Caterham or boxster

[supermono]

Talking over options with my 14yo, we'll probably start doing trackdays together in a couple of years' time when he's got a licence.

We were wondering about building a Caterham together (I'm a competent mechanic so no probs there) or buying a boxster.

I'm not a boxster fan at all but they're supposed to be reasonable fun and if I ever wanted to go anywhere in a two seater other than the GT2 (but why???) it'd be more practical. Would that practicality make up for the smaller performance?

Also what model to go for -- boxster wise I've driven the S and the normal neither of which had any particular speed about them so I'm assuming it wouldn't be worth paying the S premium? How much are you talking for an unloved but mechanically sound example?

SM

[marky911]

I'd say Caterham all the way.
They're like a big Lego kit aren't they and you can see exactly what every component does as you remove/fit it.

I've never been completely hands on with my cars but, my bike engined racecar taught me loads, what with engine swaps, upgrades and repairs. I'm now a lot happier tackling jobs on "proper" cars as a result.

Had I started on something like my trackcar years ago I think I'd have developed my tinkering skills a lot more quickly.
Regardless of what you choose it's a great idea! I grew around my dad restoring classics and racing bikes and it was awesome!
Good luck with it!

[jackal]

A caterham is a totally unique experience unlike any other - a landmark, a monument, a reference standard - and many more times faster, more thrilling, more immediate and pure than nearly every other performance car out there. In fact you can't really compare them to other cars, especially something as polished and jack of all trades as the Boxster. Compare them more to sports bikes IMO. Every petrolhead should do a caterham at some point and on track its a no brainer, they make even featherweight elises seem portly, unresponsive and bus-like.

[gibbon]

If running costs for track days is an issue, which lets face it, it always is to some degree, then i think the Caterham could offer you a lot more fun, they are so much lighter on fuel, tyres, discs, pads etc etc.

The Caterham will be fair easier and cheaper to play around with and tune / set up also, i imagine your kid would learn a lot more that way.

[AY]

Caterham all the way. Even the slower ones feel so much faster than anything else, great for track days. A boxster would be dull in comparison. And the superlights......wow, I test drove an r400 and it was insane. And you could build it together too.

[AY]

May also be worth considering an Elise but personally not familiar with the marque

[Trev450]

Another vote for a Caterham. They are in a different league to most other road cars and about as close as you can get to a road going single seater for driving pleasure.

[VonSenger]

Have you considered a VX220? I know it sounds odd but they're cheap and a fair bit faster than the exige s which is twice the money. They are also very cheap to run, repair and fairly comfy to commute to the track in.

[DH01]

Many years ago I had a Caterham as an only car for 3 years then 4 years as a second car.
There is nothing that compares, especially at the money. They excel at trackdays and are shockingly cheap to run and maintain.
In a couple of years time I hope to build one with my son.

Go for it, enjoy and Good Luck.

[911Thrasher]

+1 Caterham

Would be so much fun to build something and if you plan on tracking, Caterham all the way.

I was a passenger in Caterham around Silverstone, what a blast!

[supermono]

VonSenger said:

Have you considered a VX220? I know it sounds odd but they're cheap and a fair bit faster than the exige s which is twice the money. They are also very cheap to run, repair and fairly comfy to commute to the track in.

Yes! I considered one ages ago and have since forgotten all about it. Thanks. I think the chap who bought my 996 turbo arrived in a VX220 turbo.

Obviously I'll missout on the build but the cost/benefit analysis worked well for the 220 a few years ago so probable works even better now, but definitely worth considering.

SM

[gl20]

+1 for the Caterham. Was lucky enough to do a JP Motorsport day a couple of months ago which included the chance to drive two legends that I've read so much about over the last 25 years ie a Caterham and a 911. Despite being the least powerful car on the day, the Caterham had to be my outright favorite and almost exceeded the hype I'd read about it. What a car. The 911 (and I know I'll be in terrible trouble for saying this...) was a major disappointment. And that's coming from a Boxster driver who was always intending on trading up one day.

