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