Croc

I own CSRs with each dash design. The facts were always hard to come by from Caterham but here is what I know: - The CSR was intended to be the future high end evolution of the Caterham 7. However, it was only produced by Arch, could not be produced in great numbers and could not be produced cost effectively. So it was a design triumph but a dead end from a car evolution point of view. - The CSR can still be purchased in the USA and Europe today. Its only the UK home market where it cannot and it was intimated to me by a factory source that they just could not get the necessary production volume out of Arch at the right cost to make the effort worthwhile. - The dash is only part of the chassis changes. There is a LOT more cross bracing in smaller tube sizes plus the suspension pick up points front and rear are very different as would be expected. - The CSR weight penalty over an SV is claimed at 25 pounds in a roller chassis (no drive train) in the standard dash. Supposedly the curvy dash is only 2-3 pounds heavier but I never verified this. I do know my CSR with curvy dash is only 30 pounds heavier than my UK 420R when in full road mode (i.e. full tanks and no driver). Not all of these data points correlate which makes me wonder about what Caterham claims. - But the CSR picks up a significant increase in torsional rigidity - 25% over the SV in standard flat dash format and supposedly 40% in curvy dash format. The idea with the curvy dash was to emulate Donkervoort in some fashion and hopefully attract some of the premium coupe market purchasers. Not sure that worked - pretty convinced it failed. It was an extra cost option at the time. What worked? The CSR is by far the quicker point to point car on any road compared with a regular de Dion chassis. Bumps do not exist. It is also quicker on track than a deDion SV with equivalent hp (which is quicker than the S3 de Dion) - I participated in an informal test at Donington and I was consistently a second a lap quicker in the CSR. The suspension gives you the confidence to really take it to the edge where most non-professional drivers struggle to get there and stay there in a de Dion chassis. 90% of the drivers who participated that day were quickest in the CSR. What did not work? The curvy dash tubes are way too good at transmitting heat into the cockpit which required me to make venting modifications to the undertray to ensure I did not burn my arm on the exposed tubing. The dash bits and pieces are ex-Rover Metro so really crappy plastic quality. Because of the desire to have turn signals etc, the steering column is slightly too low for my personal fussy liking and you cannot modify it. The original design only had two mounting points for the diff which in 265hp CSR260 mode saw people regularly rip the mount points off the case. The initial fix was the extra race struts to give 4 mount points but these extra 2 struts go up through the boot, reducing usability by a third over the regular SV. The current fix as seen on my new build is a cage for the diff with 4 mount points which improves torsional rigidity further.

To help think through the problem, some questions to better understand: 1) Where in the rev range are you when you experience the "fluttering"? Low down, mid way, or upper end closing red line? Or maybe its across the full range? 2) Does it only happen at full throttle when foot is on the floor? Does it happen mildly at say 75% throttle and get worse as you push closer to 100% full throttle? 3) Is it a flutter or some form of stutter as if fueling is being cut or ignition is being cut? I am trying to discern whether it is TPS or ECU or some other fueling issue. Not convinced on immobilizer as that is normally a hard cut when it kicks in by accident. Never heard of soft cutting engine from one of those. What does the Caterham dealer say?

And thats how it goes. Follow the dream - life is too short for just driving a Hyundai. Welcome to USA7s! For the record I think a Se7en is much better idea than the kitchen renovation we both know SWMBO wants.

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It depends on the person I am talking with. Blonde woman then "Its the sports version of the Rolls Royce Corniche." Redneck then "Its a Ford special - its got the engine out of a Ford Ranger" (for my CSR anyway). If a genuine motoring enthusiast then either @Vovchandr or @wemtd get my vote.

Stalker on Bringatrailer LS3-Powered 2013 Brunton Stalker M Spec for sale on BaT Auctions - ending May 10 (Lot #106,709) | Bring a Trailer

Watch the deer! I came through Seven Lakes drive last weekend and it was a four legged festival. Apologies but will be offshore for work.

