Thursday 28 July 2016

New CR500's with Weights

Having a whale of a time at the Dunsfold Supercar Event didn't come cheap!  A by-product of having such a great time was a new pair of rear CR500 tyres were destroyed and there was a ton of mess underneath my arches - the car has been cleaned, but it needed new tyres too!
These were practically unused before the Dunsfold Supercar Event!
These were practically unused before the Dunsfold Supercar Event!
The front tyres were also on their way out, so I decided to order a full set of front and rear CR500's from the Caterham parts site, which I've had fitted today.

I weighed the tyres before I took them to the tyre fitters, so I just had to give the wheels a weigh in between they fitted the new tyres... I wanted to weigh the wheels before I got them repainted earlier this year, but totally forgot, so here goes....

Front AVON CR500 (175/55R13) weighed in at 6.3kg:-

Front AVON CR500 (175/55R13) weighed in at 6.3kg
Front AVON CR500 (175/55R13) weighed in at 6.3kg
With the bespoke painted 8 Spoke wheels weighing in at 4.4kg for the fronts
13 inch eight spoke Caterham front alloys weighed in at 4.4kg
13 inch eight spoke Caterham front alloys weighed in at 4.4kg
Giving the combined front end wheel and tyre weight of 10.7kg - (six inch front CR500's with 13" eight spoke wheels (per corner)).

Onto the rears... The rear AVON CR500 (205/55R13) weighed in at 7kg:-

Rear AVON CR500 (205/55R13) weighed in at 7kg
The rear AVON CR500 (205/55R13) weighed in at 7kg
 And the rear 13" by eight inch eight spoke Caterham alloys weighing 4.7kg
Rear thirteen by eight inch eight spoke Caterham alloys weighing 4.7kg
Rear thirteen by eight inch eight spoke Caterham alloys weighing 4.7kg
Which combined with the tyre gives a rear wheel and tyre weight of 11.7kg (per corner).

Total Wheel and Tyre Weight (CR500's on 8 spoke wheels)
So the total overall wheel and tyre weight for a Caterham on 13" eight spoke wheels (front's 6 inch wide, rears 8 inch wide) with CR500 tyres is 44.8kg - and that seems like a pretty heavy figure when every gram counts on a car as light as a Caterham.

ZZR Tyre Weights:-
I could've sworn I weighed my ZZR's a while back, but can't find the images, so when the car comes back from it's annual service I'll do a follow on post from this one.

ZZS Tyre Weights:-
This thread on blatchat pretty much backs up my CR500 weights, but also suggests the weights of the new CR500 replacement tyre the AVON ZZS are as follows:-
"A quick check in Tech Talk has resulted in the CR500 175/55/13 weighs 6.05kg (my weight 6.3kg) and 205/55/13 weighs 7.03kg (same as my weight) compared to 7.65kg and 8.8kg for the ZZS tyres respectively.

So by fitting the ZZS tyres front and rear it will potentially add 6.3kg to the overall vehicle's weight.

Anyway, the new set of CR500's are fitted, balanced, and nicely tucked onto their rack ready for refitting when my car comes back.
CR500's are fitted, balanced, and nicely tucked onto their rack ready for refitting
CR500's are fitted, balanced, and nicely tucked onto their rack ready for refitting

Monday 25 July 2016

Annual Service Collection

I'd been speaking to Simon Lambert recently about the new BETA version of the build manual and a few other things, and thought it best to deal with him direct to organise my annual service.

Ian arrived as usual, with his friendly smile, Caterham branded van and took my car back to the Factory this morning.
Ian loading the R500 onto the Caterham lorry to take it back for annual servicing
Ian loading the R500 onto the Caterham lorry to take it back for annual servicing
With the garage now empty for a while, and a holiday coming up soon; I've a few things to get sorted... And one of those is getting my new CR500's fitted - that reminds me, I best go load them into the car....

Sunday 24 July 2016

Donington Park Track Day - With Videos

A couple of weeks ago (Friday 8th July to be precise), the opportunity arose for an end of the week track day at Donington Park organised with Javelin events.  The weather looked great, I booked the day off work, and checked out the noise limits which was set at 98db drive by, which I thought would be easy, but just incase I swapped over to the RaceCo exhaust and packed the carbon airbox.

A two hour drive up in the morning, followed by the usual briefing and bacon sarnie and it was onto the sighting laps.

Sighting laps out of the way it was time to go out and give it the beans :-)  Slight problem... The 98db drive -by noise limit at Donington is a single strike system, so if you go over the noise limit you're black flagged and finished for the day unless you can show you've made a physical modification to your car to reduce the noise output.  
First few laps with Pipercross air filter before getting black flagged for noise.
First few laps with Pipercross air filter before getting black flagged for noise.
Within two laps I was pulled in for noise - at 101.8db drive by which the marshall said was pretty high!  So on it was with the Carbon Airbox, and I was back out again for a few 'ginger' laps... being cautious not to ruin my day by getting black flagged for a second time.
Out for a few 'ginger' laps with the Carbon Airbox fitted.
Out for a few 'ginger' laps with the Carbon Airbox fitted.
 Even though I was being a little cautious with the loud pedal I still had a bit of fun with an Ariel Atom for a few laps, video below:-

We finished for an hours lunch around 12:30, and I got talking to a current Caterham Academy Driver 'Eric Tiv'... He gave me a lot of info about the Academy and basically backed up everything a number of other (mainly Caterham) people have told me already about the Academy... Along the lines of "It's the best thing I've ever done, and I should've done it sooner"  That left me thinking....  Anyway... We wrapped up lunch and then it was off for the afternoons action.

