RE: Caterham Seven 420 Cup | PH Review

RE: Caterham Seven 420 Cup | PH Review

Author
Discussion

RacerMike

4,192 posts

210 months

Thursday 26th May 2022
quotequote all
thebraketester said:
Blimey. That roll cage isn't exactly a thing of beauty is it? Who designed it, david blunkett?
The MSA

ddom

6,657 posts

47 months

Thursday 26th May 2022
quotequote all
mcerbm said:
Are you sure it would show it a clean pair of heels?
yes

Higher power weight. The only real specification difference would be the Sadev.

Horses for courses. If someone wants to spend enormous amounts of money on a track Caterham from the factory it’s up to them.

Glenn63

2,732 posts

83 months

Thursday 26th May 2022
quotequote all
Surely if you wanted a pure track caterham then you’d go for the 620r (at a cheaper price) as the track is the one place you can use all its power! Still spec the cage if wanted and put any tyres you want on it, not sure what the difference in suspension between the two are or if you can spec the 420 cup suspension on the 620?

Murph7355

37,648 posts

255 months

Thursday 26th May 2022
quotequote all
Colour's awful, and I really don't like many of the aesthetic adjustments Caterham have made in the last decade or so. (Lights, nose one, bonnets etc etc).

And 60k? Wowsers. Yes there are cheaper in the range, but being an old school owner who bought pre SLR... they seem to be taking it to another level.

Any word on electrification?

ddom

6,657 posts

47 months

Thursday 26th May 2022
quotequote all
Glenn63 said:
Surely if you wanted a pure track caterham then you’d go for the 620r (at a cheaper price) as the track is the one place you can use all its power! Still spec the cage if wanted and put any tyres you want on it, not sure what the difference in suspension between the two are or if you can spec the 420 cup suspension on the 620?
Just buy Ohlins, Nitron, Penske etc. The suspension has hardly changed since Henry VIII

smilo996

2,754 posts

169 months

Friday 27th May 2022
quotequote all
Geat from the front and then.......the red should be darker and that roll cage just looks odd. The crinkled red carpet scrap above the tunnel, a nice touch. 11 RS spares switches. Time to move on from those perhaps.
Still, once in it, I doubt it would matter much. Top 5 car that are almost as fun as being on two wheels.

The black one in the background looks a bit better.

SidewaysSi

10,742 posts

233 months

Friday 27th May 2022
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Good Lord that's a load of cash. Get a used Seven for a quarter of the money and have 95% of the experience.

Pan Pan Pan

9,777 posts

110 months

Friday 27th May 2022
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SidewaysSi said:
Good Lord that's a load of cash. Get a used Seven for a quarter of the money and have 95% of the experience.
Indeed! Much as I like Caterhams, I couldn't ever see me paying that sort of cash for one, even `if 'I' could afford it!

mcerbm

111 posts

203 months

Friday 27th May 2022
quotequote all
ddom said:
mcerbm said:
Are you sure it would show it a clean pair of heels?
yes

Higher power weight. The only real specification difference would be the Sadev.

Horses for courses. If someone wants to spend enormous amounts of money on a track Caterham from the factory it’s up to them.
420cup out of the box will be a very quick track car, a standard SLR isnt going to be able to keep up over a lap.

If yours is tweaked, (and my #91 one is), it may stand a better chance. But having driven the race car, I would probably put my money on me being able to extract a better lap time in the 420cup than my SLR.

SidewaysSi

10,742 posts

233 months

Friday 27th May 2022
quotequote all
Pan Pan Pan said:
SidewaysSi said:
Good Lord that's a load of cash. Get a used Seven for a quarter of the money and have 95% of the experience.
Indeed! Much as I like Caterhams, I couldn't ever see me paying that sort of cash for one, even `if 'I' could afford it!
Indeed.. Caterham suffers finishing returns as you go up the price ladder.

For £60k you could have an old Caterham Superlight/Roadsport, a Porsche 997 and an Elise. Or replace the Lotus with something like an E Class. That would be a cracking 3 car stable.

ddom

6,657 posts

47 months

Friday 27th May 2022
quotequote all
mcerbm said:
420cup out of the box will be a very quick track car, a standard SLR isnt going to be able to keep up over a lap.

If yours is tweaked, (and my #91 one is), it may stand a better chance. But having driven the race car, I would probably put my money on me being able to extract a better lap time in the 420cup than my SLR.
A couple of guys I know sprint, and they would make a lot of people look daft in Roadsports wink

mcerbm

111 posts

203 months

Friday 27th May 2022
quotequote all
ddom said:
mcerbm said:
420cup out of the box will be a very quick track car, a standard SLR isnt going to be able to keep up over a lap.

If yours is tweaked, (and my #91 one is), it may stand a better chance. But having driven the race car, I would probably put my money on me being able to extract a better lap time in the 420cup than my SLR.
A couple of guys I know sprint, and they would make a lot of people look daft in Roadsports wink
That is the beauty of caterhams in the right hands they can outshine much more exotic machinery. I won the official caterham 270R race series last year, and the pace you take these cars round a circuit can easily embarrass a 620R if they aren't on their game. I still stand by the statement above, and i do love my SLR.

Glenn63

2,732 posts

83 months

Saturday 28th May 2022
quotequote all
mcerbm said:
ddom said:
mcerbm said:
420cup out of the box will be a very quick track car, a standard SLR isnt going to be able to keep up over a lap.

