EOTR: Caterham Superlight R400K

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duncs500
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EOTR: Caterham Superlight R400K

Post by duncs500 »

For those few who are interested, here goes:

I've been in love with Caterhams pretty much since I got interested in performace cars, I was always blown away by the simplicty of them, the whole ethos of lightweight and proper set up as a means to deliver pure driving thrills. I still remember the first time I sat in one at a motorshow and feeling excited just sitting there stationary, I loved the way everything was geared towards driving and little else mattered. Then I did a Caterham drift day at Silverstone and coming out of it buzzing and knowing I had to own one.


So, after the foray into the Exige and a break from owning a decent car while I bought a house and got married I knew it was time to go for it. I felt I wanted a bit more PtWR than the Exige, but had in the back of my mind that the K-series has a bad rep in terms of HGF (at least from Elise circles), however I didn't think a Sigma engined car would be enough (without some very fancy mods) and Duratecs were out of budget. Having talked it through with a couple of knowledgeable folks it seemed that the K-series rep didn't translate in the same way to the front engined 7s as the mid engined Elise, and that HGF was actually quite rare. This idea brought the idea of R300K and R400K into play, although the R400Ks seemed hard to find. After a lot of searching and then a wanted ad on the owners club I came across a low mileage R400 that the owner seemed to be selling at a reasonable price. Quick test drive and I knew I had to have it, wouldn't have been my first choice of colour, but I still liked it and everything else about the car was top notch, with all the best options ticked from roller barrel throttle bodies to the dry sump.

The car really was a joy to drive, and I was super chuffed with it. The handling was so confidence inspiring, and given that it was a pretty high ptwr I was always surprised by how high the grip levels were. The engine I really think was pretty amazing too, certainly underrated by most, proper pops and bangs from the exhaust, the howl as you rose through the revs and then the kick as you got into the upper rev range, really noticeable, almost like a VTEC YO! I loved it, and I still remember the last time I took it out before it was sold, and firing up through the gears still made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

To this day, it remains the best handling and most exhilerating car I have ever driven and it didn't disappoint in that respect. The time spent chasing the lads around Scotland will stick in the memory for a long time, and the car was absolutely in its element on all but the real high speed stuff.

However, I guess the car did have some major downsides which although I knew about, probably still managed to take some of the shine of the experience. Once in the Highlands it was incredible, but on the long stints one has to spend getting from and to nice roads it was pretty hard work. Motorways were painful, particularly at night when I found that lorry lights basically ruled out all mirrors due the height you were sat at. It was noisy, buffety (the half hood did help with this), and generally uncivilised at any point where you weren't only focussed on thrilling driving! I got some noise cancelling earphones which helped a lot on long journeys otherwise I'm pretty sure I'd be deaf by now.

Although she won't admit it, the wife rarely wanted to go anywhere in it, which probably reduced the amount of use I got out of it too. It's just not one of those cars that you just jump in together and go away for the weekend (don't get me wrong, some do, but it takes effort). I just really found myself doing less and less miles in it.

Part of the reason I got it was to do more trackdays too, but many will remember the well documented reliability issues I had with it that put paid to my first trackday attempt. Second trackday the car was brilliant fun, but it took me so long to get over the misfire issues that I had with it that I was already falling out of love with it a bit. Even the second trackday I had noise issues, and I put on a decibel slayer which did work but then sapped a lot of power in combination with the airbox I'd put on it, it really did feel a shadow of what it can be despite still being great fun.

I did finally get to the bottom of all the issues with it, and they were so simple that I'm sure most of you with a few more skillz would have sorted it in a few hours and forgot about it. The issues were as simple as being brought on when the specialist did a coolant hose change, so to be fair to the car none of the reliability issues were of its doing, and nothing else really went wrong with it, so I think it is fair to say that the advice on the K-series being fine in Caterhams should still stand from my point of view.

