Kitcat

Life in the bubble is good Michael. We get our second shots in early April and I hope to do some track days then. I got quite a few in last Fall. They are outdoors and it’s easy to social distance. I am in the process of shifting gears, so to speak, car wise. I am fully retired (more broke than ever), so will be reducing my car overhead. The easiest way to do that is to join you as a member of ex-Caterham owners club. So I will likely be putting mine on the market this year. I have a ‘20 Miata, that’s much slower, but much cheaper to maintain, and it will become my track car. Croc will be pleased to know that I am already reaching out to hairdressers in an effort to be a part of the Miata community:).

Hey MichaelD: So what is your current track car, a M3? How is life post-Caterham? Less exciting/complicated I assume:)?

I have 2 new Caterham steering racks. I think both wide track. Not sure if they'd work with your '92. Not sure what ratio either. A bit less than 2 turns lock to lock, per my amateurish attempt to measure. I bought one for my '97 years ago but never installed it, the other came as a spare with my current wide track Caterham.

Sure. I will send you an e-mail.

Jonny: I just remeasured mine and they are 12&1/2” hole to hole, 14” overall.

Anker: I put 10K on my ‘97 Super Sprint, including 5-8 track days a year over a 5 year period. Sold it with the pads it came with. I have owned my track-only Caterham for 5 years and am on the original fronts. The rears got replaced only after I lost the pad when the rear wheel went it own way when the half-shaft sheared off....

You were flying!!!! Per their website, you were 4” off the track record and about 1&1/2” behind Randy Pobst’s times in a 911 Turbo and a Nissan GTR. Not too shabby on worn Hoosiers. It is the perfect Caterham track with you reaching a top speed of 115 mph, just as the invisible hand of aero drag was holding you back. Those huge, slippery, powerful Porsches never had a chance to exploit their top speed advantage, so away you went.

Caterham sells an uprated rear brake package. I have it on my track-only car. As I recall it includes vented discs. My pads seeem to last forever, front and back. If your Cat is like mine and has a brake bias adjuster, you can play with that and dial in a better balance.

What are the wheel and tire specs? I love the clams! Not sure how well the plush interior will hold up to life in a Caterham cockpit. It doesn’t seem especially retro either. I love the steering wheel. Nice to see this option is available. How does cost compare to a 310S? How does its weight compare to the 310S? I assume the motor is a feather weight? I wonder how a person could add just a little more power:)?

Will do Jonathan. Mike

I have a used set of 4 adjustable Caterham shocks. And I am in Cincy:). Out of town til March 8. Can’t give any details except I bought them from Craig Chima, but never got around to installing. Not sure if single or double adjustable. Cleaning out my basement so will offer at an attractive price.

Temp is same there then as in NY.

A NYTimes article recently said elec cars = 2.5x more elec demand. No idea where that # came from tho, seems way high. I also saw an article that said Japan was thinking of adding 27 new coal fired furnaces. So much for reducing the carbon footprint. And speaking of nuclear energy, how soon before it gets talked up again in the USA? New, smaller plants,etc. Our Chevy Volt has 25K all elec miles on it (and 10K gas miles)and its range is only 40 miles summer, 29 winter. It turns out that most of our car use is local. All recharging came from a standard house 120 volt outlet. We are never out of range, thx to the gas engine, that works as a generator to recharge the battery. Sounds like the best of both worlds, but has been cancelled. It seems hybrid cars just drive some people nuts. When we got our Prius, the pickup crowd acted like we had painted “surrender” on our bumper. Much aggressive driving towards us. But we averaged 50+ mpg, the car was bullet proof, nothing ever broke. It was retired at around 189K miles thanks to a death by a thousand cuts by our two, then teen age, sons. Talk about abuse. If it had been an animal the authorities would have removed it from our home....

I was going to say what Croc said, but less coherently:). I think the GM plan to be all elec by 2030 is corporate malpractice/ suicide. GMmakes an electric called the Bolt. They can’t give them away. So based on that they are going 100% electric? Wonder how many they will sell in Texas. The USA is about to become Cuba(car wise, calm down YellowSS:)). In the sense that everyone will be repairing and fixing gas models to keep them on the road. There is so much wrong with this all elec plan. And understand, I hate pollution and don’t think global warming is a liberal hoax. I think a more measured approach is needed. Back on topic: it will be interesting to see how this impacts Caterham.Hopefully they will skate by this electric craze, just like all the other regs they currently skirt.

I am impressed that it doesn’t have a dirt floor:).

The Rocky Mountain S2 Lotus 7 is very nice! On the same page RM lists a 2021 Caterham SS1600 kit, for $49K. That seems a bit high for a basic throwback Caterham, tho I agree the clams add value:). I guess nostalgia sells?

Sounds like there is no chance that BessieTheSeven will reappear? We can all breath a sigh of relief! If ever there was a politically incorrect, unwoke female, it was Bessie.

My DD is a VW Touareg. It has a footprint and overall size that approximates a Honda Accord(tho it is much taller). And it has a tow package rated at 7,700 lbs, or about the same as a standard, but much larger, pickup. So, basically it drives like a car and tows like a truck. It has hauled my se7ens to tracks all over the eastern US.

Papak: So a cop motor, cop tires, cop suspension and cop shocks? He must have been on a mission from God(if you catch my reference:)).

This is a new definition of “four wheels off” the track! The traditional definition has caused more than one track day driver to have to come in for a chat (or at least one driver I can think of, offhand....). Croc, I don’t think you have you ever witnessed me doing this version of four wheels off(probably because the curbs at NJMP are not that steep).

Mark IV= Time Machines.

Mohair boot cover!

The owner paid $46K for it and put $30-35K into recent improvements, after blowing up the engine. I love this Cat's 2.0 Duratec, tho I know the 2.3L and 2.5L make more power. This one had about $20K in new parts, ECU and tune going for it, plus maybe 20% more power than a stock 420S engine. It redlined at 8,800 RPM's. Owner also added a dry sump system and had the 6 sp Caterham transmission rebuilt. Aftermarket shocks, high end telemetry for track days, LSD,you name it, this car had it. So the sales price of $48K was a bargain (IMHO).

My wife sat in mine once, and that was enough:). But talk about good sport, she also supported (or didn't object) to me finally fulfilling my age 14-15 dream car fixation, at age 61 (and still going strong, for now at least, at age 74). Counting my first Cat, my Birkin, and now this current Cat, this is the longest I have owned any car (type).

Great choice! I look forward to reading progress notes all the way thru the first drive. And kudos to your wife for being such a good sport. With practice, getting in and out will be much easier (unless the top is up....).