New R500. Conventional or Sequential Box?
Discussion
The sequential box is a lovely piece of kit.
However if your going to be crusing round town its reasonably loud and harsh. However u can use the clutch for the changes.
On track a slight lift and bang into the next gear and you will be well away! Really is miles ahead of the H pattern.
personally for an R500 and its purpose id go with the sequential option as your going to be driving its tits off 70% off the time!
However if your going to be crusing round town its reasonably loud and harsh. However u can use the clutch for the changes.
On track a slight lift and bang into the next gear and you will be well away! Really is miles ahead of the H pattern.
personally for an R500 and its purpose id go with the sequential option as your going to be driving its tits off 70% off the time!
If it's mainly a road car I'd stick with the 6 speed h box. I tried the sequential last monday at Brands and it was so harsh I was using the clutch for upshifts even if that meant losing a 1/10,000 of a second a lap. To be fair the car wasn't at it's best and I was changing up at less than full revs but it was a fairly brutal experience.
The trouble is, you may start out using the Caterham a lot on the road but it will more than likely end up as your track car. If you put the race dampers and springs on it to go faster on the track it will soon become too stiff and undrivable on the road. As a track only car the sequential would be cool. The most significant advantage is that it all but eliminates the chances of fluffing a gearchange. It's not just about lap times, a fluffed change can easily cause a spin or blow an engine. The harder you push in a car on the track the more likely you'll fluff a gear and you'll be going a lot faster when it happens.
My 7 is only used on the track these days and I like the idea of the sequential box, however I'd prefer one that could take flat upshifts. Maybe this is in development as we speak? As it can be retro fitted I might look into making the swap then.
The trouble is, you may start out using the Caterham a lot on the road but it will more than likely end up as your track car. If you put the race dampers and springs on it to go faster on the track it will soon become too stiff and undrivable on the road. As a track only car the sequential would be cool. The most significant advantage is that it all but eliminates the chances of fluffing a gearchange. It's not just about lap times, a fluffed change can easily cause a spin or blow an engine. The harder you push in a car on the track the more likely you'll fluff a gear and you'll be going a lot faster when it happens.
My 7 is only used on the track these days and I like the idea of the sequential box, however I'd prefer one that could take flat upshifts. Maybe this is in development as we speak? As it can be retro fitted I might look into making the swap then.
When CC's C400 was at Snett tesing my teammate was runnng 1/2 second per lap quicker than the manual car. That's a hell of a lot.
thinking about it if you aeroscreen the R500 its hardly practicle anyway so screw it and get the sequential aswell......it's one of those that no matter how many times you defend getting the standard box, deep, deep down you wish you hadn't.
thinking about it if you aeroscreen the R500 its hardly practicle anyway so screw it and get the sequential aswell......it's one of those that no matter how many times you defend getting the standard box, deep, deep down you wish you hadn't.
All interesting comments. My Caterhams are never really purely track cars - I've got other things for that - and need to be reasonably 'friendly' (a relative term I'll grant you!) on long hauls to trackdays, the 'Ring or just a hoon round Scotland/wherever. Think this means I'm going to go normal gearbox............................or maybe not. Bugger, I don't know!
Big mistake not to go sequential imho.
I have a blackbird caterham and the sequential bos is an absolute highlight especially with 11k redline.
I use it on track but drive it to all trackdays inc spa and ring and whilst sequential on the road can be a pain, if you practice and refine your technique, and enjoy the challenge of doing so, then you can drive it smoothly most of the time.
Even if you are clonking and crashing through the box so what, it makes a silly car car ever more bonkers and therfore special as far as I am concerned.
Get a 500 with aeroscreen,full cage and sequential. If that doesn't spike your adrenal gland then you are probably dead.
However if you just want to take your wife to the pub on sunday then get a porsche.
Will
I have a blackbird caterham and the sequential bos is an absolute highlight especially with 11k redline.
I use it on track but drive it to all trackdays inc spa and ring and whilst sequential on the road can be a pain, if you practice and refine your technique, and enjoy the challenge of doing so, then you can drive it smoothly most of the time.
Even if you are clonking and crashing through the box so what, it makes a silly car car ever more bonkers and therfore special as far as I am concerned.
