Wednesday 29th May 2013

New Caterham Seven revealed

Well, newish as Caterham goes back to basics with its latest Seven

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The Caterham Seven isn't exactly known for its opulence or flabbiness so promise of a new back to basics entry-level model begs the question how stripped back they can make it. We'll find out in due course but one advantage of this even more minimalist approach is price, Caterham promising a sub-£17K ticket when it goes on sale before the end of the year. That's a significant saving over the £22,995 (£19,995 in kit form) asked for the current entry level Roadsport with the 125hp Ford Sigma engine.

Is Caterham pressing ahead with Ecoboost Seven?

Intriguingly Caterham is promising - in addition to less weight and money - "a super-compact, flexible and EU6-compliant engine." The powertrain, being developed with Caterham Technology & Innovation, also "stands a good chance" of being the most fuel efficient Seven ever.

CTI showed a neat integrated bolt-on chargecooler/supercharger unit earlier this year that could unleash the necessary fury in any off-the-shelf four-cylinder engine. Then again, with all this talk of fuel efficiency and weight saving maybe we're going to be getting a production version of the Ecoboost engined Seven we had a quick go with last year.

Neither is an especially simple solution of course, relative to the back to basics ethos or price point claimed for this new, as-yet unnamed new model.

With Caterham boss Graham Macdonald boasting "the new entry-level Seven will be uncomplicated, easy to run and, most important of all, an intuitive and exciting drive" we'll have to see exactly how this will be achieved but, for now, the promise of a more affordable Seven has to be good news for all of us.

 

 

 

[Lowtimer]

I find it hard to imagine a cheaper Seven will have the Ecoboost engine, since in your previous story you pointed out that the cost of the crate Ecoboost engine is £2800 more than the 1.6 Sigma.

[Fetchez la vache]

What'll it do, mister?

[ED209]

Hmm,now we know these things hardly depreciate so could one on some kind of pcp be an option for a fun second car at a reasonable price~?

[bobberz]

Yeah, my guess is any EcoBoost version would be at a much higher price point than this "entry-level" model. I quite like Caterhams.

Anybody know if they're available in the US? I know of at least one around me (a Superlight R with an SVT Zetec), but I don't know if he imported it.

[suffolk009]

If it is an ecoboost, fingers-crossed that it doesn't have that "power" bulge in the bonnet.

[Frenchie87]

I struggle to see how you can make a basic Caterham even more basic, unless they remove things like the windscreen or carpet.

And I agree, I would have thought the new Ecoboost engine would add cost not reduce it.

[jamiebae]

Could it be fitted with the 1.6 engine from the Dacia Duster? Would be a cheap engine to buy and makes sense with the Caterham/Renault/Alpine tie up.

Renault/Dacia bits would probably be cheaper than the parts bin stuff used at the moment in other areas too.

[vrooom]

still £10k too much.

[PtheP]

Maybe they found a whole stack of 1000cc Holbay screamers left over from The Good Old Days?

[BOR]

I'm bemused why Caterham are taking so long to attack the zero-emissions/low fuel-consumption market. An ecoboost or twin-air engine is still good for 100+bhp, which would make an enjoyable road car with low running costs.

Longer term, where is the Caterham Twizzy ? Moulded roof,vestigal doors, low capacity battery with powerfull rear mounted motors ? Have a look at the used Caterhams for sale - lack of range wouldn't appear to be a big problem.

Compared to mainstream manufscturers, Caterham are already most of the way there in terms of low vehicle weight.

[parsot]

Do those skinny front tyres suggest a very very light engine? Eco boost would be great and maybe the price is coming down as production ramps up, or maybe a bike engine?

Either way great job Caterham, it's great to have a replacement for the classic keeping the marque close to the original ethos :-)

[Ex Boy Racer]

Frenchie87 said:

I struggle to see how you can make a basic Caterham even more basic, unless they remove things like the windscreen or carpet.

And I agree, I would have thought the new Ecoboost engine would add cost not reduce it.

Windscreen? Carpet? Mine doesn't have these...
Or doors...

[S3_Graham]

ED209 said:

Hmm,now we know these things hardly depreciate so could one on some kind of pcp be an option for a fun second car at a reasonable price~?

my thinking exactly..... want.

[petefrst]

Well i think its a great idea to produce a fun car regardless of engine type at under £17.000! But as already mentioned it will be interesting to see how they accomplish it...

[0llie]

Looking forward to seeing this. Would be a good candidate for my idea of buying a car new and running it until I can no longer drive

[Rawwr]

Here's a spy shot of the stripped out, more basic Caterham 7:

[Kiltie]

I've read the article a number of times now ... searching for meaningful facts.

I'm afraid I can't spot any.

Pointless.

I also notice that the photo has been nicked from here.

[KTF]

Kiltie said:

I've read the article a number of times now ... searching for meaningful facts.

I'm afraid I can't spot any.

Pointless.

I also notice that the photo has been nicked from here.

Its almost like they got sent a press release about the new car and used the material to make this piece

[BertBert]

Sounds like guess the engine then. We all know how they build a "stripped out" 7. No paint, no screen, no carpets. It needs about 120bhp. Perhaps they've found a NOS supply of live axles too

So, very light cheap EU6 120 bhp engine?

[Thorffin]

My bet: 0.9 turbo Renault engine!