Hi guys, it's been a little while now since I've posted anything about my Caterham so I thought I'd put together a little update from the last few years...
First of all - I broke it. The little 1.6 litre Rover K Series motor had long been running the factory 'Supersport' upgrade which consists of hotter cams and an ECU update. Part of the difference with the map on the ECU is to raise the rev limit (to take advantage of the cams), but the problem with doing that is the standard pistons really aren't happy bouncing up an down so quickly. Eventually they fail, and after a fairly spirited session at Silverstone (video here) I discovered I had one cylinder with much less compression than the rest.
Cue some light disassembly to discover a failed ringland on number 1. I pulled the engine out and took it all to bits and sulked for a while, until I got lucky and my engine builder had a slot in his schedule to get it all sorted. It was rebuilt with uprated cylinder liners, modified rods, forged pistons, some head work, and uprated valve springs and the like. The idea was to build a sensible spec to prevent issues with future use and upgrades. By this point it would have been making something like 135-140hp.
More images here
A few more months down the line and it was time for another full rebuild of the car (minus engine!), this time at the 80,000 mile mark. I ended up going further than usual and replaced virtually every single nut and bolt, as well as the usual fixing up and/or replacing of other components as necessary. Dampers were serviced, gearbox and diff were refreshed, and everything got thoroughly cleaned. I particularly enjoyed the process of reassembly using new hardware - almost like building a new car.
More images here
Once that was completed I visited some family on the south west coast of Ireland and put 1,269 miles on it. Some spectacular scenary and roads (and some dire ones too!) and great people. Not the best car for a road trip but quite an experience! I made a short video of the Healy Pass (video here) which was great fun to drive, and once again confirming my theory that a Caterham would make an awesome tarmac rally car!
More images here
On to 2017 and I decided it was time to begin exploiting the potential of the engine, so I set about upgrading the ECU, fitting throttle bodies, and getting it all mapped properly. This turned out to be a much simpler process than I expected and with the help of Northampton Motorsport the engine now produces 163hp. But, given the unfortunate situation with noise limits at race tracks, I have to run an airbox - and that brings the power down to 154hp. Still not too bad, and once you factor in the addition of wider and sticker tyres, the change in performance and character of the car is really great. It's got that wonderful old school BTCC induction noise and so much more grip it's just silly (especially on fresh tyres).
More images here
The next step was to scratch an itch I've had for quite a few years and fit some proper video data logging equipment. So I installed a Racelogic VBOX HD2 kit, including live dashboard read out (primarily used for lap delta on track), and hooked it up to the CAN bus output from the ECU so I could record as much as possible (as a software developer by day, data is sexy!). After a few integration challenges solved by some in-depth troubleshooting with Racelogic and Emerald (ECU manufacturer), I'm now logging all of the interesting engine params (engine speed, throttle position, coolant temp, intake temp, etc etc) as well as brake line pressure. Combined with the positional information of the car and the speed and so on, it all helps to build a clear picture of where time is won and lost and how I can improve - exactly what I wanted. You can also use it for recording performance data, like 0-60mph times - 4.23 seconds now - with graphs!
More images here
Finally, to celebrate 10 years with the car and give the data logging a proper test, I spent a long weekend doing track days at Brands Hatch and Silverstone. I set new personal bests at both and, thanks to the VBOX, discovered heaps more potential in the car. With a few more clear laps next time I'll be going even quicker. Brands Hatch was fun as it always is, although it did nearly go very wrong...
...but Silverstone was absolutely mega with that little bit of extra power. When you can see the delta getting bigger and bigger for most of the lap it's great but piles on the pressure!! Very entertaining though, and that's what it's all about.
I've got a couple of videos up from those two most recent track days and I've tried something new by adding a bit of commentary to them. Let me know what you think.
