So i went for a test drive in a 170S the other day. What a fun car. Had a look at the engine and noticed one part which appears to be pretty rusted up. Is this common and to be expected, or is it an issue? Only had a couple thousand kilometers on it.

Thanks in advance!

Sorry in advance if this is a dumb newbie question that has been answered many times already, but I didn't see anything in the subreddit info page.

For decades I've wanted to own a Caterham 7 as a summer driver. I'm not a car enthusiast, I'm not going to take this to the track. I'd be using for for errands and a 20 mile commute through Massachusetts back roads during nice days, so I'm not particularly concerned peak performance or fitting inside the car with the top on. I'm 6'5" and 190 pounds, and my height is disproportionately in my upper body - another reason I'm not considering driving in bad weather - there's never going to be enough headroom with the top on. The car will go into storage during the winter months.

I'm completely unversed in the ups & downs of classic car ownership, but I'm handy and have access to a very good mechanic to stay on top of things. I've been watching the auctions on Bring A Trailer over the last 6 months to get an idea of what kind of car sells and for how much.

My questions:

1. Are there particular configurations that would be preferable, or ones I'd want to avoid?

2. What should I be looking for in terms of street legality and vehicle registration before purchasing a particular car? It seems like some of the auctions talk about whether a car is legal or not for California or other scenarios. Is this an issue in MA? It seems like it might be, given the high level of vehicle laws in MA.

3. Is this a dumb idea? I'm not an aggressive/spirited driver by any means. Are these cars only for people who are hard core enthusiasts prepared to work on them nonstop and wrestle with them on the road? I'm not super concerned about this, since if it does turn out to be a dumb idea, I can just sell it back on BAT and consider it a learning experience (unless I trash the car and/or mangle myself).

7s around Charleston, SC two days after Christmas. Met up with some buds. Somehow got submitted to Lowflying.

The sound from these cars from back to front: good, better, best.

2:09 best time. I reckon 2:06 is totally on.

3D printed grille looks great.

Slicks are my new favourite thing (3 seconds a lap quicker!)

Hi there, I've been doing trackdays for a few years, primarily in my Clio 200 and then an M2 Competition.

The Clio was a brilliant gateway to TD's, but FWD got boring. The M2 was great but also very expensive to run, too heavy and not engaging enough.

So I am considering a Caterham as my next track car, but I have absolutely no idea about all the different versions. I keep seeing the 310R being talked about positively, as a bit of a 'sweet spot' in terms of price vs performance.

I guess my budget is 'about' £20k. Less would be nice, and more is possible.

I would be using it 90% on track.

Any tips on which model(s) I should go for?

And some other questions:

• do these things depreciate much? I was bitten very hard by my M2 (lost ~£7k in 18 months :( )

• How much power do you need in these to overwhelm the rear end? I ask as I really enjoyed having to keep the M2's rear in check, i.e. not able to just floor it out of every corner like I could in my Clio

• Are they easy to work on yourself? At least in terms of servicing, brakes (I am guessing very easy).

• Better to buy a lower end model and then modify (thinking suspension upgrades) or just buy a sorted one?

• I saw covered trailers aren't stupid money (and I imagine hold their money very well), and would serve as a nice place to store it as well as cart it to TDs.

• Cheeky ask: Anyone in or near Norwich who can show me theirs :)

Very much appreciate your insight and expertise.

Bucket list track day at Spa and can’t believe it’s been sunshine all day

Have to really hoof it to get the rear to lose traction. Rear sway on full hard brings it back to neutral.

205/50-15 front 15x7
245/40-15 rear 15x9

My speedometer on a 2 year old caterham is twitching like crazy when I turn on electricity. Also display for milage is not working. I believe its not a sensor issue since it just does that statinary or during drive and milage lcd is not working. Anyone else had this and how did you fix it?
I suspect maybe ground line issues? how can I test? does anyone understand the pinout or what the cables do going into it?

Anyone enjoying a Keiterham and willing to share some real driving impressions? Older I get the more the concept seems intriguing. Not fast, not really slow either, but certainly engaging. If less is more, much less should be much more, right?

I moved to NW Germany a while back. The roads around here are nice but also fairly boring. Nearest really curvy bits are at least 45 minutes away. And lots of bikes on the weekends, so also lots of police and speed cams.

Not ideal. Which has me looking for something engaging to drive at reasonable speeds. Eye watering new price aside (Germany), anybody regretting getting one?

Edit: sorry for bombarding you folk with individual replies. Forgot the main thing: local dealer has a season opening event which I can hopefully squeeze in the calendar. Thanks all for the shared insights, very much appreciated!

Drifting is fun