james.c

Thanks David, I'll do my best to come along. Work has been a little crazy and I'm often down in London and can't make it back. Hopefully see you soon! J

In Stamford this morning. A few hundred metres from my own LJ66. We need to get a separate club going! Are you local?!

Thanks all for comments so far. I'm planning to head over to GPR Direct and try a few bits on. Will probably get a helmet and a race suit. The latter just so that my clothes don't absolutely stink after the day! I assume it might be ok in a tintop but would think it might be worth it in anything open! I'm fairly clueless with cars but I do own a torque wrench so can manage checking the torque on the wheel nuts (I hope!).

I bought something similar the other day: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B004RADNCQ/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Seems like a slightly less fancy version of yours. Also got the adaptor for the cigarette lighter which obviously makes life much, much easier! I leave mine plugged in all the time (albeit I've only had the car about a month!). The implication is that it just goes into a "pulse" mode to keep it topped up so I don't really see the harm in leaving it plugged in. Unless it's faulty it shouldn't overcharge the battery.

Thanks very much for your replies. Really helpful. A simple guide would be fun to pull together later in the year!

Sorry - I know there are loads of posts on track days this but it all seems a bit fragmented! e.g. https://www.google.co.uk/?#q=site:lotus7.club+first+trackday Is there a decent checklist / tips for track day newbies (with basically no working knowledge of the car!) in all that noise? Please point me in that direction if there is! If there isn't, perhaps we could even pull something together and get it up in the Guides section. I'm booked in for the BookaTrack day at Rockingham on 22nd April (give me a shout if you'll be there!). Not my first choice but amazing how hard it is to find a weekend around family life!. My main questions / concerns at the moment are below. I know that's a lot of questions but obviously just answer anything you can help with (and / or point me in the direction of another post!). I'll obviously try and get to a club meet-up over the next few months to see if there are people who can help me out. 1. Helmet I know that these can be hired but I assume it's much better to get a decent one fitted (assuming you plan to do a few...which I'm sure I will!). There seem to be a fair few posts around and I'm guessing I'll just find a local motorcycle place (Peterborough probably closest for me) and go and get some advice / fitted for something decent. 2. Racing Overalls It seems like you just need to have arms and legs covered. Do most people bother to buy decent racing overalls? Obviously there is a safety element here but I guess my concern is more about not looking like a tw*t! Don't really want to turn up trying to look like a total pro and then set the slowest lap time of the day (an embarrassment compounded by the fact I'll be in a 620!). What's the norm here? 3. Aeroscreen Endless debates on this one (in general) of course. Is it worth jumping straight in with an aeroscreen for a first trackday or just see how I get on and think about think for next time? What's my best option for getting an aeroscreen? Caterham parts website? https://caterhamparts.co.uk/windscreens-aeroscreens/3006-composite-windscreen-deflector-kit-s3.html (I'd need something for an SV rather than this I assume). Perhaps there are better / cheaper alternatives? 4. Garage At the moment I haven't bothered paying extra for a garage. I know basically nothing about cars so I'm hardly qualified to be tinkering around with the car on the day. My limit will be putting fuel in it. Am I missing something here? 5. Tires I've only done 250 miles in the car so far (and, as above, my knowledge of cars is highly limited!). Would doubt I'll have done 1000 miles on the car before the track day so I assume that they'll be fine to get home in. I could change a wheel (I would hope!) but no idea how to change a tire. What do most people do? Learn how to change tires?! And / or have a spare set of wheels so you turn up more prepared? 6. Basic spanner / fluid checks I have a few tools (I got that 200 piece set from Halfords that's been on offer!) and have a torque wrench. That makes me feel like I know what I'm doing....but I haven't got a clue. Is it likely that someone will be around on the day to help me with a basic "spanner test"? Equaly importantly would be checking various fluid levels. At 1000 (ish) miles I'd hope things would be ok but it would be great to get some pointers! I've worked out how to check the oil on the 620 but that's my limit at the moment! 7. Comms Again - lots of posts about this and I probably just need to do a bit more research. If you are booked to go out with an instructor (which I am as most people say this is a no brainer for a first track day) is it helpful to have some kind of radio communication or can you get away with screaming at each other through the helmets?! 8. Noise I'm assuming / hoping that the rear exhaust on the 620s will mean that I'm ok for the noise test. People do seem to have some anxiety around this test. I've emailed Greg @ Bookatrack. I bought the car through them (and it's their track day) so I'm hoping I'll have some sympathy if there are problems here! 9. Pissing with rain Other than just going sideways more, what happens if it's pissing with rain? I assume at some point the track can get closed. But if it's just a shower what do people do? Just drive faster? Stick a roof or a half-hood on? I'm 6 foot 4 and can't begin to imagine how I would actually get into a car with any type of roof on! 10. Roll bar I've got the track-day roll bar on the car (hoping to do some club track days at some point and aware that these are required). At 6 foot 4 is there a minimum distance from top of helmet to top of bar and does this get checked on the day? 11. Spectators As I'm only a few miles down the road from Rockingham the family might like to come and watch. Is it easy enough for them to rock up at most tracks. Is there sometimes a charge to get in or is this track specific and something to check directly with Rockingham / Bookatrack? 12. Any other obvious tips would be welcome! Thanks all. I appreciate that lots of this I could probably figure out with enough Googling and trawling through the club archives but I was just struggling a bit. Unless something exists already it might be fun to return the favour by putting a decent PDF together that we could improve over time. You could go on forever but something simple for trackday newbies would be great! Thanks, J

