Is this noise in my Caterham normal?

[@SailingFirstAway]

Great video. I built my first 7 inspired car at 18 but never owned the real deal. One day (now 39 years old 😂) I will. Keep the videos coming. Always rekindles the passion and pushes me towards the classifieds. Cheers Alex

[@travertinepico751]

Excellent video. Been learning all I can about these. It’s so much of the exact same driving experience as my Jeep wrangler daily driver but with extreme speed and handling ability. I can’t wait until I can afford one.

[@reynoldsofselby9201]

Great video Callum! I was very worried when I first drove my Caterham...especially with the Quaif sequential gearbox. I remember being very relieved when you had a drive in it and confirmed all was ok!

[@andrewhigginbottom5080]

I came to 420S ownership after running a Lotus Elise for a few years and thought that was raw but the Caterham was a different level of raw, with all of the weird and wonderful noises mentioned in this video. Nothing drives like a Caterham.

[@stefanschumann8325]

Hi guys, this post as a video is really a very good idea. I have had my K 1.8 series for 7 years now. At the first test drive, I thought that the entire power transmission was defective. After all these years, I know that it is completely normal in a Caterham. But you should be careful when a sound suddenly can no longer be heard 😀 Keep it up, I'm happy about every video of you. Greetings and a nice first Advent.Stefan😊

[@soweboughtacaterham]

Great video - as always! Thanks for sharing your expert knowledge.

[@tobywalton7704]

Thank you so much for this useful video. I've had my first Caterham for under a year. It has the Premier Power Sigma upgrades and makes all kinds of curious noises that I previously could only assume were probably normal...

[@sgcycling7658]

Great video for the Caterham community, well done Turn7👏

[@DarrenCheesbrough]

Great video. I’m sure I saw you filming this in the PP car near Wetherby whilst out on my mountain bike!

[@AlanBirkett-es2yc]

Mrs B said ' sounds like a bag of spanners!'... she loves Colin really #360R

[@JohnRae]

great video as usual. one noise that I encounter a lot on track that you've not mentioned is the sound of a flat 6 behind me getting quieter and quieter. usually with the whine of an upset Porsche owner not understanding how he hasn't been able to outdrag me on the straight, and then I've not bothered to brake for the corner :D

[@turn7caterham]

🤣

[@Deadonkey85]

It would interest me, as a newcomer to the Caterham world. What you do with a totally fresh customer. What the process looks like when someone comes to you with zero caterham experience and how you get them a suitable car

[@turn7caterham]

Funnily enough, a lot of our videos are our process 😊 It starts with fit … ie sitting in S3 and SV chassis. Take a look at our most watched film 😊

[@Deadonkey85]

@@turn7caterham yep absolutely but there is much more to consider than just fit. The whole power thing is confusing as they arnt comparable to modern cars. its hard to tell what a 120bhp caterham will feel like for example, will it be enough etc. I will just come and see you when the weather picks up :)

[@turn7caterham]

Stay tuned-we have some videos coming that we think you’ll like and find useful to answer that question 😊

[@barsaf9989]

A limited slip additive really helps quiet things down a lot. K&W LSD gear oil. About 3 or 4 fluid ounces makes it chatter and knock so much less.

[@jmfz28]

in a caterham/lotus seven/replica you can feel, hear and smell things you are isolated in a normal car.

[@lukesaunders9321]

Great video! Well worth the watch

[@Mark..P]

Great video for a potential newbie (I should say, like me) 👍

[@markwatkinson3]

Brilliant. Thanks

[@ctrmint]

great video

[@MakeWeirdMusic]

Great video. I have diff knocking. Wondered what it was and if my axle was falling apart haha

[@reachforthesky1849]

Re-setting TPS would be good to know about. Cold idle issues

[@simonjones5614]

Agreed. Cold idle issues manifest themselves in my 420r even though I’m pretty sure that the TPS is set correctly.

[@turn7caterham]

You’re probably best taking the car to a specialist for idling issues, because it’s probably not just as simple as the TPS. We’ve had requests to cover it before, and this is the reason why we’ve not done it. Sometimes over-simplifying a topic can lead people down a path to more problems, and we love you all too much to do that 😀

[@simonjones5614]

On my 420r idling is only an issue when the engine is cold and Caterham checked the TPS and said it was normal. As I recall, even the Caterham test car struggled to idle when cold. I’ve always been a bit sceptical about the standard ECU mapping.

[@reachforthesky1849]

@@turn7caterham thanks for reply. One question I do have.. I have heard that when switching off with isolator you loose some of the eco learned memory and that only re-learns when the cooling fan kicks in on the next journey (duratec)?

[@Chris_Grant]

It’s when they stop making noise you should really worry.

[@turn7caterham]

😂

[@skisandcars]

what is the best way ro set them up for winter storage. on axle stands? Extra air. disconnect battery etc?

[@turn7caterham]

Disconnect or have the battery on a quality trickle charger, yes. There’s differing thoughts on getting tyres off the ground. “Flat spotting” probably a bit of old knowledge, but TBH we’ve not done any scientific tests of leaving cars sat on the same spot for three months or more to know 😂 You’ll thank yourself for putting them away nice and clean though, and maybe some corrosion prevention on all the exposed metal bits. Differing views again - Bilt Hamber Atom Mac, acf50 or even wiped with wd-40 all effective. Worth doing one’s own research on the similarities and differences of each.

[@arthrmr]

This was acceptable when the cars were 20-30k, but now with an entry level car at 45-55k it does seem less tolerable. There’s no reason why these issues can’t be fixed at the factory

[@turn7caterham]

Some of these noises will be present in all cars, we just don’t hear them because we’re sat far away from the axles and because of sound deadening. Don’t forget, a Caterham has more or less no sound deadening, and one is sat more or less on top of the drive shaft and rear axle! 😊

[@ColinCarFan]

They are not issues, they are characteristics of what is essentially a bespoke, hand built car. Just because a car makes a noise, it does not mean there is an issue.

[@AndrewEdge-j4i]

So Calum, what brand are those driving gloves, they look so appropriate for a Caterham owner!