I post as jont- on SELOC too. Don't think I've met any of the Sussex crew, but I've seen the odd ToadTV links. I think there was a bit of politicing a couple of years back so they went their own way.
Comparing the Elise and Caterham - I sold the Elise maybe 4 years ago, and have had M100 Elan and Z4M roadster in the meantime, so I can't really do a back to back comparison. The 160 was all about the engine - a grumpy, badly mapped engine which only idled at 1300rpm, would kangaroo around below 2000, and came on cam at 5000 :lol:. But it always felt like you were getting into a mini-GT car, and the bad manners helped with that race-car feel. The Elise was always a precision instrument to drive, but the limit was hard to find (at least with my talent levels at the time) - it was "grip, grip, grip, **** I've spun".
Quite a few people on SELOC have moved to Caterhams recently (it was one of their threads that inspired me to go look at them, although it's always been in the back of my mind as an itch to scratch). The Z4M was just too fast to be enjoyable on the road, and the very long gearing didn't help (3rd was good for just over 100). Moving to the Fens from Bristol, I also went from lovely Welsh tarmac (paid for out of Euro funds) to ****ty lumpy bumpy fen roads where the ride on the BMW meant it was never in contact with the ground - I also had a 306 GTI-6 as a daily which was quicker across the ground than the Z.
Moving to the Caterham - with my weight in the car, it's the same power to weight as the BMW (it's the 135bhp supersport 1.6 engine) - so acceleration is fantastic, but flat out in 6th in the Caterham it will hit 120 :lol: It's very short geared, and the aerodynamics don't help. Driving - it's roadsport suspension, so quite softly sprung. Unlike the elise where you're fairly central in the car, in the Caterham you're sat almost over the rear axle, so you can feel the car moving around a lot more. There's more sensation of speed than the Elise - and it makes an Elise feel more like a normal car! It's also a lot more docile - ultimate grip levels are probably lower than the Elise, but it gives you much more notice that it's getting near the limit of grip so it's easier to push. Having said that, I've done a significant amount of driver training in the last few years, so maybe I'd feel differently about the Elise now. While the engines are tuned to similar amounts, the 1.6 Caterham is much more docile - very tractable even at low revs, no doubt helped by being 200+kg lighter than the Elise.
Caterham is definitely more of a toy than the Lotus. When I was looking to replace the BMW I started looking at Elises again - even had viewings lined up on S1 111S and S2 111S, but ultimately felt both would be a step backwards, while a 111R would be getting too close to the "too fast to enjoy on the road" problem the BMW had. Test drive of the Caterham (particularly with the wonderful 6-speed box) sealed the deal.
cheers,
Jon
as Pav says, don't be a stranger, keep in touch.
