interested in a Caterham
Discussion
hi guys, i am considering leaving the radical camp and getting a caterham for hill climbs, sprints, and trackdays.
Possibly would buy new or as near new as possible.
I am well used to a lot of speed and grip, in the radical, and would like something close, but more reliable and with less maintenance.
Super light R400 appears to be my best option, but wondered if you could pass any helpful tips advice my way please?
Possibly would buy new or as near new as possible.
I am well used to a lot of speed and grip, in the radical, and would like something close, but more reliable and with less maintenance.
Super light R400 appears to be my best option, but wondered if you could pass any helpful tips advice my way please?
Hi Colin, if you wanted to be in with a (very slim!) chance of beating me on the hillclimbs you have to go Busa power I'm afraid mate there is no substitute.
I'm doing the odd event in the road legal National hillclimb classes with mine & in each event when its been dry I've taken the record at the first time of asking.
If you'd like to have a chat about the pro's & con's & spec's of Busa's / Duratec / K 7's drop me a mail with a number to give you a bell on.
Regards,
DSL.
I'm doing the odd event in the road legal National hillclimb classes with mine & in each event when its been dry I've taken the record at the first time of asking.
If you'd like to have a chat about the pro's & con's & spec's of Busa's / Duratec / K 7's drop me a mail with a number to give you a bell on.
Regards,
DSL.
dsl2 said:
Hi Colin, if you wanted to be in with a (very slim!) chance of beating me on the hillclimbs you have to go Busa power I'm afraid mate there is no substitute.
I'm doing the odd event in the road legal National hillclimb classes with mine & in each event when its been dry I've taken the record at the first time of asking.
If you'd like to have a chat about the pro's & con's & spec's of Busa's / Duratec / K 7's drop me a mail with a number to give you a bell on.
Regards,
DSL.
Unfortunately its true! Even a 300bhp durance car will not beat a busa car on the hills no matter what tyres list 1a 1b or slicks.If you want a car that you can go on road trips and compete in road going classes then the duratec would be my choice,but to be competitive in the modified classes it has to be busa powered caterhamI'm doing the odd event in the road legal National hillclimb classes with mine & in each event when its been dry I've taken the record at the first time of asking.
If you'd like to have a chat about the pro's & con's & spec's of Busa's / Duratec / K 7's drop me a mail with a number to give you a bell on.
Regards,
DSL.
Andy
Edited by griff7 on Wednesday 27th June 13:36
dsl2 said:
Hi Colin, if you wanted to be in with a (very slim!) chance of beating me on the hillclimbs you have to go Busa power I'm afraid mate there is no substitute.
I'm doing the odd event in the road legal National hillclimb classes with mine & in each event when its been dry I've taken the record at the first time of asking.
If you'd like to have a chat about the pro's & con's & spec's of Busa's / Duratec / K 7's drop me a mail with a number to give you a bell on.
Regards,
DSL.
Unfortunately its true! Even a 300bhp durance car will not beat a busa car on the hills no matter what tyres list 1a 1b or slicks.If you want a car that you can go on road trips and compete in road going classes then the duratec would be my choice,but to be competitive in the modified classes it has to be busa powered caterhamI'm doing the odd event in the road legal National hillclimb classes with mine & in each event when its been dry I've taken the record at the first time of asking.
If you'd like to have a chat about the pro's & con's & spec's of Busa's / Duratec / K 7's drop me a mail with a number to give you a bell on.
Regards,
DSL.
Andy
Edited by griff7 on Wednesday 27th June 13:38
Your still up for the banter Darren and getting beat as you know i can do!
is yours 1340cc built by Rob? what other bits do they need ordered with?
was thinking on Atom as well but know nothing about them, and very few over here.
Atom sounds to be more reliable with the v-tec engine, but for drivers vehicle i dont know?
since i live in the country, its something to give the odd blast and occasionally a hill climb / sprint.
if i had any sense i would just hang up the race suit!
is yours 1340cc built by Rob? what other bits do they need ordered with?
was thinking on Atom as well but know nothing about them, and very few over here.
Atom sounds to be more reliable with the v-tec engine, but for drivers vehicle i dont know?
since i live in the country, its something to give the odd blast and occasionally a hill climb / sprint.
if i had any sense i would just hang up the race suit!
Hi Colin, hope your well matey.
