Kitcat

Also available at Toys R Us-My 5 year old grandson pointed out "grandad's race car" to his father on their last visit there:).

Three wheeling on a smooth auto-X course? Is your suspension too stiff? Did you hit a bump? Even on wide, super sticky tires, seems like, ideally, you want all 4 tires involved in cornering? I am no expert (to say the least!!!), but I thot 3 wheeling was a front wheel drive, older VW type thing?

Incredible deal for someone. My track prepped Caterham weighs in at 1390 lbs, for those who think this is too heavy. And I don't have 250 hp!

They are high wear tires for the much heavier Miata. I think the R7s might be better for your car?

My "210 hp" Duratec made 165hp at the wheels. Compared to the advertised hp on my cars, including my Miata, Zetec and X-flow, their hp was 20-25% less on the the chassis dyno. Using that formula, u r making 240-250hp at the flywheel.

Tom: Can it be bump started? Why not contact Bruce Beachman? I read somewhere that these can be rebuilt, if not too seriously fried.

As I recall, the river route is more scenic, tho the river is often obscured by trees, buildings, etc. It is quite a bit slower as well but if u have the time it could be worth it. Definetly take the Ferry across the Ohio to Augusta KY and have lunch, or an ice cream cone, etc. Augusta is a charming fairly well preserved KY village with some surprisingly good restaurants. Ripley Ohio has the underground RR Rankin house and the birthplace of Prez U Grant is along there somewhere as well.

When you say Charlotte WV, do you mean Charleston? In any event, a pleasant alternative to interstates is to cross southern OH on route 50 to Athens, then route 32 to just east of Cincy. Lightly traveled, lots of countryside and scenery. If you are headed back thru KY you mite add in a Bourbon Trail trip and visit some distilleries? Cincy has a lively craft brewery scene with 20+ breweries, all thriving. Downtown Cincy has "The Over the Rhine" bar/restaurant district that is exploding in a former German immigrant section, turned inner city slum, now turned into the spot to be. The Comet Bluegrass Allstars are a popular bluegrass group performing Sunday nights at the Comet Bar in a seperate area called Northside 4-5 miles from downtown. Cincy also has a huge entertainment district on the river that it shares with Northern Ky. Also lots of hiking paths along the river in downtown Cincy. The two sides of the river are connected by a large pedestrian bridge called the Purple People Eater:). And a new streetcar now hooks the riverfront area up with OTR, 2 mile north. Google any of these places for details. Happy to show you the sights if I am around when you visit. Mike

Can't Caterham tune long distance on the dyno? I thought that's what Tom (YellowSS) did?

MichaelD is too modest for his own good. He sent me a list of the extensive improvements that he is making. They are so thorough that I have concluded he is selling a nicely broken-in new Caterham! Hopefully, he will add the list of refurbishments here soon. GLWS, though I wouldn't be surprised that when this car' refresh is done, you will fall in love all over again and keep it:).

It would be like adding over drive:). Engine speed would drop (as would acceleration), rpm's would drop, ditto noise, gas mileage would improve. But your car has pretty minimal power to start with and my guess is it would turn it into a slow Prius, esp with skinny tires' effect on cornering. Plus all the stuff Nick O just noted. But, this is all theory, maybe it would be great?

Say it ain't so Michael! What was the nature of the engine refresh, ditto tranny? That is a pretty stout Zetec-my identical Zetec SVT made around 156 hp at the rear wheels on the dyno last year.

Not much selection in 13" tires. Avon has the widest, but as you note, they are big $. On the other hand they do last forever, given the car's light weight. I run Toyo R888's on the front of my track car (185/60R13) and they were $133. They have decent tread for rain. I ran Toyo R1's on my street Cat for 10K miles with no issues. The new R888R is suposed to be better than the R 888's. As with any track tire, they are all sticky and will toss lots of stuff into the cockpit.

Probably depends on the tire. At this point, for track days, I start at 12 front, 15 rear. And then as they heat up (last track day, 10 lbs per tire!), I bleed them down to 18 rear, 15 front. Since tires don't heat up as much in normal driving, maybe start at 18/15? Or, since your tires are "taller", perhaps up that 2-4 lbs to 22/19?

What a car! And what a price! I am tempted, and the last thing I need is another Caterham. I consider this the best deal on a Caterham in the 10 years I have been watching sales here.

I think intake/exhaust sound is at least as important as hp! My old X-flow had a much better sound than the current Zetec does and was much more satisfying to run up and down the gears. It was also had your engine's off-throttle back fire. It sounded ferocious (but its bark was worse then its bite). I will also be interested in the dyno results. Do you have pre-mod #'s?

Croc: The back of my car will be stone-free zone this year. If it is not, I am counting on you, Seb and Tom to keep me honest.

Croc: In your opening post you noted the possibility of a small Monday test and tune? I am just following up on that possibility-if it happens, mark me down. As I have posted before, 2 years ago when I did it, I learned more that Monday a.m. (before my engine died) puttering around by myself and a few others than the previous weekend where I was constantly trying to be fast. So on Monday I was playing with braking zones/turn ins/lines/acceleration spots without the pressure of not being passed etc.

Bob: Your Caterham is looking pretty sharp! Did you spend the winter polishing and shining:)? I haven't seen a bare alu body that shiny since BBall showed his at NJMP at the annual se7ens event. He'd give you a run for your $, but it looks like a tie to me. Keep up the good work, I always love the photos.

This is a dazzling vehicle! There is an old adage that says, when you're buying a used car, you are buying the seller as much as the car. Both are obviously exemplary in this case. Good luck with sale!

The word "primitive" comes to mind:)! The roll-over bar is 4" below your head, without a helmet (tho improved in the drag race photos). What amazing history you made. Is your Ariel all that much slower?

I use negative 2 and 18 psi rear, 16 front. I prefer the RA1's over the R888's, having run both. I have not tried the R88R tho

Pretty amazing!

Just some random thoughts: How wide do you want the rims to be/how wide are the slicks? GR Motorsports tested rims and tires a while back and found that wider rims added more support to the tire and were worth abt 1" a lap, on the same tire (One set had been squeezed onto a smaller width rim). And, do you have dry sump system? The higher g-forces of slicks can cause oil starvation/engine failure in a stock oil pan setup. Good luck with the MIA ECU. Maybe it's time for a "backup":)?

JR: Several of us here have also had a similarly disastrous (catastrophous?) experience with TMW "assembled" Birkins. I think it is why Tom Carlin is now the exclusive Birkin dealer. He takes no shortcuts. Back to the fun stuff: I love your car collection and devotion to orange as the color theme. And, for me, bright colors make the most sense on these hard-to-see se7ens, if they are regularly driven on the street.