1997 roadsport race spec

[walliver]

Hello, can anyone tell me the standard/regulation spec of a 1997 roadsport race car please? 

Definitely 6 speed gearbox and rover k series, but which diff and engine output? 3.92 LSD and 135bhp? 

Asking to help with purchase of a car with limited paperwork...

Thanks

[paul richards]

Try contacting Martin Phipps at Caterham. He has access to the sales records. He is only there one day per week so don’t expect an instant response. https://caterhamcars.com/en/contact

[Andrew 21 Edney]

16 hours ago, walliver said:

Hello, can anyone tell me the standard/regulation spec of a 1997 roadsport race car please? 

Definitely 6 speed gearbox and rover k series, but which diff and engine output? 3.92 LSD and 135bhp? 

Asking to help with purchase of a car with limited paperwork...

Thanks

If you are talking about the limited edition run-out model, there is information in the Chris Rees book The Magnificent Seven - I have already posted a photo of the page on a "for sale" thread (not sure if you are looking at the same car). Removed photo of the page, given there is a link, and you have confirmed you are looking at a different car.

 

Edited February 29 by Andrew 21 Edney

[walliver]

Thanks for the help. I'm looking at a different car which I think is 1.6, but appreciate the info 🙂

[Andrew 21 Edney]

1 hour ago, walliver said:

Thanks for the help. I'm looking at a different car which I think is 1.6, but appreciate the info 🙂

Best of luck and Martin is probably your best bet. As far as I could tell, the 1.6K was not called a Roadsport until 1999 (from my Chris Rees book again), how important is it that the car is "as it was supplied"?

(Updated to say that I checked in the book for race cars, it does not say much more that you already know about the 1.6K cars which had to be in "roadsport" specification, i.e. with windscreen, etc.)

Edited February 29 by Andrew 21 Edney

[Richard Price]

I can't accurately quote championship regulations from that time, but, I doubt Martin Phipps can really offer too much either. (the result is very likely to come back saying that a "race" chassis was sold to a race team, who then built it into what ever was required by their customer).

Whilst the DeDion "road" chassis changed from the under the dash hand brake, to the now standard tunnel mounted hand brake at around 1996, the "Race" chassis retained the under the dash hand brake until 2001, so a 97 race chassis should have an under the dash hand brake (along with an extra diagonal in the floor under the seats)

Whilst 2001 (2001 being the first year that Academy cars were K series cars) and onwards "academy" cars were often upgraded to "Roadsport" race spec, that spec changed dramatically over the years, as the owners progressed through the various factory race series. (with 2002 + 2003 being a particular sweet spot where the basic spec was 1600 supersport, with a "competition" long four branch exhaust, 6 speed 'box, and LSD. (however, many cars also had the optional dry sump and/or Stack dash upgrades). 

I'm a little less clear on the original spec of the race cars from 97, but with a little research I found a few clips of video showing 98 Roadsport race cars running Avon ACB10 tyres. ACB10's are crossply tyres, so, if the car that you're looking at is in its original spec, it should be set with less camber to suit crossply tyres (easy on the front, but different dedion ears at the back).

Roadsport race cars of that time will have run with a full windscreen and wipers. (where the later cars ran with a single aero screen)

However, unless the car that you're looking at has remained absolutely as it was raced, its very unlikely to remain in exactly the same spec as it was originally.

I'm fairly confident that a 97 Roadsport race car would have been the nominal 135bhp "Supersport" spec 1600 ,which is a change of cams and ECU with the rev limit increased from 6800 to 7600 RPM, whilst not actually specified, many 1600 supersport 1600's may have also been upgraded to include forged pistons.

6 speed is easy to confirm, but the LSD may be less easy to check without removing drive shafts.... around that time the factory supplied either the ZF LSD (where, if the car is jacked up, and one wheel turned by hand, the other wheel will turn in the same direction), or, the AP suretrac which was actually a torque biasing diff rather than a true LSD (where, if the car is jacked up, and one wheel turned by hand, the other wheel will turn in the opposite direction, just like an open diff).

 

Rather than getting too concerned about what spec it was originally, I'd be more concerned with exactly what spec it is in right now, and its condition. I think there are very few 7's that remain unmodified in any way in over 25 years...

[Matthew Willoughby]

The 1997 Caterham Roadsport Championship ran 1.4 litre K Series Supersports.  The 1.6 litre cars were introduced for the 1998 championship (so some could have been built at the end of 1997).  Their spec was as follows:

• 1.6 litre K Series Supersport
• 4 into 1 non cat exhaust with 6" diameter silencer (so 138bhp)
• 6 speed 'box
• Dry sump
• 3.92 ZF LSD
• Race chassis with under dash handbrake
• Safety Devices roll cage
• 13" x 6" minilites with Avon ACB10 tyres