Caterham 170 experience

TL;DR  Sisyphus's Caterham Staring at the cover picture for the Lamba sensor blog post from the other day, I was surprised to discover that my turbo is missing a bolt that's supposed to keep it strongly attached to the cylinder head. Browsing my photo gallery, I could confirm it was in place and partially visible with the turbo fresh from its upgrade in January. I could also spot a closeup of the turbo from the blue factory demonstrator that showed there's a bolt where mine seems to be missing  (see below) .  Videos of of the R06A teardown mentioned here show that the Alto Works uses 2 bolts and 2 studs. I really lost one bolt then. The good thing is that I have no exhaust leak, no noise or traces of soot. Overall it's not a big deal : I'd rather lose a bolt than risk ripping the thread in the aluminium cylinder head. Looking for a spare, I mostly found M8 and M10 studs and nuts kits. I confirmed the size with an M8 nut I have in my drawer. As it threaded fine on ...

  TL;DR Fear not. Very interested and curious about the intricacies of the R06A engine that powers the Caterham 170, I stumbled upon a series of YouTube videos by 赤シルの休日 @akasil . In that series, our man Akashiru shows a complete engine rebuild  of the Suzuki Alto HA36S he plans to race. Beside those videos, he also got an interview with Izumori-san , president of OS Giken. Wondering about the differences between the K6A engine (the one from the Caterham 160/165 as far as we are concerned) and the newer R06A (in the 170), they inform us that emissions compliance and fuel economy were driving most of Suzuki's engineering decisions.  While the K6A is 'square' (bore=stroke), the R06A is a long stroke engine (smaller bore, longer stroke for the same displacement), giving more torque and helping with emissions and efficiency. This a overall better suited to use with a turbo.  Side note, the "longer" engine also explains the lower rev limit : 7000 RPM vs  8000 RPM fo...

TL;DR Yet another consumable With the engine upgrade also came the upgrade to a wideband oxygen sensor. What's the difference you may ask. In simple terms, a narrowband sensor is only able to tell if the combustion is rich or lean, not really measuring how rich or lean it is. Its output will oscillate between two extreme voltage values close to 0 and 1 volt or so. With maybe a narrow band (hence the name) around 0.5 volt where it's able to work out a value when it's close to stoichiometric. A wide band one, on the other hand, is able to provide a reliable signal from 0.65 (lambda; rich) to over 10 (super lean). This allows for a finer tuning of the combustion by the ECU; that might aim at say 0.90 rather than 1.00 for high rpm and boost pressure. That strategy in itself limits the risk of knock and keeps the engine cool(er-ish). The first installed wideband sensor failed after maybe 2 or 3 weeks, leaving us stranded 100km from home . An extra month of erratic engine cut-of...

TL;DR winter wheels, part IV, or so Yay, this is the time of the year when Mariah Carey is gently thawing, soon ready to jingle all our day. Anyway, starting next week-end, it's going to be 4°C or less in the morning. It seems like a good time to put the snow wheels back on the car. For this third winter with the Caterham in only 18 months, I think I finally reach a proper clean look. It began with the immediate realization that the Avon ZT7 wouldn't cut it , followed by the stainless steel trims and  3D-printed caps before this stage of new additions. On the menu today : new(er) pair of steelies for the back, that I got last year I think new pair of Vredestein Snowtrac5 mounted on those metallic adhesive 45mm centre badges for the hub caps new set of M12x1.5 lug nuts from Amazon ( all about lug nuts here ) All four wheels are cleaned and brushed with dish soap, rinsed with the garden hose, let to dry under the afternoon sun.  They're made shiny with a good layer or carna...