Wings Aviation

Hi, I have a Turbo R400 if you have specific questions. I’ve tried various setups and maps, it makes for an extremely quick car if done properly.

Yeh, my car. I can't make up my mind if I love or hate the modern lights, I also have proper 7 lights for it and I more often than not run it without lights for track day shenanigans. Fantastic car, has to be the most fun you can have for pure drivers fun, I just never get to use it which is a bit of a waste.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2008-Caterham-R400-Superlight-Duratec-Turbo/283470738216?hash=item42002c3328:g:9q8AAOSwJzpcsPem

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2008-Lotus-Super-Seven-/282485193345?hash=item41c56dfa81:g:YNoAAOSw~FJZHuou&vxp=mtr And another.

http://wingsaviation.aero/sales/cars/15-cars/81-caterham-r400-superlight

Sad day, but my Caterham R400 just doesn't get out enough. Time for a new home with hopefully someone who has the time to enjoy it. http://wingsaviation.aero/sales/cars/15-cars/81-caterham-r400-superlight

As an update on the Hoosier A6 tires. The 275's are a struggle for clearance on the inner shoulder on my R400, when either corner gets loaded up I'm getting contact on the suspension links. The next option is to go with a set of S80 full slicks but I have to go down to a 215 on the rear and I can probably get away with the 200 (Radical special) on the front. I'm hoping that the increased grip of the full slick in a softer compound will make up for the loss of contact patch over the outgoing A6's. The new A7's are a wider tire for any given profile (if that makes sense?) which means I'd need to go down to a 215 with those without the benefit of the full slick grip. I'll report when they arrive and I get them out on the track, which is normally another 6 months regardless of all my planning.

Hi All, Does anyone know where to get a 620R nose cone or a custom copy? Caterham aren't willing to sell them (yet).

Oh yeh, that "immobilizer" only ever immobilized me....... I no longer have it, however I do remember that removing it wasn't as straight forward as it should be. I don't have any of the old Caterham electrics, but there is some funky stuff in there. If you can't get it figured out, I can give you the number of the guy that got mine sorted out.

2008 Superlight full of fuel, driver (175lbs), 15" slicks, turbo & intercooler etc, comes in just under 1300lbs when we corned weighed it a couple of months ago. Standard roll bar not full cage.

I don't know this particular car but that's a great deal for the next owner. If you're out there seriously considering a Cat, this is a lot of car for $42k. I've been fortunate enough to have a few nice cars over the years and nothing puts a smile on your face like a fast Caterham, it's just as much fun as it's possible to have on four wheels.

Has anyone found a source for a 620R style nose cone. And, anyone fitted a 620R nose to an earlier S3 car?

I have a set of the nose canards that I've yet to install but I'm doubtful that they are going to produce significant results at all but the highest straight line speeds. I'm hoping to position them along with some other small mods to redirect air around the struts which are aerodynamic disasters. It seems like you can dial out some of the understeer with various setup tweaks however I think there is an inherent tendency toward understeer with these types of car. It's a balancing act with my particular car because I'm trying to improve rear grip for traction but the more rear grip on the rear proportionally over the front increases the understeer. I'm hoping to get out early in year to play with some setup changes, I too would be interested in hearing from some of the more experienced out there about their setups......

Yep, 2.0 Duratec with a bit of a turbo and some other bits, straight pipe isn't as loud as you might think, can be a bit bright on over run. Bunch of other fun stuff in the hangar but no more 7 ish stuff, yet.......... Looking forward to trying out the Hoosiers, judging by the number of rocks they threw at me driving from one building to the next, they are pretty sticky.

Finally got the 15" slicks mounted along with the wider CSR style cycle wings (fenders). As usual I have no time to go the the track, still need to play with the ride height / rake as the ratio front to back has been altered with the new tires.

No problem, it's fun seeing what everyone else does. I should have it setup with the new front fenders next week and I'll post a picture. Just short on opportunities to run the car to test the slicks out.

All interesting input. I've tried hard not to over tire the car with the concern that proportionally more grip in the rear than the front will add to the already inherent understeer, this increased grip coming from wider and warmer tires in the rear. I have the new CSR wings / fenders here and we are experimenting with different mounting options to get them as close to the tire as possible. The width ratio front to rear should be about the same with the Hoosiers as with the CR500's albeit with a rolling diameter difference which we are going to have to dial out with some height setup tweaks. I ran the car last week on a brand new set of CR500's ( not at their gripiest?) and although the car ran well it would have been substantially quicker with more grip, I'm getting wheel spin through all the gears ( never got to sixth ) and running out of lateral grip in the corners where I feel it would definitely do better with more grip. The Hoosiers are A6's not R6's so although tire temp is always a concern with such a light load these are designed for very light open wheel cars hence are very soft and should heat up quickly ( and go off quickly unfortunately ). I'll send out a report if I ever find the time to drive it on the new slicks. The lack of driver skill should not be underestimated in all my previous comments.

Use your planks of wood just edge them with angle iron on both sides cut to the right length. Any metal shop will have the angle iron and will cut it for you.

1989 last year of the air cooled?????

The title pretty much says it all, I'm looking for a 2.0 Duratec block to build a spare engine for my R400. Ideally I'd like a new or as close to new block as possible. I'm also looking for a cosworth style dry sump without having to give up a kidney. Thanks.

Has anyone out there run 205 50 15, A6 slicks under their cycle fenders? I have a set that I haven't fitted yet but, it's looking like it's going to be tight. Anyone tried the wider CSR style fenders on the S3 chassis, does that give anymore clearance?

Hi Justin, do you have anyone this side of the pond that overhauls / refreshes the Caterham boxes?

intercooler radiator pic. Again, not sure about the overhaul effect on cooling efficiency that double stacking radiators has....

I had a carb turbo, reminds me of deep sea fishing. When you are just ready to give up and sell everything you have a good trip that keeps you in it for another season. That's the Esprit, infuriating, poorly assembled from the British Leyland parts bin, but every now and then on the rare days it's actually running it's enough to make you really smile and remind you of the pictures on your bedroom wall when you were a boy (or at least when I was a boy). In a recent moment of weakness I briefly considered a late V8, to take up some garage space. I can only imagine that they got better in build quality as time went on, mine was an early one.

Graham, I'll send you a pic of the intercooler radiator when I see the car next week. If you search on this site you'll find one of my dyno sheets on here that shows us @ 320+ whp and a nice flat curve at around 7/8 lbs, hence my question at 14 psi you would be either producing a ton of power (probably sacrificing a little curve) or there's something else not right. The car in the link isn't a Caterham and that's not a duratec, however if you search around there's a few pictures of a guys supercharged duratec ( Birkin or Locost? Can't remember but it's yellow) that he's got a front mount air to air that's a beautiful piece of work. Never quite sure about the effectiveness of double stacking radiators, someone smarter than me will have to answer that question. You're always going to be fighting a traction battle because of the torque produced which is one of the other reasons for not getting too wild with the boost, I can break traction in the first five gears, we are working on the boost by gear mapping now.