Older Caterhams and the engines in them......
Discussion
Guys - Have been thinking about buying an older type of caterham (ie v late 80's, early 90's) and this has got me thinking about weights of various cars and specifically weights of engines against the performance they offer.
Am I right in thinking these thoughts I've written below? For some reason I've come to accept what I've written below is correct. I want people to tell me whether I'm right/wrong/insane/factually incorrect etc, etc.
X Flow engines are v heavy and need a fair amount of constant tinkering/fettling to keep in best of health but reward with crackling exhaust on the over-run and generally a very characterful engine to live with - very old technology, oily, maximum output of about 135-140bhp on webbers.
VX Engines are slightly lighter than Cross flows and give excellent performance for very little tinkering with some very competitive outputs (when compared to a K series) at the expense of some weight in the nose. A tall engine if I'm right. 200bhp plus is easily achieved but a fairly unstressed engine will deliver 150-175bhp all day long.
Zetecs - for some reason they seem to suffer a bad reputation. Modern engine but maybe not seen as Caterham blessed and therefore residuals suffer. a tall engine (is this right) they offer hefty power but the car itself suffers a 'non-caterham' engine affliction. 185bhp is easily achieved apparently.
K Series - very light, need little tinkering as long as you make sure the cooling side of things is in tip top shape. To get the best out it you ideally need the 6 speed (thus expensive) gearbox. 1.4's offer 125bhp (if you get the right ecu - supersport). rev to hell and back, and sound quite characterful. If you get some ofthe more stressed (ie 190bhp and above) they tend to go bang if you thrash the crap out of it repeatedly or don't look after them. seen as a fragile engine.
Bike engines; no torque but revving to 10,000+ revs is extremely addictive plus the bang, bang, bang gearbox has appeal. clutches last about 2 and half minutes. tend to be all or nothing engines. Living with them is frenetic as to drive quickly you've gott to rev the bejesus out of them. don't get caught in the wrong gear or way down the rev range if you want to overtake. residuals suffer. mightbe better to just go ahead and buy a Westfield instead with a bike engine and thus not suffer a residual issue.
Are any of my opinions/accepted thoughts correct? Help!
Any thoughts gratefully received!
Am I right in thinking these thoughts I've written below? For some reason I've come to accept what I've written below is correct. I want people to tell me whether I'm right/wrong/insane/factually incorrect etc, etc.
X Flow engines are v heavy and need a fair amount of constant tinkering/fettling to keep in best of health but reward with crackling exhaust on the over-run and generally a very characterful engine to live with - very old technology, oily, maximum output of about 135-140bhp on webbers.
VX Engines are slightly lighter than Cross flows and give excellent performance for very little tinkering with some very competitive outputs (when compared to a K series) at the expense of some weight in the nose. A tall engine if I'm right. 200bhp plus is easily achieved but a fairly unstressed engine will deliver 150-175bhp all day long.
Zetecs - for some reason they seem to suffer a bad reputation. Modern engine but maybe not seen as Caterham blessed and therefore residuals suffer. a tall engine (is this right) they offer hefty power but the car itself suffers a 'non-caterham' engine affliction. 185bhp is easily achieved apparently.
K Series - very light, need little tinkering as long as you make sure the cooling side of things is in tip top shape. To get the best out it you ideally need the 6 speed (thus expensive) gearbox. 1.4's offer 125bhp (if you get the right ecu - supersport). rev to hell and back, and sound quite characterful. If you get some ofthe more stressed (ie 190bhp and above) they tend to go bang if you thrash the crap out of it repeatedly or don't look after them. seen as a fragile engine.
Bike engines; no torque but revving to 10,000+ revs is extremely addictive plus the bang, bang, bang gearbox has appeal. clutches last about 2 and half minutes. tend to be all or nothing engines. Living with them is frenetic as to drive quickly you've gott to rev the bejesus out of them. don't get caught in the wrong gear or way down the rev range if you want to overtake. residuals suffer. mightbe better to just go ahead and buy a Westfield instead with a bike engine and thus not suffer a residual issue.
Are any of my opinions/accepted thoughts correct? Help!
Any thoughts gratefully received!
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