British car marque Caterham has introduced its lightest model yet. That’s no mean feat given that “these titchy two-seat sports cars have never been ripe for fat shaming”, says Rowan Horncastle on Top Gear. The new Seven 170 is “edging on anorexic”. It weighs just a little over 440kg, “which is about two times as heavy as the heart of a blue whale” or half that of an Alpine A110, a car held in high regard by automotive weight watchers. It is “ridiculously light” and this at a time when cars tend to be getting ever heavier.
The Seven 170 follows in the tracks of the simple Caterham 160 of a few years ago, and follows the same Japanese Kei car (the smallest road-car category in Japan) principles. Under the aluminium sardine-tin bonnet is a Suzuki K-car 660cc, three-cylinder unit, boosted by a tiny turbo. “In a world of 600bhp super saloons and 2,000bhp EV [electric vehicle] rocket sleds, the 170’s power and torque figures look like typos: 84bhp and 85lb ft, respectively.” Nor will you find anything in the way of driver assistance. “None. Zip. Nada.”
But it is precisely this paucity of power and weight that is the “ultimate expression of the brand”, says Curtis Moldrich for Car. It has the power-to-weight ratio of a daddy-long-legs. “It feels frantic and chaotic – but never slow.” But what the 170 lacks in horsepower, it makes up for in “visceral communication and fun”.
MoneyWeek
Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE
Sign up to Money Morning
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
This is also Caterham’s least-polluting car, delivering 58.4mpg and 109g/km of carbon dioxide, “which, given that it can hit 60mph in less than seven seconds, shows what saving weight and reducing frontal area can do for you”, says Matt Prior in Autocar.
The 170 comes in two flavours. There’s the S version that comes with the standard weather gear, heater and carpets. And there’s the more racey R, with its sports suspension pack, carbon fibre dashboard and composite seats. The S will set you back £22,990 (£1,000 more for the R) if you build it yourself. Caterham will do it for you for £2,395.
-
5 alternatives to Reeves’ inheritance tax raid on rural Britain as families face ‘splitting up or selling’ farmsInheritance tax limits are now so low they attack small working family farms rather than just going after tax loopholes, one Cotswolds farmer has said
-
High earners at risk of £65k retirement shockHigh earners could face some of the biggest pension shortfalls when they retire, as the cost of maintaining an expensive lifestyle could erode their retirement savings
-
Are wealthy whisky enthusiasts leaving Britain?Collectables Wealthy whisky enthusiasts are heading to tax-friendly countries such as Dubai, where there is more disposable income to spend on collectable luxuries like rare whisky.
-
8 of the best properties for sale with kitchen gardensThe best properties for sale with kitchen gardens – from a 17th-century timber-framed hall house in Norfolk, to an Arts & Crafts house in West Sussex designed by Charles Voysey with a garden by Gertrude Jekyll
-
8 of the best properties for sale with shooting estatesThe best properties for sale with shooting estates – from an estate in a designated Dark Sky area in Ayrshire, Scotland, to a hunting estate in Tuscany with a wild boar, mouflon, deer and hare shoot
-
How to invest in the travel industry's boom as tourists get back on the roadThe travel industry is in rude health despite uncertainty about the global economy, Trump’s policies and geopolitical concerns. Investors should buy in now
-
Review: an adventure through the Swiss Alps to Lake Como on the Bernina ExpressTravel Louise Okafor stays at the Grand Resort Bad Ragaz in Switzerland and the Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni in Italy
-
Car finance mis-selling judgment could be a big blow for the banksOpinion The car finance mis-selling judgment could still be disastrous for big finance even though banks dodged the worst possible outcome
-
8 of the best houses for sale with dining terracesThe best houses for sale with dining terraces – from an Arts & Crafts property in Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire, to a duplex apartment in a garden square in Kensington with a decked roof terrace
-
Take a look under the bonnet of the classic car marketDearer money has taken the momentum out of the classic car market, says Chris Carter