@IamScotticus Yes thats part of it. Their business liability insurance will be MUCH cheaper if they de-select certain markets. But thats only part of it as the bureaucracy of paperwork for US Customs (or EU now) is also a major factor plus they do not have to deal with fractious customers complaining about sky high shipping charges.

Welcome to USA7s! You have a wonderful part of the world to live in. One of my all time favorite places.

I like how it changes in the light. It looked a little champagne, a touch of green, then silver in other photos. Really distinctive color choice that pops as you say!

I am not normally a fan of 911s but I am really liking the color on this one plus the RUF wheels are my all time favorite (or are they the Momo Heritage wheels?)

Sadly no. My first day was March 24 at Castle Combe and it was a wet cold day so I decided to stay with the Avon ZZS for the day. Good thing I did as there were 9 red flags from various drivers running out of talent in the conditions and nerfing the walls. Next opportunity is May 24 at Snetterton. Hoping for good weather.

Part 2 of the BMW post So we decided on a shakedown run at VIR. Ray Korman came and drove the car to check it. He raced these in period so knows his E9 CSLs. He may be 80+ but he is damn quick. Sadly the weather that July 2020 weekend precluded a thorough test as it bucketed cats and dogs. Rather than risk the Bimmer on slicks (I had no wets) I went out in the Caterham to slither around - what a track! So fast forward to today Yes inside front is lifting below The punch list of items we continue to work on: - Need to adjust diff ramp and oil weight to tune slip. Video shows the noise well. - Tach is not reading accurate. - Brakes still being fine tuned but I think I need to accept I have the same Caterham brakes on a car weighing double! - I think the handling is now there - I can lift the inside front going through turn 4 at Thunderbolt flat (with no lift) - only car I have ever done that in on that corner - in one corner at one circuit (NJMP Thunderbolt) I get fuel starvation or surge. Its a weber issue where (I think) the weber float is oscillating under Gs in that corner (the Jersey Devil corner). Cannot replicate on any other corner at any other track. This is the big issue to solve as you lose at least 3 seconds a lap here. The most recent video. This is September 2024. I am still being cautious (ok....as Bruce will put it - I am driving like a pussy) and am coasting a lot as I try to diagnose the diff and work out the handling. Tach is still playing up, I am driving by ear to sense when I am getting the valve lift. The rubbing noise in certain corners is from the diff not slipping as much as it should. Its an interesting car to drive. Most forgiving. Responds well to being grabbed by the scruff of the neck and being thrown around. I am still wary of it as I am still working up to its limits - its an extremely expensive car and you just do not casually throw it at a corner without a lot of thought. I am uninsured driving on track. It feels quite heavy but that is just from feeling planted solidly on the road. 10 inch front BBS and 11 inch wide on the rears. The car development goes on. Still at least 4-5 seconds a lap left to come out of it.

