caterham r300 vs r500 - engine rebuild

[Wodanaz]

Hi everybody.
New guy here.

After a stint with a Atom supercharged I got set on finding a nice light weight car with a bit of road driving capabilities for a little weekend away every now and then.

After the usual suspects (Ariel, x bow, 2 eleven and caterham) I reasoned myself to believe the caterham to be the best choice for me.

Now I'm checking a highly tuned (Raceco) 280hp R300 and a bone stock (engine wise) R500.

I'll be doing mainly road (mountain) driving with possibly some Hill climbing events maybe 2 to 4 times a year.

But I was told the caterham needs a engine rebuild every 10000 miles.

Is it true? Even for the duratec engine?

The R500 never had one (8000 miles from New) but the R300 had the engine upgrade done about 500 miles ago. ..

So what do you guys think?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Mike

[johnny7]

No- there talking about k-series engined cars

[Toaster]

You may get a more views by searching on Blatchat

http://www.blatchat.com/t.asp?id=224959

[Wodanaz]

johnny7 said:

No- there talking about k-series engined cars

Hi Johnny!

So they're talking about the K-engine when they mention the rebuilds?

Duratecs are ok?

Nice to know....

And between R300 vs R500? Tips and thoughts?

[Wodanaz]

Toaster said:

You may get a more views by searching on Blatchat

http://www.blatchat.com/t.asp?id=224959

Thanks Toaster!

I'm reading it right now but it's mostly the K engined one.

Still, it's true what they say there: people get freaked out over the engine rebuild... (I know I am...)

Thanks for the tip!

[tomwoodis]

Wodanaz said:

johnny7 said:

No- there talking about k-series engined cars

Hi Johnny!

So they're talking about the K-engine when they mention the rebuilds?

Duratecs are ok?

Nice to know....

And between R300 vs R500? Tips and thoughts?

Bottom line is that the underlying engine is the same. They are both a 2L Ford Duratec. The R500 has been brought up to a particular level of tune to be about 250-260bhp. The Raceco engine has obviously had some work done to it as well to bring it up to 280bhp.

So in summary they have both been tweaked to get that level of performance. A stock R300 is about 180Bhp. I wouldn't say that either engine is likely to be that highly stressed, it's possible after all to get 300bhp out of one of these after all and Ammo (formerly of Raceco) is a legend when it comes to building Duratec engines and so I suspect if he had a hand in building the engine he will have gone for a 'safe' 280bhp.

The K series based R500's on the other hand really were pushing the very limits of the engine with the engines revving very high to achieve the power hence the need to rebuild once in a while. I've not heard of people rebuilding their Duratecs though.

The other thing to consider is mode of use. If you go bouncing it off the rev limiter for every mile of its life then you'll have to rebuild it sooner. Doesn't sound like you'll be doing that so I wouldn't get overly worried about it.

Get it bought!

Tom

[Wodanaz]

tomwoodis said:

I've not heard of people rebuilding their Duratecs though.

The other thing to consider is mode of use. If you go bouncing it off the rev limiter for every mile of its life then you'll have to rebuild it sooner. Doesn't sound like you'll be doing that so I wouldn't get overly worried about it.

Get it bought!

Tom

Best advice ever!!

Thanks Tom!

I'll be flying next week to check the cars out but right now the R300 'Duratec' has me if nothing else for the power figure and fun potential!!

Will let you know!

thanks again!!

Mike

[culminator]

Don't be steered by pure power figures alone, in most cases and under most circumstances, you won't notice the difference between 280bhp and 260bhp. Duratecs have bags of torque, so owners tend to change up comparatively early and this really helps engine longevity.

I've been told on many occasions that not letting the engine warm up properly before giving the full beans is the real killer. That's the same with any engine I guess but particularly so the Duratec. Great engine, love mine!

[Wodanaz]

culminator said:

Don't be steered by pure power figures alone, in most cases and under most circumstances, you won't notice the difference between 280bhp and 260bhp. Duratecs have bags of torque, so owners tend to change up comparatively early and this really helps engine longevity.

I've been told on many occasions that not letting the engine warm up properly before giving the full beans is the real killer. That's the same with any engine I guess but particularly so the Duratec. Great engine, love mine!

I'm reading awesome things.

I gotta tell you I did a sixth gear experience day on the Ariel Atom supercharged a few months ago and....

Lightweight is definitely the way to go for me!

But I want something I can at least stuff a backpack in and go away for a weekend or something and the ariel doesn't have a trunk , so the Caterham looms as the perfect car.

Driver involvement being of the utmost importance I think that the manual on the R300 is ideal for me, regardless of the quicker R500 sequential 'box shift times....

The engine power... I miss that mid range torque that I had with the supercharger on the Atom but that's it.

I want primarily to have fun with the thing!

Thank you all for putting my mind to rest on the engine rebuild topic!