alex07715 Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 Am I mad think of changing my high spec 2008 FW Duratec to an Ariel Atom or Caterham R400? My problem is that I can't upgrade the engine as It has a Webber Alpha PRO4 ecu so I have to change the ECU or take the car to Northampton Motorsports (I live in N.Ireland ) and the 180bhp it has now is.............................well..........................not really enough to keep me happy! It means any mods It means I want to do to it are going to cost £2000+ I didn't know Webber Alpha would pose this problem for me when I bought the car, it's a great car though! Every thing you could want is on it. The Atom is like sitting in scaffolding and I think I would miss my screen and heater, they come with a plug for a heated suit you can buy!!!!! Fast enough though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffC Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 Ive considered the Atom thing a few times but never bothered fugly cars and although quick in a straight line they are not the best in corners , Ive had a standard duratec like yours and 3 duratec Caterhams, currently own an R400d and to me its about as good as it gets in 7 ownership not ballistic quick but quick enough to keep me entertained, if you are happy with the car other than its grunt I would stick the car on a boat and get the motor fettled and if it has standard mct75 box still fitted I would stick a gearbox in it too! my car is 212bhp and combined with a 6 speed gearbox it is plenty quick enough but i suspect its prob more to do with the gearing than the power . 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mooch Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 How about swapping the screen and deflectors for an Aeroscreen? From what I've read on here it works wonders and is equivalent to adding many horses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffC Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 How about swapping the screen and deflectors for an Aeroscreen? From what I've read on here it works wonders and is equivalent to adding many horses. It wont help, I had areo on my standard westy D . I know exactly what Alex is getting at about the standard car, I even nicknamed mine when I had it" the slug" I was that uninspired by it if you jumped out of a westy into a R400d you would swear it had double the power , Its the way the Caterham feels i just feels alive and raring to go but in reality there prob isnt a massive difference in straightline speed but the difference in grin factor is unreal also food for thought how about supercharging the standard motor, my old slug now runs an SC and its very fast think its running 240-250 bhp its used on track most of the time and so far it has been reliable !! Do a search on here for Steve h he has some videos so you can see how well it goes! and speak to Playskool they can supply you the conversion :t-up: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamnreeves Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 Get an SEight. Put your foot down in any gear at any speed and its f.. fast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stephenh Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 I'm a customer of Northampton Motorsport, and a very satisfied one at that. However you dont have to go there, if there is a Webcon Alfa authorised agent in Ireland you could take the car there, always assuming they have a rolling road facility. Have you tried contacting Webcon? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alex07715 Posted May 18, 2012 Author Share Posted May 18, 2012 I can take the screen off with the 4 frame bolts and pull the wipers off leaving just the fillet panel but I like the screen on for the road, the car is perfect having road gear, nitrons, wide track, pro race wheels, toyo's, AP brakes, LSD, ARB's, digi dash and RAC roll bar but it just needs more GO IMO It has the standard 5 speed MT75. I always believe it's hard to get any money back on mods to a car, you should just buy a better car.................................R400D I'm going to look at an 08 one this weekend.....................what are they worth? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffC Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 I can take the screen off with the 4 frame bolts and pull the wipers off leaving just the fillet panel but I like the screen on for the road, the car is perfect having road gear, nitrons, wide track, pro race wheels, toyo's, AP brakes, LSD, ARB's, digi dash and RAC roll bar but it just needs more GO IMO It has the standard 5 speed MT75. I always believe it's hard to get any money back on mods to a car, you should just buy a better car.................................R400D I'm going to look at an 08 one this weekend.....................what are they worth? CC selling them out at £29,995 for early ones, cheapest i looked at was £26k but it had been used and was rough round the edges . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alex07715 Posted May 18, 2012 Author Share Posted May 18, 2012 I'm a customer of Northampton Motorsport, and a very satisfied one at that. However you dont have to go there, if there is a Webcon Alfa authorised agent in Ireland you could take the car there, always assuming they have a rolling road facility. Have you tried contacting Webcon? There isn't, Aldon Motorsport in the West Midlands is the nearest, Northampton Motorsport is only a bit further................................................unbelievable aint it! I like JeffC's notes....................though I can't justify almost £2000 for 30bhp never mind a gearbox or Supercharger! If it was just the £1300 for the 210bhp conversion I would probably have it done but 3 days + 2k + 400 miles driving? MAD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johngill Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 Hear what you are saying I have a westfield 20008 seiw which has an R400 engine in it curtesey of a cosworth clear out never driven a R400 but mine feels much quicker than std westfield duratec. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
80BSY Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 It is unfortunately a consequence of getting used to things. I love acceleration, but you eventually get to a situation where it's £1000's and £1000's to squeeze 0.5 secs off. A bike is always the way to get a rush, cars are safer and fun. Fully understand you're thinking though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alex07715 Posted May 18, 2012 Author Share Posted May 18, 2012 TBH I was a bit disappointed in the power as soon as I drove it but I had just gone to Yorkshire and was probably going to buy it anyway and figured that I could always spend a bit on the engine.............................that thought was wrong! The only thing I have ever had that had more power than I needed (and I have had Porsches, EVO's Impreza's etc.) was a Fireblade Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XTR2Turbo Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 Could you change diff ratio and sacrifice a bit of top end for acceleration?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 Undoubtedly; don't overlook what Jeff said, it's not just about pure power, it's about how the power is delivered and the gearing of the whole power train. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gixermark Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 in answer to your first question................. Yes !! :-) i think you should dig deep into those pockets... and buy an R500 so i can get a go !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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