Caterham Seven Supersport

 

What‘s it? This is actually the latest new model from Caterham Seven Supersport, and when you wish your fun simple and furious, you’re visiting adore it. The car’s known as Supersport and it also slots straight into the range underneath the Superlight R side from the Caterham family. First thing you have to know is the value, and that is seriously tempting. Send Caterham a cheque for £19, 995 and also a Luton van will come round within your house and fall off a big pile of boxes. Send £22, 995 and you may collect a ready-made Supersport from Caterham. What’s it like? Beneath the bonnet is Ford’s 1. 6-litre Sigma engine tuned to 140bhp as well as on the rear of it‘s a five-speed gearbox fitted with sprint ratio gears. At another end from the propshaft, there’s a limited-slip differential.

This spec alone gives clues towards the Caterham Seven Supersport’s intended role, however the four-point harness, minimalist bucket seats and lack of the windscreen confirm that it Caterham is supposed for trackdays, sprints and hillclimbs. It’s not the lightest Seven ever, but at 520kg it’s still a robust performer. Caterham says 0-60mph in 4. 9sec and also a top speed of 120mph. It’s a brilliant package. Around 130bhp to 140bhp is that the perfect power output for any Seven, even when it’s carrying full weather gear and comfort options as a heater and soft seating. During this car it’s greater than enough. The Supersport is fitted with Avon CR500 tyres as well as for an open road I’d be happy with a group with slightly less stickiness. Using the LSD behind, the Supersport has terrific grip from slow corners. There’s a touch of understeer in quicker corners but that may be dialled out using a slight change of driving style. The very best fun I’ve had inside a Caterham was each day hillclimbing at Shelsey Walsh inside an R300.

Drive there having a helmet upon the passenger seat, compete, then drive home via a rustic pub for supper. No KTM, Elise, Atom or another trackday special has ever been in a position to improve upon that experience. Should I buy one? The new Supersport is from the identical mold ; the difference is it’s very affordable. I’d say it’s perhaps one of the best packages that Caterham has ever develop. Caterham Seven SupersportPrice : £19, 995 (kit ) ; Top speed : 120mph ; 0-60mph : 4. 9sec ; Range : Na ; CO2 : Na ; Kerb weight : 520kg ; Engine : 4 cyls, 1595cc, petrol ; Power : 140bhp at 6900rpm ; Torque : 120lb ft at 5790rpm ; Gearbox : 5-spd manual Caterham Seven Supersport

Caterham Seven 1.8 SV

 

Caterham Seven 1.8 SV technical director Jez Coates doesn’t look happy. He wasn’t particularly pleased about adding a windscreen to his 495kg Superlight (an £855, 14. 4kg option ), but add my, ahem, 100kg-ish bulk and it is 283bhp per tonne drops to under 230. No make a difference, this remains a really quick car, though not inside the universe-rearranging manner from the loonier R400s and R500s. Also different to more extreme Caterhams will be the tyres. The 13in rims look tiny, but 175-section rubber provides just the ideal level of grip to exploit the Superlight’s delicate balance. Talk of oversteer and understeer is largely irrelevant, since with adjustable spring seats and anti-roll bar means it’ll do either depending in your individual setup. If this looks familiar, that’s since the Superlight was initially introduced ten years ago, but as more powerful versions arrived the fundamental car dropped from the price list. 

Using the R400 and R500 replaced from the new CSR, demand for any cheaper trackday Caterham Seven 1.8 SV has returned, and thus has got the Superlight. But it’s not really a clone of the initial. A stock 1. 8-litre K-series replaces the old car’s tuned 1. 6. The headline figures are little altered –140bhp and 124lb ft plays 138bhp and 118lb ft - but where tuned K-series lumps often are likely to cough and stutter around town, this one feels docile and tractable like a base-model MG TF’s. 

The ride, too, is surprisingly friendly. The fundamental car runs a less aggressive anti-roll bar than R versions, so its surprising compliance means you don’t got to fret about scarred roads and can also concentrate instead upon the tactile immediacy from the steering, brakes and six-speed gearbox. But drive it really quickly over a bumpy back road and also the back end does skip over the tarmac, highlighting the restrictions from the Superlight’s de Dion rear axle when compared with the new CSR’s double-wishbones. As to the cabin, it’s familiar narrow-cockpit Caterham fare - fine if you’re under 5ft 10in, less so in case your height begins having a six. Excellent news for the greater generously built is for £1500 you may also obtain a wide-cockpit Superlight SV. Coates frowns - bad news is it weighs an additional 20kg. Now there’s an incentive to follow a weight loss diet. Alastair Clements Caterham Seven 1. 8 SV

Caterham Seven 1.6 Sigma 125

 

