Caterham USA website/2008 models

[athens7]

I've noticed that the Caterham USA website hasn't been updated in about 2 years. What's up with that? Does any one know if Duratec motors are available in S3 and SV models as complete, ready to install packages? Has anyone ordered a 2007 or 2008 Caterham as a turn key in this country?

[Boxologist]

edit: Frank is finishing up a 2007 CSR, hal(eburbE) is a 2007, and Alkossie is a 2006 s3 iirc. I know RMSCI updated their prices a few months ago and some options changed on the CSR roadsport.

[pksurveyor]

I ordered a 2008 Caterham SV from Jeff Sloan. He is going to build the car, hopefully next month when it crosses the pond. The Duratec motors are not street legal because they can not comply to emission requirement. I bought a Ford SVT engine package from Caterham USA.

[Sean]

The Duratec motors are not street legal because they can not comply to emission requirement.

 

The Duratec motors are street legal, at least in some parts of the country. I am sorry to hear that this is not the case where you live, though.

[Al N.]

Pretty sure that Frank F. in ohio has a 2007 CSR 260...though i think he built it.

[Alaskossie]

Athens7,

 

I am assembling a 2007 Caterham Series 3 from a kit, and will be installing a 2.3 Duratec from Cosworth USA. My car is already licensed in Alaska.

 

None of the Caterhams (SVs, Series 3s, or CSRs) come into the USA as factory-assembled cars ready to drive, or even as assembled cars without engines. (This has provided some difficulty in the case of home-builders of the CSR, since Caterham has never published a CSR assembly manual, because all CSRs in UK and on the Continent are factory-assembled).

 

Caterhams come to the USA as kits only, because as kits of parts, they do not have to meet DOT and EPA manufactured-car standards, which I think would change the character of the Seven entirely -- crash tests, 5-mph bumpers, side-impact bars, dual brake circuits, etc.

 

I decided to go with a domestic supplier of my engine because I wanted to avoid any hassle of bringing an engine into the country that was not on EPA's and US Customs' list of "recognized" conforming engines. If the engine is assembled in the US, then that initial hurdle of persuading a Customs official at the border is eliminated entirely -- and having already endured a 5-year-long hassle with these folks over my importation of a prototype military truck, I wasn't about to go through that again!

 

This method of importing a Caterham as a box of parts does not entirely answer the complications of getting the assembled car licensed in various states, but it does finesse the problem of getting the car landed in the US in the first place.

 

Alaskossie

[Sean]

None of the Caterhams (SVs, Series 3s, or CSRs) come into the USA as factory-assembled cars ready to drive, or even as assembled cars without engines.

Mine came in as a rolling chassis (without any trouble!). One has to be very careful, though. It took a few calls to various government agencies, but I eventually learned that both the EPA and the NHTSA, the DOT division, specifically, consider "car parts" to be irrevocably transformed into a "car" once an engine or transmission has been installed, even if it is subsequently removed - kind of like the definition of a virgin (I got the DOT guy to laugh when I pointed this out, and I suspect that is not easy to do ). After that happens, even if it is completely disassembled, it is and will always remain a "car".

 

Like Tom, I am also putting a locally-sourced 2.3 Duratec into my S3 chassis car. Also like Tom, my car is already licensed for the road. Tom and I are running very parallel paths!

[athens7]

I am pretty well versed in the manner in which Caterhams come in to the US. Perhaps I should clarify my question. In the past, one could order a kit and a drivetrain from Caterham USA, then assemble it oneself, or have a dealer (like Jeff, from whom I bought my car) assemble it for you. This process seemed to slow considerably when Caterham UK switched to the Caged frame and the Sigma drivetrain for the S3 and SV series. As I understood it, the Sigma motor was not US compliant, and the Duratec would not fit in the Arch Motors frame, nor in the non-CSR Caged frame, without more modification than Caterham USA was willing to undertake. By the replies, it seems that those who are getting 2007 and 2008 cars are not sourcing current drivetrains from Caterham USA (the SVT is not a current drivetrain, as the motor has been out of production for over 3 years), but from other vendors. So my question is, is anyone getting a complete, non CSR kit/drivetrain from Caterham USA, using other than the Zetec or crossflow powertrains (which are likely used or rebuilt) which have been available for a number of years-in other words, can you buy an S3 or SV from John and Cody with a Caterham USA supplied Duratec (Alaskossie says yes), and what, if any chassis mods are necessary to fit the motor (dry sump, pedal box mods etc.)? Also, if this package is now finally available, how about a website update?

 

 

[pksurveyor]

Jeff Sloan told me that the Caterham USA supplied Duratec engine package can not pass emission (at least here in Texas). He also said that my 2008 SV is still being made by Arch.

[Alaskossie]

athens7,

 

I did not source my Cosworth Duratec 2.3 through Caterham USA. I dealt directly with Cosworth in California. So I did not get a "complete kit" through Caterham USA; I just bought a chassis kit, and a 6-speed gearbox. Caterham USA did not offer a complete S3 kit with Duratec when I purchased (in October of 2006).

 

I have an Arch Motors frame, and I will have to make no chassis modifications to fit the Duratec. Depending on where I want to fit the dry sump tank, I may or may not need to modify the passenger footbox (this is a common mod on all S3's with dry sump, with virtually any engine, Duratec, VX, etc.).

 

My understanding is that the Caged "metric" frame production first began with the CSR, and then the rhd versions of the SV and S3. I do not know if Caged versions of lhd SV or S3 frames are in production yet. I would have had to wait quite a while for the Caged version of the lhd S3 frame to be prototyped and tested and put into production. So I chose not to wait (I'm getting too old, as it is!). In addition, I wanted the "tradition" of a Seven frame from its original maker, Arch Motors.

[roll a 7]

Rumor is that Arch still makes many of the frames. With around 30 variations from different eras and motors, dedion, widetrack, etc it will be some time before Caged can program their modern machine to replace Arch, I suspect.

 

There are several Arch made frames here in CA that were designed to accept the duratec and are moving around with considerable alacrity due that that fine powerplant, These include Superlights and an SV. Another SV has successfully switched from zetec to duratec.

[athens7]

One of the reasons I bought my car when I did is because I wanted an Arch frame. I have heard/read of the stiffer construction of the Caged frame, but my Arch is fine, and compared to my Caged FIA roll bar, the welds on the Arch frame are artwork. Also, I wasn't really interested in doing any of Caterham UK's product development on the new chassis, or waiting whatever length of time it would take to get their newest variant after this was done by others (get it right the first time isn't a phrase I usually associate with British auto manufacturers; maybe it was my time as a Jaguar dealer in the 1980s).