BruceBe

Hello all, Caterham Seven import and distribution has been changed for several months - ALL of the *dealers* listed on the US Caterham website are fully empowered to import and sell all of the US-market Caterham models (280, 310, 360, 420, and 620). Superformance is *not* the sole importer and distributor of the Caterham Seven, regardless of what is shown on their web-site right now. Beachman Racing has been consulting with potential buyers, and placing orders with Caterham UK for months. We've quietly and patiently waited for an update to the information on SPF's site since the change - at this point, we think it appropriate that this community be made aware of the current USA Caterham distribution model. -Bruce

Van - glad it all worked out! Building a Duratec adapter harness for that Zetec chassis without having the car is always a test of details. Vroom, vroom! -Bruce

Or - with negative camber, you will always see a relatively higher inside tire temperature after a straight. Cheers, -Bruce

As Mike said earlier, change, test, and measure *one* variable at a time. Start by making sure all of your suspension pivot points are in good service - no sloppy bushings, loose swaybar links, or excessive wheel bearing lash. At turn-in, we don't want the mass of the car achieving momentum due to "slop" in the mechanical systems. Make sure you don't have a dead shock. The great news - you don't need a track day to check all of that. At the track, I would start with the rear bar. Make a large change, potentially overshooting "neutral", and then back it off. More rear bar *adds* roll-couple distribution to the rear, meaning, more of the lateral load transfer is being accommodated by the rear of the car. As a result, you'll be asking the front to do less work - in most scenarios, this will cure understeer. However, in some cases, the outside front laden wheel is falling over on itself during turn-in, due to a combination of tire pressure, spring rate, and suspension geometry. Tire temps will help you determine if suspension geometry is in the ball-park. Ideally, you'll jump into the pits right after a hard corner - not after even a medium length straight. Cheers, -Bruce

We continue to build our inventory of parts here in the USA. The more parts we move, the more inventory we will stock. Front bearings, oil filters, and other maintenance items are increasingly stocked for Duratec cars. Coincidentally, we have a shipment clearing customs right now, which includes wiper arms (unfortunately, already spoken for). Many thanks to those on this forum who have helped us move things forward. And when you order parts from us, it usually comes with free, expert advice associated with the parts selection, repair, or upgrade you have in mind. Cheers, -Bruce

Up in the Pacific northWEST, we've been hitting the track all summer. We just completed a race weekend at Portland International Raceway with SOVREN - a local vintage race group. The finale for their race season is at Pacific Raceways in Kent, WA on the weekend of September 24th. Last winter, we organized a trip in February to Thunderhill and Sonoma. We rented Thunderhill West, and plugged-in with HOD for the Sonoma day. I posted an invite to this forum, hoping some of the CA folks would join us - we had ONE taker. We'll likely do the same thing this winter - hopefully, more folks will join us. I'll post a few videos of our race season. Cheers, -Bruce

We stock parts, and bring in orders from Caterham UK on a regular basis. -Bruce

Interesting - attached is a photo of a 6-speed case, circa 2005 -Bruce

Unless you jounce and un-bind the suspension each time you jack up the car (e.g. with turn-plates), your actual running weights and rake will be off.

There is no need to modify the gearbox mounting ears on the 6-speed, to mate it with the standard CSR bell-housing, which *always* has threaded inserts. Using correctly sized socket-head cap bolts, everything works. Cheers, -Bruce

That price includes the separately purchased power-train. -Bruce

It's theoretically possible, based on Superformance's last price list I have. Zero options have you at about $93K. But - that's no weather-gear, paint, etc. Usually, these cars would be highly optioned, putting the price over $100K. That F1 paint scheme was a $5400 option. -Bruce

Or - we could just order a set of Caterham stripes for you, with the correct cut-outs for the nosecone badge, center louvers, etc. While not on the web-site, the graphics are available. Recent application of matte-black bonnet and side stripes on a silver R400 made it look stunning. -Bruce

Really - this had zero to do with the location of the article's author, or the availability of cars in or around Silicon Valley. However, it has *everything* to do with forging a more strategic, measured partnership with the automotive press. That Dyson article was a *DISASTER* on many levels. It was then followed up with another piece that was doomed from the start. We needed to break that cycle of unjustified poor press, and the Google article is a step in the right direction. Let's enjoy the marque's accolades in the article, and look forward to the next piece that highlights the positive attributes of the Seven - we're already working on it. Cheers, -Bruce

There's really nothing odd about a manufacturer's agent sourcing a known, factory-spec, and professionally assembled car, and then tending to the car at the event, to ensure that the experience and resulting article reflects well on the brand. Note that no mention was made of a Caterham Seven as a "bellowing ox-cart", or anything similar in this piece. Quite the opposite. Cheers, -Bruce

We change the Mobil 1 5w-50 oil in competition vehicles every other race/track weekend, depending on oil temps. Stock CSR's, in particular, can run rather fearsome oil temperatures. In addition to an annual full bleed, brakes should be bled prior to each race/track weekend, regardless of pedal feel. If the pedal feels good, just push a little fluid through the calipers - even high-quality motorsport brake fluid can micro-boil in the caliper. Just push enough until it clears up. You don't want to get half-way through a hot race weekend, and then need to bleed the system in the field, after you've lost confidence in the brakes on-track. For the rear, we use Mobil Delvac Synthetic Gear Oil (75w-90), which will give a very long service life in dual-purpose vehicles. -Bruce

It's all of the above. The 3" belts give you more surface area, distributing the load across more of your body. In a 30G impact, which can be generated at almost any reasonable speed, the more surface area the better. 3" belts can be made uncomfortably tight in any car - the issue arises with head/neck restraint devices. HANS devices, in particular, do much better with a 2" shoulder harness. We install hybrid 2"->3" harnesses, to get the best of both worlds. The upper 2" section of the shoulder harness rides very securely on the HANS, and then widens to 3" before meeting the buckle. Sub-belts are 2", and the lap-belts are 3". -Bruce

How do you know 6th is not engaging? It could be a calibration issue with the gear display. Sadev has specific instructions. At last check, an outstanding order for about a dozen LHD 620r's would justify the engineering investment. The CSR achieves it's power/performance differently than the 620R. The roller-barrels in a CSR generate quite a bit of (demonic) intake howl, while the blower on the 620R dampens intake noise. Of course, that noise is replaced with a very nice blower turbine sound, combined with sequential gear noise. Congrats on the acquisition. Best, -Bruce

...a Caterham CSR in R&T. It's an interesting back-drop to an interview with John Krafcik, Google Self-Driving Car CEO. Sam Smith did a great job weaving a positive message about the Caterham Seven into the article. Luckydawg is well, uh, a lucky dog to get such a great photo feature of his car. We didn't think it would feature so prominently, given the theme of the story. -Bruce

Embarrassingly, I brought a new car cover in for someone, and can't find the contact info. So - if you ordered a car cover, give me a holler. Cheers, -Bruce

Mike, Is this a standard Cosworth-encrypted ECU that you are using? I'm impressed that you are getting TPS and some of the temps. Cheers, -Bruce

Ted - thanks for coming out to what turned out to be a very private track day, with absolutely gorgeous weather. Thunderhill West is a track well-suited to Sevens. -Bruce

Thanks Van! Now we need to deal with that swirl tower cap... -Bruce

All of the Panasports have found a home. Thanks to all for helping clear them out. -Bruce

Ok - so it now sounds like all of the sets are spoken for. -Bruce