Caterham Seven Supersport: Journey into the Unexplored - Sports Cars
After the last two very cold winters, the bet was made that the snowfall would reach the rooftops. Instead, all that could be seen was a bit of icy frost. What if you plan to experience it Caterham Seven Supersport с Winter tiresNice to rip off. But, as the sage says, "if the mountain does not go to Caterham, we must pull Caterham to the mountains." And if you go in search of snow, what could be better than the final of Andros' trophies? Well, a lot of places, as we will soon find out ...
On a highway that traverses the vast and desolate countryside of northern France, my gaze falls continually on a bright orange Caterham with black headlights, which follows me in the mirrors. There Supersport it is part of the R line of seven and is the entry-level Caterham for track days. It has engine 1.6 from 140 hp, differential limited slip, ultra-thin seats and more. The only time I've driven one was at Bedford Racecourse in the EVO 91 Car of the Year competition, and it was great. However, a good race car is not necessarily the best road car, and no one knows what can happen to the handling if you replace racing slicks with Avon Ice Tourism yes name.
The destination is not the Alps, as you might expect, but a ski resort Super Bess in the heart of France, south of Clermont-Ferrand. There, two days later, where we stop, a handful of drivers, including former Formula 1 stars Alain Prost, Olivier Pani and Jacques Villeneuve, will race in oddly shaped cars with thin spikes. I bet many of you will call me mollaccione right now because I'm not driving a Caterham. But since I already owned a seven, with which I covered a fair fraction of kilometers on the freeways in winter, I am not going to repeat this experience. The thought of having a cold will ruin your vacation even before you leave.
After a night in a very quiet motel – and half an hour to turn over a trolleybus in the dark – the next morning we make the Caterham stretch its legs in the village of Mont-Dore at the foot of the mountains. I love the ritual of hitting the seven: it's good to unbuckle the four-point seat belts, then stand in the seat and slowly slide your feet into the narrow tunnel under the steering wheel, as if you were entering a hot bath. Once inside, you find yourself in the arms of a car (it happens to everyone, even skinny ones like me), an old cliché that is more relevant than ever on Caterham. THE pedals the brakes and accelerators are so close that it seems to me that I am driving without shoes. When I put my hands on the small steering wheel, I am momentarily surprised: for the first time I see a steering wheel completely covered Alcantara black at XNUMX, a little luxury in a very simple interior. Driving with winter tires on very dry asphalt is odd, as you can feel a slight twitching of the tread from lateral gravity. It is smooth and relaxed in the first corners. On the other hand, Dean and I get a little nervous when we get to Super Bess. No snow. Even shadows. The sky is uniformly white, but the surrounding landscape is bright brown. We find a place where the ice race will take place and park. Between the trucks and street lights, we find what looks like a giant albino snake curled up on itself: the track is so artificial it looks like an ice rink in the center of Dubai.
Considering snow brightening the highest peaks around us, Dean and I check a roadmap of the area and decide to try to get to Col de la Croix Saint Robert... The Farm sign at the foot of the hill looks promising, but when we get to the gate, there is no snow left. I'm trying to hit the red and white stripe, but Caterham is too high. Dean then discovers that the barrier is not locked ...
Paddling a hill by yourself is fun, and the road feels made for a Seven: so narrow (too narrow for most supercars), with varying grades and curve have fun like crazy, it's even better than the track. The winter tires are fantastic: even if we haven't found snow yet, the road is wet and the temperature is close to zero, but when I see a muddy section of the road, I don't have to worry about the car losing. traction or irreparable understeer. And so I really enjoy driving.
Unfortunately, when the snow finally dares to appear, it is so high that if I tried to clear my path, the Caterham mesh would turn white to the point where it would appear as if a trail of coke had formed. So we go back and walk the road to Mon-Dorwhich turned out to be a great move.
We were in Clermont-Ferrand during Ecoty 2007 (I was driving a Lotus 2 Eleven there at the time) and there is a road that got stuck with me. This is exactly one we are for now: D996, then Col de la Croix-Moran.
It begins at the bottom of the valley, from where the snow-capped peaks seem as distant and inaccessible as the clouds that touch them. At first, the road seems to cut through rocks, then winds through meadows before plunging into a pine forest that hides mountain peaks and amplifies the sound of exhaust gases. When the pine trees suddenly disappear, a breathtaking view opens up: the road clings to an almost vertical mountain wall.
