Caterham Fireblade is a little underwhelming...

MockngBrd · Dec 19 2010, 9:59 PM #1

was waiting for sooo long for a Fireblade to popup, and bought one as soon as it appeared

but after driving it abit, throwing all the parts at it and giving it a Supercharger, taking it out and giving it a light tune.. its just not as great as i'd imagined it be... i mean, not as great as i'd hope after reading so many magazine articles on it...

my 111R runs even faster laps, although i'd attribute that to the 111R being able to take a GT-wing.. but stilll.... kinda expected more from the Caterham

anyone else feels the same? or have been let down by a car u'd thought wld otherwise be great?

ikarys · Dec 19 2010, 10:03 PM #2

I thought the Caterham was rubbish. After full mods, it becomes OK at best. The Suzuki GSXR car is much more enjoyable

If you see one of those, buy it!

Jedi2016 · Dec 19 2010, 10:04 PM #3

The Caterham is fun, but that's about it.. it was never meant to be fast in a competitive sense.

MockngBrd · Dec 19 2010, 10:04 PM #4

ikarys

I thought the Caterham was rubbish. After full mods, it becomes OK at best. The Suzuki GSXR car is much more enjoyable

If you see one of those, buy it!

i was really expecting soo much more after reading all those articles bout Caterhams... was thinking... "all right.. time to destroy my lap records..."

then... 3,2,1... go!!!!!!! wait??? why so slow?

Xouved · Dec 19 2010, 10:08 PM #5

The Caterham is pretty average, I have been looking for that Suzuki though

, it seems awesome for the power it has.

If I don't find it in the UCD I'll just have to wait till level 23 B-Spec... :|

FlyWire · Dec 19 2010, 10:18 PM #6

The Caterham is effin' fast! It's like a Stock Car (NASCAR), the first gears are slow as hell but once you reach 100 Km/h like, it will be fun as hell.

Even, I gave it up a race in Arcade in the Nurb, the oponnents were Veyrons and McLarens, they were faster but I flew through them in corners.

Fusion · Dec 19 2010, 10:33 PM #7

I had a lot of fun with it, it just falls apart when you are wanting it to go much faster than 240km/h. Seems pretty realistic to me. It does well at london and pretty well at the top gear test track... I was lucky to pick it up before doing the british lightweight events.

ozyran · Dec 19 2010, 10:35 PM #8

Jedi2016

The Caterham is fun, but that's about it.. it was never meant to be fast in a competitive sense.

From these videos of the real thing in action, I would have to agree:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mq46Q...eature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zN29P...eature=related

Looks like the Caterham R500 was the faster of the two. I'm curious as to why they chose the Fireblade over the other variants, but then again, we're talking about the same group that decided that the game was better off with multiple variants of the same car...

vinze1129 · Dec 19 2010, 10:50 PM #9

Caterham was a fun car to drive around. If it is an all caterham race then will be more fun.
precise handling and careful accelleration needed

MockngBrd · Dec 19 2010, 11:12 PM #10

yea, need to be precise... hahaha
not a very forgiving car

HBR-Roadhog · Dec 19 2010, 11:16 PM #11

I like the car but so far have only driven it stock. I built it up the other day and put some soft race tires on it. Was gonna have an all caterham race but one of my friends forgot to add his so it will have to wait until another day.

I bought one right away too but later got one as a prize car. I also got the little Suzuki as a prize somewhere or was it from one of the random cards? Anyway I have driven it but only stock as well. I rememeber on GT4 it was a blast so I will mod it up real soon and see what it has.

SergioRZ · Dec 26 2010, 1:16 PM #12

The power/weight ratio should make the car FEEL much faster in the game. But no... it feels slow and not fun at all to drive.

RedBullRacer · Dec 26 2010, 2:57 PM #13

I got this car today and I was just like I expected it would be, really good fun

Not as much fun as the Yellow Bird, but I wish the Fireblade was a Premium cos imagine replays in the cockpit view or the ones looking back at the drivers helmet as your sliding it round the corners! I'm gutted it's not a premium.

Bakugekiki · Dec 26 2010, 3:21 PM #14

I am going to disagree here. The Caterham is my favourite car! The first time I drove it was without an oil change or engine rebuild at ~24,000 miles, needless to say that it never got used since that first test drive. Then, one day, I decided that I was going to fully tune it to see what it could really do. So I spent however many thousand adding extra power etcetera only to be disappointed again.

Then I adjusted the transmission and it became my favourite car!

Rocket Punch · Dec 26 2010, 4:01 PM #15

You need a custom box at the least. The car had the same aero dynamic properties as a crate of bricks, stock hp will only net you around 137 top speed, that is with a custom box.

That car essentially is a go kart with transmission, it is fun to drive.

daddy mario · Feb 13 2011, 1:09 PM #16

vinze1129

precise handling and careful acceleration needed

that's what we're here for

SergioRZ

The power/weight ratio should make the car FEEL much faster in the game. But no... it feels slow and not fun at all to drive.

