Martin Posted May 30, 2008 Share Posted May 30, 2008 Morgan, thats fantastic that everything worked out as planned. Glad you get to already start to enjoy Mr. Orange. When you get a chance please share it with the crew over of Lotusbuzz as well. Is that an Alfa 164 next to the Caterham? I used to drive one of those everyday for 2 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoPho Posted May 30, 2008 Share Posted May 30, 2008 Not an Alfa, it is a 92 Lexus ES250 that belongs to my neighbor, it is like brand new. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoPho Posted May 30, 2008 Share Posted May 30, 2008 Addendum about the wind, it was the half doors that made the difference. Took them off and went for a little blat around town and even at low speeds I could tell the difference Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roll a 7 Posted May 31, 2008 Share Posted May 31, 2008 Al: A few of us have some questions about the zetec in Mr. Orange. Would you be willing to tell us about the HP, torque, throttlebodies, cams, headwork, dry sump, flywheel, ecu and other mods that gearheads care about? TIA! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boxologist Posted May 31, 2008 Share Posted May 31, 2008 LOL, now its like rubbing salt in a wound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slngsht Posted May 31, 2008 Share Posted May 31, 2008 MoPho broke down today? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al N. Posted May 31, 2008 Author Share Posted May 31, 2008 Al: A few of us have some questions about the zetec in Mr. Orange. Would you be willing to tell us about the HP, torque, throttlebodies, cams, headwork, dry sump, flywheel, ecu and other mods that gearheads care about? TIA! Sure. But first, what's the motivation behind the question? Do you find the car more powerful or less powerful than one would expect? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBH Posted May 31, 2008 Share Posted May 31, 2008 MoPho: Congratulations! You owe it to yourself and Mr. Orange to visit the track. The cars are really a lot of fun to drive at the limits. They can take a line that heavier cars can not. They absolutely eat M3s, Corvettes and most Porsches (except TT and GT3s) except on the longest tracks. I run Hoosier R6 on mine and I like them a lot. My choices in radials are somewhat limited because of the 13" wheel size. I think many of the details for the Zetec engine in the Superlight can be found on the Caterham website. They say HP is just north of 200, but I think it is closer to 160. The car does so well on the track because of its balance in turns and the torque the engine generates as the car accelerates out of them. I can not get much above 125 mph - I think this is a limit dictated by aerodynamics (or the lack of). I just returned from two days at Mid-Ohio and it was a blast. So many people are surprised by how quick the car is - they just don't expect it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MHKflyer52 Posted June 1, 2008 Share Posted June 1, 2008 MoPho broke down today? Are you serious or just pulling everyones leg. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoPho Posted June 1, 2008 Share Posted June 1, 2008 Are you serious or just pulling everyones leg. I can neither confirm nor deny it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yellowss7 Posted June 1, 2008 Share Posted June 1, 2008 Aw cmon, how bad was it? :ack: Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MHKflyer52 Posted June 1, 2008 Share Posted June 1, 2008 Hi Morgan, Guess Mr. Orange did not break down on you and Mazda is just toying with everyone. But if you did what happened.....run out of gas due to driving to much.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boxologist Posted June 1, 2008 Share Posted June 1, 2008 so u gonna wire a voltage gauge in? u know that a pillar guage from the GG doesn't fit our cars:cuss: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al N. Posted June 1, 2008 Author Share Posted June 1, 2008 Since Morgan will not confirm or deny (perhaps out of courtesy to me?)...From correspondence with Morgan and others, and a thread over on the CCC, I think the alternator went wonky on him...never an issue when the car was on the East Coast. Morgan, remember that it has the Birkinsport alternator rig..smaller than usual and with a different belt routing than traditional Cat USA set up. In NYC for anniversary this weekend. Will chime in more on Monday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slngsht Posted June 1, 2008 Share Posted June 1, 2008 Hi Morgan, Guess Mr. Orange did not break down on you and Mazda is just toying with everyone. But if you did what happened.....run out of gas due to driving to much.... nobody believes what I write :lol: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kitcat Posted June 1, 2008 Share Posted June 1, 2008 Sidescreens do help on long hauls or at high speed.-tho they get in the way at the track. But they also trap tons of heat in the car, even with the top off. You can flip the bottom 1/2 of the windscreen up and wind pressure holds it in place. That helps bleed out the heat and at the same time keeps the biggest part of the wind out. I always wear foam ear plugs and ear muff type hearing protection over that, even on a 10' run. The muffs help hold my baseball hat on too. Or I run with the top up, rear window unzipped and wind deflectors in and no side screens. Or I leave everything off & just put on my racing helmet and flaunt the law. Also it gives me a (probably false) sense of being better protected. The car is a blast at the track. A friend followed me around at my last track event and said he was amazed at how quickly I could recover from my various ham-fisted mistakes (wrong line, sideways slide, turning in too hot, etc.). But my favorite part is pointing-by people in the powerful cars on the straight and then watching their tail lights flick on as they start braking and I am still accelerating, and accelerating, and accelerating. End of first turn after the long straight: "I'm back:)" And you have 60% more power than my car, which maybe hits 100 mph with a tail wind. Your Caterham broke down? Mine has broken down more in my first year of ownership than all the other cars I have owned in the last 30 years, combined. Man, it's just part of the fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MHKflyer52 Posted June 1, 2008 Share Posted June 1, 2008 nobody believes what I write :lol: I was keeping my mug shut as that is for Morgan to say and just pulling your chain Mazda....no disrepect intended to either party.:jester: :lol: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al N. Posted June 3, 2008 Author Share Posted June 3, 2008 Al: A few of us have some questions about the zetec in Mr. Orange. Would you be willing to tell us about the HP, torque, throttlebodies, cams, headwork, dry sump, flywheel, ecu and other mods that gearheads care about? Rolla...like JBH says (and as detailed on the FS listing)...it's the Cat-USA "Supersport" set up. Which means hotter cams (Kent Focus 12, I think), milled head to bump compression, and TMW ITBs. No dry sump...(unless they hid the oil tank somewhere very clever). I have always assumed they used a Fidanza lightweight flywheel because I got some random spare parts in a Fidanaza box and the "in neutral, clutch out" gearbox rattle that I reported a while back (and which has been much discussed over on Blatchat) seems to be related to the use of a lightweight flywheel. ECU is Pectel T2 as supplied. Raceline Water Rail installed and Headers are Jet Hot coated. As for the HP and Torque, there is a dyno plot floating around here...though I had it done in 4th gear, and not 6th (to take advantage of the BGH gearbox being direct drive in 6th) so the numbers are lower than they should be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drew... Posted June 3, 2008 Share Posted June 3, 2008 I heard mention of an alternator going out at the track - I have had one go out at each of the two track days I have done. Have others experienced this with the SVT Zetec????? I've been told it is likely battery related and replaced the battery from the stock garden tractor battery to an Odyesey PC680, which works well for everyday but have not had it back for a track day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boxologist Posted June 3, 2008 Share Posted June 3, 2008 don't know the specifics but it seems as there was a elevated changing voltage coming from the alternator. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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