Back in the PR6 days you could only beat me on the straights with your big bore motor 1548cc if you recall LOL! I'm packing a 1548cc Mistral motor in my Caterham these days & the grunt is good no wonder you used to pull away out of every slow speed corner compared to my 1300.
I drove an Atom years ago Col, the handling was appalling to be honest with you, huge problems of weight transfer with that big lump of an engine way out back & corner entry oversteer on a trailing throttle........ Defo get a good test drive before going down that route, as a 7/10th fun road car I'm sure it would be ok & a supercharged version very fast but driving on the limit on tracks no thanks...
I have never seen one on the hillclimb's but undoubtedly they would be miles off the pace, for instance ex F1 driver Tiff Needel off 5th gear took the V8 500bhp with wings version to Gurston Hillclimb & did a 32.6 odd best run on road tyres, my 7 did a 31.66 on road tyre's.
Best bet is to decide what you really intend to do with the car firstly, for fast road / track day / racing use go with a Duratec 7 preferably with a Sadev sequential but if its going to be majoring on sprints & hills then Busa power is the best bet, of that there is no doubt.
You can use either on the road for s
ts & giggles for sure but other than for a quick blast around the lanes to blow away the cobwebb's / terrify a mate / or to test a set up change, however you probably won't bother after a month or two if my experience is typical.
Back in the PR6 days you could only beat me on the straights with your big bore motor 1548cc if you recall LOL! I'm packing a 1548cc Mistral motor in my Caterham these days & the grunt is good no wonder you used to pull away out of every slow speed corner compared to my 1300.
I drove an Atom years ago Col, the handling was appalling to be honest with you, huge problems of weight transfer with that big lump of an engine way out back & corner entry oversteer on a trailing throttle........ Defo get a good test drive before going down that route, as a 7/10th fun road car I'm sure it would be ok & a supercharged version very fast but driving on the limit on tracks no thanks...
I have never seen one on the hillclimb's but undoubtedly they would be miles off the pace, for instance ex F1 driver Tiff Needel off 5th gear took the V8 500bhp with wings version to Gurston Hillclimb & did a 32.6 odd best run on road tyres, my 7 did a 31.66 on road tyre's.
Best bet is to decide what you really intend to do with the car firstly, for fast road / track day / racing use go with a Duratec 7 preferably with a Sadev sequential but if its going to be majoring on sprints & hills then Busa power is the best bet, of that there is no doubt.
You can use either on the road for s
ts & giggles for sure but other than for a quick blast around the lanes to blow away the cobwebb's / terrify a mate / or to test a set up change, however you probably won't bother after a month or two if my experience is typical.You can't actually buy a new 7 with a Busa install in this country Colin, most have been done by a select group of enthusiast's & specialist motorsport suppliers all of whom I can put you in touch with & advise the correct parts to do the job right, but as ever its not going to work out cheap!
I wouldn't really consider ordering a new chassis & sticking a Busa in it & going down the IVA new car route as that's a nightmare, much better to buy an old car (no Cat required) in sty / damaged condition then get Arch to fully refurb it as new with the correct bits for a Busa install & removable diagonals etc..
Without wishing to be indelicate as I'm hardly twigy these days at 14stone 10lbs! you'd need to make sure you fit in a standard sized S3 7 chassis before going too much further, if not then your left with the choice of an SV (wider version = heavier & slower / worse handling) or a CSR good comfy road orientated car which can be made into a very rapid racer from what I believe (Griff7 can comment more on that one as he races his Busa 7 against them) but again not a match for a Busa S3 chassis'd car on the hills.
I wouldn't really consider ordering a new chassis & sticking a Busa in it & going down the IVA new car route as that's a nightmare, much better to buy an old car (no Cat required) in s
ty / damaged condition then get Arch to fully refurb it as new with the correct bits for a Busa install & removable diagonals etc..Without wishing to be indelicate as I'm hardly twigy these days at 14stone 10lbs! you'd need to make sure you fit in a standard sized S3 7 chassis before going too much further, if not then your left with the choice of an SV (wider version = heavier & slower / worse handling) or a CSR good comfy road orientated car which can be made into a very rapid racer from what I believe (Griff7 can comment more on that one as he races his Busa 7 against them) but again not a match for a Busa S3 chassis'd car on the hills.
ctm said:
Your still up for the banter Darren and getting beat as you know i can do!
is yours 1340cc built by Rob? what other bits do they need ordered with?
was thinking on Atom as well but know nothing about them, and very few over here.
