Blogs

How to buy your first Caterham

In this week’s short video, Callum runs through his top tips for buying your first Caterham.

Top tips for road trips | Driving a Caterham to Italy

You may think that an 18 year old, S3 chassis, K-Series engined Caterham with Tillett seats is not a suitable car for a 2,500 mile road trip to Italy. We can tell you though, it is!

Where does a Caterham 270 sit on our board?

Today we’re looking at the Caterham 270 model, and where it fits on our board. We asked a special guest along to review some of the 270’s predecessors. We also take a quick look at geometry, and how small changes can really affect how a Caterham feels on the road.

Comparing Duratec Caterhams to a modern V8 sports car

When we looked at a 1.6 Sigma engined Caterham versus a Porsche Boxster, it did pretty well even in a straight line. But what happens if we take an entry level Duratec car — a 360 — and pit it against a £140,000 Mercedes AMG GT with a 4.0L V8?

Is a 1.6L Caterham faster than a Porsche?

Let’s find out shall we!

In this short film, we take a look at the ever-popular 1.6L Sigma engined Caterhams, and how they differed very slightly over the years. We test them out in a drag race — and also take the opportunity to find out how they compare to a Porsche Boxter.

Could the 310r be the best Caterham model?

We took a 1.6L Sigma-engined Caterham out for a spin, and asked " could this be the best Caterham?"

What's it like to race a Caterham?

The only safe way to truly realise just how capable the little Caterham is, is to take it on track. We highly recommend it to all of our customers! The next step is to go racing. As guests of the Caterham Graduates Racing Club at their October 2024 Donington Park meeting, we thought you might like to come along with us, and find out what racing is like from the driving seat.

My Caterham makes odd noises, are they normal?

A Caterham is not at all like your every day ’tin top’ runabout. There’s more or less no sound proofing, so you’re sat in a small tin with an engine and gearbox closer to you than in any other car. This means you’re a lot closer to the action — and a lot more mechanical noises than you’re probably used to.

Is the CSR the best Caterham for the road?

With its modernised interior, inboard pushrod front suspension, independent rear suspension and a stonking Cosworth Duratec engine, could the immensely powerful CSR 260 be the ultimate road going Caterham? We put a tame former racing driver in one and left him to work it out…

What's the best wheel size for a Caterham?

You can put a variety of different wheel sizes on a Caterham — but which size is the “best”? In this short film, we have a special guest to help us work out the answer. Former racing driver and Formula 1 commentator, Ben Edwards, drives our Caterham with 13", 14" and 15" wheels and gives us his thoughts.

How to remove and fit Caterham cycle wings

On one of our previous YouTube videos, a viewer asked if we could cover cycle wings. They asked about the difference between bonded and bolted, and what the pros and cons might be.

Caterham headlight and tail light options, plus a Turn 7 special option

Over the years, there have been a few different choices of front and rear lights from Caterham, not to mention countless aftermarket options. In this film we’re going to run through the official options, and cover some third party lights that we like and recommend. We’ll also show you how to setup your headlight alignment at home.

How to fit a Caterham aeroscreen for quick and easy future swaps

Aeroscreens completely change the feel of a Caterham. If you’re looking at doing track days, they’re also quite useful for making your car more aerodynamic (not a word you’d often use in the same sentence as ‘Caterham’ 🤣) and for saving your windscreen from costly chips or breakages. In today’s short film, we swap a windscreen out for an aeroscreen, and we show you some top tips for speeding the process up in future.

Washing your Caterham and prep for winter hibernation

Some Caterham drivers choose to SORN their cars over winter, and some like to carry on driving. Regardless of which case fits you, a thorough clean is going to present your pride and joy at its best! In this short video, we run through a cleaning process, and offer a couple of thoughts on ‘winterising’.

Do you know your Caterham roll bars and cages?

We’ve had a few people comment on our recent YouTube videos, asking us to cover the different sorts of roll bars and cages available for a Caterham So in this short video we go over the different versions you can expect to find.

How to find your perfect Caterham driving position

Following on from our previous film about choosing a Caterham chassis, there are a few other ways we can make ourselves that little bit more comfortable. So in this short film, we’re going to take you through adjusting the steering and pedal positions to find your perfect driving position.

Which Caterham chassis do I need, S3 or SV?

When we talk to prospective new Caterham owners, the first topic of conversation is " which chassis do I need?".

How to change a Caterham exhaust

A customer recently asked about fitting a new exhaust, and since we had a Caterham in for an exhaust replacement, we thought we’d do the job and film it, so you can always DIY at home!

Transform the look of your Caterham

Aside from changing your wheels, adding graphics to a Caterham is one of the fundamental biggest changes you can make to the look and feel of your car. In this video we’ll show you how to apply one of our graphics kits, with some tips along the way.

What is the lightest Caterham 7?

In 1957 Colin Chapman designed the Lotus 7, with a key principle in mind — “simplify and add lightness”. Its direct descendant, the Caterham 7, is widely regarded as one of the best drivers’ cars in the world today. With a typical family car today weighing upwards of 1400kg, how does a Caterham compare? In this video we weighed five of the most popular models, with different chassis sizes and engine types. How did they compare, both to each other, and to that typical family car?

How to check the oil level in a Caterham

Sigma, K-Series, Duratec, wet sump, dry sump, anti-cavitation tank. Crikey there’s a lot of different engines that need oil checking! Depending on which engine is in your car, there could be a slightly different method for checking its oil level. So here’s a quick video from our new series “Seven Questions” with all the information you need: