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| Fishy_Dave Acolyte Location: Somerset | Posted - 11 March 2004 23:28   
Hi All,My first post on here, as you can see from the Sig, I currently own a Fiat Coupe 20valve turbo, which has been a great car (and continues to be). However, I am currently considering what to get next to replace it. A Caterham is on my short list, either by going for the Academy option and getting involved in the racing or possibly the SV. It would be used primarily for road use. Are there any racing classes for the SV? In reality does the extra space make much difference (I am a skinny 6 foot)? In either car, is it worth the extra money going for the 1.8vvt over the 1.6 K series? What are they like to live with on a daily basis, particularly through the winter? I have a van as well which I drive over 50% of the time. I have so many questions, all of which have been asked before, so apologies, but i'm grateful for any answers. Feel free to point me inthe direction of any good previous threads, or other websites which would help a Newbie. In return for your help, save these movies that I made of my Coupe (if you're interested), look forward to making some for the Caterhams too  http://www.aqualifeleasing.co.uk/images/CheddarBB.mpg http://www.waterdotcom.com/roy/Coupe04.mpg (mine is the quieter Coupe with the body coloured sills  )Cheers, Dave Currently the owner of a Fiat Coupe 20valve turbo, which I love to bits! |
| thinfourth blah, blah, blah... Location: aberdeen | Posted - 12 March 2004 0:10
from a skinny 6footer to another skinny 6 footer no need for a SV Trust me a 1.6K series supersport 138bhp will be more then enough as a first seven. Everyday if you have a van as well no problem take the van when weather is really crappy. But buy some decent cold weather gear and you will survive i have been out in stupidly cold with mine with out a heater and survived. So cold water hit the side window and instantly froze. The ones with a heater it keeps you reasonably toasty from my brief enxpirence with a heater one. Your next step is go for a test drive, go to a club meet and see a few different 7s Blatting round aberdeen wondering wether to buy a jumper or heater |
| Red SLR I think I just saw Arne Saknussen..... Location: Back home :( | Posted - 12 March 2004 0:12
Welcome You can sprint/hill climb an SV but thats about it I think. There is no specific cship but maybe the 750mc? What sort of budget are you working on? Simon, |
| Rich Watson z z z z z z z ..... Location: in bed asleep | Posted - 12 March 2004 0:22
Go for it, it'll be the best thing you'll ever do.   Owning a 7 doesn't just end with driving the car; there's the social side, the events, the organised (or disorganised) blats in convoy, the technical side (many build their own so expect lots of advice on how to tweak your car) and of course you can become a member of the Club and contribute and take part in everything they can offer. As an example of how you can live with one every day I've just driven home from my local Area Meeting in a sleet downpour, with no windscreen or heater, and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Not that I'd recommend you do this all the time though, and very nearly all owners also have cars with roofs for general use so I'd keep hold of your van. Caterhams are generally very tough little cars, well built and are basic in design so there's not a huge amount to go wrong. Start small (100bhp 1600 Sprint/VX or 105bhp 1400 K series engines) from well under £10k and upgrade to bigger and more powerful cars when you have the budget/feel confident. But whatever you do, just go for it! RW04FUN |
| Fishy_Dave Acolyte Location: Somerset | Posted - 12 March 2004 0:43
Thanks for the welcome and replies, I am going to visit the Caterham South next wednesday to take one out for a drive. I had the 1600 Roadsport in mind (with full weather gear and heater  ) purchased as part of the Academy scheme. Looking to buy one from new, probably using low cost finance. I'm amazed at how little these cars depreciate, hence considering a new one.Glad that accomodating lanky six footers isn't a problem for these cars Although i'm sure the performance is a different type to what i'm used to, I currently enjoy about 250bhp so don't think i could go for much less than the 1600cc. The social scene certainly appeals to me, this is what I presently enjoy so much with www.fccuk.org . The fact that they are quite basic mechanically is good news (what I expected), as that is what scares me at present about the Coupe, so far it's been fairly reliable but you never know and these things are pricey to fix. I'm not expecting all the usual creature comforts that I have got used to, but is it still possible to fit a cd player for instance, in these cars? Although I can believe that it wouldn't get used a huge amount Currently the owner of a Fiat Coupe 20valve turbo, which I love to bits! |
| Rich Watson z z z z z z z ..... Location: in bed asleep | Posted - 12 March 2004 1:21