Maybe it’s the setting that I chose that inspires me especially, the fact is that I immediately fell in love with Supersport. It may not be the most powerful Caterham I've ever ridden, but it's definitely the best tuned. Before him there is anti-roll bar the thinnest in the world and looks like negative camber, behind the anti-roll bar it is quite rigid. It's much more than that, but the result of this framework alchemy is 'corner entrance wonderful and progressive and predictable rear exit. When you enter longer corners or left-right chicanes, just take your foot off the gas pedal a little, take a step with a little more determination than usual (turn the steering wheel a few more millimeters), and then open the gas again when you hear reverse. ... .. It relieves the weight. Seven is not always easy to send sideways: it is usually manageable until a certain point, after which it cannot be restored. But Supersport seems happy to allow himself to be mistreated, and as hard as it gets, he has no intention of rebelling. It's almost like driving an Escort Mk2.
The road is always snowless, but when I get to the top and follow my footsteps to do it all over again, I don’t care, because in such weather conditions and on such a steep and rock-lined road, driving a car is amazing. I would say that this experience is undoubtedly one of my top XNUMX.
However, at some point I hear a whistle. During the second lap at the top, the pedal Clutch it lasts longer and longer, and after three seconds it stops working. Curse. I stop, turn off the engine, swear, and get out. It gets dark and we are on the side of a very cold mountain with a Caterham with a broken clutch. A big problem. For the first time in a day, I'm glad it's not snowing.
After half an hour fiddling with the engine with only one light on the display of the mobile phone, we come to the conclusion that the clutch is knocked out. I know there is nothing I can do (I have no habit of knocking out clutches) and this is not Caterham's fault because it is a sealed unit supplied by the supplier. He is alone bad luck... Sheer failure. At least we have a cart ...
By clicking on it to get started and then playing with the mode, I manage to get Supersport back to the hotel, where things will seem a little better tomorrow, after a couple of beers and a good night's sleep.
When the sun rises, it is obvious that the clutch is still broken and no snow remains. I can’t come to terms, because there would be so many opportunities for entertainment, so we decided to give a damn about the clutch. If it were a GT-R or a 458, we'd have no choice but to drive home, but with a manual transmission and no computer to bite into behind the wheel, it's amazing how much you can do.
The tricky part is getting started: no friction requires a push or pull. But with the engine running, it is easy to slip on the first. It accelerates, as if nothing had happened, it goes into neutral, and when the regime has fallen enough, but not too much, the second occurs. Accelerates, goes to neutral, speed drops, a third. Instead, to climb, you take turns to climb with a pointed heel, then shift into neutral and downshift.
The first two hours were a little difficult, but after a while I got carried away, and it even became fun. I even managed to maintain the same pace as the Caterham with the clutch in place. And also go to Traverse. The hardest part is finding room to maneuver without stopping, and then when stopping is absolutely necessary, be sure to do it in such a way that the nose goes downhill. Of course, cities should be avoided. Incredibly, a morning run without a clutch turns out to be a real success: the only drawback is that, judging by the weather and the road, it can be a warm autumn day, and therefore we have not yet been able to put on winter tires. test. Then, when we stop for lunch at the only building at the top of the saddle, big gray clouds gather on the mountain. The snow falls slowly, then more and more. As we eat potato and cheese pie, we watch the snow whiten the lawn, the rocks, and the road.
Hooray, a playground has finally appeared!
The people who had been looking at us for two days in amazement are now incredulous as I rush past the shelter at full speed with the Caterham open while others hurriedly leave lunch to go and mount the chains. But everyone is smiling, perhaps because the Seven is too small to be offensive, even in orange. Ice Touring tires are a delicate combination of presence and lack of grip. But above all, with them you have the confidence that if you slow down, you will actually stop, and that allows you to make up your mind.
Moving sideways is easier than ever, just slide the throttle to the rear oversteer... But, as in the case of a dry car, there are always many reviews, and you are always in control of the situation, you do not feel like a passenger at the mercy of what is happening. In a series of turns to the top of the pass, you can also drive across the car, then lift your leg, reopen the throttle and cross it on the other side.
It's good to see we're not the only ones enjoying the fresh snow: the M3 E30, which looks like it was prepared for the occasion, sweeps past us. Inside there are two smiling guys in their fifties, and I can almost hear their phone call ten minutes ago: "Allez, Pierre, get the BMW out."
The XNUMX, however, is unmatched, it surpasses everything in front of it, and launches sideways so quickly and with such exaggerated angles that I can't help but laugh heartily. It's so funny that I keep driving and Dean takes pictures when the snow gets higher and my hair turns whiter: we only stop at nightfall.
We don't have time to go back to Super Besse (too many cities to cross without clutch) to see Alain Prost win the Dacia Lodgy championship, but maybe even he didn't enjoy the tires as much as we did today. did, with Supersport. from snow and mountain road with turns and ups and downs. I thought skiing was the best thing to do in the mountains in winter, but I was clearly wrong.
