A few says ahead of its official debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, British sports car maker Caterham reveals the latest version of the Seven, the 620R. Dubbed the most hard-core Seven ever, the car features a revised 2.0 liter Ford Duratec engine that makes 310bhp and 219lb-ft. That is a lot in a car as small, and as light, as a shoe.
So it is fast. Really, properly fast. Zero to 60 miles an hour takes 2.79 seconds which is as fast as the Bugatti Veyron, and the top speed is 155 mph – which will probably feel more like 255 mph, seeing as the car has no doors and no roof. Mercifully, you can get a windscreen to stop the bugs getting embedded into your face.
Replacing the legendary Superlight R500, the 620R comes with a unique gunmetal chassis, an air-flow optimised nose cone and a race-developed cooling package. Other features include De Dion rear suspension, wide track front suspension, 13-inch wheels, and Avon ZZR tyres.
The cabin is pretty spartan, but the carbon fiber race seats and the Q/R race steering wheel, as well as all that visible carbon panels create a nice and business-like enthronement.
The Caterham Seven 620R is an awesome toy. There is only one problem with it, and that is the price tag. At £49,995 it does sound like good value compared to something like the BAC Mono that costs over a 100 grand. But still, it is very dear for something you may use once or twice a month for recreational purposes.
Standard equipment
- 2.0-litre Ford Duratec (supercharged)
- 6-speed sequential transmission with flat-shift
- Limited slip differential
- Unique gunmetal chassis
- Carbon-fibre wings
- Air flow optimized nose cone
- Race developed cooling package
- De-Dion rear suspension with high performance dampers
- Wide track front suspension with high performance dampers
- Ventilated front discs and quad piston calipers
- Carbon-fibre interior panels and dash
- Carbon-fibre race seats
- Lightweight 13” alloy wheels with Avon ZZR tyres; 185/55R13 front and 215/55R13 rear
- 4 point race harness
- Q/R Race steering wheel
- High performance focused instrumentation and ergonomic switchgear
- Toggle switch ignition
- Immobiliser
- Sequential shift lights
- Carbon aero screen
- Black pack
