SK400

Has anyone tried a hand nibbler or air nibbler to cut the bonnet opening? how would this compare to other techniques? thanks!

Thanks Vstryker. I will definitively ping Bruce (which i have already) about the ECU and weight the pros and cons versus a stock Caterham ECU. As for the bonnet, did you use the dremel tool with a special wheel to cut through and followed the opening lines (if so, what type of wheel?) I was thinking of drilling first to create an opening as you suggested and then using an electric reciprocating hand saw with the right blade of course and to follow the lines of the template, and finish with fine hand filing. But perhaps it will be too heavy or bulky to do a good job and not friendly with the paint at the line. What do you think? As for the TPS, we will cross the bridge when we get there! thanks for your guidance.

Santa was very nice this year. He managed to drop a set of Caterham / Titan Roller Barrel intakes (kit) and a Cat Bypass on his way back from the UK and a bit in advance. Lots of sound, a bit more HP (10,.. 20HP according to some?) and a few flames coming out of the exhaust.. just what my car needs. I can't wait to our next blat on the East Coast this spring. :drool: This will be a looooong winter. So now a few questions for the group: 1/ Santa bought the kit from Caterham directly. Part of the arrangement is for Santa to send the ECU back to Caterham to be remapped. However, Santa understands the that Caterham ECUs are locked. So should Santa consider another ECU either from SBD or from another source to have more "fine tuning and remapping" flexibility going forward? Would it be worth it? If so, who would have a base map for the R400 2.0L duratec engine equipped with the Titan roller barrels? 2/ Santa did not receive any "setup" information from Caterham yet. He could call and engage with them or ask... USA7s for tips and tricks! Has anyone already installed this set on their R400 2.0l Duratec engine? Do you know where I could find setup instructions? 3/ Finally, Santa told me that i needed to cut my bonnet to install the air filter. Caterham sent a drawing for the cut out. ok.. but any tricks and tips on how to do this properly and not brutally damage the bonnet in the process? Thanks a ton for the help in advance! http://www.usa7s.net/vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=12012&stc=1

Congrats Jay - glad it went very well for you. Lucky they did not ask you to mount bumpers, install SAE approved lights and turn signals of a minimum diameter (eg way bigger than what we have on our cars), or add a 3/16" steel plate between the fuel tank and the passenger compartment... yes. Perhaps the courtesy inspection was the key. I admit, I chickened out when I tried to register, especially living in the southern tip of Connecticut, 1.5 hrs from Wethersfield, dreading all those back and forths with a trailer... and went a different registration way (the FedEx / UPS way, plates delivered at home). Look forward to getting our cars together soon.. probably this spring.

Very cool Croc! Budapest is a great city.. but i think the Bookatrack journey is even better. That was a heck of a wet day at BRNO

Jay it makes me think.. before its too late and before your paint gets chipped or damaged, i highly recommend that you cover the car with the transparent 3M auto film or something equivalent. I had mine done here in stamford at a custom shop and you can barely see it. but saves the paint and overall look from a lot, including race day road rash.

Gorgeous car and congratulations Owen! If NJ is too much trouble, you can still go the Montana way, saves a lot of headaches and time Happy to PM if needed

Congratulations Jay! What a beautiful car. I have the same t shirt btw - very appropriate. Glad to have another CT neighbor with a Cat. Look forward to drives together or meet at LimeRock if open to it. Enjoy the end of fall!

Blake - I live in Stamford CT! so 25 mins from Westchester, NY. I have a 2013 S3 R400 .. Happy to have you come around and sit. You may even get lucky, and could go for a short ride together weather permitting. Would love to have another Caterham neighbor let me know. Happy to PM for logistics etc. Seb

Bruce agree. The good news is that my car is relatively new (2013) with little mileage on it so she is "solid" and in perfect condition all around. One thing that I don't do is take tire temperature after lapping sessions. I normally look at tire wear patttern to tell me whether parts of the tire are overheating or not building enough heat (at least that's what I use to do during my Karting championship years). Perhaps i should start experimenting with real tire temp monitoring. As for the sway bar, theee is an easy setting option I can try. Thanks for the input. Seb

Sweet! love the list. Thanks a ton for digging this up Michael. If the weather holds and time allows, i may give it one more try this season on a track. Perhaps in November and try a bit of these settings. thanks all for the advice

Ha! I too would have thought the opposite e.g. Lowering the tire pressure in front, within reason, would help the front end bite a bit more. I definitively can try that. I ran 18 in the back and 17 in the front. Does not hurt to try 18 and 20 respectively. Btw - thanks Nick for the exhaustive list of tips. Very helpful. As for wider tires, I should look into it. Perhaps I ll try myself with full slicks next season just to feel the difference (if any!)

