Wednesday 23rd October 2013

Caterham Seven 160 unpeeled

How (and why) Caterham stripped weight and cost out of the already minimalist Seven

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Taking a car as minimal as the Caterham Seven back to basics might seem like the law of diminishing returns but there's a real buzz about the new 160, both at Caterham and among customers.

Suzuki K6A engine is a Kei car mainstay in Japan

"We've long wanted a true entry-level car," says Caterham's chief commercial officer David Ridley, "and we've been aware prices of the DeDion cars have been climbing."

Reverting to a traditional live axle was one way of cutting cost out of the Seven but since supplies of the Marina/Ital units in Caterhams of old dried up options have been limited. Indeed, according to Ridley this is the first live axle equipped Seven for well over a decade. This one comes from the Suzuki Jimny, likewise the unapologetic five-speed gearbox, while the 660cc K6A turbocharged engine is an off-the-shelf Suzuki item boosted to 80hp. Sold in the UK as the 160, the export model has a slightly different emissions map from Caterham Technology and Innovation and is called the 165, '5' referring to Euro 5 compatibility.

Even with all the turbo gubbins this tiny three-cylinder weighs a useful 26kg less than the 1.6-litre Ford Sigma engine on the £19,995 (kit) 125hp Roadsport that was the previous entry level to the Seven range. All contributing to that startling 490kg baseline weight figure. Other than that the 160 is your standard S3 Seven, albeit with narrower rear track and rear wings pulled in by around 28mm each side to accommodate the skinny 155/65R14 Avon tyres.

UK 160 at least gets screen option

It looks and feels tiny but bombproof and will make for a most entertaining city runabout thanks to the gutsy power delivery and tiny dimensions. Indeed, tricked by the Garmin into a route across central Bologna and with our flight time looming we took advantage of this, the Seven finding additional lanes where there weren't any and, with a muttered prayer, more or less able to follow the locals on their scooters through the packed traffic.

It's 'cheaper' rather than 'cheap' but a welcome step in the right direction for a Seven range that's been getting increasingly expensive, power crazed and top heavy.

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Read PH's full Caterham Seven 160 roadtest here.

[garypotter]

Just the drivers need to stop eating pies to benefit from all the weight saving

[j90gta]

In the words of Colin Chapman "Simplify and add lightness"

[TooMany2cvs]

And the in-car video of this urban scooter-bating is where...?

[j_s14a]

MPG?

[Dan Trent]

TooMany2cvs said:

And the in-car video of this urban scooter-bating is where...?

Ah. Well, I was a little bit fixated on whether or not I'd make the plane I'm afraid and the camera had already been packed away. Sorry. But there were some bold moves, even by the standards of Bolognese driving. I reckon I'd pass for an honorary local on that score!

Dan

[Frimley111R]

j_s14a said:

MPG?

Who cares??

[HustleRussell]

j_s14a said:

MPG?

I'd expect 40+mpg without even trying.

[DonkeyApple]

j_s14a said:

MPG?

74.3mpg and 99g/km

http://www.whatcar.com/car-news/volkswagen/golf/20...

[wemorgan]

Any more photos of the 'unpeeled' car? Chassis and suspension parts especially.

[jeremyc]

wemorgan said:

Any more photos of the 'unpeeled' car? Chassis and suspension parts especially.

[McWigglebum4th]

Wooo Hooo

http://www.suzisport.com/shop/index.html?lang=en-u...

You can get an LSD

[Pan Pan]

An advantage of using components intended for use in heavier vehicles, is that in a Seven they seem last very well. this includes the brakes, gearbox and back end whether Sierra or a live axle. and (to some extent) tyres.

[Gorbyrev]

Right Dan - who's getting one on the PH fleet for a daily driver - go on, you know you want to! Made great reading when Evo's Mr Catchpole did a similar thing a lived with Seven for a year.

[McWigglebum4th]

DonkeyApple said:

j_s14a said:

MPG?

74.3mpg and 99g/km

http://www.whatcar.com/car-news/volkswagen/golf/20...

Thats only because it will spend 25% of its time on the back of a recovery truck

[mrmr96]

What's the 0-60 going to be on one of these?

[ajprice]

mrmr96 said:

What's the 0-60 going to be on one of these?

6.5, 100mph top speed (not sure whether that's because of a limiter on the engine, or physics ).

[Cotic]

Are those (quite lovely) steelies as light as similarly shod alloys? Unsprung weight and all that...

[Lowtimer]

I would not be hugely surprised to find the steels are actually lighter than whatever Suzuki parts-bin alloy wheels would be the theoretical substitute - quite possibly as shown in this link, i.e. Alto wheels.
http://www.caraccessoriesplus.co.uk/product/suzuki...

A lot of alloy wheels are surprisingly heavier than their plain-jane steel equivalents, especially cheap ones for mass production tin-bins, which I think we can all agree the Alto is.

Note that all the Alto alloys in that advert have the wrong number of spokes for a four-stud hub, and are therefore necessarily heavier than they would be if they were 4-spoke or 8-spoke designs.

Edited by Lowtimer on Wednesday 23 October 15:54

[IN51GHT]

Wonder what sort of dd it would make

[HereBeMonsters]

"Bomb-proof"? Really?