????????????????? i just used mine for the first time in GT5 and i'm in solid gold love.

i didn't even up the tranny itself, just the clutch and flywheel. add some 1000 cr and under stuff, racing filter, chip, etc, and you have a giant-killer.

of course it won't go 300 km/h . i real life who would have the huevos to drive a featherweight like this that fast anyway? it already wants to take to the air at half that!

stefanOst · Feb 13 2011, 4:33 PM #17

Caterham with NO power upgrades whatsoever + 6-speed close ratio gearbox = driving nirvana

Betty_Swallocks · Feb 13 2011, 4:58 PM #18

Especially on Sports Soft tyres.

Truth be told though it's the wrong Caterham. The Fireblade engine is suited to a motorbike weighing 180kg not a car weighing nearly five times as much. It's very high revving with relatively little torque compared to other Caterham models

Obli · Feb 13 2011, 5:27 PM #19

Betty_Swallocks

The Fireblade engine is suited to a motorbike weighing 180kg not a car weighing nearly five times as much.

The Caterham Fireblade is not five times the weight of the Fireblade motorbike. It is only twice the weight at 369Kg. Still a great power to weight ratio.

AMCNUT · Feb 13 2011, 5:40 PM #20

I, too, had high expectations for this thing which were dashed...bad transmission, no torque, not as nimble as the stats would suggest... I'd rather buy a Lotus Elise or something of that ilk...

Melbourne, Australia 230	Dec 19 2010, 10:03 PM #2 ikarys Senior Member I thought the Caterham was rubbish. After full mods, it becomes OK at best. The Suzuki GSXR car is much more enjoyable If you see one of those, buy it!

Texas, USA 3,984	Dec 19 2010, 10:04 PM #3 Jedi2016 Bitter Old Man The Caterham is fun, but that's about it.. it was never meant to be fast in a competitive sense.

New Zealand 290	Dec 19 2010, 10:08 PM #5 Xouved Senior Member The Caterham is pretty average, I have been looking for that Suzuki though , it seems awesome for the power it has. If I don't find it in the UCD I'll just have to wait till level 23 B-Spec... :\|

Chile :P 230	Dec 19 2010, 10:18 PM #6 FlyWire Senior Member The Caterham is effin' fast! It's like a Stock Car (NASCAR), the first gears are slow as hell but once you reach 100 Km/h like, it will be fun as hell. Even, I gave it up a race in Arcade in the Nurb, the oponnents were Veyrons and McLarens, they were faster but I flew through them in corners.

Australia 248	Dec 19 2010, 10:33 PM #7 Fusion Senior Member I had a lot of fun with it, it just falls apart when you are wanting it to go much faster than 240km/h. Seems pretty realistic to me. It does well at london and pretty well at the top gear test track... I was lucky to pick it up before doing the british lightweight events.

Selangor 113	Dec 19 2010, 10:50 PM #9 vinze1129 Active Member Caterham was a fun car to drive around. If it is an all caterham race then will be more fun. precise handling and careful accelleration needed

120	Dec 19 2010, 11:12 PM #10 MockngBrd Active Member yea, need to be precise... hahaha not a very forgiving car

28	Dec 26 2010, 1:16 PM #12 SergioRZ New Member The power/weight ratio should make the car FEEL much faster in the game. But no... it feels slow and not fun at all to drive.

Cornwall, UK 447	Dec 26 2010, 2:57 PM #13 RedBullRacer GTP Addict I got this car today and I was just like I expected it would be, really good fun Not as much fun as the Yellow Bird, but I wish the Fireblade was a Premium cos imagine replays in the cockpit view or the ones looking back at the drivers helmet as your sliding it round the corners! I'm gutted it's not a premium.

NY 1,238	Dec 26 2010, 4:01 PM #15 Rocket Punch The Official Anti-Hero You need a custom box at the least. The car had the same aero dynamic properties as a crate of bricks, stock hp will only net you around 137 top speed, that is with a custom box. That car essentially is a go kart with transmission, it is fun to drive.

Montreal 42	Feb 13 2011, 4:33 PM #17 stefanOst New Member Caterham with NO power upgrades whatsoever + 6-speed close ratio gearbox = driving nirvana

68	Feb 13 2011, 4:58 PM #18 Betty_Swallocks Junior Member Especially on Sports Soft tyres. Truth be told though it's the wrong Caterham. The Fireblade engine is suited to a motorbike weighing 180kg not a car weighing nearly five times as much. It's very high revving with relatively little torque compared to other Caterham models

ON, Canada 1,611	Feb 13 2011, 5:40 PM #20 AMCNUT King of the Road I, too, had high expectations for this thing which were dashed...bad transmission, no torque, not as nimble as the stats would suggest... I'd rather buy a Lotus Elise or something of that ilk...