Really...

(Wanders off to read the news)

Ste, when did they get so expensive?

This is the point I'm making and you're refusing to grasp. THE SP300-R IS NOT AN EXPENSIVE SPORTS-PROTOTYPE! Therefore, if you were in the market for one, you would not think it was expensive. This has nothing to do with debate or anything else, it's simple maths.

[anonymous-user]

Lordbenny said:

The '7' is getting a bit 'long in the tooth' now. Im sure It'll keep going for many more years but Caterham want to tap into the new breed of track day enthusiasts that are after something a little more........'radical'

A 7 is hardly going to compete against a mini me aero and wide track car. Caterham are right to make the 300 and the price reflects what it costs to put something decent together. Its a big enough market for everyone and in these days of 100k 3 series BWM's neither the Radical or Caterham seem bad value!

[Stu R]

Radical for me thanks

[t1grm]

Looks awesome. Will it be eligible to run as an LMP2 in the LMS/Le Mans?

I think the Radical does already, no?

Edited by t1grm on Thursday 13th January 22:54

[t1grm]

pistolp said:

A 288 GTO is rebadged 308 with a couple turbos but that didn't stop me wanting one

Are you for real?

[pistolp]

Yes I am for real.

Edited by pistolp on Thursday 13th January 23:04

[James.S]

pistolp said:

Yes and so is my 288, is yours?

lol. you bh.

Edited by James.S on Thursday 13th January 23:07

[James.S]

Lordbenny said:

pw75 said:

Also, radical today announced they also now use that old lump from a mondeo as well....but they only want £80k for it.

The 'SR8 will set you back a cool £88,750' it's got a '2.7-litre, 460bhp RPX V8 built by newly renamed sister company RPE'

If you can show me a Mondeo with one of them in it I'd be interested!


IMO Caterham want a piece of Radical's track day action. The '7' is getting a bit 'long in the tooth' now. Im sure It'll keep going for many more years but Caterham want to tap into the new breed of track day enthusiasts that are after something a little more........'radical'

I think you will find the 80k (£68k plus Vat) refers to the new SR3,which has the turbod duratec and imo is a much lesser car.It certainly can't match the specification of the Caterham for anything close to the price.

[pistolp]

Sorry I edited my original response, shouldn't have but this forum brings out the worst in me. An affliction that alot of others suffer from as well, evidently.

[blearyeyedboy]

Well, it's an interesting trackday car I guess. And one that I can't afford.

But I don't care. If Caterham make a profit, they'll survive a difficult financial climate to continue making the Seven. If they build toasters and electric toothbrushes to remain viable, so be it. And that means I can buy one some day.

Some day...

[ArosaMike]

I think it says it all that Stuart (team owner) and Paul (driver) are so impressed with it. To me that shows that Caterhams marketing is spot on.

I may only be a lowly Roadsport B driver, but even I can see that 60k for what you get is good value for a race car of this spec. It's miles better than a Radical and makes anything they offer look a bit mickey mouse in my opinion. The added bonus that the series will be run by Caterham seals the deal for many I suspect. If anyone here has tried dealing with Radical, you'd understand why this has got the potential to really take off. Whilst Caterham treat you like family, Radical can't even be bothered to send you any info when you ask for it! I'm frankly amazed they do so well.

Anyway...can't wait to see it on Sunday.

[DonkeyApple]

sparky21 said:

1/3 of the price!!!!

The massive cheques from Santander and Vodafone each year must more than cover any purchase price and running costs.

[t1grm]

pistolp said:

Yes I am for real.

Edited by pistolp on Thursday 13th January 23:04

Sorry but, the reason I ask is that the 288 has about as much in common with a 308 as a Merc CLK GT1 has with a road going CLK coupe. All they share is similar styling cues. Under the skin they are totally different machines.