There are a lot of things you can’t do while driving a Caterham Seven. Sneezing is out for starters. Even if you’re able to keep it together enough to hold the steering wheel with one hand while holding a tissue in the other, it’s a risky business fraught with difficulty.
You can’t speed either. While the engine certainly has the power to punch you through to licence-losing speeds, its lack of doors means the wind will find a way of slapping you around at anything approaching motorway limits.
You can forget listening to the radio, because even if it had one, you wouldn’t be able to hear it. If you’re precious about your hairdo or hot drink on the go, then combining either with a drive in a Caterham also spells disaster. There’s no cup holder, either.
Yet driving a Caterham is nothing short of an addiction – the sort that gets you out of bed at 3am for a short drive, but one in which you find yourself three hours from home, scooting about mountain roads. The sort that makes the craziness of it all worth it.
The 360R I’ve been loaned from the Dubai dealers ERAS for the weekend is a mid-range model fitted with a 180hp, 2.0L Ford Duratec engine. Caterham arrives at the 360-figure by calculating the car’s power-to-weight ratio, and expressing it in horsepower per tonne. At a nominal 500-kilogram curb weight, the maths is fairly basic – you simply double the power figure.
The R denotes that it’s fitted with an optional R-pack that includes Spartan composite seats with four-point harnesses, a carbon-fibre dash, a limited-slip diff, lightweight flywheel, sports suspension, Avon CR500 tyres, a shift-light in the centre of the dash and the removable Momo steering wheel, which helps access in and out.
This is also the wide-bodied SV version, which not only gives you more elbow room, luggage space and a larger fuel tank, but also wide-track suspension that Caterham says is better for both road cruising and large, open race circuits. This model also has a “bikini top”, a vinyl roof that attaches to the top lip of the windscreen and the roll bar to provide a bit of shade, but that stays in the boot for the weekend.
You sit low. The race seats are mounted to sliders, which raise them off the floor a bit, but very few road-going cars are as close to the tarmac as the Caterham. You may not want to record lorry hubodometer readings, and some may feel a little compromised by the car’s size and vulnerability on the road, but it simply forces you to change in the way you think about driving. You certainly have to think about positioning the car so that traffic ahead can see you at all times and other road users are aware that you’re beside them.
The trade-off is those moments of bliss you get when the twisty road ahead is clear and you’re in the moment. The car’s low-slung chassis and grippy tyres keep it glued to the black stuff, and the open cockpit means you can lean out and plant the front end precisely where you want it. The composite seats keep your torso supported, while the fabric inserts help to keep you from sliding about. The sprint from 0 to 100kph feels a lot faster than the stated five seconds, and the 210kmh claimed top speed is best left to those with a lot of track time up their sleeves.
Carry too much speed into a bend and the front will start to push wide, but a little lift of the throttle soon snaps that back under control. Small, smooth and precise inputs are essential in keeping the rear end in a constant communication with the tarmac, and any sudden movements (like, say, a sneeze) can quickly push the Avon rubber beyond the point of adhesion.
A narrow footwell forces the pedals close together, making them perfect for blipping the throttle on downshift. The brake pedal needs more force than you may expect, because it’s designed to offer more feedback than an over-assisted system. The R-pack includes an uprated brake master cylinder, but the pedal feel is the same.
The Caterham isn’t only about blasting over your favourite road. Cruising gives you a chance to take in the sights and smells of the countryside around you, good or bad. Livestock farms are interesting, but the waft of a weekend barbecue from people camped on the side of the road is bliss.
There are many things you can’t do in a Caterham, but nothing else comes close to replicating the car’s precision and exhilaration on the right road. It engages the senses and commands your attention like no other car. It’s driving pleasure distilled; a short, sharp punch of espresso to an otherwise bland and flavourless world of instant coffee; a car where less really means more; where foregoing luxury is no real hardship. It’s a car for which there is no equal, at any price.
motoring@thenational.ae
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