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