Get a 500 with aeroscreen,full cage and sequential. If that doesn't spike your adrenal gland then you are probably dead.
However if you just want to take your wife to the pub on sunday then get a porsche.
Will
Pugsey said:
fergus said:
BertBert said:
Out of interest, with both a Rad and an R500, how would you decide which to take on a track day?
looking to move into an SR3 next year (to race), but I'd imagine to have fun; the caterham, to go quickly the radical.
I race with the sequential box and its worth pointing out that it is properly noisy and clunky. It will make the car extremely jerky in traffic if the power take-up is anything like a C400
Noger said:
The resilent tubes in the rear propshaft that have been developed since the oringinal Caterham BECs take a lot of the "snap" out of the gearchange. Still fairly chunky shift, but certainly smoother.
Except we've had a couple of props go and tear through the transmission tunnel. Caterham are devising a beefier propshaft and tunnel reinforcement, but then we'll have exploding diffs... then snapped halfshafts...Edited by OJ on Monday 16th June 16:13
OJ said:
I race with the sequential box and its worth pointing out that it is properly noisy and clunky. It will make the car extremely jerky in traffic if the power take-up is anything like a C400
What series are you racing in Oliver?Noger said:
The resilent tubes in the rear propshaft that have been developed since the oringinal Caterham BECs take a lot of the "snap" out of the gearchange. Still fairly chunky shift, but certainly smoother.
Except we've had a couple of props go and tear through the transmission tunnel. Caterham are devising a beefier propshaft and tunnel reinforcement, but then we'll have exploding diffs... then snapped halfshafts...Edited by OJ on Monday 16th June 16:13
...intersting to hear the story about the props letting go....
OJ said:
I race with the sequential box and its worth pointing out that it is properly noisy and clunky. It will make the car extremely jerky in traffic if the power take-up is anything like a C400
Thats your driving style OJ, it aint a landie you know........here you where flyng in the wet at Snett. You have soon settled in, nice one.Noger said:
The resilent tubes in the rear propshaft that have been developed since the oringinal Caterham BECs take a lot of the "snap" out of the gearchange. Still fairly chunky shift, but certainly smoother.
Except we've had a couple of props go and tear through the transmission tunnel. Caterham are devising a beefier propshaft and tunnel reinforcement, but then we'll have exploding diffs... then snapped halfshafts...Edited by OJ on Monday 16th June 16:13
OJ - should probably point out that the prop failures are not necessarily as a direct result of the sequential, but certainly the sequential will identify any weaknesses in the driveline.
(i.e. the first failure was as a result of a dry joint on the CSR, the second happened in a wet qualifying session where the loads could have been nowhere near as high as in the dry)
Pretty much agree with everything written above about the sequential though, fantastic to drive on track, much better than the six speed. But certainly hard work around the paddock (=in town). But personally I would go for the sequential because the standard 6spd is pretty dubious with that level of power and torque.
(i.e. the first failure was as a result of a dry joint on the CSR, the second happened in a wet qualifying session where the loads could have been nowhere near as high as in the dry)
Pretty much agree with everything written above about the sequential though, fantastic to drive on track, much better than the six speed. But certainly hard work around the paddock (=in town). But personally I would go for the sequential because the standard 6spd is pretty dubious with that level of power and torque.
Edited by SimonY on Monday 16th June 16:31
Rubystone - Superlights!
Simon - I replaced my prop as it was getting properly clonky, and mine's a fairly new car. Agree with the fragility of the standard 6-speed though, mine started to get crunchy after 2 days testing, and Glen had only had it rebuilt 1 round before I bought the car
Although James does have a point, I am fairly brutal on machinery... And mate, its worth pointing out that I have in fact broken a gearbox on my Landy before!
I hear you've signed up to this C300 series thats going to make my car worthless 
Simon - I replaced my prop as it was getting properly clonky, and mine's a fairly new car. Agree with the fragility of the standard 6-speed though, mine started to get crunchy after 2 days testing, and Glen had only had it rebuilt 1 round before I bought the car
Although James does have a point, I am fairly brutal on machinery... And mate, its worth pointing out that I have in fact broken a gearbox on my Landy before!
