Caterham Roadsport

[Gooldie]

Been thinking again at possibly (and its only a possibility) of getting something fun for summer road trips and occasional track fun. The evora is fantastic and will be staying and the girlfriend uses it ever day for work and is great for weekends away etc. However i am missing something as fun and impractical as the exige was, and the evora is too good to take on track

Initial idea was an S1 or S2 Elise however for similar money as a nice S2 i could get a nice Caterham Roadsport such as this

http://www.caterham.co.uk/assets/html/p ... tml?ID=510

Trying to weigh up practicality, performance, fun , usability of something like this compared to a £15k elise.

I know many on here have owned both Elise's and Caterham's and would love to know there thoughts

[renmure]

I will get in early before all the sensible advice comes along from folk who aren't wusses

I had a westfield megablade a few years ago because I fancied something that would be good fun and a bit impractical. Didn't take long for me to realise that a bike-engined, aero-screened seven-esq kit car meant the impracticality began to outweigh the fun because it was always impractical. Recently I had a Caterham R300 on the basis that it would be fun but less impractical than a megablade (it had a windscreen) but even so, everything was always all about the car.. which is great, but no less impractical.

Like I say, it is more than likely that if you are a bit more "hardcore" than me then a Caterham will be the best fun car since, err.. sliced bread, but an elise will give a high percentage of that fun with enough practicality to make it more suitable for some (ok, me)

Anyhow.. now that is out the way I am sure all the good advice to go get one will follow.

[jason]

Very difficult question to answer for someone else...

Both have advantages and disadvantages besides the obvious ones. Driving a Caterham is more of an event, in terms of involvement, rawness and 'unusualness'. Most versions/examples are 'better' on track too. But some of that eventfulness can also be a negative for road use - the Elise is certainly a better road car in nearly every sense.

I owned a Caterham Superlight for several years running windscreen or aeroscreen - it's use included trackdays, autotests, sprint events and two 3000+ mile two-up camping blats around the Alps. I also owned an Elise S which saw one 3000+ mile Alps camping blat (a locked boot brings certain reassurances on such a trip too). I know which one I'd want again if track was my primary agenda, and which I'd want again if road blats and (at other times) relaxed touring pleasure was my primary agenda.

But you'll never know until you get one for yourself, and that's the only way to get your answer

[sendmyusername]

I can't really say about the caterham, but i had an s1 elise for a year which i put 20,000mls on (hell of a year)
Then bought an exige. Thought it would be more of the same - it's a better car - better suspension, better acceleratio , better brakes, better soundproofing etc... But i have averaged about 5,000mls a year, and it just hasn't captured my soul in the way the wee elise did.
Climbing into an S1 is like climbing into the cockpit of an old fighter plane - it's an event in itself. Every single time i drove it, i had a stupid grin on my face (just for the record i usually have a stupid grin on my face most of the time anyway)
I got so much fun from it, and the fact i did 20,000mls in it, in a single year, shows that it was at least a little practical.
The exige is just a car, it's too like a normal real car.
But the elise is the perfect bridge between them.
It's not as fast, it's not as reliable, it's not even waterproof.
But all the fun, plus good enough for everyday use.

P.s. I'm saying i'd chose the s1elise.
Currently trying to sell the exige in time to get a S1 for the summer...

[Dominic]

I know you have spent some time in S1s in the past, but you are welcome to a wee shottie of mine if you wish.

[ChrisG]

I'm lucky enough to have had a couple of Caterhams as well as an S2 Elise.

Jason hits the nail on the head. If the primary use will be track days and short back road blasts the Caterham is the choice. If its more of a weekend away toy for two of you the you'll need to be pretty committed with a Caterham, making the Elise a more useable choice.

[David]

[Lazydonkey]

I really really wanted a caterham....up until the point VXJON got one and i was lucky enough to use it now and again.

Now you could say his spec wasn't optimum but for me the issues were firmly centred around the fact i didn't have the balls to drive it hard enough on track to make up for the negatives it produced on the road. Having been a pax in the toxic frog last year i can absolutely see the benefits of the caterham on track but, for me (two, three trackdays a year and 5k of fun road stuff) the elise / exige / vx is a better bet.

[rossybee]

I've had two caterhams and loved the more extreme nature of the most recent, an R400 on aeros.

I loved it for long road trips (a week to le mans without windscreen roof or doors wasn't an issue) as well as trackdays (usually about four per year), as with the correct clothing the lack of weather protection wasn't an issue for me, and actually added to the sense of occasion every time I jumped in.

But then my sanity has been questioned in the past so what do I know

To add - buy any superlight model at the right money and you'll not lose out financially

[rossybee]

Oh and I've never owned any Elise or any of its variants so the above view is maybe a little biased

[point n squirt]

I,ve been looking at westfeild or similar lately trying to kid myself i can find something cheap and fun i will be aloud to have whilst having a 10 month old anyway looking on both wastfield / caterham sites can someone explain the massive price differance between similar models on both new and used.

[Digital]

I'd say you should only really consider a Caterham as a toy, they're so compromised that even an Elise/Exige offers a lot more usability. If you're happy to accept them for what they are though, a Caterham is a huge amount of fun

Even a 120bhp car is still a lot of fun - mine was bought to do hillclimbs and sprints with and it's a bit too compromised to use for long on the road, but it's still a great way to blow away some cobwebs

With a 15K budget you should be able to pick up a nice car, Pistonheads seems a bit quiet at the moment but there's usually a decent selection on there. Just make sure you fit in OK - I've still to master the art of getting in and out, and I'm only about 5'8!

[Gooldie]

Some good advice thank you, I was actually expecting people to say caterham was miles better, faster more fun etc. not going to rush into this one like I have done with certain other cars. Not going to rule out an elise so will keep an eye out if anything interesting pops up.

Have a road trip planned with friends for 1st weekend in May and plan is to go up to Tongue for the Saturday night. So have contacted open road hire in Elgin and the plan is to hire a Caterham for the 2 days to get a feel for them, hopefully that should give a better idea if it is right for me.

[Chucks]

I was actually expecting people to say caterham was miles better, faster more fun etc.

Given you where you asked the question, the replies were somewhat predictable.

If it's going to be primarily a toy, the advantages of an Elise are minimal when you think about it.
Better security? Granted, but don't leave anything in the car when it's parked up & you'll be fine.
Better weather protection? Yes, but a Seven can still provide adequate protection with either a half or full hood along with a little more thought towards clothing.
More comfort? A little perhaps but a Seven is a perfectably comfortable place to be even for long drives & touring if necessary.

Remember the original Seven was designed to be a car that could be your daily driver & still compete in club races at the weekends. That still holds true but requires a bit more of an attitude shift from those used to modern comforts. Thats a step too far for many, hence the amount of them in the classifieds for sale due to "lack of use" & the comments that the cars aren't usable or practical enough.

People manage to use bikes for touring, commuting, trackdays & general hooning so why Sevens are allegedly too impractical for the same purposes is something of a mystery to me.

Of course I'm biased anyway but felt it necessary to play devil's advocate from the general consensus of the thread. If you've got something sensible in the garage for the daily grind, there's no competing with a Seven as a fun car.

[rossybee]

Well put Charlie

As I kind of said, it's all to do with mindset, and appropriate clothing

Damn, I might just go for #3