Atom sounds to be more reliable with the v-tec engine, but for drivers vehicle i dont know?
since i live in the country, its something to give the odd blast and occasionally a hill climb / sprint.
if i had any sense i would just hang up the race suit!
Owned an Atom 3 245 before. Acceleration similar to a r500.and great fun on the roads,with plenty of space inside. However near the limits of handling not in the same league as a Caterham. Front would never bite in properly as no weight there and near impossible to get front tyres warm. On the twisty roads round by me, I reckon apart from initial acceleration I can hustle my 140bhp caterham along quicker than the Atom. is yours 1340cc built by Rob? what other bits do they need ordered with?
was thinking on Atom as well but know nothing about them, and very few over here.
Atom sounds to be more reliable with the v-tec engine, but for drivers vehicle i dont know?
since i live in the country, its something to give the odd blast and occasionally a hill climb / sprint.
if i had any sense i would just hang up the race suit!
As for the Atom 300, on the road the 1st 3 gears are a waste of time as you just spin the wheels and can't change gear quick enough. I personally also.found the supercharger whine too much. Sounded like a fast milk float imo
Great cars for looks, fun, reliability etc, but if considering any track days etc a Caterham is going to have it licked
Dave
Edited by TangoGTR on Thursday 28th June 22:50
ctm said:
Your still up for the banter Darren and getting beat as you know i can do!
is yours 1340cc built by Rob? what other bits do they need ordered with?
was thinking on Atom as well but know nothing about them, and very few over here.
Atom sounds to be more reliable with the v-tec engine, but for drivers vehicle i dont know?
since i live in the country, its something to give the odd blast and occasionally a hill climb / sprint.
if i had any sense i would just hang up the race suit!
Owned an Atom 3 245 before. Acceleration similar to a r500.and great fun on the roads,with plenty of space inside. However near the limits of handling not in the same league as a Caterham. Front would never bite in properly as no weight there and near impossible to get front tyres warm. On the twisty roads round by me, I reckon apart from initial acceleration I can hustle my 140bhp caterham along quicker than the Atom. is yours 1340cc built by Rob? what other bits do they need ordered with?
was thinking on Atom as well but know nothing about them, and very few over here.
Atom sounds to be more reliable with the v-tec engine, but for drivers vehicle i dont know?
since i live in the country, its something to give the odd blast and occasionally a hill climb / sprint.
if i had any sense i would just hang up the race suit!
As for the Atom 300, on the road the 1st 3 gears are a waste of time as you just spin the wheels and can't change gear quick enough. I personally also.found the supercharger whine too much. Sounded like a fast milk float imo
Great cars for looks, fun, reliability etc, but if considering any track days etc a Caterham is going to have it licked
Dave
Edited by TangoGTR on Thursday 28th June 22:50
Yo Darren and Colin
Just spotted this ....... some things never change (thank heavens) ....... good to see you couple of proper (fair and square) racers still 'at it'; winding each other up, psyching one another out, competing whatever and all this before Colin has actually got a car!
Fast forward thirty years from now and I reckon you'll still be at it - only this time the thread might be 'mobility scooters' - not that I've beggar all chance of being around to read it and having a giggle, more's the pity.
Forget the Ariel Colin - if Darren reckons it's no good on track competitively, then for sure that'll be the case. Caterham and Radical are outstanding race cars in their own quite different ways and quite simply, an Atom just isn't; it's design basis is all wrong to achieve that. Great for (looking like a total prat down at the supermarket after) a Sunday morning blast or trackdaying, but a totally blunt tool for guys of your racer's ability and persuasion.
Just spotted this ....... some things never change (thank heavens) ....... good to see you couple of proper (fair and square) racers still 'at it'; winding each other up, psyching one another out, competing whatever and all this before Colin has actually got a car!
Fast forward thirty years from now and I reckon you'll still be at it - only this time the thread might be 'mobility scooters' - not that I've beggar all chance of being around to read it and having a giggle, more's the pity.
Forget the Ariel Colin - if Darren reckons it's no good on track competitively, then for sure that'll be the case. Caterham and Radical are outstanding race cars in their own quite different ways and quite simply, an Atom just isn't; it's design basis is all wrong to achieve that. Great for (looking like a total prat down at the supermarket after) a Sunday morning blast or trackdaying, but a totally blunt tool for guys of your racer's ability and persuasion.
Edited by splitpin on Saturday 21st July 15:54
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