Say Hello to Scarlet, my new Caterham 620R
Discussion
So some of you may recall this time last year I took delivery of my Caterham Superlight Twenty.
Well as great a car as that was, it was missing something in the power stakes, and in all truth that alloy body was a total nightmare to keep clean.
So being the impulsive character that I am it was time to change, and this is the replacement , my new Caterham 620r.
She is finished in quite a unique colour for a Caterham, BMW Sakhir Orange, which is one of those strange colours that seems to change in all lighting conditions, but as it looks very deep red, she has already been nicknamed Scarlet!
Well as great a car as that was, it was missing something in the power stakes, and in all truth that alloy body was a total nightmare to keep clean.
So being the impulsive character that I am it was time to change, and this is the replacement , my new Caterham 620r.
She is finished in quite a unique colour for a Caterham, BMW Sakhir Orange, which is one of those strange colours that seems to change in all lighting conditions, but as it looks very deep red, she has already been nicknamed Scarlet!
Thanks Guys, I'm hoping it's going to be a lot of fun!
Sadly not on the road yet, as I'm waiting for the registration documents to come through from dvla, and as we all know that's the old how long is a piece of string question!
Still it's cold and lashing down here, so Scarlet won't be venturing out for her first runs until the sun shines!
Sadly not on the road yet, as I'm waiting for the registration documents to come through from dvla, and as we all know that's the old how long is a piece of string question!
Still it's cold and lashing down here, so Scarlet won't be venturing out for her first runs until the sun shines!
I've started another blog for this Caterham now too, just as before.
Here is the link:-
http://caterham620.blogspot.co.uk/2017/03/say-hell...
Here is the link:-
http://caterham620.blogspot.co.uk/2017/03/say-hell...
Dr Imran T said:
Superb machine and it looks so purposeful - the true essence of a what a super quick car should be.
Let's have some real technical stuff about the car for those of us that like that kind of thing
Thanks.
What technical stuff do you want to know?Let's have some real technical stuff about the car for those of us that like that kind of thing
Thanks.
Engine is 2.0 Ford a duratec , fitted with a Rotrex Supercharger, and full dry sump.
It produces 310 Bhp and 210 ft lbs of Torque.
It is also fitted with a Sadev Sequential 6 speed gearbox, with a digital gear display .
The car is extensively fitted now with carbon panels, to keep the overall weight down.
The official figure is 545 Kilos, but that's the version without a screen and wipers etc.
Dr Imran T said:
Thanks for the insight into the more 'technical' stuff - I never knew it had a Sadev sequential gearbox! that's pretty cool.
Why was I thinking that these had a 2.3 N/A or was that the old one?? can't remember for the life of me, either way it's all good
Not that technical for now, just a sweetener, more to come, but for now here's a picture of the Sadev Sequential box! - I never knew it had a Sadev sequential gearbox! that's pretty cool.Why was I thinking that these had a 2.3 N/A or was that the old one?? can't remember for the life of me, either way it's all good
You might have been thinking abounthe Cosworth tuned engines that were fitted to the CSR 260 models? Istr they were 2.3 N/A.
chuntington101 said:
Hmmm wonder how mental one would be with a 2.3ltr motor and supercharger?
Mick Atree has built a new car, that has the 2.3 engine, but normally aspirated on throttle bodies, I believe it's close to 300bhp even without the supercharger.It's would be totally bonkers to add one to that engine!
Fun though!
chuntington101 said:
I was kidding really! You could extract more than enough power out of the 2.0 with the blower than you could ever need! I think the largest Rotex supercharger supports about 650bhp and the 2.0 duratec and be built to handle that much.
Agreed, it would be mental with more power.I know the 2.0 Duratec can easily handle more power, but I think the restrictions are on the compact nature of the S3 chassis, and the lack of physical space to fit a larger intercooler.
Even with keeping my car under 4000 rpm whilst bedding it in, it's bonkers quick, and 80moh is achieved it what seems like a few seconds!
I suspect anything over 350bhp without too much increase in weight would be a phenomenal amount of power in the S3 chassis.
Smitters said:
Nigel - as you've had a wide variety of Sevens, where do you see the upper limit of power and torque in a Seven is? My measly 135 bhp k series is quick enough in the grand scheme of things, i.e. clearly not a slow car, but as all the power comes at 5000+, you can drive in the lower reaches and potted about if needs be. There must come a point when touring type driving becomes quite hard (gearbox notwithstanding) in the really high power stuff, or is it truly all in the flex and graceful touch of the right foot?
As an aside, are you at Silverstone at the end of the month? Be grand to have a look round in person.
Hi Smitters, it's the age old question, i.e. What is justbthe best power in a caterham.As an aside, are you at Silverstone at the end of the month? Be grand to have a look round in person.