Thanks guys. It looks like changing rear sway bar setting could be the easiest way to help the front end turn in a bit more It feels like I should stiffen the bar a bit instead of releasing it completely to have the rear follow a bit more. I have to say that when I understeer, it's normally at the entry of of curve and I'm normally able to correct it decently well with throttle until very high speeds when the front end scrubs and slightly drifts regardless of what I do (which I think is normal for the Cats )

Friends, Hope you are all doing well. I had a fun Columbus day last Monday as i had the chance to spend it at LimeRock for an HPDE event with SCDA. I even had the luxury of having my family and kids join for part of the day to cheer me up! Felt like good old racing days.. Thanks to all of your driving coaching over the last few seasons, i'm getting more and more confident with the car and i'm slowly learning what this incredible machine can really do. Although i'm pretty happy with the handling, i still think she is understeering a bit too much for my taste the way she is setup and seeking for advice on how to increase front end grip (and not at the expense of back end grip!). I'm currently running: - 13' ZZR tires, typically 18 psi rear, 17 psi front (although i tried to play with it a bit with little results) - 0 deg toe in toe out (super neutral) - 2.8 deg negative camber - 10 mm rake angle A few questions: - would increase the rake to 15 mm help a bit? - would giving the car a 1/8" toe out help or will it only increase corner entry responsiveness? - would like to avoid touching the rear sway bar setting for now please let me know what you think. With good setting, better front end grip, more clement temperatures and of course better driving, I think i can break the 1 min barrier on this track and get into the low 59 second range (missed it by 0.22 seconds..!!!) thanks all in advance for your help

We bought 2 kits on October 1st. We were the first one in the nearby Lego store ! My 5 yr old, obsessed with Legos, built it in one afternoon and now we are proud owners of a second (miniature) Caterham! great kit i have to say. Good details and well done

Hey guys Here's another video of our NJMP event - small montage. I've added cheesy music because i could not hear the exhaust, only wind buffeting. (actually, unsure how people get the sound of the engine on those videos, i'd love to solve this mystery one day) I think you can copy paste this link in your browser. You should also be able to look for the video on youtube under Red Cat, Caterham NJMP 2016 Meet Talk soon

Mike, Tom, Friends just a few words to echo everyone's sentiment and comments. This weekend was a total blast and such a pleasure seeing everyone again. We've survived massive storms, tornado like weather and hail on Friday (Croc and I were thinking who we would text last), but all worth it for a fabulous weekend. This gathering is quickly becoming an annual ritual, a must do and pilgrimage for any 7 enthusiast. No better place and better group of people to be with. Special thanks to Mike and Tom for an incredible organization and for truly taking care of all of us. Thanks to all for driving tips, overall help and incredible camaraderie. My only recommendation, we should have an award for "surviving one's trailer" next year. My car and I made it ok despite a tire blow out on the NJT on the way to NJMP and tie belt snapping on my way back.. no clue why. Thanks everyone. Have a good summer

Flat tire on my uhaul auto transporter!! On the New Jersey turnpike at of all places. Drove to safety at next exit and now waiting for uhaul help. I think I ll be late for karting ((

Mike - will do for Sunday. I thought I had booked the Karting event on Friday night already (can't wait actually). But will check.. BTW - i just downloaded Harry's Laptimer... does not look too shabby for a basic app! See you all on Friday night at the karting event BTW - when should we be at the track by for the Karting event??

Priceless.. although i'm now worried about my car spending the night with yours in this large garage.... i'll take you up on the offer. I'm currently registered for Saturday only but i will most probably stay for Sunday as well. I hope that's ok and can settle with the track when i'm there. (let me know if not) Thanks and talk soon all

Mike, Tom Any overnight room left in your large garage? let me know thanks much look forward to seeing everyone. Seb

All I have a "precut" transparent protective film kit for caterham S3 available for sale (a must if you want to keep your car chip free). I bought the kit 12 months ago from an online shop in England and still in shipping tube. It comes with front nose, side and rear wings precut pieces. Never used it because i decided to wrap the entire car with a film, done at a local shop on the East Coast. I also have a brand new 925 Odyssey AGM battery. Sill in the box. Bought it 2 months ago but never ended up using the battery (found another option). Any reasonable offers will be considered. Also, will be at NJMP, July 4th weekend and can bring the precut pieces and the battery if someone on the east coast is interested. Could help save shipping. Let me know cheers everyone thanks

Black Hole, suggest that you don't even try to figure out CT regulations having gone through the process. It's hellish and very subjective. There is a better way. Send me a PM

Alright - got my car professionally aligned (front wheels).. I had it done manually with strings and 2x4's last yr.. 1/ front camber exactly -2.8 degs on both sides 2 / toe - neutral exactly.. I think i'm going to miss toe out feeling a bit but lets' see. at least im starting from a neural base and can play easily with toe in toe out to my liking. 3/ the rear train is not too off, with minimum thrust 0.03 degs.. so quite happy about that 4/ have attempted to tune the weight distribution by measuring height but let's see. I think i'm still going to lock those wheels on heavy breaking the only thing is that i will be running with my zzr tires that i bought last year.. hope they are still good and sticky Simon - have you installed your blower yet? Are we all going to be in trouble? Also, got myself a garmin camera. It automatically displays speed and G forces on the D video it takes. look forward to trying this cool toy. talk soon

Friends! all set, just registered. Go-Kart, BBQ and all.. I can't wait. I'm getting concerned.. my twin sister is talking about supercharging her/his car. hmmm. will be tougher to keep up. He is pushing me to upgrade my powertrain as well, but let's see. Will take a little while before i pull the trigger. As an aside, I just bought a nice 1978 Austin Mini for my wife (mother's day surprise ish) from a very nice gentleman who was selling it to make room for the car of his dreams.. a Caterham (talk about a coincidence)! Mid 1990's crossflow engine freshly landed from the UK. I've been trying to convince him to join us at NJMP this summer but I need all of your help to encourage him to attend! Let's call him Mr. J for the sake of this blog. Chances are he will soon read this blog, so please feel free to give him a nudge or two on this thread to attend!! Talk soon all Seb