CD player   99.9% of owners of Caterhams do not have stereos in their cars. We usually listen to the sound of the 4-into-1 competition exhaust - it's all the music you'll ever need BTW, how much does your Fiat weigh? I'd guess around the 1300kg mark which'll give it a power-to-weight ration of around 190bhp per ton. Whereas the Caterham Roadsport with 120bhp and 530-ish kg for the Academy car gives a PWR of nearly 230bhp per ton. And ISTR the Fiat is front wheel drive? The 7 is RWD (like a proper sports car! )RW04FUN |
| fatcat blah, blah, blah... Location: Tun Wells | Posted - 12 March 2004 7:53
Fishy, FWIW I did 24 races in my SV last year, mostly at Lydden with SEMSEC (www.semsec.org.uk) and a couple of invitation races at Brands and Silverstone run by other clubs. So yes, you can race an SV, they're just not eligible for the standard Caterham academy/grads/R400 series (yet). Lydden might be a bit far for you but there may be a club based based at Castle Combe which I guess would be your local circuit. From a purely racing point of view, don't get an SV unless you really need the space as they weigh approx 25Kg more than an equivalent standard model. From a road/trackday perspective get which ever you prefer, both models are excellent. Again from a purely racing point of view, don't get the 1.8vvc unless you plan to modify the engine - in club racing you would find yourself in the 1.8 class but with only 150-ish bhp versus a load of R400 & R500 types with 200-230 bhp. For road/trackday use, the 1.8vvc is a very good engine (IMHO - had one in my previous SV) If you want to race in any of the standard Caterham series then get the car that meets the regs for that series, your caterham salesman will know the spec or look at the regs on the caterham cars website, problem sorted. If you want to do club racing, eg. SEMSEC, 750MC, JCC, the regs are all different so check carefully first. For example, SEMSEC allow slicks, so a dry sump is likely to be high on the wish list. Whatever you do, if you do it in a Se7en you will have fun regards fc No. 27 at the back of the grid, Reg R500 SVR Edited by - fatcat on 12 Mar 2004 07:55:13 |
| thinfourth blah, blah, blah... Location: aberdeen | Posted - 12 March 2004 8:54
perfectly possible to fit a cd player i was thinking about it now it is firmly in the can't be arsed department i fitted an ipod like hard disc based MP3 player velcroed to the dash for the motorways Seeing you are in somerset it might be just as easy for you to go to Millwoods cars who i found to be a very good dealer. Do a google and yo should find them Blatting round aberdeen wondering wether to buy a jumper or heater |
| 7heavensoon I think I just saw Arne Saknussen..... Location: The home of Copaslip... | Posted - 12 March 2004 9:03
Before you sell the Fiat to buy the Se7en, remove the side indicator repeaters, as these can be used as side repeaters on a Seven - place them in the side of the headlamp bowls Go for it - you won't regret it Guy See some pictures of the build here. Collected on March 1st! |
| JEB Windbag Location: Next Race Croft 19th & 20th May | Posted - 12 March 2004 9:18
Fishy there will be a load of 7s at Hullavington Airfield just of J17 of the M4 next Friday 19th, if you want to have a chat and see what a 7 can do on track come along, I'm allways happy to trake passengers out for a few laps and I'm sure some of the other 7s there will do the same. JEB SL03 JEB |
| Strangely Anorak Location: Charvil, Berkshire | Posted - 12 March 2004 12:10
Dave, are you mad? I'm not trying to be rude, but you have to be in order to drive a Seven every day. I've done it for most of the last 8 years ;-) and in a bizarre kind of way the most stripped out Seven is even more practical than a plush one with a hood. Now I've got an aeroscreen I don't have to faff about with the hood, and the driving experience is much more intense. Here's my advice. Of course it you're anything like me then you will ignore it and learn the time-consuming and expensive way through personal experience over the years. -- go for 13" wheels with good Sevening tyres. Avon CR500s and Yoko A021Rs are great for the road. Yoko A032Rs are good too, and I've heard good things about 48s. DON'T fit "ordinary" road tyres, even if you think you can't afford the wear of stickies - you won't get the full experience even though it'll be much better than you have experienced before. -- cycle wings rather than flared. -- aeroscreen rather than windscreen. -- forget the heater (it's ineffectual without the screen anyway). -- no interior trim. It adds weight and will only get soaked anyway. -- Tillet seats. For me (6' and not too fat) they are more comfortable than leather and they don't mind getting soaked. -- at least an FIA bar (not the crappy standard one). -- 6-speed gearbox if you can. I've got a 5-speed and didn't realise how bad it was until I got the ratios changed by BGH. -- leather steering wheel. My left knee always rubs against my suede on and any trousers I wear whilst driving have a black patch half way down the leg. -- you need a tonneau. Drive with the passenger side on all the time then it's quick and simple to put the driver's side on when you park. -- get some kind of extra cover (I use a cheap Halford job) for when you expect it to chuck it down (or drive your van). -- get a biker's waterproof outfit for those same occasions. -- don't worry about parking it