Discussion
Owned an R400 previously and looking at buying another Caterham for Sunday blasts. Car will be used on the road 99% of the time. Out of current and previous models, which is the best option for road use? Super sport R? Budget would be great to stick as close to 25k as possible
I know there are models like roadsport etc, but I'm looking for a 1 hour blast car, it doesn't need to be capable of doing long trips in some degree of comfort
Any pics and options would be great - it's 10 years since I owned one of these things and I have to say the r400 last time was completely impulse with no research. I only sold that as I lost the garage I was renting
I know there are models like roadsport etc, but I'm looking for a 1 hour blast car, it doesn't need to be capable of doing long trips in some degree of comfort
Any pics and options would be great - it's 10 years since I owned one of these things and I have to say the r400 last time was completely impulse with no research. I only sold that as I lost the garage I was renting
After owning both k series and now a duratec R300 the big difference in the two is the torque advantage of the duratec. Particularly noticeable with a passenger on board the duratec pulls a lot better especially after 60 . You will pick up a very nice k series R300 for 20-23k and there are very few duratec versions about so expect to pay 27-29k if and when one comes up, the sigma superlight with the right spec would be great fun round the lanes but may feel a little under powered compared to your old R400 I would think
£25K would get you a brand new base spec Supersport R 180 in kit form, without weather equipment. I've got a lightly specced Supersport 140 coming that's listing at a little over £28K, built. I think it's all you (certainly I) need for the road and will give me I'm sure plenty of thrills on track.
Depends if the extra power is important to you I guess? Having spoken to a mate who has a Superlight R he assured me that 140 is plenty for the road, I'm inclined to agree with him. Happy shopping!
Depends if the extra power is important to you I guess? Having spoken to a mate who has a Superlight R he assured me that 140 is plenty for the road, I'm inclined to agree with him. Happy shopping!
anniesdad said:
Depends if the extra power is important to you I guess? Having spoken to a mate who has a Superlight R he assured me that 140 is plenty for the road, I'm inclined to agree with him. Happy shopping!
I find 140 perfectly suitable for the road. Even with that much power you can find it hard to use it all the time.For track use more power would be nice, but for road, 140 seems like a great balance to me.
I am in a similar position to the O/P.
I have just started a thread over in the Porsche forum comparing a 997.1 GT3 (my current car) to a Caterham. All responses said a Caterham is a must do and so I am now looking into buying one.
Being my first foray into Caterham's what model would you advise? I was looking at a Supersport R or a Roadsport 175.
I drive up to the West coast of Scotland a lot as we have a holiday house there and the driving roads are fantastic.
Therefore alot of the cars use would be on these types of roads but also with track days thrown in a few times a year as well (Knockhill being my closest circuit).
As I will be using the car a lot on road Is the roadsport worth going for with the added weather equipment and other “comfort” features?
Is there a noticable difference between the roadsport and the supersport R?
I did notice the supersport comes with a LSD which would be an option I would have to spec on the roadsport if I went down that route.
I would consider buying new but I have also seen this in the classifieds http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/c...
Any advice would be much appreciated as my knowledge of these great cars is limited.
I have just started a thread over in the Porsche forum comparing a 997.1 GT3 (my current car) to a Caterham. All responses said a Caterham is a must do and so I am now looking into buying one.
Being my first foray into Caterham's what model would you advise? I was looking at a Supersport R or a Roadsport 175.
I drive up to the West coast of Scotland a lot as we have a holiday house there and the driving roads are fantastic.
Therefore alot of the cars use would be on these types of roads but also with track days thrown in a few times a year as well (Knockhill being my closest circuit).
As I will be using the car a lot on road Is the roadsport worth going for with the added weather equipment and other “comfort” features?
Is there a noticable difference between the roadsport and the supersport R?
I did notice the supersport comes with a LSD which would be an option I would have to spec on the roadsport if I went down that route.
I would consider buying new but I have also seen this in the classifieds http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/c...
Any advice would be much appreciated as my knowledge of these great cars is limited.
Edited by vallance5 on Friday 30th May 05:41
We've owned our SV for more than 12 years, and unless you're 5'10" or less, there are some compelling reasons that led to my ordering one. First and foremost is more room in the footwells, and behind the seats. The boot is slightly larger too, so the space really comes in handy for long road trips. We've been to Islay and came back with most of a case of Single Malts behind the seats, to the Barolo region of Italy and came back with 3 cases of wine (6 bottles/box) behind the seats, and even put a case of Laurent Perrier in the pax footwell once.
There are just as many engine choices with an SV to a large extent, and if you do what 4 or 5 of us did in 2002, you can special order higher HP engines from the factory easy as. A number of owners with S3 sized Caterhams have put widetrack front ends on, in the SV that's standard. The weight difference isn't that large, so putting on Big Front Brakes is a real win if you have to stop fast, @£$%ing 'eck do they stop the car.
