First UK Drive

What do you think are the chances of getting to drive Jenson Button’s Grand Prix car?

You’d stand a better chance of winning the Lottery, but for just £29,745 you could be in Caterham’s new 7 R300 Superlight which gives you a strong impression of driving a race car despite having around a quarter the power of an F1 car.

There’s even a row of warning lights that warn you when to change up a gear if you are too busy looking where you are going to watch the rev counter.

Thanks to its minimalistic body and the absence of non-essentials such as windscreen, roof, windows, weather protection, airbags, carpets, heater, radio etc the 7 weighs about as much as a stamp and considerably less than a Formula One car.

What that means is a power to weight ratio of nearly 340bhp per tonne which explains why at track days you see Caterhams walking away from £200,000 supercars which are lardy in comparison.

The only differences I could see between a road version and the track version was the track car had a more encompassing protective roll-cage – and no licence plate.

Caterham call this model – slightly tongue in cheek – the ‘People’s Champion’, because the lighter weight of the engine compared to other Superlight models like the R400 and mega-bonkers R500 gives it the sweetest power and handling balance.

It’s the Goldilocks version – not too slow, not too fast, but just right.

You have still got stacks of power but it’s not as intimidating and compared to the old Rover-engined cars it’s more friendly and docile when pottering around in town traffic.

Hanging on

You can muscle it about when conditions allow, without feeling like you are hanging on to the tail of a tiger.

After you strap yourself into the R300’s four-point race harness (no crotch straps) you quickly realise you are face high with lorry wheel nuts.

Caterhams have moved on in the years since I last drove one and the R300 had new dials and switches and a snazzy carbon fibre dash. A fibre nose cone and rear wings are extra-cost options

Starting the four-cylinder Ford-sourced engine, sticking the car into first gear and moving off is fuss free but if you aren’t used to fast steering you can dart about the road a bit at first.

The ride is firm but not harsh and it’s great watching the carbon fibre mudguards over the front wheels following the road surface.

Maximum shove doesn’t arrive until you are well up the rev range so there’s no danger of ploughing into the back of that bus in front, and the throttle is progressive rather than being an on-off switch.

Aero screen

A pal with a Caterham describes his car as “a coffin for two that you steer with your wrists” – and I see what he means.

Driving a Superlight assaults your senses like nothing else: the wind rushes over the tiny screen and batters your face and the steering transmits as much feel as if your hands were touching the road.

From the way it copes with mid-corner bumps the back axle is obviously fairly sophisticated. Caterham has continuously developed the car, which can trace his history back more than 50 years to the original Lotus Seven.

It beats me how anyone changes gear when they have someone wedged into the composite passenger seat. I found it difficult enough with my arm on the passenger side of the transmission tunnel.

The Ford engine idles easily and accelerates cleanly but is still characterful, and as your confidence grows can be tuned up for more power.

Some buyers spent as much as £4,000 fettling their engine and that’s serious money when you realise Caterhams start at £15,995

Braking performance is sensational and like a race car the brake pedal feels solid with little movement, but deceleration is beautifully proportional to pressure. There’s no anti-lock facility – that’s provided by your right foot.

Hard work

You pay a price for your fun, of course. This car is raw, hard work and tiring and it’s best as a Sunday morning adrenaline machine for B and A roads than a daily driver for the grind to work. The slightly more refined Roadsport versions are better for long distance journeys.

At times it was seriously frustrating to drive. Just a few revs in first and second and you were up behind someone crawling along.

At least if you are only wearing sunglasses, rather than a full face crash helmet, even not going very quickly the Caterham still feels rapid and exhilarating. And when you are going quickly it feels really quick.

Most Superlights are sold with windscreens rather than aero screens and even with a full-face crash helmet there was a gale round my neck so that I wished I had brought a scarf.

My local High Street isn’t exactly Casino Square in Monaco, but in a 7 it certainly feels like it.

Key facts

Model tested: Caterham R300 Superlight
On the road price: £27,995
Date tested: July 2009
Road tester: Russell Bray