New track toy :)

Diddums said:
About the same lifespan as a set of tyres then :p
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A couple of track days a month can see even soft track tyres lasting 3-6 months apparently... the wonders of light things :D

acemastr said:
Those tires are toast lol, 1 too many heat cycles it seems
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That could be a good thing :o Learn it with less grip, means you can go faster on fresh rubber :D

MooMoo444 said:
Didn't know these could be road legal. I bet it's fun zipping away from traffic lights in one of these
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I've seen quite a few on the roads.

Gaygle said:
No?

But being able to finance a second £28,000 car which is literally just for the track made me think the OP had a fair amount of disposable cash.
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It's not bad really... £2500 deposit and £590/month - we'll likely pay it off early.

Made cheaper because I'm going 50/50 with a friend...

Maintenance is also rather cheap on these... even with relatively heavy track use, it's 2-4 sets of tyres per year, 1 oil change every 3 track days which I'll do myself & 1 set of brake pads per year. These are estimates I've been quoted by Caterham at least.

Other recommendations are 1 full service from Caterham / someone who knows what they're doing per year + a "flat floor" weighted geo per year.
 
Scares me just looking at them!

Always craved something like this, well a caterham, but I'd be happy with a kit car replica. Enjoy :)
 
thezappa said:
That rather scarily makes it look quite affordable...could never justify it though.
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A bit OT, but surely part of "affording" something is being able to justify it? I don't know *many* people who'd be able to "afford" to drop a £2.5k deposit and £600pm (or even £300pm) to buy a track car which they'll only use a handful of times a year, and those that can normally have a bit of money under them!

I physically have the money to pay £600pm/£2.5k deposit, but I sure as hell couldn't justify it, which means I can't afford it. If I earned £100k a year, then I'd have the physical money AND be likely to be able to justify it, which to me means I could "afford it".
 
Gaygle said:
A bit OT, but surely part of "affording" something is being able to justify it? I don't know *many* people who'd be able to "afford" to drop a £2.5k deposit and £600pm (or even £300pm) to buy a track car which they'll only use a handful of times a year, and those that can normally have a bit of money under them!

I physically have the money to pay £600pm/£2.5k deposit, but I sure as hell couldn't justify it, which means I can't afford it. If I earned £100k a year, then I'd have the physical money AND be likely to be able to justify it, which to me means I could "afford it".
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Don't be that guy.
 
Gaygle said:
A bit OT, but surely part of "affording" something is being able to justify it? I don't know *many* people who'd be able to "afford" to drop a £2.5k deposit and £600pm (or even £300pm) to buy a track car which they'll only use a handful of times a year, and those that can normally have a bit of money under them!

I physically have the money to pay £600pm/£2.5k deposit, but I sure as hell couldn't justify it, which means I can't afford it. If I earned £100k a year, then I'd have the physical money AND be likely to be able to justify it, which to me means I could "afford it".
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True, that's why he's gone halves with a friend I guess.

I imagine it won't lose much value and running costs are low so it's probably quite a cheap option if your doing a lot of track days.

Diff priorities too. He has said he isn't a home owner either
 
Caterhams are brilliant buys because the depreciation is so low, almost non-existent in fact, so as long as you can comfortably afford to keep up the monthly payments you've always got an asset that's going to hold on to most of its value. If you needed to free up some cash you can sell up without being out of pocket, and you get to enjoy one of the greatest driving cars around in the meantime.
 
crinkleshoes said:
Maintenance is also rather cheap on these... even with relatively heavy track use, it's 2-4 sets of tyres per year, 1 oil change every 3 track days which I'll do myself & 1 set of brake pads per year. These are estimates I've been quoted by Caterham at least.

Other recommendations are 1 full service from Caterham / someone who knows what they're doing per year + a "flat floor" weighted geo per year.
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That is the fantastic thing with cars of this type. You pay what is considered quite a lot initially but servicing and keeping it in tip top condition is cheap as chips. 15" tyres <100 a corner. Milk bottle brakes as that's all you need. Simple N/A engine etc etc. Fuel Economy as funny as that sounds but when hammering around on track it can get quite pricey. I can quite easily go through two 70 litre tanks in a day.
 
Diddums said:
That is indeed a hell of a lot cheaper than I thought.
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Yup... plus they hold their value really well, so in 3 years it'll still be worth over £20k.

Gaygle said:
A bit OT, but surely part of "affording" something is being able to justify it? I don't know *many* people who'd be able to "afford" to drop a £2.5k deposit and £600pm (or even £300pm) to buy a track car which they'll only use a handful of times a year, and those that can normally have a bit of money under them!

I physically have the money to pay £600pm/£2.5k deposit, but I sure as hell couldn't justify it, which means I can't afford it. If I earned £100k a year, then I'd have the physical money AND be likely to be able to justify it, which to me means I could "afford it".
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Different people have different levels they can justify things depending upon their passions too... 1-2 track days a month is high on my list of priorities but doing it in the Porsche would be absurdly expensive in tyres and brakes mostly. The brakes seem to fall apart wayyyy too quickly with moderate track use and I would have to replace the pads every 2-3 track days from the wear rate I've seen so far.

At least with something like this Caterham - despite the initial outlay - the expense of taking it to track regularly is pleasantly low. Less than quite a few performance cars when it comes to normal road use even.

Simon said:
True, that's why he's gone halves with a friend I guess.

I imagine it won't lose much value and running costs are low so it's probably quite a cheap option if your doing a lot of track days.

Diff priorities too. He has said he isn't a home owner either
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Exactly :) Plus we're both still rather new to track racing & it's a good way to learn in a quick car. In a year or two we both want to get into the Radical SR1 entry series and then progress up to some other things.

[TW]Fox said:
View reserved until he actually gets it given this is the 9th new car thread and all of the others fell through :p
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Deposit's paid and finance is confirmed with Prestige - it's happening ;)

adam cool dude said:
That is the fantastic thing with cars of this type. You pay what is considered quite a lot initially but servicing and keeping it in tip top condition is cheap as chips. 15" tyres <100 a corner. Milk bottle brakes as that's all you need. Simple N/A engine etc etc. Fuel Economy as funny as that sounds but when hammering around on track it can get quite pricey. I can quite easily go through two 70 litre tanks in a day.
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Yeah the newer Ford engines are so reliable, as long as you warm them up properly and don't over-rev on a downshift, they last very well. Much better than the older 1.8 R500s.
 
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