Caterham 7
Based on Colin Chapmans original 1957 design for the Lotus 7, Caterham have made various incarnations of their 7 with engines ranging from from the original Lotus Twin Cam through Ford Crossflow, Cosworth BDR, Vauxhal HPC, Vauhall 8 and 16 valves, Rover K- Series and currently Ford Duratec and Sigma engines.
The chassis is a lightweight spaceframe steel construction with stressed aluminium bodypanels. Double wishbone suspension at the front and either Live axle (early cars) or De-Dion or double wishbone at the rear. There are 3 main variants of the chassis, the series 3 produced exclusivley until 2000, the Series 3, SV and the CSR. The SV is a wider version designed for customers who had difficulty fitting comfortably into the rather cramped cockpit of the standard car. The CSR is a high performance variant of the SV with inboard front suspension using pushrods, fully independent double wishbone suspension at the rear and a 25% stiffer chassis.
There was also a Series 4 version which was based on Lotus’ 1970 S4 version of it’s 7 but Caterham quickly switched to a modified Series 3 chassis for all vehicles in 1974.
Current Caterham Range:
Classic: The entry level car, only available in the Series 3 Chassis. No heater, hood or spare wheel, 1.4 K series engine.
Roadsport: Available with both S3 and SV chassis. Essentially a classic with weather gear, heater and engine options; 125bhp, 150bhp, 175bhp.
Superlight: More track biased version includes wide-track front suspension, 6 speed gearbox, carbon dash and front wings, Glass Fibre aeroscreen and seats, racing harnesses and removable steeing wheel. Versions include R300, R400 and R500.
CSR: A factory built only version. The CSR is the ultimate version of the Caterham 7 that includes inboard front suspension, fully independent rear double wishbone suspension and either a 2 litre 200bhp or 2.3 litre 260 bhp Ford Duratec engine capable of 0.60 mph in 3.1 seconds.
Images
General information
Parkers Super Seven info
Steve Carters Caterham 7 page
Caterham 7 Wikipedia entry
Reviews
Telegraph Supersport review
Auto Express Sigma 1600 review
Evo Classic review
Pistonheads Roadsport review
Pistonheads Carpool Roadsport 150 review
Evo Roadsport 150 review
Car Enthusiast Roadsport review
Car Magazine Supersport (2011) Review
Autocar Caterham Seven page
Evo Roadsport 125 Monaco review
AutoTrader Caterham Seven review
TopGear Supersport review
AutoExpress Caterham Seven
Forums
Pistonheads Caterham forum
BlatChat Forums
Caterham Motorsport forums
Brit-Cars Caterham forum
Lotus Seven Club forums
Duratec Forums
Nise7ens Northern Ireland Forums
Se7ens Mailing List
Videos
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJvwSfWWhF4&feature=related