A 1:21.100 lap time, clean lap (with a bit of traffic in the middle of the lap):-

And then onto what I think was my quickest time of the day, a 1:18.417, but... there's a huge fly splat in the middle of the screen which is annoying - so apologies about that!:-

All in all it was another great and enjoyable track day!  Thank you Caterham for developing such a weapon! :-)

Thursday 21 July 2016

New BETA Version of Build Manual Available to Download

A little birdie told me that there's a beta version of the new build manual that Caterham Cars have been working on (for quite some time I believe), for evaluation on the Caterham site once you're logged in.  See screen shot below (once logged in)

BETA Caterham Build Manual available for download - will make build ALOT easier!
For those of you that don't have a log in for the Caterham site, if you click this download link their new build manual should download in a new window.

It looks like what I thought they should've done quite some time ago, and a very welcome change... It was something Simon Lambert predominatnly has been pushing for and I think it looks great and will save alot of headaches for both builders and aftersales too! 

Perhaps I should buy a new car to try it out... Hmmm, how full is the Academy next year?!

I think it looks great, but would love to see any feedback and comments on the comment section below.

Wednesday 13 July 2016

Dunsfold Pictures by George F Williams

This one is a bit of a follow on post from The Supercar Event at Dunsfold...  However, a few weeks ago I noticed a post on the lotus 7 forum, from a 'new owner' who put together a substantial write up with some very nice pictures too...

What is the point of me telling you about the above, well the chaps' name is George F Willams (who now owns a Sigma 150 Caterham) and is a car photographer by trade... a very talented photographer by the looks of his work too.  So I dropped him a mail, and we arranged to meet at some point in the future for a 'photoshoot' of our cars...  

Turns out I noticed his name on the attendance list at Dunsfold, said hi, and asked nicely for a couple of 'taster' shots... So here they are, and there's something about them that I really like... Certainly the definition and tone to the images.
Frontal view of my Caterham R500 at the Supercar Event, Dunsfold - Picture taken by George F Williams
Frontal view of my Caterham R500 at the Supercar Event, Dunsfold - Picture taken by George F Williams
Sideways action in my Caterham R500 at the Supercar Event, Dunsfold - Picture taken by George F Williams
Sideways action in my Caterham R500 at the Supercar Event, Dunsfold - Picture taken by George F Williams
Lighting up the rears in my Caterham R500 at the Supercar Event, Dunsfold - Picture taken by George F Williams
Lighting up the rears in my Caterham R500 at the Supercar Event, Dunsfold - Picture taken by George F Williams
George and I should be meeting up in the next couple of weeks for the 'real deal' picture set, so I'm really keen to see what we (well he!) can come up with.

In the meantime you can view some of George's excellent work on his website at http://gfwilliams.net