Some will slag off the SV but they either are physically tiny, or envious and the final thing that made me choose the SV over a R500 at the time was the steering wheel was on my thighs in the R500, but not in the SV. Given the longer/wider footwell, I can easily put my left foot under the clutch on a run when not shifting and it's very comfortable.
There are just as many engine choices with an SV to a large extent, and if you do what 4 or 5 of us did in 2002, you can special order higher HP engines from the factory easy as. A number of owners with S3 sized Caterhams have put widetrack front ends on, in the SV that's standard. The weight difference isn't that large, so putting on Big Front Brakes is a real win if you have to stop fast, @£$%ing 'eck do they stop the car.
Some will slag off the SV but they either are physically tiny, or envious and the final thing that made me choose the SV over a R500 at the time was the steering wheel was on my thighs in the R500, but not in the SV. Given the longer/wider footwell, I can easily put my left foot under the clutch on a run when not shifting and it's very comfortable.
I also have a holiday place on the West coast .As you will appreciate its usually very wet especially on the West so if you are using the 7 for traveling to your West coast home ,make sure you have the weather protection and a bail out bucket to hand . As you say some of the roads are truly epic but many are not in the best condition . Hope you find the right 7 ,you wont regret it .
I must add that for those people that are simply too big to fit inside a S3, the SV means they're not denied the pleasure of driving a 7, and that's nice, but buying one so that 'we' can put our bottles of Scotch in the ample room behind the seats, makes me puke. I'm not usually this inflammatory on here but this is madness!
timrw81 said:
I must add that for those people that are simply too big to fit inside a S3, the SV means they're not denied the pleasure of driving a 7, and that's nice, but buying one so that 'we' can put our bottles of Scotch in the ample room behind the seats, makes me puke. I'm not usually this inflammatory on here but this is madness!
Gosh, that's quite a flaming! 
Owned both chassis and R300 (K-series) SV was ace. Just depends on the cars main useage and the mindset (whether a purist or not) of the owner.
Tim, you fail to get any of my points at all!
We bought the SV as we fit better in it, pure and simple AND so we had more room for touring. The fact we can put in wine or whisky or a few more days of clothes, etc is very remotely secondary. The only madness with our SV is we've been:
Twice London <-> Rome
GOME Spa -> Florence
Twice to Switzerland
Three loops around Ireland
Twice all over Scotland, the Scottish Islands..
Almost every single county in the UK
More track days than most will ever do
USA 2005 (Houston Texas to San Francisco)
Sydney and East Coast Oz
Sprinting and circuit racing in Oz
Now back in the UK.
I put forward that our SV has more sea miles than any other Se7en, ever. So you've missed the entire point, there you go!
We bought the SV as we fit better in it, pure and simple AND so we had more room for touring. The fact we can put in wine or whisky or a few more days of clothes, etc is very remotely secondary. The only madness with our SV is we've been:
Twice London <-> Rome
GOME Spa -> Florence
Twice to Switzerland
Three loops around Ireland
Twice all over Scotland, the Scottish Islands..
Almost every single county in the UK
More track days than most will ever do
USA 2005 (Houston Texas to San Francisco)
Sydney and East Coast Oz
Sprinting and circuit racing in Oz
Now back in the UK.
I put forward that our SV has more sea miles than any other Se7en, ever. So you've missed the entire point, there you go!
timrw81 said:
I must add that for those people that are simply too big to fit inside a S3, the SV means they're not denied the pleasure of driving a 7, and that's nice, but buying one so that 'we' can put our bottles of Scotch in the ample room behind the seats, makes me puke. I'm not usually this inflammatory on here but this is madness!
Edited by Steve-B on Monday 2nd June 11:18
On the other hand, at 5'8", I don't fit in an SV at all. The seat doesn't go forward enough, the gearknob is too far back and there's too much room to my sides. I just didn't feel that the car fitted as well as an S3.
I can certainly appreciate the advantages of a larger fuel tank and boot, but with a boot bag we've had no problem fitting in everything we've needed and fuel range has never been an issue. We just fill up whenever possible.
I can certainly appreciate the advantages of a larger fuel tank and boot, but with a boot bag we've had no problem fitting in everything we've needed and fuel range has never been an issue. We just fill up whenever possible.
Steve-B said:
We've owned our SV for more than 12 years, and unless you're 5'10" or less, there are some compelling reasons that led to my ordering one. First and foremost is more room in the footwells, and behind the seats.... Some will slag off the SV but they either are physically tiny, or envious and the final thing that made me choose the SV over a R500 at the time was the steering wheel was on my thighs in the R500, but not in the SV. Given the longer/wider footwell, I can easily put my left foot under the clutch on a run when not shifting and it's very comfortable.
To add an alternative perspective to S3 vs. CSR, I'm almost 6'6", 15 stone, size 13 feet and fit into a "narrow bodied" S3, in Tillets with a lowered floor, with the pedals on their "middle" setting. I can rest my foot behind the clutch when needed.Try both variants prior to making your mind up. Only you can decide which one suits your needs best and is more comfortable. Seat choice can make a world of difference.
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