Upgrade options

[pug7]

Quick question for the blat chat options. Got a 125hp sigma at the minute and fancying a bit more ummpppfff options below

 

1 Caterham 140hp mod about 2000£

2 premier power 150hp about 4500

3 premier power 175 up about 5500

4 any other option I'm not aware of

 

I'd like option 3 finances say option 1, option 2 seems a lot when the Caterham option is similar but much less. Are there any other tweak options or what would blat chatters do?

[myothercarsa2cv]

What does the PP kit contain? Looking at the price difference between the 150 and 175 options, I'd guess it contains most stuff needed for the next upgrade. If you wanted to upgrade to the 175 from the 150, it would likely be a lot cheaper than going from the CC 140. But if you're going for the 150, you might as well stretch a little and go for 175

 

Go on, go on, go on 😬

[Martin J]

I know of a couple of people who are really happy with their supersport 140's.

Seems a reasonable price for the engine modifications & cold air induction & cutting holes in the bonnet etc.

Could fancy it myself but I am trying to save up for a new road bike.

[pug7]

Yup the 175 would be nice seems pointless doing the pp 150 really when your paying that money may as well pay the little extra and do 175 I just don't have best part of 6k

Not sure what other options there re for a by standard 125 before I go down the 140 Caterham route and if its the best option. For 5500£ I'd prob look ,ore to trade in my car and upgrade to a newer bigger 7 and the fun of another build!!

[andy21]

I have an R300 Duratec (175bhp), my blat buddies have 140bhp K series superlights.

Up to 60-70mph there really isn't much difference at all. That's with all of us to the Red lines.

I wouldn't think you need to go for the more expensive options. Mind you get yourself in each option, or find other friendly types in here & get yourself a ride to see what you think.

The big difference I find is the higher torque means a lot less gear changes & not the need fit as much high revving when you want to go a bit quicker...

 

Edited by - andy21 on 5 Sep 2013 19:51:18

[Garth]

Definitely try and get a drive in the options you are considering - as suggested above - and then get to Premier Power open day. If your budget can stretch to the Premier Power option you will not regret it - their upgrades are very well thought through in my experience.

 

Edited by - Garth on 5 Sep 2013 20:25:32

[g7esp]

I like you would like my car faster I have a 150bhp the mod that was the most notable

140, the move to 150 is better at low revs now. I looked at 175 but at 8k and 200 for 10k its to much. 2000 cost 6k for 200bhp malcolm

[DJ.]

4 any other option I'm not aware of

 

I haven't tried this, but there are quite a few people supercharging MX5 engines now, and I think attaching a supercharger to a Sigma could possibly give the ideal combination of more power and torque without too much of a weight penalty.

 

I've discussed this with a friend and he thinks the big advantage of supercharging a standard engine, is if it goes bang, you can just source another relatively cheap engine and move the charger over to that.

 

If you spend £5500 on a 175 conversion, and you have an oil leak, you'd have to start from scratch again.

 

The 140 upgrade doesn't produce any more torque, so unless you're really going for it won't be any quicker for over taking in the mid range.

[combine]

Or , price up a 2 l duratec engine swop ?

[ChrisC]

I have been pondering the same question, but have decided to keep the car as "Caterham Standard" as I can because I intend to build an R400 or equivalent in a couple of years time. I think power upgrades from non factory sources will limit my options and force a private sale.

 

 

[charlie_pank]

Wow - stuff is expensive. Replacing the K with an R1 engine cost me around £5500 all in, and that involved replacing almost the entire drivetrain, loom, instruments, cooling system etc...

[charlie_pank]

Quoting DJ.: 

4 any other option I'm not aware of

 

 

I've discussed this with a friend and he thinks the big advantage of supercharging a standard engine, is if it goes bang, you can just source another relatively cheap engine and move the charger over to that.

 

 

It may be different for the Sigma, but normally if you're going to do forced induction properly you need to reduce the compression ratio and maybe beef up the crank. Which means if it goes bang, you can source another cheap engine, but you'll need to lower its compression ratio before bolting on the supercharger again.

