Newbie Questions...
Discussion
First time poster to this section of PH…be kind!
My current fun/sports car is a Porsche Boxster 986 (that’s the “mark 1”) 2.7. There’s a lot I love about that car…the grip, the practicality, the looks, the badge and with it’s partially bypassed exhaust, the glorious raspy howl of the flat 6. What I don’t like about it is the gearing…it pulls 73 in second so giving it the beans means naughty speeds quite quickly, but it only gets fun or fast when you do really wind it up, plus the fact that it’s not actually that quick…an upper end diesel repmobile will see it away from the lights, and a mid-engine layout coupled with way too much rubber on the back means you have to be driving like an utter idiot to get it to move around at all. I do nearly all of my own spannering (and recently that’s included discs/pads/shocks/new rack/new brake lines as well as simple servicing), and I’m firmly in the “unless it’s raining, roof down” camp.
So…I’m thinking about a Caterham. Always loved them since I was a kid, drove one briefly at a track day and was seriously impressed, and just love the whole “less is more” ethos of the thing. I’d probably be looking at a K series car, £12-15k, and I have a few questions.
Floor-I’m 5’11” and the other half only an inch or so less with the associated longer legs of a girlie. Are lowered floors a necessity, and are they an easy retro fit if I found a car that ticked all the boxes apart from the floor?
Cycle guards-is swapping from the longer guards to cycle guards an easy job…as above?
Doors-I’ve never been in one with the roof down but the doors on. I’m not expecting Boxster levels of roof down refinement, but does it make them slightly less draughty? The track car I drove with a helmet on, and the only other one I’ve been in was someone’s older x-flow car which was a bit of an assault on the senses, and also scraped it’s exhaust on the ground on corners (is that normal?)
Pedals-I have size 10.5 feet and had to do the track day in my socks. With thinnish Sparco driving trainers (from the fashion side of Sparco, not the proper bit), is there sufficient room in the pedal department?
Power-I read somewhere that the sweet spot for a newbie tends to be around 160bhp, however I seem to see lots of cars with less, or much more, but not many around this output. Thoughts? 160bhp seems like a lot for a primarily road car that weighs nothing…
Cruising-I appreciate that any Caterham will go like a stabbed rat off the line and around the corners, what are they like at motorway speeds? Is the wind buffet intolerable? What about revs…is it revving it’s nuts off at 85ish? What will a K car do flat out? Does the 6 speed box make a difference or is this unavailable on a K?
Buying-I’m also a Defender person, and with those you buy purely on condition…age and mileage are fairly irrelevant. Caterhams by nature tend to have low mileages, but the ages seem to vary wildly at a given price point. Is it a case of buying on condition and history/fastidiousness of the owner and ignore the age?
Living with it-whilst I appreciate it’s an incredibly focussed track day/Sunday blast car, is it feasible for two of you, packing very light, to head off and go and do a tour in? NC500 or similar? And taking the roof etc? I realise there’s no room for “bags” as such, but if there’s room to wedge packing cubes behind the seats or in the passenger footwell, that would do it! Does the roof actually work in a downpour?
Thanks in advance, sorry if this has all been asked before!
My current fun/sports car is a Porsche Boxster 986 (that’s the “mark 1”) 2.7. There’s a lot I love about that car…the grip, the practicality, the looks, the badge and with it’s partially bypassed exhaust, the glorious raspy howl of the flat 6. What I don’t like about it is the gearing…it pulls 73 in second so giving it the beans means naughty speeds quite quickly, but it only gets fun or fast when you do really wind it up, plus the fact that it’s not actually that quick…an upper end diesel repmobile will see it away from the lights, and a mid-engine layout coupled with way too much rubber on the back means you have to be driving like an utter idiot to get it to move around at all. I do nearly all of my own spannering (and recently that’s included discs/pads/shocks/new rack/new brake lines as well as simple servicing), and I’m firmly in the “unless it’s raining, roof down” camp.
So…I’m thinking about a Caterham. Always loved them since I was a kid, drove one briefly at a track day and was seriously impressed, and just love the whole “less is more” ethos of the thing. I’d probably be looking at a K series car, £12-15k, and I have a few questions.
Floor-I’m 5’11” and the other half only an inch or so less with the associated longer legs of a girlie. Are lowered floors a necessity, and are they an easy retro fit if I found a car that ticked all the boxes apart from the floor?
Cycle guards-is swapping from the longer guards to cycle guards an easy job…as above?
Doors-I’ve never been in one with the roof down but the doors on. I’m not expecting Boxster levels of roof down refinement, but does it make them slightly less draughty? The track car I drove with a helmet on, and the only other one I’ve been in was someone’s older x-flow car which was a bit of an assault on the senses, and also scraped it’s exhaust on the ground on corners (is that normal?)
Pedals-I have size 10.5 feet and had to do the track day in my socks. With thinnish Sparco driving trainers (from the fashion side of Sparco, not the proper bit), is there sufficient room in the pedal department?
Power-I read somewhere that the sweet spot for a newbie tends to be around 160bhp, however I seem to see lots of cars with less, or much more, but not many around this output. Thoughts? 160bhp seems like a lot for a primarily road car that weighs nothing…
Cruising-I appreciate that any Caterham will go like a stabbed rat off the line and around the corners, what are they like at motorway speeds? Is the wind buffet intolerable? What about revs…is it revving it’s nuts off at 85ish? What will a K car do flat out? Does the 6 speed box make a difference or is this unavailable on a K?