Hi all, I think there are a few posts floating around on this but they're a few years old. I've only had my 620s for a few weeks and obviously(!) I need to book a track day for next year. Does anyone know if I'll have problems with noise levels? I assume it would be the same as the 620r although I didn't know if Caterham have done anything recently to effect the noise levels (I'll email them too). Thanks, J

I'm 6 4 so can't comment from experience. But, the SV is hardly an enormous car! Lowered floors and the seat right back and I'm OK. I think most people would be absolutely fine in one. As people have already said, easy enough to sit in a few cars to see what feels right for you. If you live near Stamford you're very welcome any time!

Great, thanks Scott! Greg just came back to be and said he'd pop a nut in the post for me (bit OTT but very kind of him anyway!). Reckons it might have come loose when the IVA trim has been removed. Hope that's the only nut missing! J

Hi Mark, This probably isn't 620 specific but this is missing a nut to hold the exhaust on right?! It's a new build so I'll email Greg at BaT but obviously an easy fix. As a total newbie, where do I pick up bits and bobs like these sort of nuts? I assume there's a good online store for this stuff (and / or Amazon?!). Any idea what size this nut is and is it a good idea to keep a stock of a range of different sizes. Sorry for really basic questions!

Thanks for the tip. I'll keep an eye on that! Sorry - one more quick one for now! Recommended fuel is 98RON. Local BP's super unleaded option seems to be 97RON. I guess I can look around a bit more. What do you recommend and do you notice much of a difference?

Thanks. That's what BaT said (and probably what Mark meant from his description of the location!).

Brilliant, thanks a lot Mark. I'll take a look over the weekend and give you a shout if I'm still confused. Picked up my new, "tamer" 620S on Saturday (went with the colour scheme from the press car as I really loved it). All rather terrifying at the moment but I'm giving myself a few years to learn how to drive it. With the 5-speed box and a sensible right root it's actually very approachable. Happy to have the excuse of wearing the engine in. Can't imagine what it will be like to open her up on a track!

So if I'm taking it out for a spin each weekend should I really be cleaning it well after each use? And / or is it just important to spray underneath the car where it's more likely to suffer from corrosion? J

Hi all, I've got a couple of newbie questions that I think are a little specific to a 620. 1. Can someone just (briefly!) explain the process for checking and adding oil. The handbook says to run the engine between 2000 and 3000 rpm and that the “correct oil level is between the min and max markings of the dipstick measured with the thread of the cap fully engaged”. But in my brief handover at BaT they explained it as just making sure that the oil is up and covering the plate that you see as you look into the oil tank (i.e. there isn't a dipstick). Bit confused!! 2. The handbook refers to engine oil as well as supercharger oil. Do I need supercharger oil and where would I put that?! All the gear and absolutely bugger all idea. Still, after a 20 year dream of ownership I'm only on day 5 of my journey. So go easy on me! Thanks, J