Brands:
Silverstone:
Cheers and thanks for reading
..Simon
First of all - I broke it. The little 1.6 litre Rover K Series motor had long been running the factory 'Supersport' upgrade which consists of hotter cams and an ECU update. Part of the difference with the map on the ECU is to raise the rev limit (to take advantage of the cams), but the problem with doing that is the standard pistons really aren't happy bouncing up an down so quickly. Eventually they fail, and after a fairly spirited session at Silverstone (video here) I discovered I had one cylinder with much less compression than the rest.
Cue some light disassembly to discover a failed ringland on number 1. I pulled the engine out and took it all to bits and sulked for a while, until I got lucky and my engine builder had a slot in his schedule to get it all sorted. It was rebuilt with uprated cylinder liners, modified rods, forged pistons, some head work, and uprated valve springs and the like. The idea was to build a sensible spec to prevent issues with future use and upgrades. By this point it would have been making something like 135-140hp.
More images here
A few more months down the line and it was time for another full rebuild of the car (minus engine!), this time at the 80,000 mile mark. I ended up going further than usual and replaced virtually every single nut and bolt, as well as the usual fixing up and/or replacing of other components as necessary. Dampers were serviced, gearbox and diff were refreshed, and everything got thoroughly cleaned. I particularly enjoyed the process of reassembly using new hardware - almost like building a new car.
More images here
Once that was completed I visited some family on the south west coast of Ireland and put 1,269 miles on it. Some spectacular scenary and roads (and some dire ones too!) and great people. Not the best car for a road trip but quite an experience! I made a short video of the Healy Pass (video here) which was great fun to drive, and once again confirming my theory that a Caterham would make an awesome tarmac rally car!
More images here
On to 2017 and I decided it was time to begin exploiting the potential of the engine, so I set about upgrading the ECU, fitting throttle bodies, and getting it all mapped properly. This turned out to be a much simpler process than I expected and with the help of Northampton Motorsport the engine now produces 163hp. But, given the unfortunate situation with noise limits at race tracks, I have to run an airbox - and that brings the power down to 154hp. Still not too bad, and once you factor in the addition of wider and sticker tyres, the change in performance and character of the car is really great. It's got that wonderful old school BTCC induction noise and so much more grip it's just silly (especially on fresh tyres).
More images here
The next step was to scratch an itch I've had for quite a few years and fit some proper video data logging equipment. So I installed a Racelogic VBOX HD2 kit, including live dashboard read out (primarily used for lap delta on track), and hooked it up to the CAN bus output from the ECU so I could record as much as possible (as a software developer by day, data is sexy!). After a few integration challenges solved by some in-depth troubleshooting with Racelogic and Emerald (ECU manufacturer), I'm now logging all of the interesting engine params (engine speed, throttle position, coolant temp, intake temp, etc etc) as well as brake line pressure. Combined with the positional information of the car and the speed and so on, it all helps to build a clear picture of where time is won and lost and how I can improve - exactly what I wanted. You can also use it for recording performance data, like 0-60mph times - 4.23 seconds now - with graphs!
More images here
Finally, to celebrate 10 years with the car and give the data logging a proper test, I spent a long weekend doing track days at Brands Hatch and Silverstone. I set new personal bests at both and, thanks to the VBOX, discovered heaps more potential in the car. With a few more clear laps next time I'll be going even quicker. Brands Hatch was fun as it always is, although it did nearly go very wrong...
...but Silverstone was absolutely mega with that little bit of extra power. When you can see the delta getting bigger and bigger for most of the lap it's great but piles on the pressure!! Very entertaining though, and that's what it's all about.
I've got a couple of videos up from those two most recent track days and I've tried something new by adding a bit of commentary to them. Let me know what you think.
Brands:
Silverstone:
Cheers and thanks for reading
..Simon
0-60 gets quoted between 2.9-3.2 sec for the Euro spec engine, not that the extra 5% of power will make a massive difference. Hopefully finished and good for the IVA in a couple months *cross-fingers*