Friday 8 July 2016

Dunsfold Supercar Event - The Clean Up

The Clean Up Operation
Naturally when you have a lot of 'fun' there's always plenty of cleaning up to do afterwards...  Having spent a day at the Dunsfold Supercar Event and having picked up a stray cone with the front end there was lots of cleaning to do!  As I'm such a polisher, and the 'cone collection' was at low speed there wasn't any damage to the car apart from a scuff.
Cone collection wasn't part of the agenda!
Cone collection wasn't part of the agenda!
The cone left a bit of scuffing on the near-side front of the car, which I thought could be permanent...
Scuff marks on near-side front of car due to cone abuse :-)
Scuff marks on near-side front of car due to cone abuse :-)
For those of you who have followed my blog in detail you'll probably assume I've got stacks of car cleaning products, and yes I do - for this job AutoGlym Intensive Tar Remover worked a treat!  As you can see below, a couple of minutes of elbow grease and the scuff marks were removed - phew!
AutoGlym Intensive Tar Remover worked a treat at removing cone scuffs
AutoGlym Intensive Tar Remover worked a treat at removing cone scuffs
This is what was left of a practically new set of AVON CR500 rear tyres after the event...  With the front's also on their way out a new set was ordered earlier on this week.
Used and abused AVON CR500 rear tyres
Used and abused AVON CR500 rear tyres
It doesn't take a miracle worker to figure out where all the rubber from the rear tyres went... Plenty on the tarmac, some up in smoke and a sh1t load underneath my arches... 
Underneath rear arches were caked in molten tyre rubber
Underneath rear arches were caked in molten tyre rubber
Seeing as the tyre rubber was in some hard to reach areas, around the watts link arms, suspension springs and so on, I thought it best to remove both wheel arches to get good access.  The picture below shows the amount of muck I had to deal with.
Rear wheel arches removed revealed just how much muck required cleaning off!
Rear wheel arches removed revealed just how much muck required cleaning off!
A quick rustle around in my 'cleaning products box' and the Meguiars 'All Purpose Cleaner' seemed the best product to use... I had it fairly well diluted, wetted all the grime, sprayed the cleaner on, left it for a couple of minutes and took the picture below - you can see it getting to work.
Meguiars All Purpose Cleaner getting to work on all the grime and rubber
Meguiars All Purpose Cleaner getting to work on all the grime and rubber
Using a fairly soft bristled brush, I got into all the hard to reach areas, rinsed and dried the area and any final remaining bits of rubber/tar were removed with the AutoGlym Intensive Tar Remover product and the end result looked pretty much like new.
All dirt, grime, rubber and tar removed and looking pretty much like new again.
All dirt, grime, rubber and tar removed and looking pretty much like new again.
The underside of the wheel arches also needed a good clean, so whilst they were removed I removed all the debris, and gave the edge and inside of the arches a thorough clean.
Underside and edges of arches also needed a thorough clean.
Underside and edges of arches also needed a thorough clean.
Now that the wheel arches were also cleaned, it was time to put everything back together and as you can see from the picture below it all looks mint again - happy days!
Wheel arches refitted and everything looking in great order again.
Wheel arches refitted and everything looking in great order again.
The rest of the car was also meticulously cleaned, and I've put on the ZZR tyres (as the CR500's are dead) and seeing as the ZZR's are on - I was left thinking 'why not waste the opportunity of another good bit of weather?'... so I've booked up a track day at Donington Park for tomorrow.  Cool...!
All ready to go for some more track action at Donington Park tomorrow!
All ready to go for some more track action at Donington Park tomorrow!
Not having been to Donington Park before (with the R500) I've decided to fit the RaceCo exhaust, and will take the carbon airbox just to ensure I don't get any noise issues - the limit there for this track day is 98db (drive-by), so I should be fine, but it's a long way to drive to be 'black flagged' for noise!

Naturally all fluids, pressures, suspension settings and bolts have been given a check over and I'm looking forward to more track action tomorrow!  Awesome.

Thursday 7 July 2016

The Supercar Event at Dunsfold

What is Seven ownership all about?!?  Meeting up with some mates (Tom yellow car, Andy holding the camera) and going sideways for an entire Saturday, burning through AVON CR500 tyres like they're going out of fashion!
What owning a Seven is all about - having a blast with your mates and going siiiiddeeewaaayyys!
What owning a Seven is all about - having a blast with your mates and going siiiiddeeewaaayyys!
There was a genuine 'good cause' for all of this sideways madness - the event were we at was 'The Supercar Event' at Dunsfold which is held over two days with all proceeds being given to The Childrens Trust charity.... We (Tom, Andy and I) only attended on the Saturday, but we had epic fun!

The Caterham part of the event was organised by Neil Kaemena and crew with spaces for around ten cars on both the Saturday and Sunday... We arrived about 8:30am for the safety briefing and had an hour or so without passengers to get a feel for the grip levels (which were high!) and to try and get the cars setup as best as possible for minimum rear end grip.
The cars ready for action first thing
The cars ready for action first thing
The charge for a ride in the Caterhams was £20, and for that the passengers got a good four or five minute blast... Which consisted of donuts, some tire smoking, accelerating, more donuts and more tire smoking... With all the noise, smoke and shenanigans we were making the queue for tickets began to build up quite quickly.
The queue for tickets began to build up quite quickly.
The queue for tickets began to build up quite quickly.
A group of volunteers would assist the paying passengers into the next ready car, picture below is of me helping a suitably unsuspecting passenger into their seat!

Helping a suitably unsuspecting passenger into the seat.
Helping a suitably unsuspecting passenger into the seat.
I put together a video using some different angles and so on... There's a thirty seven second donut, some nice 11's being laid and general hooning about, so I hope you enjoy it - if you do, please like / thumbs up :-)

Everyone was grinning from ear to ear after their experiences -  (as you can see from the picture below).  Over the course of the weekend in excess of four hundred  tickets were sold, which at £20 a time is over £8,000 raised for Charity - which goes straight to The Childrens Trust and was a record for both days.
Another happy passenger!
Another happy passenger!
Dave Clarke from the Lotus7 group put together this great collection of pictures and video clips from the entire weekends' action, which I thought I'd share too:-


Wednesday 6 July 2016

Welcome Back from Caterham Airways

Due to various 'commitments' and the utter dire summer we've been having, I've not had a chance to drive the car or written any blog posts, but... I'm back.... I've once again been spending a small fortune looking for new things to buy to either make the car lighter or just so I can blog about them! So.... theres plenty of stuff I've been working on, and will be posting updates soon...

In the meantime I thought I'd share this awesome video from Caterham Cars, which summarises owning a Seven and taking a passenger for a ride - to perfection! :-)