Buying-I’m also a Defender person, and with those you buy purely on condition…age and mileage are fairly irrelevant. Caterhams by nature tend to have low mileages, but the ages seem to vary wildly at a given price point. Is it a case of buying on condition and history/fastidiousness of the owner and ignore the age?
Living with it-whilst I appreciate it’s an incredibly focussed track day/Sunday blast car, is it feasible for two of you, packing very light, to head off and go and do a tour in? NC500 or similar? And taking the roof etc? I realise there’s no room for “bags” as such, but if there’s room to wedge packing cubes behind the seats or in the passenger footwell, that would do it! Does the roof actually work in a downpour?
Thanks in advance, sorry if this has all been asked before!
Some really good advice here, many thanks for the replies everyone!
I think I'll definitely go for a 5 speed, as I think the extra revs in the cruise would be a bit wearing. I'm surprised the 6 speed revs higher...I would have expected a taller top gear for cruising but I take it the 6 speed is just much closer ratios for track use then?
Interesting about the doors...I actually think they look pretty good with them on, but I am surprised that ear plugs are a must! Is that due to wind noise or exhaust noise? I vaguely remember from my sports bike days 20 odd years ago something about low frequency vibrations potentially causing hearing issues, is that the point? Although clearly a stereo is an utter waste of time, I was wondering if a bluetooth speaker is even slightly effective on the odd occasion? In the Boxster I very rarely ever have the stereo on, preferring the flat 6 howl to anything else, but occasionally on a slow boring drive or a motorway I might have it on.
Thanks for the club meet invite but I do have something on tonight unfortunately.
That's good news on a small degree of touring practicality, as I really do fancy doing the NC500 in one...a real bucket list job. I have also seen some kind of luggage rack that goes over the back wheel that seems like a good idea on odd occasions.
Thanks again...really useful info!
I think I'll definitely go for a 5 speed, as I think the extra revs in the cruise would be a bit wearing. I'm surprised the 6 speed revs higher...I would have expected a taller top gear for cruising but I take it the 6 speed is just much closer ratios for track use then?
Interesting about the doors...I actually think they look pretty good with them on, but I am surprised that ear plugs are a must! Is that due to wind noise or exhaust noise? I vaguely remember from my sports bike days 20 odd years ago something about low frequency vibrations potentially causing hearing issues, is that the point? Although clearly a stereo is an utter waste of time, I was wondering if a bluetooth speaker is even slightly effective on the odd occasion? In the Boxster I very rarely ever have the stereo on, preferring the flat 6 howl to anything else, but occasionally on a slow boring drive or a motorway I might have it on.
Thanks for the club meet invite but I do have something on tonight unfortunately.
That's good news on a small degree of touring practicality, as I really do fancy doing the NC500 in one...a real bucket list job. I have also seen some kind of luggage rack that goes over the back wheel that seems like a good idea on odd occasions.
Thanks again...really useful info!
Again, great advice, many thanks.
I'll be honest, the ear protection/hats/intercom/bad back/pee stops thing is a minor concern. I know a 7 is not civilised, that is the whole point, however one other thing I love about the Boxster is that "oh, I have a work meeting in South Wales today, I think I'll leave the 5 series at home and take the Porsche" option. Sure, I would not expect to be able to take phone calls in a 7, and this probably happens twice a year if that, however I can turn up somewhere and not need a shower, dentist and a massage at the other end! That said, it really is an itch that I want to scratch and I'm sure the fun outweighs the pain. I'd never be hardcore enough to daily it, too old for that now! I think when the time is right I shall look to hire one for the weekend and ask myself some honest searching questions. However I don't seem to see many people who say "nah, not for me" on these forums, and plenty who sold their Caterham, only to end up buying another later.
I'm not fussed about big power TBH. I enjoy driving swiftly, but I also need to keep my license...I'd never really venture into license losing leptons territory regardless, however point and squirt fun, slidey slidey fun, the ability to overtake when nothing else can, and the ability to go and do a track day without destroying tyres, brakes and suspension components appeals hugely. Low running costs, DIY spannering, and the ability to change the look of the car and modify it also appeal a lot.
Thanks again, great advice!
I'll be honest, the ear protection/hats/intercom/bad back/pee stops thing is a minor concern. I know a 7 is not civilised, that is the whole point, however one other thing I love about the Boxster is that "oh, I have a work meeting in South Wales today, I think I'll leave the 5 series at home and take the Porsche" option. Sure, I would not expect to be able to take phone calls in a 7, and this probably happens twice a year if that, however I can turn up somewhere and not need a shower, dentist and a massage at the other end! That said, it really is an itch that I want to scratch and I'm sure the fun outweighs the pain. I'd never be hardcore enough to daily it, too old for that now! I think when the time is right I shall look to hire one for the weekend and ask myself some honest searching questions. However I don't seem to see many people who say "nah, not for me" on these forums, and plenty who sold their Caterham, only to end up buying another later.
I'm not fussed about big power TBH. I enjoy driving swiftly, but I also need to keep my license...I'd never really venture into license losing leptons territory regardless, however point and squirt fun, slidey slidey fun, the ability to overtake when nothing else can, and the ability to go and do a track day without destroying tyres, brakes and suspension components appeals hugely. Low running costs, DIY spannering, and the ability to change the look of the car and modify it also appeal a lot.
Thanks again, great advice!
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