Time to wake up this thread with another of my project cars - BMW E9 CSL Coupe. If I knew what I knew now, I am not sure I would have started this project as is snowballed....big time. I started in 2014 when I imported the car to the US. Its base state was a tired race car. Was running the 1990 era BMW M5 S38 3.5L straight 6. But it had corrosion issues. Much of the panels were not the CSL aluminum. I thought it would be a strip and sort. I was wrong - it ended up going bare metal restoration. What I started with: That eventually ended up like this. Complete strip[ back to bare metal. The strip back was educational as we really did not have much information on the history of the car. The BMW Motorsport livery is a distraction - it was never a BMW Motorsport car. It started as a French market CS coupe in Malaga red. At some point it was converted to a race car. Its second color was silver and in the research with BMW Historic folks in Germany, an old photo of a French hill climb car was surfaced with Group 2 CSL body kit. The holes found in the strip back seem to support that body kit being on the car before. Then it went white at some point and a Group 5 body kit installed. I have a photo which I think is the 80s of the car in Martini livery in France (based on period cars around it plus its license plate). At some point after that it went from Martini livery to the BMW Motorsport livery. The work needed was substantial. New Matter roll cage as the old one would have punch the floor through in a roll over! New CSL aluminum panels - steel frames of the hood, trunk and doors were skinned in aluminum - all done by hand by a specialist in California who was spectacular with an English wheel. New fuel system. Totally refreshed suspension. All new dash/wiring. For the initial phase the engine, diff and transmission were kept as is. A lot of the swiss cheesing on the frame was already done for weight reduction. These are not light cars. The ground up Motorsport cars were around 2300-2350lbs. Converted road cars were more like 2400-2450lb even after the Jenny Craig Despite the level of swiss cheese below plus the new aluminum skin, the trunk lid is still not a light panel! Given the history was vague, it was suggested to go with a tribute livery of the Alf Gebhardt 1978 Daytona car. The original of this car is still running on track albeit with a Motorsport livery. Using the 1978 photos, the livery was replicated in vinyl. The thinking was if the history ever becomes better known, then this could be reversed. At this point the car came back to me for some initial testing. The S38 engine was way down on power. The gearbox was a road box so overdriven 5th gear. The diff seemed like a moonshot ratio - I was getting overtaken by aggressive E30 328s on track. Handling was not bad but it needed fettling. Brakes were modest. Lots of bump steer. Interior got the race dash plus Motorsport center console. Steering wheel is the correct BMW Motorsport original. Next step was to Korman's in SC for a new engine, install the close ratio "race gearbox" and a new 40% slip LSD. The engine was done as an M30 block, 3.5L, straight 6. I decided I could not afford the $130-150K for an M49 4 valve cylinder head (that would need to be be refurbished) so I stuck with the 2 valve cylinder head out of expediency. That was not a mistype of the price. I also decided the Kugelfischer injection with slide throttle was going to be pricey and somewhat fiddly to maintain. I decided on 3 webers - they do not give up much on the Kugelfischer. They also sound good. Korman also installed the power steering as I found it too heavy in manual mode on track. Engine is dry sumped. Because of packaging issues, the dry sump tank cannot be located in the engine bay. So it is located in the trunk. Good for weight balance but....I have what seems like a couple of miles of oil hose going from front to back through the cabin. The engine building exercise took a LONG time. They built one and had it on the dyno when it melted down. Turns out the dry sump system failed from a manufacturer fault. So they had to build a brand new engine again for me (at their cost). I believe some of their other customers also suffered. ouch. Engine has a little over 300hp at the flywheel. Injection would add 15-25hp depending on the engine builder exaggerating. The M49 cylinder head (if I could buy one) would add 100hp. Cost for that is about $1300-1400 for each hp. I am still in a period correct configuration so can upgrade if I find a cylinder head. Some vintage classes allow the later S38 engine to be used - it is a 4 valve head. I still have that engine at Kormans to rebuild.

Yes, been there many times before. In a few too many cars, I have started one project only to descend into full rebuild territory because things just cascaded. Welcome to old cars! Keep the spirits up and push through. You will get to the other side.

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Did you buy something and happen to ignore the "I will not ship internationally" notice on the item for sale? What is it? Is it small enough for me to carry it onto a plane or would I end up in security for trying? I am there in the week of May 22 for work and a track day - the item could be shipped to my Caterham in Stratford and I carry it home. However, I never check luggage on flights so it better not be liquid or big. Alternatively, you could: 1) Look up Mail Boxes Etc in the UK and contact one of the nearest branches to set up a Fedex/DHL/UPS pick up of the item and then ship to you. 2) Contact Fedex or DHL and do the same. I doubt they will do it as you need to be physically present to sign the US importation paperwork - its a terror security requirement.

Calling @yellowss7 What oil do you use in your Rover K series?

@mca I have stuck with the Avon ZZS front and rear to avoid changing the gearing too much (on the rears) and also not to create too much of a clearance issue on the front wings. Will the Falken 205 fronts rub on the wing stay? I use the ZZS as my wet track tire on both my CSR and the 420R I have for track days in the UK. I find it very good as an all round performance tire. I have never tried the Falkens to be able to compare sorry.

Hey its not a race. I don't mind people posting classified ads with cars for sale here.