Caterham for track days? (Buying advice)

[bomster]

Hi there, I've been doing trackdays for a few years, primarily in my Clio 200 and then an M2 Competition.

The Clio was a brilliant gateway to TD's, but FWD got boring. The M2 was great but also very expensive to run, too heavy and not engaging enough.

So I am considering a Caterham as my next track car, but I have absolutely no idea about all the different versions. I keep seeing the 310R being talked about positively, as a bit of a 'sweet spot' in terms of price vs performance.

I guess my budget is 'about' £20k. Less would be nice, and more is possible.

I would be using it 90% on track.

Any tips on which model(s) I should go for?


And some other questions:

- do these things depreciate much? I was bitten very hard by my M2 (lost ~£7k in 18 months )

- How much power do you need in these to overwhelm the rear end? I ask as I really enjoyed having to keep the M2's rear in check, i.e. not able to just floor it out of every corner like I could in my Clio

- Are they easy to work on yourself? At least in terms of servicing, brakes (I am guessing very easy).

- Better to buy a lower end model and then modify (thinking suspension upgrades) or just buy a sorted one?

- I saw covered trailers aren't stupid money (and I imagine hold their money very well), and would serve as a nice place to store it as well as cart it to TDs.

- Cheeky ask: Anyone in or near Norwich who can show me theirs

Very much appreciate your insight and expertise.

[framerateuk]

You are going to get so many competing opinions here, but I'd start here:
https://www.pistonheads.com/features/ph-buying-gui...

I've had a 140bhp 'Supersport' spec Caterham since 2012.

In that time I've gone through 3 different Renaultsports as my dailies (the first of which I used to regualrly do trackdays in before I bought the 7).

I recently had it re-painted (I never liked the original color) and it was valued at about £24k once the work was done, so it's probably vaguely in your range.

bomster said:

And some other questions:

- do these things depreciate much? I was bitten very hard by my M2 (lost ~£7k in 18 months )
.

They almost dont to be honest. Bought mine for £17k, without the respray it would probably have been worth 20k by now. The cost to buy them new has gone up so much that a lot of the cars will actually go up in value.

bomster said:

- How much power do you need in these to overwhelm the rear end? I ask as I really enjoyed having to keep the M2's rear in check, i.e. not able to just floor it out of every corner like I could in my Clio
.

Because of the lightweight nature of the things, the backs don't quite slide as gracefully as heavier cars, they tend to be a little more snappy (or mine certainly it with the current setup). When I had the old Avon CR500's on there, I could slide it quite easily and it was very predictable, with the newer ZZS, they're much, much grippier, so hang on a lot longer before finally letting go, so are quite a bit snappier. The reality is with a decent setup you can probably do what you want. Mine was an ex drift demo car, the rear was jacked right up and the front super low, but I've definately got it setup to grip now as that's what works for me on track.

bomster said:

- Are they easy to work on yourself? At least in terms of servicing, brakes (I am guessing very easy).

- Better to buy a lower end model and then modify (thinking suspension upgrades) or just buy a sorted one?
.

Probably easier than anything else to be honest. You can get the brakes and consumable very easily. I've only ever had 1 new set of discs and maybe 3 sets of pads over the years. The tyres and brakes just last so much longer than they would in a big car. My Megane 250 Cup could easily ruin a set of tyres at a trackday, in the Caterham they just seem to go on and on.

As far as modifyiing things like suspension, you can, but honestly I'd go for a car with a widetrack front and adjustable platforms (Billsteins). You can then adjust them as needed. Even the top end cars share the same basic suspension so there's not much change really. Power wise the Sigma cars are anywhere from 125 to 140 (and 135 and 150 for the slightly updated VVT versions). Caterham do upgrades from 125 to 140 for a few k, but going further than that will cost an absolute fortune. The Duractec engined cars go from 160 to 220 with the R400/R420R. Again Caterham will do upgrades for those, but extracting any more power would again cost a fortune.

I'd say the same thing I say to everyone, go and sit in a few, and ideally hire one on the road! The seats are very subjective and while I like the normal leather seats, some people find the tillets more comfortable and vice versa.

On the how much power you need front... only you can say really. I've often found myself looking at engine upgrades, but honestly when I'm driving the car it's the last thing on my mind. The best upgrade I did for trackdays was removing the windscreen and fitting the aeroscreen. Seems to improve top end speed but also feels like going at mach 2.

Whichever version you buy, they're all about the corners and braking, and after coming from a tin-top, you just wont believe how nimble they are in the corners, or how quickly you can stop (though the lack of a brake servo does mean the braking takes some getting used to). In my 140bhp car, the only thing that can be frustrating is passing cars on longer straights. It's very fast up to 70, but you will be relying on the person lifting the throttle to let you by. But I suspect even in an R400 you'd get that at times as there's always a faster car.

I don't have anything else to add really but if you're looking at a dedicated track car, I would be looking at a full cage, and also you might want to consider ex-academy and race cars as they tend to be a little cheaper.

[WombleCate]

You’re right that generally speaking both Caterhams and covered trailers don’t depreciate much. Though the new Horse powered car may influence the value of second hand sigmas, up or down…

Depending on setup you can overwhelm the rear end with 125bhp, however, due to the short wheelbase that’s not very rewarding…

Many find the joy in the corner speeds in a well setup car.

Aside from engine, gearbox, cage and then seats most tweaks are fairly cheap and easy.

I’d suggest, imagining how you will be using it in the future. I bought an ex-academy car for track days, and within 18 months had started racing. I made a couple of track day decisions that wasted money when I then went racing.

For track days, the Sigma and Duratec are the obvious choices, the latter if you want a sequential box.

The CSCC Magnificent Sevens are racing at Brands on May 24th/ 25th and at Snetterton on July 19th.

There you’ll find 30+ Caterhams in every setup from 125bhp road cars to fire breathing monsters. They are a friendly paddock with 30+ different opinions. I’ll be at Brands but not likely to be at Snetterton.

Just do it.