supersportsp

Comparing the 80's turbo offerings to current turbo cars is like comparing a wagon wheel to a pair of forged and center lock BBS's. There have been massive leaps and bounds in turbo tech, particularly in the last decade. While I am highly partial to normally aspirated motors, particularly in a Seven, of the five cars we currently have, three are turbo charged (Caterham and P1800 are naturally NA). I have driven most of the significant (attainable) turbo cars of the 80's (930, 944 T, RX-7 Turbo II, Supra, etc.). They are all tractor crude compared to the turbo in our '02 GTI. My '05 92x Aero (Saab's version of the WRX wagon) is more like the early cars, with somewhat sluggish low RPM performance capped by a higher RPM hit. The GTI is the opposite with all sorts of instant low-end torque with nary any turbo lag. Then our recently acquired BMW 535 xi wagon utilizes two turbos to make basically instant low-end torque and also top-end power, all completely seamless. I would love to drop a WRC like set-up in a Seven. 1.6 liter turbo four with 300 hp and around 300 ft lbs. With direct injection and anti-lag, throttle response is basically on par with a good normally aspirated engine. Very expensive and loud (anti-lag example below) though. I think what Caterham is experimenting with on their supercharger set-up makes more sense in the short-term.

More rumors. Speculation of a R600 using the motor from the SP/300.R. http://www.evo.co.uk/news/evonews/286555/caterham_r600_a_possibility.html

From the Caterham Motorsports Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151072060137690&set=a.388030627689.167549.371952447689&type=1&theater

Wow, that was a deal! Sorry you had to let it go. Someone should be ecstatic with this purchase.

Hit me up via the USA7s private message and I will provide some sage advice here. Plus a contact at the WA EPA that is handy with emissions issues.

Agreed. This is a great deal.

Have you seen the new hardtop option? Judging by your screen name and color preferences it should be a hit. http://www.livinggreenlake.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/HuskyCarside.jpg What part of Seattle are you in? I am up on Queen Anne.

Sweet car. Would love to check it out sometime. Is my color calibration off on my monitor, or is that purple and gold?

Take a look at the Toyo T1R. Grippy, but not pick-up stone grippy. They also won't crack in colder temps like an R-compound etc. They are also the lightest tire for a Caterham save the CR500. I did a ton of research on this, and they are typically 2 pounds lighter than comparable tires. A lot of R-compound tires have a very stiff sidewall, because they are designed to be used on 3000 lb plus cars. This isn't always a good thing with a Seven. I used these for street and two track days. While my R-compound Avon's on the 13 wheels put my car in another league on the track, on the street they offer plenty of grins.

As a fellow new father (my son is almost seven months), I would say this is going to be your biggest issue to enjoying the car in the near future. I have hardly driven my car this year. If you are concerned about the Miata drivetrain, you should ping Scannon on this board. He has a turbo Miata in his Caterham. My buddy in CO got a ride in it at a trackday and said it was quite impressive.

I am also 6'2" with a 12 shoe size. I have a '97 S3 chassis. I can wear shoes, but they need tight and narrow. Slip on Vans work surprisingly well for some reason. It is a tight fit, especially width wise. I think it depends on your build, how much your height is in your legs vs. torso etc.

You can also just order them directly from Panasport. I talked with them about 18 months ago about getting a set of 14" custom built. The contact info is at the bottom of their homepage. http://www.panasport.com.

Different bolt pattern from the Caterham.

I am assuming this is with Whispbar and you are talking about Yakima racks? Want to get me a deal on a new Whispbar set up I have been looking at for my daily driver?

I will take these. Let me know. I sent you an email directly.

Whew! Glad you got it back. Hopefully, nothing significant is wrong with it.

We are close. I am up on 1st Ave N, just above the Seattle Gym (formerly Prorobics). I imagine SPD was a little perplexed at this one as well.

Where was the car stolen from exactly? What part of Seattle? I think I have seen your car before. I am up on Queen Anne. I can't imagine there is much, if any market for a stolen Caterham here in the US. None of the parts are particularly valuable on their own. Such an unusual car that I can't imagine someone didn't see it somewhere. I would post on any local enthusiasts forums and regional sub-forums of national sites (NASIOC, 6speedonline.com, TheCarLounge.net etc). Thanks to the internet and Top Gear, a lot of car folks know what these are now days and would clearly remember seeing one.

I might be selling mine, but I am still undecided. There are some issues with this bar if you are running standard headrests or are taller like me (6'2") Because the bar leans forward, it projects into the cockpit near the top of the bar. You can see my post on the topic here: http://usa7s.com/vb/showthread.php?t=5878 There is also several bar configurations that are referred to as "FIA bars" as well. The newer version has dual cross bars, whereas the older ones have a single cross bar.

If weight is a concern, the lightest performance tire available readily in the US is the Toyo T1-R. I did a ton of research, specifically around weights and this tire was typically at least 1.5 pounds if not more than 2 lbs lighter per corner. It doesn't have the outright grip of an R-compound tire, but it is certainly a high performance tire. Avon CR500's are the lightest, even lighter than the T1-R's, but they can be difficult to get here and pretty spendy. I have Avon ZZR's on the car now. They are supposed to be for track duty, but I didn't have my car out much last year so I just left them on all the time. I did several track days on the T1-R's and they held up great. Not nearly as grippy as the ZZR, but they did the job well enough for me to have loads of fun.

http://www.dpcars.net/dp4/index.htm Dennis had his cars there 4/20-4/21. Was curious if you shared the track with them and if so what the relative speed was of the DP4 in particular to your car.

I am assuming you guys are talking about the track in Shelton, WA? What did you two think of the Palatov cars if you were there for the same event (I assume)? I was hoping to pop down just to watch Saturday but went skiing instead.

Ugh. Nothing worse than the sound of crunching vehicle. I am sure once you got over the immediate adrenaline of the 'oh sh!t I am heading for the wall' moment you were probably looking at your beat up little orange beast and your heart went crashing into your stomach about as hard as your actual hit. Good to see your okay and that the Caterham survived largely intact and you didn't roll or hit sideways. I too would chalk this up to cold tires. When I loaded your video and saw it was only about 1:40 long and you were just pulling out of the pits at the beginning I figured that was probably a root cause. With our cars being so light, getting heat in the tires is really critical and difficult, especially on a cool day. You lived and have learned though, that is the most important lesson from the day. Good to know you had on all the safety gear. Having gone down three times on motorcycles, I know the value of having the right gear on.

Hmm, the guy I bought my car from was looking hard at this car back in late November. I wonder if he is the one who pulled the trigger. That is $10k less than what he was asking for it on his site and on Seattle Craigslist. Seems to be a pretty good buy.

The ridiculous price is due to your driving record. Try getting insurance for a STI/Evo/Corvette etc. Haggerty and the specialty companies won't go anywhere near you with a less than solid driving record. They are picky due to the nature of the vehicles they insure. Your credit score, driving record, age and marital status are the single biggest fixed factors. The car is the variable in the equation. Shop around though. When I was 23, single, and with tickets, I bought a new Ducati 900 SS/SP. The very first insurance quote I got from Progressive was $6k per year. I then got one for $4k, then for $2800, and finally I found a company out of Florida who wrote a lot of Ducati policies and did it for $1200.