Have you weighed your Caterham?

[bcr5784]

Caterham in the distant past used to quote the weight of every option you could specify, but no longer do. Pity, because other manufacturers - Alfa with the 4C, to a certain extent Lotus and Porsche quoted deliberately misleading figures - dry weights etc. I suspect Caterham do too.

Din figures are for cars with fluids and 90% full fuel tanks and form a basis for comparison when it comes to power to weight figures (though the Din figure plus 75kg for the driver is doubtless more valid with a car as light as a Caterham.)

Anyone got any figures - especially for a typical road going Caterham with windscreen and hood?

[knight]

I never did as I didn't want to be disappointed

[Pdelamare]

Typical road-going S3 will be a minimum of 575kg from what I’ve seen, and an SV 600kg+

Only race cars are 500Kg and below. My Levante is 530kg and that is without windscreen and other non-essential items, but with headlights and cage.

[analog_me]

The 468kg the original superlight was adverised is i m quite sure dry but dry as no oils fuel or water which is prety far off the actual drivable weight. Based on my limited experience with my K-series i would say it will he hard to drop it below 510 with full liquids.

[downsman]

Best not to know, and if I want to save weight, it would be lot cheaper and better for me to go on a diet

[carphotographer]

Superlights are sub 500 kg

I've got an ex Academy race car VX 1.8 with full cage, windscreen, etc and that's been weighed at 525 kg wet with half a tank of petrol.

[analog_me]

Half tank of petrol is 13-15kg.

[CycleSi]

My 2002 R400K Superlight weighs 542kg according to PGM's scales with all liquids at the correct level and 1/2 tank of fuel.

Edited by CycleSi on Monday 6th November 19:26

[simonh9]

Weighed my 1.6k imperial car at 544kg with about 10 litres of fuel, a child seat, hood and various other crap in it while I was doing the corner weights. Full screen, FIA bar and Apollo. Istr they were quoted about 540/545, so fairly close.

[tight fart]

My Zetec was 545kg with half tank of fuel.

[huwp]

I recall my car (125 Sigma SV) being weighed once. 700 (ish) kg with half a tank and me (85 kg) sat in it. Also had hood, tonneau and some tools in the boot.

Have adopted the "Kate Winslet approach since...

[ghibbett]

My Sigma-engined S3 Supersport weighed in a 526kg with 3/4 tank of fuel and full weather gear.

[MXM]

My live-axle S3 with crossflow, inc windscreen, doors and half a tank was weighed in at 550 kg.

[rene7]

The wife's S3 sigma academy weighed 565 kg. It had an Aly sump & Bellhousing, fullsreen, sidescreens, no heater, no spare wheel, and 1/2 tank of fuel, when weighed,
My S4 weigh's 590kg with No heater, 1/2 tank fuel, spare wheel, tools, jack, rear discs [which save 3kg] LSD which adds 4kg, and mag bellhousing [saving 5kg], and full tonneau.
IMO any caterham less than 550 kg is a figment of the owners imagination,
For Certain it'll need have to have a Mag sump & Bellhousing, carbon aerosreen, no spare wheel, a standard roll bar, the cage adds 15-20kg to this, carbon tillets, No mats, No Heater, Unpainted Etc etc.

[coppice]

R400D with creature comforts- heater, hood , screen and spare- 590kg . With me on board , a tad more- but still lighter than Max's Red Bull . Amazingly...

[carphotographer]

rene7 said:

The wife's S3 sigma academy weighed 565 kg. It had an Aly sump & Bellhousing, fullsreen, sidescreens, no heater, no spare wheel, and 1/2 tank of fuel, when weighed,
My S4 weigh's 590kg with No heater, 1/2 tank fuel, spare wheel, tools, jack, rear discs [which save 3kg] LSD which adds 4kg, and mag bellhousing [saving 5kg], and full tonneau.
IMO any caterham less than 550 kg is a figment of the owners imagination,
For Certain it'll need have to have a Mag sump & Bellhousing, carbon aerosreen, no spare wheel, a standard roll bar, the cage adds 15-20kg to this, carbon tillets, No mats, No Heater, Unpainted Etc etc.

Or the scales are wrong..... :-)

Looking at the print out for my 7 the vehicle weight is 513KG slightly lighter the previous mentioned complete with full cage and drivers bar, windscreen wipers, lights, etc. The car had half a tank of fuel, side screens ( 2kg ) tonneau (1.8kg) bootcover 1.5kg and a passenger 4 point seat belt 2kg BUT NO passenger seat ( 3kg for GRP 7kg for cloth, 8kg for leather ) I've now removed the cage, a heavy bit of tubing and added a FIA roll bar, so it's probably a bit lighter now. It hasn't a Mag sump & Bellhousing, carbon aerosreen, or carbon tillets, and it hasn't mats or a heater or paint .

Edited by carphotographer on Monday 2nd October 13:47

[analog_me]

Using my bathroom electronic scales worth GBP 30 each (accuracy debatable) mine was 524 full and 595 with me in it. On the scales i weight 72kg so the figures might not be very much off.
Mine is a 1.6 k-series with:
Full tank
FIA Rollbar
LSD
Big brakes
Rear anti roll bar
6 speed
Apollo tank
Windscreen with wipers
4 point seatbelts
421 exhaust
tillets bolted on floor
7kg battery
Lighten flywheel
185/60 r13 minilites
No heater
No carpets or mats
No doors
No paint

That makes 480kg dry that can drop by a further 5-6kg my removing the windscreen and wipers so 475kg at best, close enough to the advertised 468kg of the original 1.6 superlight

Edited by analog_me on Monday 2nd October 15:51

[HustleRussell]

Had my 'Sigmax' on Longacre corner weighting scales yesterday, it weighed in at 519kg with half a tank of fuel. Race car hence very basic.

[anonymous-user]

carphotographer said:

Superlights are sub 500 kg

I've got an ex Academy race car VX 1.8 with full cage, windscreen, etc and that's been weighed at 525 kg wet with half a tank of petrol.

I find that hard to believe. You sure no one's nicked something important?

Even the 160, without liquids, weather equipment, carpets, roll cage or a proper engine, weighs 495kg!

[HustleRussell]

REALIST123 said:

carphotographer said:

Superlights are sub 500 kg

I've got an ex Academy race car VX 1.8 with full cage, windscreen, etc and that's been weighed at 525 kg wet with half a tank of petrol.

I find that hard to believe. You sure no one's nicked something important?

Even the 160, without liquids, weather equipment, carpets, roll cage or a proper engine, weighs 495kg!

I had one of these before and it came in at around 520kg with maybe 3/8ths of a tank of fuel... Single Tillett seat mind you. cage and screen as per carphotographer's.

The Ital axle was a fair bit lighter than the De-Dion, I don't know how the live axle in the 160 compares in that respect...