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172 Cup, one week on





Absolute genius. Collected it on Saturday 14th so Im 9 days in now. Havent actually gone anywhere different to an average week (which is around 250 miles) but Ive covered over 700! Thats all due to just taking much longer, faster and more entertaining routes to wherever Im going (for example the round trip to my girlfriends house is 10 miles, I did it in 57 miles yesterday!)

Everything has been absolutely fine so far on a technical point, its a 53 plate on 8.5k so its basically new and absolutely immaculate. I do have a rattle which I think is the plastic over the speedo/rev counter etc but it comes and goes when I go over bumps and its not too loud, the wing mirror whistles too but thats quite rare. Not really bothered in the slightest though.

Ive been using BP Ultimate (no Shell garage for about 30 miles) and Im getting pretty much dead on 40mpg on average, pretty good going. Acceleration is just mind blowing and thats where the fun has been so far, I havent pushed it on the twisties yet as firstly its been raining solidly all week and secondly Im not as confident as I could be yet (coming from a 1.2!), Im sure in time I will love the bends as much as the straights though.

Finally the only other difference has been the attention which has been quite suprising. On the one hand accelerating from lights suprises the hell out of rep-mobiles who dont have a clue which is pretty funny. And on the other hand it gets a lot of looks and also a few questions every now and then. Working at a College Im exposed to Nova-boys on a regular basis but I feared the worst, when actually the attention has been very positive (if slightly uncomfortable e.g. today when I returned my car and a bunch of lads were stood around looking at it)

So far, so so happy. The wait (3 years I decided I 100% wanted one) has been worth it. And although its a great car Ive already started thinking about changes, new bulbs all around are on the way, ordering a K-Tec splitter on Thursday (mine was missing) and new mats and hopefully coilovers will be on within a few months, that should be enough!
 
  172 Cup, Caterham R300


uk,
Enjoy your car!

Ive had my Cup since October 2002 and cant for the life of me think of anything that would offer the same performance per pound (except the 182 of course) ;)

Neil.P:)
 
  Vee dub


"I havent pushed it on the twisties yet as firstly its been raining solidly all week and secondly Im not as confident as I could be yet (coming from a 1.2!), Im sure in time I will love the bends as much as the straights though"



Sounds like your doing the sensible thing by getting used to the car before you go testing it out so to speak. Nice one mate, glad your enjoying it. I went from a 1.2 8v to my valver and took it easy until i was comfortable with the way the car handled.

Top man

Tom
 


After a year I had the 1.2 16V Dynamique at its (safe) limits on the bends most of the time, suprisingly good on the twisties. Im actually doing the same corners considerably slower in the Cup at the moment and probably will be for some time!

I was thinking today about the bad/wet weather control which I understand is infamous in the Cup. Why is this? Considering the grip it has in the dry and the uprated brakes I dont understand why things get hairy in bad weather. I know it doesnt have ABS etc but its not as though this was ever used whilst I had the 1.2 anyway.
 


My only "issue" if you can call it that is track use. Cant decide if I should or not (ideally I would have two, one for road and one for track), would certainly love to but as its my one and only car doing 12k+ commuting and everything I dont know if I should.

If I do we have a great circuit on my doorstep which has really good friendly track-days (Castle Combe) but I think I would be better off at a Renault/Clio event first such as the ClioSport FCS track-time or one of the RS days, at least then I would be with like-minded souls.

I guess my my main concern is wear and tear rather than damage.
 


if you drive too hard in wet conditions in any car youll end up endangering yourself and others.

overconfidence kills loads of people every year.

the cup is a little twitchy when its wet, if you drive sensible you wont have any probs
 

Darren S

ClioSport Club Member


Jim ^^^^ - wise words. Try having a go in a tub of lard that is the Punto GT and youll realise just what bad handling is.... ;)

Still miss the little fecker though.....

D.
 
  VaVa


Good man.:D

PS - If you got 40 mg over 700 miles, you havent got anywhere close the full performance of these cars.... but wait for the dry!!:D
 


Quote: Originally posted by TomS on 23 May 2005




Where u based mate?
I live about 10 mins from castle combe
Im in Westbury, about 20 minute drive up to Castle Combe. I go to pretty much every event during the season, I sit at Bobbies with my camera (and girlfriend!), Im still learning but here are a few examples of my stuff... http://www.chrisharrison.smugmug.com/http://www.chrisharrison.smugmug.com/ (in the car section)

Aiming to drive on the Spring Action Day next season if I have the nerve by then!
 


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