Z3MCJez

Quoting BSA: After reading your post it might be be wiser to getting a Motorsport company like Foulds or Hyperion or the like to build the car for you.Sorry To be brutally honest i think its beyond you Edited by - BSA on 11 Jan 2014 20:33:14 Do you think an R500 is more difficult to build than an Academy car? I knew next to nothing before I built mine. All is built previously was 1/10 RC kits and Ikea furniture! Jez

Martin - that may be the one referred to in the first post.

Chris You don't need a fuel gauge to race! Jez

Did he get it started? If I'd seen this at the right time, I'd also recommend that he checks all the relays are pushed home properly. Jez

The two types of tyre are completely different - it would be like running two completely different tyres. On track the new tyres are about 2% slower and deteriorate much quicker - particularly if run hard from new. To be fair, on a road car, it's probably not noticeable. Jez

Don't mix the two different types of tyre, even front to back. Jez

I've got 175s. Can take some pics tomorrow if necessary but have 3-4mm left. Done one weekend of racing (test, qually, 2 races - about 3hrs track time). Jez

I found that the retaining channel welds broke before the jubilee clip. Have a look at those while it's off . Jez

5 mins Riger! I've been poor at getting off the line all year! Jez

Academy drivers get one as part of their kit! I suspect there are lots of ex-Academy cars driving around with these fitted, which given their cost and ease of removal ... Jez

Quoting Richard Price: I would have thought that "flat shift" was only really appropriate with a non syncro gearbox (like Paul has...). Trying to "flat shift" with a standard syncro box is likely to lead to excessive syncro ring and hub wear, not to mention the increased risk of bent selector forks. I recall an R300 racer refering to having to rebuild the gearbox after each meeting after tying to flat shift.... Simply killing the ignition won't allow the engine to change speed fast enough to spare the pain on the gearbox. Flat shift is likely to work best with a dog 'box AND a very light flywheel AND a small diameter multiplate clutch. I remember talking with the guys at Elite gearboxes, and them telling me about a lot of trouble with one of their sequential 'boxes, with the customer returning the gearbox multiple times. The gearbox "probem" was fixed by fitting a lighter flywheel and clutch. Messy quoting as I'm on my phone. But the R300 gearbox rebuilds were crazy which is why there is now a sequential option. Sequential gearboxes will offer advantages, but I gather there is a view that the power losses are greater and the 6 speed will be quicker if run with no-lift gear changes. Given the number of gearshifts in an R300 no-lift shifting can be worth around 1%. R300 has become quite an expensive race class with leaders rumoured to be spending up to £60k-£80k per season. Jez

Slightly longer first is better off the start. But it's marginal. The Megas have a worse "off the line" with their long first (and the K is peakier too) but by saving more than a whole gearchange it would be better to be longer than the MX5 box. Something in the low 2s would work for me! A shorter second and third is a definite disadvantage. Second is really still too short in the Ford box, useful only at Mallory, Cadwell and Snetterton, and that's with AO48s (even less use with CR500s). The gap is similar, which will still leave the "2 and a half" gear corners. However, the gap from 3rd to 4th in the MX5 box looks a worry (a 25% rev drop, from a max of 7,200 to 5,400, where my engine only comes alive at that point). Fourth and fifth are effectively the same. As the car is flat out at about 120 with no assistance (which would require gearing of about 0.95 in 5th on AO48s) then a 0.90 fifth (or so) would be ideal. If I had to spec the perfect box, it would be something like (with useable speed in brackets in mph on AO48s, based on a rev range of 5,400-7,200): 1st - 2.20 (52) 2nd - 1.68 (52-69) 3rd - 1.33 (65-87) 4th - 1.11 (79-105) 5th - 0.90 (97-129 theoretical) On balance, I prefer the Ford ratios! Jez Edited by - Z3MCJez on 11 Dec 2013 16:15:15

The Late Sigma crate engines have VVT but I expect Caterham to run them as if they didn't have it. Roger - there are lots of current spec cars that will be forced out of the official series in years to come, but it makes it harder, I agree. Ford diff for instance will be banned for 2015. Jez Edited by - Z3MCJez on 8 Dec 2013 18:44:56

Well that marks the start of the price crash that was anthracite wheels ... Jez

Is the crank sensor done up tight. They can come loose causing intermittent problems until they eat themselves, which is a permanent won't run problem. Fitting the new one is engine out or special tool to access. Jez

Available for £230 on Amazon RIGHT NOW as a deal. Although heaven only knows what mounts etc. are included.

Cooling off period. You should be able to swap it if you go back and say you changed your mind.

Recent changes to insurance law do remove the "Utmost good faith" from the consumer, so if an insurer doesn't ask the question you don't have to tell them any more. Although if you did have a claim, they are almost certain to do a MIAFTR check. And the fact it was a Writeoff will affect the settlement value. This is interesting. Can you expand a little as to what happened. Is there a new case or is it a change in law (as I've not heard anything about that)? Cheers, Jez

In terms of user-friendliness as an organisation, RaceLogic (VBox) far exceeds Race Technology (DL1). I did have a problem with my VBox, where they were completely honest and said they'd seen the problem a few times (the video and data became unsynched by about 3 seconds) and had no idea what was causing it, but once it had occurred it would occur every time I used it unless I did a full software reset. They then sent me an idiot-proof guide to doing this. Race Technology seems to be a bit of a cottage industry, if I'm honest, and I struggled to get an answer to my question and it took an age for them to repair a minor fault. It's good to see that they're finally moving past Compact Flash cards as a storage medium thought Jez

I have a DL1 and a VBox Lite. DL1 has more powerful data analysis, and has the ability to plug in loads of sensors through different voltage drop ports. Video is a faff and the Video 4 that my friend has is buggy. I've never managed to make predictive times work, but it does have shift lights built into the dash3 VBox has plug and play technology and they're about to launch (of have just launched) better video, although only 720P against 580L that I have. Predictive lap timing is brilliant in qualifying. Actually a true performance advantage, as you can back off and make a space on a lap that isn't going to be your best and make sure you have a gap for the next lap (or push on if it's a good 'un). VBox does not allow lots of additional sensors to be plugged in. I've not actually added any. When assessing the data, VBox software is easier, but less stable than DL1. Stability may well come from the fact that it's not dealing with video. DL1 is more accurate for trying to work out what is happening, but you can't look at the actual car positioning from the video. Finally, note that the VBox doesn't have an accelerometer. It's GPS only. The DL1 is GPS + accelerometers, and as such gives better accuracy of the trace. DL1 also tends to work better where GPS is weak, presumably as a result. No experience of other systems, but Race Keeper are a sponsor of the Grads, so they're to be considered! Jez

I love the fact that you can do what you want to the car, but there is a control tyre! Jez

Quoting Mark Gibson: Jez - "a bit quicker" - supers were 1.1seconds faster for pole at brands than the sigmas (and obviously more at the longer circuits) which will be a country mile in sprinting terms in 2015 Mark Mark, I think using one data point is dangerous. Especially when your one data point is one lap! With a different driver! I don't believe the true difference is 1.1s around brands, but I do believe that the k-Academy are slightly quicker than the Sigma-Academy. If you have your engine regularly rebuilt anyway (the K degrades much more than the Sigma as it ages). Also, have you considered that the Sigma will get off the line better as the K is much more peaky? That makes much more difference in a 60s sprint than a 20 min race. Anyway, with the Tracksport upgrade, won't that help the Sigmas vs the Ks?. Having read some more I guess your point is that existing Supergrads are not in class 1 despite being standard Academy cars from 2001-2007? Or am I missing something? Jez

The 20bhp upgrade is for Supersport. Tracksport is a remap and new injectors. Power increase is negligible (although it's easier to stay in the band as the rev limit is increased from 6,800 to 7,200). Tracksport also allows the screen to be removed and widetrack front suspension to be fitted, but I think they're both allowed in the L7C events. Graduates run Sigmas and Supers in parallel classes. They have everything basically the same, except the Supers run with K-series engines. Supers are generally a bit quicker than Sigmas. Jez

Look, I don't race in this so feel free to ignore, but I imagine that the two best selling cars Caterham make (after Academy, anyway) are the Supersport and the Supersport R (formerly R300). Neither of these cars is catered for in the new rules. Now they may not be already, but this must be an opportunity? However, I can see that you don't want too many classes too. Tough one, but I applaud the effort someone is making to love the championship forward. One day I'll do an event, but at 140bhp non-road legal I'm not likely to do well in class 7! Jez

Quoting CB: For what it's worth - the "legal" minimum in the race series is 120mm under the front chassis bar where the back leg of the front wishbone meets it. And that feels quite low enough... Depends on your race series, although I agree that this is what the Graduates and the Official Series (except Academy) run to. There is definitely an advantage to running a bit lower than this on track, but there are already certain corners where I ground the side impact bar, such as the first chicane at Oulton and the second chicane at Combe. I would not run a car on the road at that level though. You're not after the last couple of tenths on the road. I'd want at least 140mm on the equivalent measurement. Jez