My day with the Seven 270 R

[Riccardino]

What a great toy
Rented one for a day and if you like driving than you must try one of these
Got a yellow Seven 270R with the S3 which was brand new (less than 500 miles). Realised only later that it was the car on which I seated at the London Motorshow






The details are gorgeous





At the beginning it is intimidating.
You have to climb in and the little roof does not help (but I am lucky as I am short) and then slide in with all built around you




Was not used anymore to manual gearbox most of all if you have to manoeuvre it eith the left hand No servo or assistance of any kind, clutch and throttle should be balance carefully or the car will either stall or jump
You are sitting on the floor at the level of the wheels of any car and you do not have a horn (but I might have missed as I have missed that you can adjust the seat a little bit)
Funny the view. You see this long bonnet and you always have the feeling that you have run over mickey mouse with his ears sticking out from the front of the bonnet



The engine noise is nice with the popping when you release the throttle. When you rev it it seems it never finishes. Steering is sharp and you are connected to the road like in a kart. You do not need to reach crazy speed to feel like you are flying (but if you push you are faster than everything out there


https://youtu.be/L_2CkzqZObM

https://youtu.be/A-offKqDVEY



Wanted to take the car home so had to do some motorway and that is not the best thing to do with it. It is noisy inside and your legs can get really hot (and there were 15 degrees outside). Avoid that at any cost but having said that with the roof and doors you are well isolated and the leather seats are confortable

https://youtu.be/0IXUbCtlsNY


On track it must bea lot of fun
One day with Motorway commuting and some hiccup was just enough to start to get confortable with it so definitively not enough
PS: little advice? Keep an eye on the fuel gauge but do not trust it too much (refuel in advance)

https://youtu.be/aBiwyaK405c

[Riccardino]

Caterham South in Crawley

Try it it is the purest experience you can try in a car!!!

[Dave_H34]

Horn is the black button to the right of the steering wheel.

Edited by Dave_H34 on Monday 6th June 15:26

[Riccardino]

I knew I should have listen more to the initial briefing and try that black button

[downsman]

Go on, buy one, you know it makes sense

[Stridey]

Nice write up and pictures. So glad you enjoyed it.

It took 15 years from driving one for the first time to me buying one. I hope it doesn't take you as long!

[KN02LEY]

Horn and other standard controls are all there, it's just the indicators which take a bit of getting used to. Even a motorcycle I had 30 years ago had self cancelling indicators! The driving is sensational though😊

[nigelpugh7]

Great write up and as others have said get one ordered!

Better still buy one as a kit like I did and build it yourself.

Mine is a Superlight Twenty, based on a 270R, not as powerful as my previous Caterhams but it's fantastic, so much fun to drive!



Here we were out again local classic car meet last night.

Lots of people came up wanting to know more about it and as usual, people are amazed that you built it yourself!

[Riccardino]

Have seen your blog with the building process, amazing and it is a beauty!

You had an R500 right? The guy at Caterham told that one is even more explosive to drive vs the 620 due to the power delivery

Those car get noticed (also when I was stuck on the A2 with no fuel). Had people coming to ask me about it even at the petrol station

[nigelpugh7]

Riccardino said:

Have seen your blog with the building process, amazing and it is a beauty!

You had an R500 right? The guy at Caterham told that one is even more explosive to drive vs the 620 due to the power delivery

Those car get noticed (also when I was stuck on the A2 with no fuel). Had people coming to ask me about it even at the petrol station

hi and thanks, glad you like my blog too.

Yes my previous two Caterhams were both R500 Duratec models, the first with a sequential the second the Caterma six speed.

Both great cars, the first one a bit too hardcore for the road though!

The power delivery was pretty even in the r500, but there is power all the way, right up to the rev limiter.

Very different to my current twenty, but we are having just as much fun!!

[neil-935ql]

nigelpugh7 said:

hi and thanks, glad you like my blog too.

Yes my previous two Caterhams were both R500 Duratec models, the first with a sequential the second the Caterma six speed.

Both great cars, the first one a bit too hardcore for the road though!

The power delivery was pretty even in the r500, but there is power all the way, right up to the rev limiter.

Very different to my current twenty, but we are having just as much fun!!

Hi , I take it you don't miss the extra power then ?

[nigelpugh7]

neil-935ql said:

Hi , I take it you don't miss the extra power then ?

Hi Neil,

Nope not in the slightest,,despite my new Twenty only having half the power of my R500 it's still amazingly good to drive!

I have not even exploited the top end power get either, as I am still letting everything bed in for the first 500 miles or so.

Next week we have one of our outings to Curborough sprint course, where I shall be pushing it a bit harder, so will report back then on how it compares out on track.

[neil-935ql]

nigelpugh7 said:

Hi Neil,

Nope not in the slightest,,despite my new Twenty only having half the power of my R500 it's still amazingly good to drive!

I have not even exploited the top end power get either, as I am still letting everything bed in for the first 500 miles or so.

Next week we have one of our outings to Curborough sprint course, where I shall be pushing it a bit harder, so will report back then on how it compares out on track.

Well I guess that's good news for all of us who cannot afford the faster caterhams , I guess that extra power may not be needed, I've had mine for nearly a year now still love it and still learning ! This time of year is great for the seven out in it a lot right now i have had to buy new rear tyres , only bad thing all the bloody insect wildlife all over it on your return

[nigelpugh7]

neil-935ql said:

Well I guess that's good news for all of us who cannot afford the faster caterhams , I guess that extra power may not be needed, I've had mine for nearly a year now still love it and still learning ! This time of year is great for the seven out in it a lot right now i have had to buy new rear tyres , only bad thing all the bloody insect wildlife all over it on your return

Yes indeed Neil, been enjoying mine a lot too, and as you say, the bugs at this time of year, make a real mess and I've eaten quite a few big ones too, now that we have gone Aeroscreen.

The one thing I have noticed about this Superlight, is it seems a lot more stiffly Spring than even my previous R500's, which I may not saying is a bad thing, but he ride is very very harsh on the road.

I'm not sure if our cars have different rate springs or dampers compared to my old R500, but the whole car feels really taught!

It could,of course be down to the fact that the sigma engine is a lot lighter than the duratec,,making the front end feel different relatively speaking.

I have also fitted the larger 8 inch rims and 215 tyres to the rear, mostly beacuse the little 175 tyres on the rear as supplied looked pretty daft, but the handling is still fanatic with the LSD.

Hoping to get it out on the Curborogh sprint track next week, weather permitting to see what it's like when being pushed hard.

[K800 RUM]

Thanks for the write up & pictures.
They are fun aren't they!

So nice that caterham have seen sence & that nasty horrible rectangular badge has gone in favour of a proper round one again.

Would you mind if I link your post to the Lotus 7 Club forum (blat chat) as there are plenty who would like to read it!

Edited by K800 RUM on Saturday 11th June 18:44

[Riccardino]

No problem at all, ctually I tried to register to post there several time always to get a message saying to try later so gave up

[K800 RUM]

Thanks, have posted it on chit chat.

[bcr5784]

A daily hire is a good intro to the Caterham experience. Are there any "communal" ownership groups out there? A potential route to a lower cost "ownership" perhaps of something more interesting than a hire car? Or too risky?

[kinghottinger]

bcr5784 said:

A daily hire is a good intro to the Caterham experience. Are there any "communal" ownership groups out there? A potential route to a lower cost "ownership" perhaps of something more interesting than a hire car? Or too risky?

I run a classic motoring sharing group which has a R300 Superlight (and a number of motorcycles) but it's in Switzerland, so it might not be convenient for you.