I hear you've signed up to this C300 series thats going to make my car worthless I think you have a couple of years left with it yet and you can't say that it wasn't a stonkin deal.
Driving the 300 for the first time this weekend at Cadwell, the chaps that drove it on the shakedown at Snett last week were all impressed so we will see. They have sold 5 already without starting the "offical" demos. First few cars will be delivered to customers in July/Aug
If everything works out we will be running it at Donnington 7 festival in the eurocup.
Driving the 300 for the first time this weekend at Cadwell, the chaps that drove it on the shakedown at Snett last week were all impressed so we will see. They have sold 5 already without starting the "offical" demos. First few cars will be delivered to customers in July/Aug
If everything works out we will be running it at Donnington 7 festival in the eurocup.
Can someone who's driven (or owns) one of the new 500s describe the level of nape prickle involved in spearing one of these things down a country pass?
It's just that being something of a scandalously fair weathered, old school X powered pilchardist myself, a recent jaunt out in the old R400 had me hip slithering up the box like a colt in heat evading lasso during branding season and such was the slab of adrenalised fizzle which had coagulated in my bonce by the end (a mere 45 minutes, this year, is all it took) that I wondered what more of this, this screaming bark-terror could conceivably be like?
I mean, is it noisier? I've heard it less trucculent which somehow is what defines the spirit of these things.
It's just that being something of a scandalously fair weathered, old school X powered pilchardist myself, a recent jaunt out in the old R400 had me hip slithering up the box like a colt in heat evading lasso during branding season and such was the slab of adrenalised fizzle which had coagulated in my bonce by the end (a mere 45 minutes, this year, is all it took) that I wondered what more of this, this screaming bark-terror could conceivably be like?
I mean, is it noisier? I've heard it less trucculent which somehow is what defines the spirit of these things.
Just to add that some people who have driven the press car have remarked on the agricultural nature of the 'box in that particular car. What is interesting is if you read John Hayman's piece in last month's Track and Race Cars magazine on the race CSR fitted with the same 'box, he remarks on how docile it was pootling around the paddock at Brands. I wonder whether these 'boxes have their own individual characteristics?
If I were buying a car, I'd have to test drive the sequential first to make sure I could live with it on the road.
One other thing on the R500 - why don't the magazines publish noise figures for the cars? I'd love to know how noisy the R500 is....would it pass the 95db drive-by limit enforced at some circuits, I wonder?
If I were buying a car, I'd have to test drive the sequential first to make sure I could live with it on the road.
One other thing on the R500 - why don't the magazines publish noise figures for the cars? I'd love to know how noisy the R500 is....would it pass the 95db drive-by limit enforced at some circuits, I wonder?
rubystone said:
One other thing on the R500 - why don't the magazines publish noise figures for the cars? I'd love to know how noisy the R500 is....would it pass the 95db drive-by limit enforced at some circuits, I wonder?
Well, when i phoned to ask this very question the guys were saying that it can get on to Bedford Autodrome, which i know to be one of the strictest circuits for the noise police. This makes sense given that there was a review of the R500 in EVO and they tested it (and timed it) around the circuit at Bedford.atom-ick said:
rubystone said:
One other thing on the R500 - why don't the magazines publish noise figures for the cars? I'd love to know how noisy the R500 is....would it pass the 95db drive-by limit enforced at some circuits, I wonder?
Well, when i phoned to ask this very question the guys were saying that it can get on to Bedford Autodrome, which i know to be one of the strictest circuits for the noise police. This makes sense given that there was a review of the R500 in EVO and they tested it (and timed it) around the circuit at Bedford.As you say, Bedford is very strict...there are ways of getting round this - eg by using a special silencer....although the one in the press shots of the R500 seems to be a standard one. As we know though, induction can be the prime culprit. Some circuits even have their drive-by meters connected to the local council who issue an automatic fine if the limit is breached....
And at Bedford I think it's one strike and you're off....
Imagine if you shelled out big bucks for any trackday car only to find that you could only run it at some obscure airfield in the middle of Snowdonia!
My own (old) R500 shows 102 db static and that's with the Reverie carbon airbox (I also have a rear exit exhaust tucked away for if (i.e. when) the circuits enforce even lower levels of noise.
Gassing Station | Caterham | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff