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The start of something really fun . . . .


jturrell

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It'll be several months before the car shows up (and probably a couple more months to build it), but until then I can torture myself by staring at this . . . it arrived a lot quicker than I would have expected.

 

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f394/jcturrell/Quaife_Sequential_Small.jpg

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Yup. It's the Quaife 60G. I went with the Helical version. My understanding is that the straight-cut gears may be stronger and provide better power transfer, but are really noisy. I'm not sure the extra strength or performance would mean much to me - I'm not a competitive racer or anything. The helical gears seemed like a good compromise.

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It was a bit pricey, but not quite that bad - even with all of the ancillaries and shipping. I made a few frugal decisions in other areas that allowed me to fit it into my budget. For example - I have no weather gear or windshield. I'll be building the car myself. I'll probably purchase a low mileage duratec from a salvage yard, rather than going the $3800 dealer route. (There are 2010 duratecs out there with less than 500 miles on them for under a grand. I suppose it's a risk, but I can make two or three big mistakes and still come out ahead.) In the end, the sequential was more important than a lot of other options for me.

Edited by jturrell
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... is that the straight-cut gears may be stronger and provide better power transfer, but are really noisy....

 

I've got a straight-cut Quaife in my car, really not all that noisy, given the exhaust and wind noises as well :-)

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It's not this one:

 

 

but rather this one:

 

http://www.quaife.co.uk/catalogue/products/qbe60g-0

 

Here's what it's going to go into: (when it arrives in a few months)

 

Caterham R400 (narrow chassis - Caterham blue w/ white stripe and noseband)

Lowered Floors

Dry Sump

Titan Plate-type LSD

Avon ZZR's w/ 13" Wheels

Track-day roll bar

Battery Master Switch

R500-style switchgear (Standard on UK R400's now, but an option for us in the States.)

R500 Tunnel Cover (has a slot for the sequential transmission instead of a "boot")

Aero Filler

Battery Master Switch

Stack Dash (not the race one w/ data logging - just the regular display)

Quick Ratio Steering Rack

 

I'll build most of the car myself, but will ask Jeff Sloan at British Auto (where I have purchased the kit) to build the engine. Engine internals are a bit out of my mechanical comfort zone.

 

Can't wait to get started. The next three months are going to be agonizingly slow.

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Yeah, very trick,

I was looking on their site and saw it at 5k to 6 k GBP ,so I figured door to door with current xrates it might be @ 9k to 10k USD;does anyone else you know have one?

 

I don't know anyone with this one, but I expect it to be somewhat similar to the Quaife sequential in my old Radical.

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If you haven't already ordered one, you may also want to order a drive shaft loop. The hoop from Caterham is a plate with a big hole in it.

 

I've heard a couple of people mention these, but can't find one on the Caterham parts site. Also, couldn't find mention of them on BlatChat or Pistonheads - but I know I've read posts about them before. I'm probably searching on the wrong term. Can anyone direct me to a specific part?

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Do you think a sequential is practical for everyday road use>?

Any pros and cons?

I have never driven one myself hence the questions?

By the way, is yours to be a track car?

 

I've never driven a car with a sequential transmission on a public road, so I'm not sure what it will be like. I don't know why it would be any less practical than a regular transmission - motorcycles don't seem to have any problems navigating public roads and they're all sequential.

 

My car will be registered for road use, but I'm not sure how much time it will spend there. The lack of a windshield will likely prevent any significant road trips. (You don't need a windshield to register a car in Texas.) I'm not sure how I feel about tooling around town in a helmet. We'll see. I might end up with a windshield later on down the line.

 

Since I won't be involved in any competitive racing, the main benefit is the fun factor. Banging through the gears with clutchless upshifts will put a very big smile on your face. All you have to do is lift off the throttle a bit. And while I wouldn't consider myself a particularly skilled driver, the sensation makes you feel like Michael Schumacher.

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Mine came with the car (R500), so I'm sure if you call Caterham USA they can order one for you.

 

Justin

drive shaft loop 001.jpg

drive shaft loop 002.jpg

Edited by sdca7
A few pictures of the Caterham drive shaft loop
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Do you think a sequential is practical for everyday road use>?

Any pros and cons?

 

Basically any dog box can be driven satisfactory on the street, be it a sequential on an H-pattern. The only mildly irritating part is the backlash in the dog clutches. When you get in "speed up-slow down" type traffic, you get lots of clunks an bumps as the engine takes up the slack on or off the throttle. IMHO, a pretty minor issue for a Seven type car.

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