If yours is tweaked, (and my #91 one is), it may stand a better chance. But having driven the race car, I would probably put my money on me being able to extract a better lap time in the 420cup than my SLR.
A couple of guys I know sprint, and they would make a lot of people look daft in Roadsports wink
That is the beauty of caterhams in the right hands they can outshine much more exotic machinery. I won the official caterham 270R race series last year, and the pace you take these cars round a circuit can easily embarrass a 620R if they aren't on their game. I still stand by the statement above, and i do love my SLR.
But how much quicker (or not) would a 620r be if you were driving both?

ddom

6,657 posts

47 months

Saturday 28th May 2022
quotequote all
mcerbm said:
That is the beauty of caterhams in the right hands they can outshine much more exotic machinery. I won the official caterham 270R race series last year, and the pace you take these cars round a circuit can easily embarrass a 620R if they aren't on their game. I still stand by the statement above, and i do love my SLR.
Sounds good. Previous spec was SLR, 2180/1444 (IRC) DVA, steel, TB’s, Ivey valves, ported etc. made a tractable 235, more was there but this was a less engine wearing 8200 cut. Single seat, Carbon bits etc. I drove the 420 and thought it was quite bland. I did toy with the idea of a quaiffe but they’re so agricultural.

Edited by ddom on Saturday 28th May 09:22

jm8403

2,515 posts

24 months

Saturday 28th May 2022
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Glenn63 said:
But how much quicker (or not) would a 620r be if you were driving both?
Quite a bit I am sure but the vast vast majority are not even driven at the pace of a 270R race pace as the above poster mentions. People buy them as its the 'top model' and then find out it takes a lot of skill to get optimal pace out of them as there is so much power for the weight.

RE: Above. First ive seen bland and 420r in the same sentence. Was it a race spec with sadev?

motco

15,918 posts

245 months

Saturday 28th May 2022
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Howard1650 said:
61,280 - that's a lot money. Is this where the market is at for a track toy ?
I love Caterhams, but remember the days when you built them at home with a hammer and a few old sockets.
I was turned on to Sevens whilst at college and they were Lotus Super Sevens with 1600 crossflow engines. In kit form (no purchase tax) they were about £650

I have a 2 litre Westfield which might not be quite as quick as that Caterham but frankly, unless you are a truly st-hot driver, a track day can be as much fun for the £7k it cost me in 2003 compared with that Seven at ten times as much.




ddom

6,657 posts

47 months

Saturday 28th May 2022
quotequote all
jm8403 said:
Quite a bit I am sure but the vast vast majority are not even driven at the pace of a 270R race pace as the above poster mentions. People buy them as its the 'top model' and then find out it takes a lot of skill to get optimal pace out of them as there is so much power for the weight.

RE: Above. First ive seen bland and 420r in the same sentence. Was it a race spec with sadev?
No, it was a standard one, I think at that time you had the option to add TB's to it, but could be wrong. The reasons I felt as I did was a lot to do with the power delivery. I was always a huge fan of the K series, the Ford engine just felt lazy, didn't suit the car IMO. Chassis was the new (at the time) metric one. I couldn't put my finger on it but the whole car was just....bland. The same day I tried the 620R, 500D, 500K with quaiffe (in fact Chris Rea's old car). Following week bought an Atom and the rest is history. I do plan to get back into one someday. All lightweight cars are special things, there are no bad choices.

mcerbm

111 posts

203 months

Wednesday 1st June 2022
quotequote all
Glenn63 said:
mcerbm said:
ddom said:
mcerbm said:
420cup out of the box will be a very quick track car, a standard SLR isnt going to be able to keep up over a lap.

If yours is tweaked, (and my #91 one is), it may stand a better chance. But having driven the race car, I would probably put my money on me being able to extract a better lap time in the 420cup than my SLR.
A couple of guys I know sprint, and they would make a lot of people look daft in Roadsports wink
That is the beauty of caterhams in the right hands they can outshine much more exotic machinery. I won the official caterham 270R race series last year, and the pace you take these cars round a circuit can easily embarrass a 620R if they aren't on their game. I still stand by the statement above, and i do love my SLR.
But how much quicker (or not) would a 620r be if you were driving both?
Yes I think its a given the 620R would be setting a good gap in lap time through the extra bhp alone. I suspect some R&D costs may be included in the 420cup along with the higher price of the adjustable dampers. Unfortunately I foresee that the 620R price itself may rise as the caterham supplier parts prices keep rising and the 420cup is probably the first car of the new adjusted pricing regime.

mcerbm

111 posts

203 months

Wednesday 1st June 2022
quotequote all
ddom said:
mcerbm said:
That is the beauty of caterhams in the right hands they can outshine much more exotic machinery. I won the official caterham 270R race series last year, and the pace you take these cars round a circuit can easily embarrass a 620R if they aren't on their game. I still stand by the statement above, and i do love my SLR.
Sounds good. Previous spec was SLR, 2180/1444 (IRC) DVA, steel, TB’s, Ivey valves, ported etc. made a tractable 235, more was there but this was a less engine wearing 8200 cut. Single seat, Carbon bits etc. I drove the 420 and thought it was quite bland. I did toy with the idea of a quaiffe but they’re so agricultural.

Edited by ddom on Saturday 28th May 09:22
I have the 1444's, ported done by DVA also, dry sump. I'm 222bhp but it wouldn't be a match for the 420 cup. I agree a revving k-series is a wonderful thing and the duratecs just dont have the same power delivery looking to smash through the red line. The torque, stiffer chassis (with cage) and sadev mean the cup would be a quicker car. I haven't tried the ZZR extreme but it would be a good partner for the cup from what I have heard.

The sadev is a lot better than the quaife, and it should be for the price!