As you know my previous Superlight Twenty was a very sweet and light car to drive, but for me cominnf from my previous R500 with 265bhp, 135 Bhp was always going to seem a bit lacking in usueslble power despite the lightweight nature of the car.
I also think that the Sigma engine needs a bit more torque to be useable, but tuning it to reasonable levels seems to cost a lot, and your still restricted by the fact it's only a 1.6l engine.
My green R500 with the std six speed box, and the newer style BMW diff with lsd, as actually a very capable tourer, never seemed like it had too much power.
I suspect if I was going to,buy another caterham just for touring it most likely be a 420 model, perhaps with the new Mazda 5 speed box, I'm sure 210 Bhp is more than enough and still plenty quick too!
I thought it was time for an update on this thread as I haven't posted here since I collected my car back in march.
Since then we have covered over 2600 miles and attended lots of events.
I'm currently up dating my pictures on google photos, but as there are over 1000, and we are currently on holiday with a very limited wifi, it's taking some time, so this is more of a placeholder update for the rest to come.
Here's some more recent photos.
Since then we have covered over 2600 miles and attended lots of events.
I'm currently up dating my pictures on google photos, but as there are over 1000, and we are currently on holiday with a very limited wifi, it's taking some time, so this is more of a placeholder update for the rest to come.
Here's some more recent photos.
Terribly slow to post updates and pictures here at our holiday apartment, so will have to do them in small batches of posts.
As I have time here whilst we are chilling and relaxing, I will try to go back in time chronologically to update the thread.
So one of the first mods I did was to fit a Ctek Battery Sense. A great little tool available from Amazon for about £40 that gives you status updates on the battery condition to an app.
I already have the Ctek AGM battery conditioner and charger, but to have a quick view of the battery state, or a warning when it's low is great.
The first challenge was where to fit it, as the battery for my car is installed on the passenger footwell floor.
As you can see I decided to mount it there, inside the battery box lid, as it were!
As I have time here whilst we are chilling and relaxing, I will try to go back in time chronologically to update the thread.
So one of the first mods I did was to fit a Ctek Battery Sense. A great little tool available from Amazon for about £40 that gives you status updates on the battery condition to an app.
I already have the Ctek AGM battery conditioner and charger, but to have a quick view of the battery state, or a warning when it's low is great.
The first challenge was where to fit it, as the battery for my car is installed on the passenger footwell floor.
As you can see I decided to mount it there, inside the battery box lid, as it were!
Next job was to remove the horrible heavy steel runners for the drivers seat.
I had these alloy box section mounts from my previous caterham, they are the ones used on the race cars.
At the same time I also fitted some tillet spacing washers to the front to raise the edge up under the back of my knees for more comfort on longer drives.
As you can see loosing the steel runners saved a few kilos too!
I had these alloy box section mounts from my previous caterham, they are the ones used on the race cars.
At the same time I also fitted some tillet spacing washers to the front to raise the edge up under the back of my knees for more comfort on longer drives.
As you can see loosing the steel runners saved a few kilos too!
Also as I had the seats out it was a good time to mount the six point harness to the drivers seat, and easy job that just required some holes drilling in the floor to mount the larger bolts.
I only tend to use the six point lower harness point when on track days, as it seems to help when braking really hard and hanging off the belts!
I only tend to use the six point lower harness point when on track days, as it seems to help when braking really hard and hanging off the belts!
Now the longer runs have started to show up a slightly problematic issue.
It seems the fuel gauge is poorly calibrated, as I can only get about 80-90 miles from indicated full to red on the last quadrant of the gauge.
I know the fuel tank should have an empty to full capacity of close to 30 litres, but despite showing that the tank is empty on the gauge, I can only get about 15 litres of fuel in before the tank overflows from being full.
It seems the fuel gauge is poorly calibrated, as I can only get about 80-90 miles from indicated full to red on the last quadrant of the gauge.
I know the fuel tank should have an empty to full capacity of close to 30 litres, but despite showing that the tank is empty on the gauge, I can only get about 15 litres of fuel in before the tank overflows from being full.
Next little job was to fit some Carbon Upgrades. I had recently acquired these from Daniel French, as he had not fitted them to his R500 and had recently sold the car too.
Therefore, I now have a carbon fuel filler pipe cover, Carbon knee trims, a carbon pedal box cover and a carbon 12v socket cover to fit.
First job was the fuel filler in the boot space which proved trickier than it first seemed!
Therefore, I now have a carbon fuel filler pipe cover, Carbon knee trims, a carbon pedal box cover and a carbon 12v socket cover to fit.
First job was the fuel filler in the boot space which proved trickier than it first seemed!
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