£12k - Caterham type light, agile, fun car

[IvanSTi]

OK Chaps inspire me, looking to move away from my current car, just had it set up for racing but might change direction a bit.

Currently have an Impreza STI which I was going to race this year, however, I fancy a change and want something light, quick and nimble rather than peddling thousands into bigger turbo's etc.

I still want to be able to compete in it, so was thinking along the lines of a Caterham, but you don't get a lot for your money with them. So any other suggestions would be appreciated and links to said cars would be even more helpful.

Cheers

[Tannedbaldhead]

IvanSTi said:

so was thinking along the lines of a Caterham,
Cheers

Nothing out-Caterahams a Caterham.

[andburg]

kit car?

Westfield? plenty of 7 type vehcicles out there

[siwil1]

Elise

[Troubleatmill]

IvanSTi said:

... but you don't get a lot for your money with them.

You will get your money back when you sell it on.
Not many cars you can do that with.

[RobM77]

You should get a racing Caterham for £12k quite easily, and many categories are road legal as well if that's of interest to you.

[trickywoo]

andburg said:

kit car?

Westfield? plenty of 7 type vehcicles out there

Tiger are well respected at the lower end of the price range.

[balls-out]

IvanSTi said:

..... along the lines of a Caterham, but you don't get a lot for your money with them.


Cheers

You get a design icon, stunning handling and added lightness. That should be enough

[IvanSTi]

balls-out said:

IvanSTi said:

..... along the lines of a Caterham, but you don't get a lot for your money with them.


Cheers

You get a design icon, stunning handling and added lightness. That should be enough

That is a very good point, however, I meant engine wise, for that sort of money you seem to have a choice of a 1.6 120bhp or a 1.6 120bhp.

In say a westfield you can get hyabusa engines etc with a bit more poke, just curious as to what other sort of cars are out there and where to look, hence the request for links. Thought people may know of secret corners of the interweb where such cars are hidden from public knowledge.

Currently have 400+ in a car not much over a tonne with tuned suspension to make it go round corners well, so looking for something with equal or better punch too.

[IvanSTi]

RobM77 said:

You should get a racing Caterham for £12k quite easily, and many categories are road legal as well if that's of interest to you.

Any suggestions on where to find such? Here, fleabay and the trader throw up very little in budget.

[Shaun_E]

http://www.graduates.org.uk/forsale.asp
Probably also the best place to find out about racing them.

[IvanSTi]

Nice, will keep my eyes on that.

[RobM77]

If you do buy one though, make sure you get it set up right. Mine was an absolute dog and after two or three races I gave up and sold it.

[BritishRacinGrin]

Go racing in graduates. There are a few supergrads for sale for 10k currently.

If you want straight line speed to match your Impreza you're missing the point completely... and at the end of the day, a 400bhp Impreza, a Westfield megabusa etc etc neither of them are going to fit into the best club racing series in the country / world are they? [/biased]

[Sway]

Caterham is a great shout, very well developed 'system' for progressing as experience/cash permit.

Alternative for me would be a Jeremy Phillips car - Striker is a well regarded Caterham 7 style car, although I personally would probably go for a Fury or Pheonix.

12k should get you the car, trailer, wets plus a few other bits.

Plus they look great, and are much less aerodynamically disadvantaged!

[spyder dryver]

The RGB Championship winning ex Tim Gray/Al Boulton STM Phoenix is up for grabs.
£10,500
Speak to Tim quick. It won't hang about for long.
There are usually a few RGB cars for sale. Ask Tim.
Like I said... Be quick!


http://www.rgb-racing.org.uk/rgbbb/viewtopic.php?f...

[Sway]

Ooh, that's rather nice...

[spyder dryver]

The Phoenix is a great car. I've got one myself for trackdays. It's nowhere near as quick as Tim's car though.

[Sway]

Once I've decided I want more comfort than my current GTM daily, I'll be having a Pheonix/Fury in the garage and a Phaeton on the drive...

I never seem to see Caterhams up against Furies etc. (to be fair I don't look particularly hard!), how would a 'decent' Caterham square up against an 'average' Fury/Pheonix? Typical R1/Blade build (so lighter and more slippery, but less power?).

[RobM77]

Sway said:

Once I've decided I want more comfort than my current GTM daily, I'll be having a Pheonix/Fury in the garage and a Phaeton on the drive...

I never seem to see Caterhams up against Furies etc. (to be fair I don't look particularly hard!), how would a 'decent' Caterham square up against an 'average' Fury/Pheonix? Typical R1/Blade build (so lighter and more slippery, but less power?).

I only have anecdotal tales from track days and occasional encounters on B roads, but more scientifically, Mark Hales compared a Caterham R300 against a lot of 7 replicas (Westfield, Dax etc) for Circuit Driver magazine a few years ago and he found the Caterham considerably nicer to drive, but in terms of your exact question, the R300 was fastest, despite being the least powerful.