What’s new? Earlier in 2012 (2006 ) the Porsche Cayman S won our Best Driver’s Car title, but look past the overall rankings towards the lap times and you’ll find a little, hand-made British sports car absolutely demolished the very best Germans and Italians around Oulton Park - Caterham Seven 1.6 Sigma 125’s CSR Superlight. And that is very impressive, but might be also just slightly irrelevant, because for many its areodynamic trickery and in-board independent suspension, the CSR costs £34, 000 – and that is plenty to cover a car with no roof, windscreen or heater. The Caterham experience is much easier to stomach whenever you pay out lower than half that amount - £15, 995 in kit form, or £17, 495 factory assembled - to the new, Ford powered Roadsport. What’s it like? The demise of Rover meant Caterham needed to get yourself a replacement to the K-Series engine - a search ending with 1. 6-litre Sigma engine coming from the Ford Focus.

Remapping the engine management, retarding the cam timing and changing the intake manifold has increased power from 100PS inside the Focus to 125bhp. Although just 5bhp greater than the Rover unit, from anything above 3000rpm the new engine produces more torque which makes it noticably quicker for road driving. Using this added midrange flexibility you’ll rarely be calling upon the 6100rpm needed for peak power – and that is handy, as during the last 1000rpm the Sigma engine feels slightly reluctant ; our test car had covered just 600 miles though, therefore the engine could well loosen with use. As you needed any further excuse to jettison the canvas roof, the Sigma Roadsport sounds far better topless.

The driver-side-exiting exhaust brings some encouraging rortiness as well as just a little throttle-body-sneezing with every energetic stab from the right pedal. Overall it provides an enigmatic mixture of old-school drama, modern day flexibility, and (we assume ) Ford-derived reliability. As the 125bhp Roadsport won’t be setting any lap records at next year’s ‘Handling Day’ event, for road use it’s entertainingly quick without unduly risking your licence. Not content with a brand new engine supplier, Caterham Seven 1.6 Sigma has also outsourced chassis construction, adopting MIG-welding to extend torsional stiffness. During the deepest potholes, the bobbing front wheels can lead one to expect the worst, however the stiffer chassis actually minimises intrusions to some level you can almost call comfortable. Should I buy one? For many it technical excellence the CSR Isn‘t at the guts of Caterham’s business ; that’s where this characterful, fun and affordable little sports car is available in. It offers all however the most visceral facets of the same fastest Caterhams, but with a price and that is easier to justify. Actually, this Sigma-engined Roadsport serves like a timely reminder of what Caterham does best. Jamie Corstorphine Caterham Seven 1. 6 Sigma 125

Cadillac STS-V

 

General Motors Performance Division engineers will certainly be the very first to tell you just how their pride and joy, the 2006 Cadillac STS-V, is much more in an autobahn rocket when compared to a hyperactive track star. Unlike its race-bred sibling, the CTS-V, this latest model in Cadillac’s performance lineup Isn‘t intended for hard cornering, hard braking, hard accelerating or hard anything. That’s to not say the car can’t handle hard charging, or it won’t match up well against the posh performance competition ; it’s simply not visiting beat anyone up simultaneously. So just what does $30, 000 over a base STS buy inside an STS-V? Beneath the sheet-molded composite hood lies a highly refined 4. 4-litre supercharged Northstar V8—the first supercharged production Cadillac engine. With 469 bhp at 6400 rpm and 439 lb-ft of torque at 3600 rpm, it’s easily the foremost potent production Caddy powerplant ever.

Power is routed towards the rear wheels via an all-new six-speed adaptable automatic transmission. Chassis upgrades support the powertrain, with stiffer springs, bushings, wheel bearings and antiroll bars ; a steering gear tuned for quicker on-center response without overreacting off-center ; Brembo four-piston disc brakes, 14 inches front and 14. 3 inches rear ; and 10-spoke painted aluminum wheels, 18x8. 5 inches in front, 19x9. 5 inches inside the rear, fitted with Pirelli Euphoria run-flat tyres. Cadillac stylists resisted the urge to hammer home STS-V’s performance credentials, instead choosing functional bodywork and discreet V Series and Supercharged badging. Performance Division resident hotshoe engineer John Heinricy compares the STS-V’s performance to some base C6 Corvette.

Our drives support Heinricy’s assertion—the car proved virtually as quick like a C6 on GM’s Milford, Michigan, Cadillac STS-V test track, with little body roll, solid consistent braking and enough wiggle room to let you steer the tail by flexing your right ankle. For all those attempting to find a BMW M5 in Cadillac clothing, that may not be enough. Except for those seeking Corvette performance inside a well-mannered, full-size rear-wheel-drive American luxury saloon, STS-V is really a dream become a reality. Bob Gritzinger Cadillac STS-V