anywhere. I've had two bad experiences in those 8 years. Once I came back to the car and the tonneau was undone; someone had been nosing around. Another time I had a rear wing cracked in a car park; could have happened to any car. -- go for a standard Caterham colour then if you do have a prang it's quick and easy to replace the fibreglass bits. -- take it on track, you'll have no idea of its true capabilities otherwise. Basically you want something like the original Superlight. I echo the comments about a 1.6 SuperSport being good enough - I had one for 5 years (just upgraded the engine about a month ago). It'll beat just about anything (other than some Sevens), including on track. Oh, and the Club is great. You've already found BlatChat, so get yourself down to your local meeting and chat to others who will probably contradict everything I've said. And if you're not elitist about Caterhams then join the Sevens mailing list too (www.se7ens.net). Cheery, Jason. www.strangely.org (have a look here for the trials of an every-day Seven) |
| Fishy_Dave Acolyte Location: Somerset | Posted - 12 March 2004 22:06
Wow, thanks again for all the detailed advice, just the kind of things i'm looking for too much info to reply to everything, so I shall just say a big thank you to all of you. I'm going to enjoy my test drive next Wednesday (just hoping it's not raining).Some interesting stuff there Archangel, incidentally, why would you recommend going for the 13" wheels? The Ipod makes sense, less on display that way too. I think that would be a good idea to come along to Hullavington on the 19th, what time are you meeting? What is the idea there, are they marking out some form of track on the roads there? I remember driving there after karting in one of the hangers. If i'm allowed on there then you would be welcome to come out in the Fiat too (if you wanted to )I can see that it will be a bigger decision than normal when considering changing my car this time. It sounds like a lot of hassle involved with the wet weather gear tbh, but then equally i'm sure the pleasure you get is far larger than with a 'normal car' I have loads more questions, but I shall save them until visiting Caterham and meeting some of you guys on Friday. Cheers, Dave. p.s did any of you watch the movies i linked to? Currently the owner of a Fiat Coupe 20valve turbo, which I love to bits! |
| billythekid Archangel Location: The ranch | Posted - 12 March 2004 22:33
I looked at them - sent them onto a few mates too. |
| Tony Whitley You are in a maze of twisty passages, all alike Location: On the Seven side of the street | Posted - 12 March 2004 22:40
I've had a Fiat Coupe for 5 years and thought it was the dog's knees. I bought my Seven (a "mere" 1.4) a year ago and have hardly driven the Fiat since, in fact I've had to run up an extension lead to recharge the battery without faffing about taking it out of the car. 13" wheels allegedly give better handling, but equally important is that 185/70 13 A021Rs are only £40(ish) so you can afford to wear them out in 5000 miles Much cheaper than Pirelli P Zeros worn out at the same rate And the difference in insuranceWatch out for the handling - 150 bhp through the back wheels is slightly different to 220 bhp through the front  Do it. M1 7 SMW R200 (aka 1.4SS) Mem.No. 10376 Edited by - Tony_Whitley on 12 Mar 2004 22:42:48 |
| Roger Ford I think I have a serious problem Location: Twickenham | Posted - 12 March 2004 23:06
Fishy - I think you need to decide how serious you are about the racing. For a start, you can't have a heater in a race car - the front bulkhead has to be sealed. You could fit one, then take it out and rivet in the covering plate for races, but it would be lots of hassle. Having said that, the Academy (and follow-ons like Graduates and Roadsports B) are one of the few classes where you really can use your race car as a road car as well, without making it uncompetitive on the race track. But forget any boll*cks about everything being included with the Academy deal - you'll still need to spend hundreds of pounds on safety gear, not to mention lots of trackdays, practice sessions etc if you're to be vaguely competitive. And almost everyone gets a trailer (£1000+), even if they originally intended to drive to all the events. Not that I'm trying to discourage you - the Academy is fantastic VFM as racing goes - but once you're involved you'll probably find you have little spare time or money for anything OTHER than racing. Myself, I'm committed to taking the Academy seriously for a year, then I'll think about "converting it back" to a road car. But after racing bikes for 10 years until the injury toll got silly, I know how hard it is to give up racing once you've started! |
Fat Arnie Location: Avoiding Nemesis and Nemesis. | Posted - 12 March 2004 23:13
I had a 1999 model 2.0VT for 18 months and the wiring loom shorted twice resulting in minor pyrotechnica. If you drive a VT and want the same driving experience in a Seven, I reccomend fitting bicycle wheels and narrow track front suspension to the Seven which should instow it with a similar level of power on understeer. Fat Arn Slay the K. |
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