RE: Caterham R500 Superlight Revealed
Discussion
mic said:
Not sure where you got the "R500 is angled to the `almost' horizontal" from. It leans forward a little at the top but thats all.
I've been wondering when you might stick your head above the parapet 
Is the cutout really behind the radiator Mick?...and would us K series owners see any benefit from adopting that new nosecone?
Well I have ordered an R500. Had Cat's before, a roadsoport then a racing R400 and I love them.
Alot of people seem to think the car is poor value for money but the resale on them is so good that it is not so expensive.
Also some of the options sound great. The Cat bypass will give you a loud or quiet option. The sequential is supposed to work actually very well on the road and will make the car that bit more unique. Eibach dampers are also an option.
I just think that on the track this car will be out of this worlld and something to challenge the driver for a long time. Clearly it is overkill for the road but I will still enjoy the road drive.
Looking forward to a test drive soon......
Alot of people seem to think the car is poor value for money but the resale on them is so good that it is not so expensive.
Also some of the options sound great. The Cat bypass will give you a loud or quiet option. The sequential is supposed to work actually very well on the road and will make the car that bit more unique. Eibach dampers are also an option.
I just think that on the track this car will be out of this worlld and something to challenge the driver for a long time. Clearly it is overkill for the road but I will still enjoy the road drive.
Looking forward to a test drive soon......
fastcello said:
Well I have ordered an R500. Had Cat's before, a roadsoport then a racing R400 and I love them.
Alot of people seem to think the car is poor value for money but the resale on them is so good that it is not so expensive.
Also some of the options sound great. The Cat bypass will give you a loud or quiet option. The sequential is supposed to work actually very well on the road and will make the car that bit more unique. Eibach dampers are also an option.
I just think that on the track this car will be out of this worlld and something to challenge the driver for a long time. Clearly it is overkill for the road but I will still enjoy the road drive.
Looking forward to a test drive soon......
Great Alot of people seem to think the car is poor value for money but the resale on them is so good that it is not so expensive.
Also some of the options sound great. The Cat bypass will give you a loud or quiet option. The sequential is supposed to work actually very well on the road and will make the car that bit more unique. Eibach dampers are also an option.
I just think that on the track this car will be out of this worlld and something to challenge the driver for a long time. Clearly it is overkill for the road but I will still enjoy the road drive.
Looking forward to a test drive soon......
Keep us up to date!I'm intrigued by this loud or quiet option. Do you know what is involved with switching between loud and quiet? Do you know if Caterham think it'll be quiet enough for somewhere like Bedford Autodrome? It's such a great track, it'd be a shame to have a car like this and not be able to drive it there.
Racing's so damm expensive, I often think about getting a road going Caterham for weekends and track days. Thing is, knowing what I know now, having raced, I just know that if I did that I'd fiddle with the suspension, fit a lowered floor, take the lights off etc, and before long I'd fit numbers on it and go racing
fastcello said:
The Cat bypass will give you a loud or quiet option.
How much does the cat quieten a car then? Not much. Bypassing the cat may give a couple of bhp though. Are you sure they don't mean a cat replacement pipe (as available now).If there is a now loud/quite option, I'd guess they'd do it by having a twin silencer system (side/rear boxes) with an electronic bypass gate after the first silencer that lets exhuast escape before going through the rear silencer.
This could be built to look very similar to a stock twin silencer rear exit exhaust.
I don't know the answer to the noise reduction on the Cat bypass but I also think adam is right - it helps bhp a tad.
Rob, I have done some Caterham racing and I do miss it but I think track days work if you cannot give the racing 30 plus days a year (test day, qualifying day and race day). Not to mention cost....
Also, it is nice to have the car for the road on ocassion.
I found my roadsport to be a great road car but got board on the track - I like the challenge of taming the bhp on the track if the car is well set up.
I think it is also nice to have some fear of the car - no fear takes away from the thrill and it becomes too much like a computer game.
Rob, I have done some Caterham racing and I do miss it but I think track days work if you cannot give the racing 30 plus days a year (test day, qualifying day and race day). Not to mention cost....
Also, it is nice to have the car for the road on ocassion.
I found my roadsport to be a great road car but got board on the track - I like the challenge of taming the bhp on the track if the car is well set up.
I think it is also nice to have some fear of the car - no fear takes away from the thrill and it becomes too much like a computer game.
fastcello said:
I don't know the answer to the noise reduction on the Cat bypass but I also think adam is right - it helps bhp a tad.
Rob, I have done some Caterham racing and I do miss it but I think track days work if you cannot give the racing 30 plus days a year (test day, qualifying day and race day). Not to mention cost....
Also, it is nice to have the car for the road on ocassion.
I found my roadsport to be a great road car but got board on the track - I like the challenge of taming the bhp on the track if the car is well set up.
I think it is also nice to have some fear of the car - no fear takes away from the thrill and it becomes too much like a computer game.
I must admit, racing for me is always like a computer game Rob, I have done some Caterham racing and I do miss it but I think track days work if you cannot give the racing 30 plus days a year (test day, qualifying day and race day). Not to mention cost....
Also, it is nice to have the car for the road on ocassion.
I found my roadsport to be a great road car but got board on the track - I like the challenge of taming the bhp on the track if the car is well set up.
I think it is also nice to have some fear of the car - no fear takes away from the thrill and it becomes too much like a computer game.
Not sure I've ever felt fear when driving on track. Before and after, yes, but not during.What I'd worry about with track days is my natural competitive instinct. It would be like going for a run/swim/cycle without timing myself, which would just get boring after a while.
Budget currently limits me to 3 or 4 races plus 2 or 3 tests a year. that little lot costs over £2,000 in entry fees alone, and to that you've got to add all the running costs; so I probably spend about £5k a year on racing. The other problem of course is that's a fraction of what most guys spend, so that does have an impact on competitiveness. My car's hasn't had an engine refresh in about 4 years, and everytime I get into it to race I haven't driven it (or any Caterham) for a few months.
That sort of budget would quite easily run me a new R500 including depreciation.
Mr2Mike said:
What's going on with those grotty cycle wings that appear to have been taken from an old car trailer? The CSR had very sexy cycle wings and for 36k I'd be expecting some carbon/kevlar action, not something designed by Ifor Williams.
Sooner or later Caterham will produce some s3 CSR stays . .. plenty of people have done DIY jobs(including me) and they do look dead cool on a s3 car.adamh said:
Mr2Mike said:
What's going on with those grotty cycle wings that appear to have been taken from an old car trailer? The CSR had very sexy cycle wings and for 36k I'd be expecting some carbon/kevlar action, not something designed by Ifor Williams.
Sooner or later Caterham will produce some s3 CSR stays . .. plenty of people have done DIY jobs(including me) and they do look dead cool on a s3 car.Thing is that those cycle wings actually have a part to play in a 66% reduction in front end lift for the CSR, I think they were one of the biggest influences on this. I did see figures once for what each bit did and the slotted nose cone, carbon whiskers and wings all played a part.
Gassing Station | Caterham | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff