what should i do buy one or wait ???????????
Discussion
there are some great ex academy cars availbale at that sort of money.
Caterham buy them of academists for around 12500 and sell around 15000 for an 05/06
You get a great spec if your thinking of a trackday car, the adition of a RARB and CR500's will make it a pleasure to use.
Mileage will be low but they have been tracked at least 4 times. This shouldn't really be a concern as the cars recieve more attention that the road cars usually do, you get a race chassis setup, points fro consideration is whether the cage will be a hinderance and they have a short passenger footwell.
Big benefit is you can take it racing in RSB or the Grad series while keeping it in road trim and get best of both worlds.
I am not saying that Superlights are a bad choice just that they are not that much quicker in real terms.
They sell pretty fast aswell. Cosmetically the 05/6 cars with anthracite rims and SLR style rollcage are more appealing.
Caterham buy them of academists for around 12500 and sell around 15000 for an 05/06
You get a great spec if your thinking of a trackday car, the adition of a RARB and CR500's will make it a pleasure to use.
Mileage will be low but they have been tracked at least 4 times. This shouldn't really be a concern as the cars recieve more attention that the road cars usually do, you get a race chassis setup, points fro consideration is whether the cage will be a hinderance and they have a short passenger footwell.
Big benefit is you can take it racing in RSB or the Grad series while keeping it in road trim and get best of both worlds.
I am not saying that Superlights are a bad choice just that they are not that much quicker in real terms.
They sell pretty fast aswell. Cosmetically the 05/6 cars with anthracite rims and SLR style rollcage are more appealing.
Agree with James on this if your not use to using a car on track an ex-academy car is your best bet.
Also leave the academy tyres on it and your learn a lot about the handling of the car. Then when you want more speed put a rear anti rollbar and change to CR500 tyres and you should get quicker lap times by about 2-3 seconds it will also feel quicker due to the difference of the rolling diameter of the tyres.
Also leave the academy tyres on it and your learn a lot about the handling of the car. Then when you want more speed put a rear anti rollbar and change to CR500 tyres and you should get quicker lap times by about 2-3 seconds it will also feel quicker due to the difference of the rolling diameter of the tyres.
where is the best place to look for these cars , i will have a look at a few but obviously avoid ebay and autotrader this website appears to be my best bet where else would these academy cars be i am not going to rule out anything so roadsport academy/ superlight i dont really know all are appealing!!!!!! but where to buy it from?
jasgti said:
where is the best place to look for these cars , i will have a look at a few but obviously avoid ebay and autotrader this website appears to be my best bet where else would these academy cars be i am not going to rule out anything so roadsport academy/ superlight i dont really know all are appealing!!!!!! but where to buy it from?
Here is always a good start but I don't see any reason to avoid Autotrader or Ebay. www.blatchat.com normally has a healthy number of cars for sale, and being a club will normally have enthusiast owners (though most are anyway).
I'd use the classifieds on here or Caterham Midlands. I've seen a good Ex academy car thats never been raced.
check www.pistonheads.com/sales/113187.htm. Looks pretty good to me.
I know Caterham Midlands have 2 ex academy cars for sale from this year. They were both in my academy group and I know one of thems been rolled
But with no damage.
check www.pistonheads.com/sales/113187.htm. Looks pretty good to me.
I know Caterham Midlands have 2 ex academy cars for sale from this year. They were both in my academy group and I know one of thems been rolled
But with no damage. Edited by peter-2006 on Wednesday 13th December 00:04
Agree with Peter on the tyres.
Understand that on blatchat there are those who will buy ex race and those who wont, again rightly or wrongly. What there is is a massive circle of people racing in the three grad series and two roadsport series that use this as a base car. Easily over 100 competitors at least s there is always a demand for them.
There is also an absolute minter for sale by a chap called Sleight. If you search racecarsdirect.co.uk or motorsportads.co.uk and search under caterham you should find it. Its blue and only did 4 sprints, Harry didn't have time to compete in the races. Best for sale at the moment imo.
Best of luck.
Understand that on blatchat there are those who will buy ex race and those who wont, again rightly or wrongly. What there is is a massive circle of people racing in the three grad series and two roadsport series that use this as a base car. Easily over 100 competitors at least s there is always a demand for them.
There is also an absolute minter for sale by a chap called Sleight. If you search racecarsdirect.co.uk or motorsportads.co.uk and search under caterham you should find it. Its blue and only did 4 sprints, Harry didn't have time to compete in the races. Best for sale at the moment imo.
Best of luck.
Edited by James.S on Wednesday 13th December 09:42
peter-2006 said:
... I know one of thems been rolled But with no damage....
But with no damage....How do you roll any car (let alone a 7) with no damage?
As mentioned, Academy cars may be the right choice for you. But be prepared for a hard time at resale.
Key thing would be to buy one very cheap. But they've always seemed pricey to me.
well you chaps certainly have given me something to think about over christmas with all these recommendations ,roadsport? superlight? academy car? telling the wife???, i just hope some of these cars are still about in late january, allthough most of you chaps are i would imagine biased you have definately made my mind up though a caterham it is.
there is another qustion linked to this , would i be better with factory built car and if so how do you tell?
there is another qustion linked to this , would i be better with factory built car and if so how do you tell?
I would say that if you can't tell whether it's factory or home build then it probably doesn't matter! The home built cars come with the chasis already wired up and the aluminium bodywork in place so it really is just a case of bolting bits on; time consuming but not technically difficult. Generally what you see is what you get.If it looks like a well cared for car it probably is.
Although others have commented on the engine choice I would add my vote for the K Series. I have spoken to people at Caterham who say the K is a better choice for the car but it is no longer an option due to Rover's demise. I believe the new engine is both heavier and lower powered so I would certainly go for the cheaper/better K engined car!
Lastly, although it is often said that you can't have too much power, I would say that a fairly standard Roadsport spec. (1.4/6/8l) is absolutely fine for the Caterham but if you can get a six speed or LSD and widetrack front suspension and four pot brakes that would be good for the track. For road use the six speed is a bit more like hard work so if you are planning longer journeys maybe the five speed would be less "buzzy".
Although others have commented on the engine choice I would add my vote for the K Series. I have spoken to people at Caterham who say the K is a better choice for the car but it is no longer an option due to Rover's demise. I believe the new engine is both heavier and lower powered so I would certainly go for the cheaper/better K engined car!
Lastly, although it is often said that you can't have too much power, I would say that a fairly standard Roadsport spec. (1.4/6/8l) is absolutely fine for the Caterham but if you can get a six speed or LSD and widetrack front suspension and four pot brakes that would be good for the track. For road use the six speed is a bit more like hard work so if you are planning longer journeys maybe the five speed would be less "buzzy".
Gassing Station | Caterham | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff