"the Mr. Potato Head of cars"

[solder_guy]

These cars are often called the Mr. Potato Head of cars. You plug in the pieces you want to create the car you want! She can be a tourer, street racer, autocrosser or racer.

 

:skep: Car & Driver Seven

 

The cockpit is comically cramped, and the seating position seems low enough to file off your tailbone ...

:lol:

 

Rob

 

[jturrell]

What specifically makes a Caterham a Superlight? The reason I ask is that the car was described as a Clubsport in the Car and Driver article.

 

http://www.caranddriver.com/features/all/2004/the_longest_night_of_thunderhill_sport

 

Are there any chassis differences between a Clubsport and a Superlight?

[yellowss7]

Superlight and Superlight R were models of the Caterham, in UK trim the Superlight was a 1.6L RoverK with around 138 hp, and the superlight R was a 1.8L Modded to around 190-200 HP.

 

Superlights and Superlight R's came with a numbered plaque as well.

 

Specs inclueded, carbon dash,nosecone,wings. Widetrack suspension, uprated front brakes, adjustable springs. etc

 

Most had the 6speed and the LSD as well. Everything else was a option, Windscreen,wipers,carpets,heater, paint,etc. as they all had 'Weight"

 

Roadsports were around 138-148 hp if I recall correctly.

 

US speced Superlight R's had the 200hp Zetec motors.

 

Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. Mine's Superlight #123 But I added the 1.8L Roverk tuned to the VHPD level of 196bhp. Tom

 

Edit: No chassis difference, all but the classic had deDion rears.

[Al N.]

Based on Orange, which is now under the custody of Morgan S, US Superlights were an odd amalgam of UK "R" specs.

 

As Tom notes, they had the Zetec, with approximately R400 power-to-weight ratios.

 

They had the full carbon pack...all fenders, nose, and dash...pretty sure only the r500 had carbon at all four corners in the UK. My old car had carbon sills too.

 

But alas, where the r500 had the stack digital dash...that was NOT standard on US Superlights. I know of at least one that had this upgrade...that black one that Britauto had a while back....5 speed tranny, though.

 

The 6-speed is bonkers, btw. Unless you are heavy into touring...then you'll tire of the whine in 6th gear on the freeway.

---

 

The Clubsport did not have carbon anywhere, IIRC.

[athens7]

A nice car with lots of options. Certainly a steal at the current bid, but probably a long way from the reserve. It's also a 2003, not a 2004. The 10th digit of the VIN is the year of the chassis: Y for 2000, 1 for 2001, 2 for 2002, 3 for 2003, and so on. Some states may give you the year of assembly as the year of the car, but most will title it by the chassis VIN.

[JBH]

I really like this car, but it really is for someone that will track it on a regular basis and knows something about tuning shocks. Penskes are pretty much top of the line for 2 way adjustables. The problem with this auction is the table of features on the left - are those spare parts? If I didn't own a SLR, I would bid on this one.

 

The 6-speed is bonkers, btw. Unless you are heavy into touring...then you'll tire of the whine in 6th gear on the freeway.

 

The 6-speed gearbox is close ratio, again much more applicable to track than street driving. On the street, I typically short shift fourth to sixth. The car is running around 3400 rpm at 60 mph and close to redline at 128 mph. I wish the sixth gear was a little taller, but Caterham tells me that is not an option. Even changing out the rear end is not straightforward. Too bad.

[jturrell]

Here's a link to a previous "for sale" listing on this car. I confirmed with the seller that this is the same car. It looks like it may have been converted to a Superlight, but started life as a Clubsport. There doesn't appear to be any Superlight badging (or carbon fiber) on the original car. This is consistent with the Car and Driver description as a Clubsport.

 

http://www.uscaterham.com/racecarad.html

[Kitcat]

It should be a $40+K car. Just needs the FIA roll-over bar for the track. The color combo does nothing for me tho.

 

At 4300 rpm at 75 mph, driving it to the track would be noisy/buzzy. My 5 speed Crossflow spins at about 3800 at 75, my typical cruising speed on the Interstate.

[slngsht]

It should be a $40+K car. Just needs the FIA roll-over bar for the track. The color combo does nothing for me tho.

 

At 4300 rpm at 75 mph, driving it to the track would be noisy/buzzy. My 5 speed Crossflow spins at about 3800 at 75, my typical cruising speed on the Interstate.

 

I get the same reaction from Scott L, who has the 6 speed combo. We have traveled together on numerous occasions on long cruises, and he says going over 70 gets old quickly. My lowly V8 lumbers along at 1700 rpm in 6th gear at 70

[supersportsp]

What would concern me about this car is the fact that it has had a pretty active life so far. Of the 2800 miles on the car, 1766 of those came in the Thunder Hill 25 race, plus you figure in practice, set-up etc. probably closer to 1900 miles just from that race alone. Your pretty much buying a race car here and its current spec indicates it has been continued to be run hard. I love the spec, I just wonder about rebuild needs on the motor and other wearables. A 25 hour endurance race is no small feat.

[11Budlite]

"My lowly V8 lumbers along at 1700 rpm in 6th gear at 70" - Probably getting better gas mileage as well!! I think Caterham really missed an opportunity with the 6-speed. They could have had the first five gears nice and close for track work/spirited driving and had the 6th gear a nice tall cruising gear just to reduce the noise/stress on the highway. I really don't think they would have lost much of the sporting character of the car, especially with the Zetec and Duratec motors. I just calculated my speed at 3500 rpm in 5th and came out to 73.7 mph (.84 5th gear, 3.9:1 rear end, with 205/50-15 tires). Even with my mild Zetec I know that it would have no problem pulling a taller 5th gear. Here's a link to a nice gear calculator that I've used in the past: http://www.our-nest.co.uk/Caterham/html_files/Files.htm

 

Bruce :7drive:

[supersportsp]

Sold at $40k. Wow. I am surprised it got this high. By looking at the bidding, it appears it didn't hit reserve until close to the final selling price.

[sdca7]

Yes, I think reserve was exactly $40,000. Seems to me, though, that someone got a good deal. It had a lot of CF extras, remote reservoir Penske's adjustable from the driver's seat, two pairs of wheels/tires with different size fenders to go with each, and a decent drivetrain. I've got well more than $40k in mine now, and I still have a ways to go before it's that nice.

 

Justin

 

 

[supersportsp]

Yes, I think reserve was exactly $40,000. Seems to me, though, that someone got a good deal. It had a lot of CF extras, remote reservoir Penske's adjustable from the driver's seat, two pairs of wheels/tires with different size fenders to go with each, and a decent drivetrain. I've got well more than $40k in mine now, and I still have a ways to go before it's that nice.

 

Justin

 

Yes, but for every dollar you spend on mods, you are lucky to get 1/3rd of them back upon resale of the car. And often, the more modifications, the greater the resale loss over a relatively stock vehicle. Se7ens are definitely more unique in this area and don't take a hit like say a lightly modded Camry would, but you still have to factor this in. I have yet to see anything in this genre sell as quickly or easily as a nice, relatively low spec DeDion Caterham.

[JBH]

As someone mentioned, despite all the extras, one has to wonder about the mechanical condition of the engine and drivetrain after being thrashed for the 25 hours. If this car just had road miles, it might have sold for even more.

 

I hope the buyer had a pre-purchase inspection before placing the final bid.