Experiencing Caterham has been a dream of mine for a very long time. I did have an opportunity to spend some time on track with its replica before, but being able to experience a real one in Alps of southern Germany was really a dream come true for me and I'm definetely coming back for more of it this summer. But for now, here's a review of the car.
Short History
This is Caterham 7, it’s British. If you are not a motorhead or live in Lithuania like I do, you may have not heard of it. Britain has a long history of producing cars, you may know such names as Mini, Jaguar, Bentley, they all have their roots in Great Britain and currently all are owned by foreign car industry giants. But also there’s a number of smaller car manufacturers, for which Britain has always been famous, and Caterham must be among the first ones to mention. It has some history behind it and there’s even name Lotus involved.
Back in 1968 legendary British car manufacturer Lotus released a new generation of its Lotus Seven model, called S3. It was sold under so called Purchase Tax system, which allowed sales of cars supplied as a kit avoid tax surcharge, that would apply if sold in assembled form. Tax rules specified assembly instructions could not be included, but as the rules said nothing about the inclusion of disassembly instructions, they were included instead and all the enthusiast had to do was to follow them in reverse. However in 1973 VAT system was adopted instead, so the tax advantage of the kit-built Lotus Seven came to an end and at that time only remaining dealer of Lotus in UK, Caterham Cars, bought rights to Seven and the Caterham Seven era began.
Simplicity Is the Key Here
What you see in this video is a direct evolution of Series 3 Lotus Seven, it’s a 2014 Caterham Roadsport in left hand drive, which weighs just over 550 kg and retains tradition of lightweight sportscar. Of course, it’s modernized reincarnation of the legendary Lotus Seven with aluminum used in car body, wings and interior panels are real carbon fiber. The car design is timeless and looks absolutely beautiful. Did I mention those lights? This particular model has a 2 liter Ford Duratec engine regularly found in Ford Mondeo, which in this form produces 175 horses and allows car to accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in just 4.9 sec. And, boy, if you don’t find those numbers self explanatory, let me just tell you that there’s no Porsche Boxster or BMW Z4 in the production being able to compete with Caterham’s power to weight ratio and only more hardcore versions of 911 can beat it.
But forget the mainstream. Forget all that’s cooked and think of what’s raw. This Caterham is carpaccio rather than a meat steak, it’s your salt and pepper rather than a spices mix, it’s your sex without a condom. It’s that real. It’s that good. And it’s basic - there’s no power steering, no traction control, not even ABS. It’s so back to the roots of you, not the car systems, doing all the driving. It triggers your senses and all you trigger back, senses the car. And isn’t that the ideal relationship formula?
Buddha says enjoying process rather than seeking result is a key to happiness and in this area Caterham excels. For instance, you don’t just sit into the car, but have to get into the car, you put your one leg first on the inside of the lovely little Momo steering wheel, then balance you body weight with hands holding roll-bar, but not the optional windscreen or the mirrors, then pull your second leg in and carefully place your butt on the seat making sure seat belts are prepared. And once you get them fastened, you can’t reach the optional heater control, 12V socket or even the passenger seat, so you have to plan in advance. Engine starting is also a procedure, not a simple turn of the key. Then there’s a process of mounting and dismounting doors. And the hood. And helping getting in and out to your passenger. It may sound complicated, but in reality it’s far from that - on the contrary, what you feel in going any of those, is pure pride. Of course this means it’s not a car you may easily hand keys to anyone, should you for some unknown reason wish so, but do you simply leave your child even to someone you know without providing instructions first?
Driving Experience
Driving it is relatively easy considering the car it is. Clutch doesn’t bite, brake pedal in hard, but there’s room to modulate it, suspension in this touring suited S package is surprisingly comfortable by sports car standards. Optional 6 speed gearbox and torque available from this Duratec engine allows smooth low rev driving at town speeds and cruising below 3000 rpm in 6th gear should you get off the town. Which you will pretty often, as in city traffic, compared by the quantity of information your brains have to process, driving Caterham reminds more of a driving motorbike in town - you try to avoid getting to other car’s blind spots, your eyes are busy screening road surface ahead, fingers are working switching light indicators on and off, as it's a button presses rather than lever, both hands are strongly holding the wheel, as the lack of power steering makes sudden one hand wheel corrections hardly possible, low gearing of the car also does require pretty often usage of gear knob, thank God it’s so lovely to touch. Rear view mirror vibrates so you’ll see traffic in the rear only roughly. As you sit low in the car, driving lights of a usual scooter are at the level of your eyes in rear view mirror and BMW X5’ are above it. Also you sit so far back in the car, with it’s long nose ahead of you, especially in this larger SV chassis. This does allow perfect weight distribution, gives a magnificent view of the car upfront, but also makes it quite tricky to see approaching traffic at turns. It is a low car and the lowest part in the car is the oil sump, so it’s also the part you want to scratch the least.
Practicality, Sort of
Having driven this Caterham for 3 days personally I didn’t have any troubles parking it in public multi floor garages or driving through speed bumps, but it’s something you as a driver must always keep in mind. There’s no room to put your left foot while it’s off clutch and the car also has a terrible turning circle. And if you’re taller, you won’t fit to the car with standard S3 chassis, and if you’re shorter, you won’t reach pedals in a car on this extended SV chassis.
Otherwise, I’ll even use the word, it’s quite a practical car. There’s a boot which perfectly fits a couple of small bags. S touring package seats are wonderfully comfortable for hours of driving. Let’s just say, first your brain gets tired from the various information it receives and has to process, and not your bottom. There’s room to carry folding doors behind your seat, installing them is easy and extends usage of a car at sub zero Celsius temperatures, especially with the optional car heater. Remember, it’s English, of course they have thought of themselves. Heavy rain will make your shoulders wet even with the hood installed and when doors and the hood are on, the environment in the car becomes snug compared to open air motoring, but even with full weather gear installed, blind spot checks are not restricted.
We Live Once
Driving Caterham is a sensation. You FEEL the speed the car is gathering by increased wind noise and buffering as there’s not much to isolate you from. Car vibrates, heat from the engine bay warm your feet. You HEAR sounds from all sources possibly available in a car - engine, side exhaust and the wind, except here they reach you undistorted, call this analogue as opposed to digital. Noise isolation?
Although Caterham announces maximum speed of its models, I reckon it’s relative, as it is mostly enjoyed on B roads at fully permissible speeds at which holding conversation with you passenger is fully possible, should you wish so. If not, silencer is always available under your right foot.
Are Caterhams perfectly reliable? No, but neither is your girlfriend. Mechanically they seem to serve well, leather bits require care and electronics are English. But by knowing her you still love her for where she perfectly delivers and don’t expect the rest, right?
This world will cease to exist once the balance in it is broken. And in nowadays full of lane departure warnings, active cruise controls, torque vectoring and autonomous driving, Caterham stands strongly on the opposite side. On the one, reminding you what driving in this life is all about.