[fondelli]

For me on a lower power car the right gearing has a big impact on performance. My first 7 was a 150 sigma with a 5 speed box. To be honest it always felt a bit 'flat'

My current car is a 140 supersport with a 6 speed and TBH it feels a lot better than the first. I know that a lot has been written about the 150 engine not making that power, but regardless of this, a 140 with a 6 speed is a very 'sweet' combination.

[Peter G]

Get yourself along to the Premier Power open day later this month, details here and you'll be able to check them out and talk to Stuart and have a ride in various versions. He's got an engine sale onto, so could be a bargain to be had.

[Guest]

Quoting pug7: 

Quick question for the blat chat options. Got a 125hp sigma at the minute and fancying a bit more ummpppfff options below

 

1 Caterham 140hp mod about 2000£

2 premier power 150hp about 4500

3 premier power 175 up about 5500

4 any other option I'm not aware of

 

I'd like option 3 finances say option 1, option 2 seems a lot when the Caterham option is similar but much less. Are there any other tweak options or what would blat chatters do?

 

What gearbox do you have currently? If 5 why not consider a 6? Might be a cheaper way of getting what appears more grunt but isn't really.

 

Just a thought

[K T Scott]

Hi Pug 7

 

Interesting dilemma you are in but being the owner of a Premier Power F175 Sigma, I can highly recommend it. I was previously the owner of a Caterham 150 Road Sport which like others I’ve read about, had driveability issues. I can’t fault this upgrade or the professional service I received from Premier Power whilst the work was carried out.

 

Premier Power won’t sell individual components for their upgrades as they insist they carry out the full installation of your upgrade to ensure it is set up to give the performance you have requested. The finished product not only looks fantastic but is a huge improvement over the previous engine I had and this has transformed the car. The throttle is very responsive, the car pulls very nicely from low revs and has a great sporty sound to it.

 

There are a lot of people here that put the Sigma down and think you need a Duratec to enhance a Caterham. Now the owner of a properly tuned Sigma, I’m not convinced you need the extra capacity of a Duratec. Premier’s reduced weight Sigma punching out 175 bhp puts it in the R300 performance bracket and the F200 in an S3 car puts that in the R400 category and both are 20kgs lighter than their Duratec equivalents.

 

Don’t just take mine or others comments on this, if you can, get down to their open day on Sunday 29th September. See the link on their website to register for the event;

 

here

 

The last open day featured passenger rides in a couple of tuned Sigma powered Caterhams. If you can’t make this date, give Stuart a call and arrange to pop over and see him, it won’t be a wasted trip. It’s worth visiting just to see their facility.

 

Oh and I had to mention the comment about an oil leak on a 175 engine. Surely if it’s been put together properly and looked after should this really happen? These cars get looked after a lot better than some people’s day to day run about!! Funnily enough Premier Power have also got this covered. If you fit one of their Life Racing, Motorsport engine management systems, they have a function to shut the engine down before you cause any damage to your engine should you have a problem. In fact I believe these systems are now fitted to Radical Sports Cars to prevent engine failures.

 

Premier Power ECU's

 

 

Edited by - K T Scott on 6 Sep 2013 22:05:38

[AristoCat]

I can only offer my opinion.... I had the Premier Power 155 upgrade to my sigma 125 back in April/ May this year, and haven't had a moments regret. I decided to err on the side of caution and chose 155 as a good level of power for touring, and didn't want to get into trouble in my 1st year of ownership. PP did a really professional job and the engine looks immaculate, as well as performing really well. It's also been very reliable and I think I've clocked up about 4K on it already. Stuart is a pleasure to deal with too, which helps when you're stumping up that much cash.

 

Might even upgrade to 175 in due course. I'm hoping to be at the PP open day and would be very happy to give you a passenger ride.

[pug7]

Thanks for the replies and info. Looks like the main options are Caterham to 140 or premier to 150 or 175. Was half hoping there might be other options out there that I'm not aware of, looks like the Caterham 140 option is the way to go. I'd love the pp175 but just don't have that sort of £ spare, 2.2k£ isn't too much whereas pp 5.5k£ is an awful lot as ich as I'd like that tweak!

[john aston]

Have a word with Jeff Wilson at HWR Motorsports(see LF article re this earlier in the year)