Caterham Seven 160 first drive

This is it the moment we’ll find out if we were right. Right to have been boring on about manufacturers not increasing power and speed, but reducing grip and weight, in order that we have more fun. This is the most significant embodiment yet of the idea. This is the Caterham Seven 160.

We’ve talked about it a lot already, and there are many things in the confirmed spec worth noting. Cubic capacity is just 660cc, in the form of a mildly blown Suzuki (car, not bike) engine. Suzuki installs it into various Kei cars and the like, and in rear-drive form in little delivery trucks (think Bedford Rascal a few generations on) it mates it to a five-speed manual gearbox with a live rear axle.

Caterham has bought the whole unit as a job lot, stopping to increase power from its standard 64bhp to 80bhp, made at 7000rpm, before slotting it into a Seven’s chassis. 

In taking the drivetrain whole, the Caterham 160 utilises drum rear brakes too, and some 4.5J x 14in steel wheels that have a different stud pattern to other Sevens: thus making the option of bigger rubber impossible. Tyres are of just 155mm cross section, in 65 per cent profile. A sticky compound? Er, no. They are Avon ZT5s and cost less than £40 a corner. 

All up, weight is just 490kg. The entry price is £14,995 in component form, £17,995 turnkey. 

Like the old Caterham Classic you might remember, standard equipment is thin. Not as thin as it was: the only gauge fitted as standard to the Classic in the early 90s was a speedometer. These days you get a full complement.

But, stock, the 160’s aluminium body panels are left bare, the plastic ones (nose and all four wings) offered in just four basic colours. There are adjustable cloth seats, inertia-reel belts and a Moto-Lita steering wheel (our test car’s Momo, like the screen, is an option). And that’s it. At least you get a rev counter. There’s a payoff in that kerb weight is a claimed 490kg.

That’s not a lot for even a modest output like 80bhp to propel, so Caterham claims the 160 has a 0-60mph time of 6.5sec, and that it’ll run out of puff at 100mph. 

If you’re familiar with Sevens, your immediate thoughts will not be about how fast it is (or isn’t), but how soft it feels. 

Soft of everything: the clutch is light, the gearshift, though short and positive, lacks the outright precision of Caterham’s other ‘boxes and the steering is lighter at manoeuvring speeds; the rack’s the same, weight and tyres provide the difference. And, by gum, this car rides. 

Curious thing to be thinking about in a Seven, I know, but the way it the body is immune from potholes and bumps is truly remarkable for a car so small and light, and with a solid rear axle. It’s very easy to live with, too. The turning circle is great, Sevens are tiny, visibility is (obviously) world class and those generous tyre sidewalls mean manoeuvring in rough car parks or onto kerbs is concern-free. That, plus watching the skinny wheels bob up and down, especially with this colour bodywork, puts you in mind of a classic car.

There’s something of a classic about the way the engine makes its power, too. Not because it’s an intractable git who hates the cold or full throttle from idle, of course: it’s as impeccably mannered as any new car. But the best of the delivery comes through the mid-range. It’ll pull from 1500rpm but when it’s beyond 2000 and the turbo starts spooling, until about 5000rpm (there’s very little lag in the middle), sees it at its best.