As most will have seen, let it go cheap to a dealer as needed the money for a house move. I think most of the ownership negatives can be remedied, and at some point I had grand plans to do so... stuff like some proper noise cancelling intercom headsets for the wife and I, some padded seat covers, a wind deflector to make it a bit less of a brick on track, the list goes on, but iI guess in some way deep down I knew that it was time to move on. I may never have another one, or at least not for many years now. My garage situation was poor too, it's not very nice to have to lug tools to and from a remote garage away from the house to do bits and bobs, which didn't help. All these things kind of tarnished the experience a bit.

Is it a case of "don't meet your heroes?", not quite, I'm glad I owned it, and it was amazing but at the same time as the amount of miles I used it diminished, it made less and less sense for my motoring lifestyle.

Costs wise, I'm sure it can be a very cheap car to own if you have good facilities and the requisite skills, but I spent plenty of cash on servicing. Insurance was incredibly cheap though!

Oh, and also moving from Yoko A048 to Avon ZZS really did make the ride noticeably worse FWIW.

TL;DR: Amazing steer, but a bit flawed as an ownership prospect... pretty much as everyone would expect from such a car really!
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Coaster1
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Re: EOTR: Caterham Superlight R400K

Post by Coaster1 »

Good report Duncs.

Here’s a pretty picture
Image
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Jobbo
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Re: EOTR: Caterham Superlight R400K

Post by Jobbo »

I always thought a Caterham was a better toy than an Elise but that the Elise felt like a half century newer answer to the same question. So I doubt I’ll ever own a Caterham. Have done two track days in BaT hired ones (R300K and R400 Duratec) so I know how suited they are to that.

Still fancy building one of course!
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Re: EOTR: Caterham Superlight R400K

Post by mikeyb »

Nice write up Duncs. Any ideas/thoughts as to what you will get in the future? I imagine it will be a tough act to follow in respect of driving thrills.
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Re: EOTR: Caterham Superlight R400K

Post by speedingfine »

My missus was lusting after Volvo estates during last week's holiday in mine :lol:

When I ran my two as only cars in winter, the want for an LS400 or other luxobarge got far more intense :mrgreen:

On the right road in the right conditions they'll thrill like nothing else... But getting to that 1% of your time is a real effort. It's all about whether you think the drama and graft is worth getting to that 1%. Often it really isn't. I sold my SLR despite everyone's advice not to... and bought another because IMO nothing really thrills in the the same way (for the money!) Apart from a bike of course ;)
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mik
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Re: EOTR: Caterham Superlight R400K

Post by mik »

8-)

I always found this quite an intriguing wee beast. If I was having one - this would be the kinda spec I’d want.
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Mike1215
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Re: EOTR: Caterham Superlight R400K

Post by Mike1215 »

mik wrote: Mon Jul 08, 2019 11:01 pm 8-)

I always found this quite an intriguing wee beast. If I was having one - this would be the kinda spec I’d want.

It does look like a fun thing - the only similar thing I’ve driven is an Seight which was a bit mad. Probably a lot more finesse to your Caterham
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duncs500
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Re: EOTR: Caterham Superlight R400K

Post by duncs500 »

mikeyb wrote: Mon Jul 08, 2019 10:39 pm Nice write up Duncs. Any ideas/thoughts as to what you will get in the future? I imagine it will be a tough act to follow in respect of driving thrills.
Something either Lotus or Porsche shaped I reckon, car budget will be tricky for a little while though. Need to do better at work and earn more money! :)
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JonMad
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Re: EOTR: Caterham Superlight R400K

Post by JonMad »

Excellent write up Duncs. Shame to see it go, but I expect you'll be back in something suitably fun (though maybe marginally less extreme) in the near future.
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DaveE
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Re: EOTR: Caterham Superlight R400K

Post by DaveE »

Jobbo wrote: Mon Jul 08, 2019 10:24 pm Still fancy building one of course!
If you sold all your Lego, you could probably afford one ;)
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Re: EOTR: Caterham Superlight R400K

Post by Jobbo »

