Buying a Caterham
Discussion
New to Caterham.
I want one for mainly road use with occasional track days.
Considering this one.
http://www.ptsportscars.com/cars-for-sale/caterham...
I want one for mainly road use with occasional track days.
Considering this one.
http://www.ptsportscars.com/cars-for-sale/caterham...
HustleRussell said:
Looks a good spec
You might find trackday noise limits a problem with that inlet config
Personally I really prefer the proportions of the S3 car compared to the SV but that's personal choice. IME people who wouldn't expect to fit in the little S3 do, in fact, fit.
Thank you .. I'm 6ft 1 do you think I would fit in an S3You might find trackday noise limits a problem with that inlet config
Personally I really prefer the proportions of the S3 car compared to the SV but that's personal choice. IME people who wouldn't expect to fit in the little S3 do, in fact, fit.
Jonny TVR said:
HustleRussell said:
Looks a good spec
You might find trackday noise limits a problem with that inlet config
Personally I really prefer the proportions of the S3 car compared to the SV but that's personal choice. IME people who wouldn't expect to fit in the little S3 do, in fact, fit.
Thank you .. I'm 6ft 1 do you think I would fit in an S3You might find trackday noise limits a problem with that inlet config
Personally I really prefer the proportions of the S3 car compared to the SV but that's personal choice. IME people who wouldn't expect to fit in the little S3 do, in fact, fit.
The S3 is snug especially shoulder space with passengers and also the pedal box is tight but with a combination of lowered floor, seat choice and twee little ballet shoes I've seen some large people get into an S3.
S3 fitted me like a glove at 6' and 15 stone (fat not muscle), ideally I had a lowered floor which improved eye line and roll cage clearance.
I have met one guy whose arse literally didn't fit between the sill and the transmission tunnel but he was very broadly built.
HustleRussell said:
Hard to say but 100% try both sizes on- there are obviously a lot more S3s about than SVs.
The S3 is snug especially shoulder space with passengers and also the pedal box is tight but with a combination of lowered floor, seat choice and twee little ballet shoes I've seen some large people get into an S3.
S3 fitted me like a glove at 6' and 15 stone (fat not muscle), ideally I had a lowered floor which improved eye line and roll cage clearance.
I have met one guy whose arse literally didn't fit between the sill and the transmission tunnel but he was very broadly built.
I hadn't considered all of that. Thank you. I think I need to try a few. Going to have a chat with the dealer tomorrow and will mention The S3 is snug especially shoulder space with passengers and also the pedal box is tight but with a combination of lowered floor, seat choice and twee little ballet shoes I've seen some large people get into an S3.
S3 fitted me like a glove at 6' and 15 stone (fat not muscle), ideally I had a lowered floor which improved eye line and roll cage clearance.
I have met one guy whose arse literally didn't fit between the sill and the transmission tunnel but he was very broadly built.
Well worth going over to see Ian at PT - They'll have a bunch of different stuff in, you can sit in an S3/SV, and he'll talk caterhams pretty much all day. Took me about 6 months to buy a car off him, and have picked his brain plenty since. Sure he wants to sell you a car, but they're very helpful and not at all pushy.
PT are good guys - they'll look after you. Honestly, if you want to do mostly road and occasional track, an SV would be great. More room for touring kit and a bit more comfort. Going any significant distance two up in an S3 requires some wriggling and only one of you gets the centre armrest/tunneltop...
Had a look at a Caterham today and a quick go in a 420R and a 620R. Thought I should give it a go given the price of the Lotus Cup I would like is so high.
Euan at Caterham South was amazing! Really knowledgable and very helpful.
Before I went I thought I’d have to get an SV and I’m a bit fat but actually, the S3 was a much nicer fit and H&T is second nature with that narrow pedal box.
So yes I’d agree, try both and see what you prefer.
The 420R was already quick enough and I thought, “don’t need any more than this”. It was simply fantastic and great fun!
Then I got to have a go in the 620R and OMG, the speed of the thing was ridiculous! I couldn’t stop laughing. That sequential gearbox is so much fun and very intuitive. I loved it!
Also because it’s not a particularly highly strung engine and because it has tons of torque. It’s fine to pootle around in but when you floor it, the experience is literally mind-blowing!
But it also handles so well, the brakes, steering and chassis are all spot on! The pedals perfect and well I can’t think of a car that’s as much fun to drive. It’s not practical in the least, but you can stay dry and just focus on the joy of hoofing it. Closest experience to it is a sports bike which has similar acceleration but even that is not as much fun!
The only mild irritation is the clutch which is either on or off but it’s easier to just let the tears spin up in first and then go for it. Banging up through the gears is simply delightful and down changes all very easily done with H&T. For £50-£60k there’s nothing to touch it! It’ll spank virtually anything on track!
Euan at Caterham South was amazing! Really knowledgable and very helpful.
Before I went I thought I’d have to get an SV and I’m a bit fat but actually, the S3 was a much nicer fit and H&T is second nature with that narrow pedal box.
So yes I’d agree, try both and see what you prefer.
The 420R was already quick enough and I thought, “don’t need any more than this”. It was simply fantastic and great fun!
Then I got to have a go in the 620R and OMG, the speed of the thing was ridiculous! I couldn’t stop laughing. That sequential gearbox is so much fun and very intuitive. I loved it!
Also because it’s not a particularly highly strung engine and because it has tons of torque. It’s fine to pootle around in but when you floor it, the experience is literally mind-blowing!