[VonSenger]

supermono said:

Yes! I considered one ages ago and have since forgotten all about it. Thanks. I think the chap who bought my 996 turbo arrived in a VX220 turbo.

Obviously I'll missout on the build but the cost/benefit analysis worked well for the 220 a few years ago so probable works even better now, but definitely worth considering.

SM

I purchased mine this summer, sorted the suspension with coil overs, brakes and remap inc car cost for under 8k!. Gives gt3s a run for their money until you get to 130.

[BertBert]

no, no, no, Boxster is the way.

Ah actually, no it's not. Miss Bert drove a Caterham on track at an early age (16) and has never been the same since. She's just grabbed a class championship in her first season of racing (in a Radical) and I put that down to early Caterham exposure. Apparently, she preferred the Caterham to the 6RS!

Bert

[RudeDog]

Caterham

You've already been told why

[chris7676]

Unusual question, I would suggest looking at the Elise / VX220 as it seats in between Boxster and Caterham (lightness but mid engined).
Boxster will be more expensive to run and not as pure, but saying that I find it a very good track car and SUBJECTIVELY preferred it after a short sessions with an R300.

[boxsey]

I don't think any of us are surprised that a caterham is recommended over a boxster. However, after doing trackdays for a number of years now and coming across a lot of caterfields on track (usually overtaking me), I've yet to see the attraction of them. They're obviously faster than a fast thing and comparatively cheap to run but there also seem to be plenty of drawbacks. From what I've seen; most owners trailer them to the track (unless they live close and don't need to take loads of stuff), many owners spend a lot of time in the garage/paddock fixing or tinkering with them, they must be a miserable place to be when it's wet and some seem to have a magnetic attraction to gravel traps (maybe that's just the hired ones though).

For me a trackday is just about enjoying the car pushing on and I don't have any desire to keep up with the caterhams. Maybe I should jump in one for a passenger ride and see what all the fuss is about?

[VonSenger]

boxsey said:

I don't think any of us are surprised that a caterham is recommended over a boxster. However, after doing trackdays for a number of years now and coming across a lot of caterfields on track (usually overtaking me), I've yet to see the attraction of them. They're obviously faster than a fast thing and comparatively cheap to run but there also seem to be plenty of drawbacks. From what I've seen; most owners trailer them to the track (unless they live close and don't need to take loads of stuff), many owners spend a lot of time in the garage/paddock fixing or tinkering with them, they must be a miserable place to be when it's wet and some seem to have a magnetic attraction to gravel traps (maybe that's just the hired ones though).

For me a trackday is just about enjoying the car pushing on and I don't have any desire to keep up with the caterhams. Maybe I should jump in one for a passenger ride and see what all the fuss is about?

+1, I considered one very briefly but couldnt imagine going to the ring or silverstone in one, especially given the weather we have here and the constant tinkering required. They just seem to "sellotape and glue" for my liking. I wanted a perfect mix of performance, lightness, and comfort. The exige s was the one but I couldnt justify the service interval or binning a £20k car.

The VX220 requires a little bit of spanner work when you first get them in order to make them more track focused, this tinkering was as much as I wanted, building a caterham from scratch sounds great, the reality would be a real pain the backside.

[boxsey]

Paddy_N_Murphy said:

Boxsey - my response and approval of the Caterham route was as much to do with the bind of building it, learning about cars / mechanics and general raw fun.

Yep your post was very clear about the other benefit of getting enjoyment from the car away from the track. I pretty much did the same by getting a 964 and doing it up for the track*. A couple of years ago I spent more time working on it than tracking it. I was just saying what I perceive to be the downsides are of having such a track focused car as a Caterham and I guess it's those reasons why I've never been tempted by one (even though I see them regularly at trackdays and see what they can do). I nearly took a passenger ride in one last time out at Oulton Park but then the heavens opened and I didn't fancy getting soaked.

• BTW I'm not recommending this as an option as it's not in line with the OP's original question.

[anniesdad]

Errr...Caterham.