DaveE wrote: Tue Jul 09, 2019 8:52 am
Jobbo wrote: Mon Jul 08, 2019 10:24 pm Still fancy building one of course!
If you sold all your Lego, you could probably afford one ;)
If I sold all my Lego, I'd also have space in the garage for it :lol:
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Re: EOTR: Caterham Superlight R400K

Post by DaveE »

Jobbo wrote: Tue Jul 09, 2019 8:53 am
DaveE wrote: Tue Jul 09, 2019 8:52 am
Jobbo wrote: Mon Jul 08, 2019 10:24 pm Still fancy building one of course!
If you sold all your Lego, you could probably afford one ;)
If I sold all my Lego, I'd also have space in the garage for it :lol:
Win-win!

Do it :)
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Maurice
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Re: EOTR: Caterham Superlight R400K

Post by Maurice »

Sad to see it go, Duncs. Always thought it was a cracking looking thing.

8-)
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Re: EOTR: Caterham Superlight R400K

Post by Marv »

Was a proper machine Duncs 👍

I agree that the engine in it, is under-rated. Packs a decent punch and sounded glorious too!

I know it may be a while away, but when you eventually get its replacement, then it'll be time for a trip to Scotland again...
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Matty
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Re: EOTR: Caterham Superlight R400K

Post by Matty »

Nice 8-) K-Series are great engines, loved all of mine.

I'm always interested in how many people who own Caterhams would actually own another. I still have the itch, but your comments have pretty much reinforced my thoughts that I'm just better off sticking with Elises.
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Re: EOTR: Caterham Superlight R400K

Post by IanF »

Nice write up Duncs! Rubbish that you had to sell it, especially just before summer begins; but ownership does seem to have lost its shine a bit due remote garage and reliability issues.

Still, in a positive light, this just means you can now buy something else!...
Cheers,

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duncs500
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Re: EOTR: Caterham Superlight R400K

Post by duncs500 »

Matty wrote: Tue Jul 09, 2019 11:42 pm Nice 8-) K-Series are great engines, loved all of mine.

I'm always interested in how many people who own Caterhams would actually own another. I still have the itch, but your comments have pretty much reinforced my thoughts that I'm just better off sticking with Elises.
I guess it really depends on what most of your miles with the car will be. If you live near nice roads and/or enjoy hillclimbs or trackdays, it's probably about as good as it gets.

After Scotland I imagined that next time if I had a tow hook and a trailer I could just cruise up and then leave them somewhere to carry on in the 7. The thing is I just think you're always having to think of work arounds for its lesser qualities, which is probably part of the fun, but can also be a bit frustrating.

It would be an amazing third car. :D
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duncs500
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Re: EOTR: Caterham Superlight R400K

Post by duncs500 »

IanF wrote: Wed Jul 10, 2019 1:25 am
Still, in a positive light, this just means you can now buy something else!...
Unlikely for a while unfortunately, if we manage to get the house move sorted I have some stringent mortgage overpaying plans. However, my original plan was to not get the Caterham as early as I did... so my impatience may get the better of me!
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Re: EOTR: Caterham Superlight R400K

Post by Rich B »

duncs500 wrote: Wed Jul 10, 2019 6:47 am
IanF wrote: Wed Jul 10, 2019 1:25 am
Still, in a positive light, this just means you can now buy something else!...
Unlikely for a while unfortunately, if we manage to get the house move sorted I have some stringent mortgage overpaying plans. However, my original plan was to not get the Caterham as early as I did... so my impatience may get the better of me!
why didn’t you just get a shorter mortgage?! 😂

Well done with the house Duncs, you’ll be back in a fun car soon too!
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duncs500
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Re: EOTR: Caterham Superlight R400K

Post by duncs500 »

Rich B wrote: Wed Jul 10, 2019 7:22 am Well done with the house Duncs, you’ll be back in a fun car soon too!
Don't congratulate me on any house yet! Plenty of scope for it to go tits up still. :x
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