But it also handles so well, the brakes, steering and chassis are all spot on! The pedals perfect and well I can’t think of a car that’s as much fun to drive. It’s not practical in the least, but you can stay dry and just focus on the joy of hoofing it. Closest experience to it is a sports bike which has similar acceleration but even that is not as much fun!
The only mild irritation is the clutch which is either on or off but it’s easier to just let the tears spin up in first and then go for it. Banging up through the gears is simply delightful and down changes all very easily done with H&T. For £50-£60k there’s nothing to touch it! It’ll spank virtually anything on track!
Jonny TVR said:
Thanks guys .. think I will try some of size. I think the 620R looks very interesting.
The 620R is mind-blowingly good. Upsides? It's epically fast, it handles superbly, the steering is never heavy because the car is genuinely very light and it barely loses any money.
Downsides? The clutch is either on or off and it's noisy but there are simple solutions for both.
Quick word on noise. Some noises associated with powerful cars are quite acceptable, such as induction and some exhaust noise. However, grinding gears , clunking and whining are a different matter. It depends whether you are prepared to put up with these noises especially on the road, (does not really matter on the track). There are many very quick cars where it is possible to carry on a conversation ! For me personally I hate the unwanted mechanical noises. It is easy to get carried away on a test drive with the performance,but living with it over a period of time can be a different proposition.
Roblot said:
Quick word on noise. Some noises associated with powerful cars are quite acceptable, such as induction and some exhaust noise. However, grinding gears , clunking and whining are a different matter. It depends whether you are prepared to put up with these noises especially on the road, (does not really matter on the track). There are many very quick cars where it is possible to carry on a conversation ! For me personally I hate the unwanted mechanical noises. It is easy to get carried away on a test drive with the performance,but living with it over a period of time can be a different proposition.
This is an important point if you want to carry a passenger. I have installed an intercom with ear defender style headsets, we look silly but it is so nice to be able to chat easily at speed.Roblot said:
Quick word on noise. Some noises associated with powerful cars are quite acceptable, such as induction and some exhaust noise. However, grinding gears , clunking and whining are a different matter. It depends whether you are prepared to put up with these noises especially on the road, (does not really matter on the track). There are many very quick cars where it is possible to carry on a conversation ! For me personally I hate the unwanted mechanical noises. It is easy to get carried away on a test drive with the performance,but living with it over a period of time can be a different proposition.
There are very many quick cars, where you can carry on a conversation, yes.. a bmw m5 for example (and even a caterham, although I take your point). But there are very few that do what a caterham does. Really (IMHO) a caterham isn't as much about how fast it goes - there are far more 'effective' solutions for just going fast, but how it goes fast.. which is largely down to a lack of weight, and NOT insulating everything from the occupants. There's virtually nothing on the road that is as immediate in my opinion (and I compared with elises and an atom as being in the same 'type of car' for - for what that's worth).
You're right, it's a personal choice, and a valid consideration. But if you engineered out all the 'unwanted noise', you'd be back to any other light-middle weight sports car of which there are plenty of choices.. Again IMO, but aside from some diff clunk and gearbox whine I was very surprised how comfortable/liveable the S3 is. Obviously YMMV.
upsidedownmark said:
There are very many quick cars, where you can carry on a conversation, yes.. a bmw m5 for example (and even a caterham, although I take your point).
But there are very few that do what a caterham does. Really (IMHO) a caterham isn't as much about how fast it goes - there are far more 'effective' solutions for just going fast, but how it goes fast.. which is largely down to a lack of weight, and NOT insulating everything from the occupants. There's virtually nothing on the road that is as immediate in my opinion (and I compared with elises and an atom as being in the same 'type of car' for - for what that's worth).
You're right, it's a personal choice, and a valid consideration. But if you engineered out all the 'unwanted noise', you'd be back to any other light-middle weight sports car of which there are plenty of choices.. Again IMO, but aside from some diff clunk and gearbox whine I was very surprised how comfortable/liveable the S3 is. Obviously YMMV.
I agree with everything upsidedownmark has said. However having owned two twin cam Lotus 7's some time back and more recently a Caterham 360But there are very few that do what a caterham does. Really (IMHO) a caterham isn't as much about how fast it goes - there are far more 'effective' solutions for just going fast, but how it goes fast.. which is largely down to a lack of weight, and NOT insulating everything from the occupants. There's virtually nothing on the road that is as immediate in my opinion (and I compared with elises and an atom as being in the same 'type of car' for - for what that's worth).
You're right, it's a personal choice, and a valid consideration. But if you engineered out all the 'unwanted noise', you'd be back to any other light-middle weight sports car of which there are plenty of choices.. Again IMO, but aside from some diff clunk and gearbox whine I was very surprised how comfortable/liveable the S3 is. Obviously YMMV.
( which I sold very quickly because of the noise); I think that although the recent cars are considerably faster they create a lots of unwanted mechanical noise ( whine, clunk and grinding !). I would have kept mine if the diff did not clunk and grind and the gear box whine. I now have a supercharged Lotus Elise and although perhaps not the fun of a Caterham it does not suffer from unwanted mechanical noise. I find it hard to believe that a Caterham has to clunk and the diff and gearbox whine when it does not seem to be a problem in other cars. Perhaps if I were younger I might be able to ignore the noise!
After seeing the PH article on Ultimas I have been slightly distracted by the thought of one of those instead of the Caterham. Is it completely a different beast? I guess so at double the weight but double the bhp. I'm thinking the Ultima is far too much on the road and the catrham would be more fun and easier to know where the limits are. Anyone had experience of both?
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