2011
15/11
Blat 1
Well, after hurriedly finishing of today's work, I took the train to Caterham's Dartford factory this afternoon and was collected from Dartford rail station by a courtesy taxi kindly provided by Caterham. I arrived to see my lovely red car sitting outside the Caterham offices, another nice touch.
After a brief run through the paperwork, she suggested a tour of the factory. They have a very clean and smooth operation there, with one area for the factory build cars and another for the post-build work on self-built cars. Going through the factory-build cars first, the most striking thing is the range of colours. One of my bugbears is the paucity of colour options for new cars today, with the range usually limited to white, light grey, m...
After a brief run through the paperwork, she suggested a tour of the factory. They have a very clean and smooth operation there, with one area for the factory build cars and another for the post-build work on self-built cars. Going through the factory-build cars first, the most striking thing is the range of colours. One of my bugbears is the paucity of colour options for new cars today, with the range usually limited to white, light grey, m...
2011
18/11
Blat 2
Took the car to work today, to get used to it and help run it in. 40 miles there in the cold morning, 40 miles back in the cold and dark. This is not a car in which you are at risk of falling asleep at the wheel!
Initial impressions are that it is light, quick off the mark, and handles well. I'm very pleased. Whether this is down to my build or Caterham's fine tuning is debatable, naturally.
(And, of course, it looks very pretty!)
I did have one "interesting" moment on the cold damp tarmac of the morning. Fortunately the camera was running to catch it. Perhaps one day I'll be better at predicting it, catching it, and holding it impressively. For now, I'll be content with catching it before I go to meet a hedge backwards. My...
Initial impressions are that it is light, quick off the mark, and handles well. I'm very pleased. Whether this is down to my build or Caterham's fine tuning is debatable, naturally.
(And, of course, it looks very pretty!)
I did have one "interesting" moment on the cold damp tarmac of the morning. Fortunately the camera was running to catch it. Perhaps one day I'll be better at predicting it, catching it, and holding it impressively. For now, I'll be content with catching it before I go to meet a hedge backwards. My...
2011
27/11
Blat 3 - Oulton Park
Friday was the climax of my first proper outing for the 7; a three day, 350 mile round trip to the Midlands to stay with family, then to Oulton Park for a track day, then back home via a stopover with family. Exhausting, but great fun.
The big question has to be, how did the 7 perform on track? The simple answer is, of course, "far better than me"! It really is lovely to drive on a circuit. The day started with sighting laps, which should be slow, smooth and gentle - except that they were being done by bleary-eyed drivers on cold tyres trying to cope with cold, soaking wet tarmac. I counted several spins, even at sighting speeds. In the 7, I found myself distinctly sideways several times, but able each time to gather her up and g...
The big question has to be, how did the 7 perform on track? The simple answer is, of course, "far better than me"! It really is lovely to drive on a circuit. The day started with sighting laps, which should be slow, smooth and gentle - except that they were being done by bleary-eyed drivers on cold tyres trying to cope with cold, soaking wet tarmac. I counted several spins, even at sighting speeds. In the 7, I found myself distinctly sideways several times, but able each time to gather her up and g...
2011
28/11
Picture from Oulton Park
One of the nice things about OpenTrack as an organiser is that they offer free photography. So here I am, going round Oulton Park.
You can see what I mean about needing a lower seat...
You can see what I mean about needing a lower seat...
2011
10/12
Caterham Christmas
How to collect your Christmas Tree in style, as done by one of my fellow competitors in the 2012 Academy...
Nice one, Alex!
Nice one, Alex!