Land Rover Bowler EXR S v Caterham Seven Supersport race - autocar.co.uk

[@TigerSupercatE1]

Very interesting but we have to remember that the Bowler has 410bhp more than the little Caterham yet was 1.1 seconds slower! And if we take into account that 140 bhp is one of the 'slowest' Caterhams you can buy. I think its a real triumph to Colin Capman's simplify then add lightness!

[@SLIDWYS]

Good point. It's also worth noting that just as purpose built the Caterham is for ON the track, the Bowler is for OFFROAD. Both are amazing cars.

[@jaymepaololaciste]

Bowler: Im gonna eat yah! Caterham: Aaaaahhhhh!

[@jasonisonfire]

Russ Savory built a limited run of Caterhams with a supercharge 2.4L V8 with around 550hp. I've never seen one reviewed/roadtested, I think he only made 8

[@sclease]

just shows you need a 550bhp 5 litre supercharged v8 just to keep up with a 140bhp 1.6 litre naturally aspirated Caterham.

[@kize32]

Bowler is much faster. He was trying not to run him over

[@Isalamlaiku]

weight per horsepower???

[@bampie1]

The Bowler is the best performance 4 x 4 money can buy, put it on grass and a Lambo Gallardo on tarmac, have a drag race and the Bowler is quicker how mad is that!!!!!!!

[@meady200]

Great vid, really enjoyed that! Steve's enthusiasm is infectious.

[@marknicholas4941]

Ah yes. A standard width Caterham is a bit tight in the pedal box. Best solution is a pair of Piloti's, next best, lose a shoe! SV's extra width sorts this.

[@dalealarmon]

Their Caterham Seven Supersport has 140bhp. The Caterham 620R has 311bhp and costs a third of what the Land Rover Bowler costs. Let's see how it does aginst the 620R.

[@IamDude2]

The bowler has a higher power to weight, isn’t actually that heavy, a GTR is heavier and this caterham is the standard model..and it’s still quicker by over a second around a short circuit with a long straight..oh and the bowler wasn’t even sticking to the corners!

[@georgelaskaris8122]

What the hell that shoe doing in the caterham's passenger floor (8:00)

[@NismoZtuneR34]

The Cayenne Turbo S and this Bowler monster are nothing alike. I did just watch the EVO vid, and this is so much more worthy a test! Bravo autocar, bravo!

[@bertyup]

my guess is that the cost impact of that drove on the tyres and pads on the Bowler would allow you to race the 7 for some years

[@AShaw-bd4fy]

I need a Caterham in my life.

[@gullintanni]

I need both these beauties. I'll start with the Caterham ;)

[@MrZekToR]

I dunno, to me, you're looking at it wrong. I'd argue that the tiny 1600cc Caterham for a lowly £24k can keep with the Bowler for £130k less of your English pounds.

[@autocar]

Hello marcusFZ6. We filmed this video several weeks ago but other features, such as the Ariel Atom drag race and the Ferrari F12 Berlinetta test, took priority.

[@ilmaio]

During the day, the big car must have used all the fuel the Caterham needs in a year just to go one second slower, however, sincerely, I would have bet and lost. Now try the seven with 180 horse power, after all they have removed 1/2 ton from the Range Rover... Deservingly, the Seven should be in the juiced up version - still standard - with 180 HP...

[@Thorge01]

The Bowler is just dope - what an amazing car!

[@kahmed7328]

Still my favorite car video to this day. Beautiful handling circuit and incredible cars. I would love for Autocar to make more videos on this track with such dissimilar cars. 👍👍

[@calvin1966vintage]

Hmm. That isn't a very fast Caterham. My 1997 Caterham S3 Zetec 1800 is on carbs and only puts out 180bhp which is about 310bhp/tonne for the weight of mine. The Bowler is about that equivalent 542bhp (550bhp) needed to match that. I also use Toyo Proxes R888R tyres which would help balance the four wheel drive advantage of the Bowler. Based on this much more even match, my driving skills and this video, I think the Bowler wouldn't keep up and on the straights would only gain ground once the Caterham 'brick' goes over ~100mph. A Caterham 620R with an aeroscreen however would leave it way behind. That 1,750kg so high up can't escape the laws of physics, Jim.

[@b1gbrad]

Had to stop watching this....makes me miss my Caterham :-(

[@TheMrCrumble]

damn i just love bowler cars, they're mad and brilliant at the same time

[@Kodreanu23]

This is fenomenal clip! Thank you for this!

[@martinheckel9633]

excellent vid! ...so...they proved that mega money hypercar with cosmic technology almost catch up 56 years old concept........hmmmm....well done Mr.Chapman!!

[@NeilCooper72]

Why are they not comparing this extreme car with an extreme Caterham??

[@EricMcWhirter]

I'd like to have either one or both!

[@NeilCooper72]

I used to own a Caterham Eric McWhirter but it was quicker than that one!!!

[@another3997]

Most likely they could only get hold of the Supersport 140. There are a very limited selection of press csrs available, and I don't suppose the Bowler is available for long periods. I too had a Caterham, but the Bowler leaves me cold.

[@worldhello1234]

Because it is about a fair power-to-weight ratio, so that they don't compare apples to oranges. Furthermore the Caterham has a slight disadvantage in this section and still smokes it.

[@theoriginaldylangreene]

+Red Phoenix The only one smoking it is you, you're clearly high. This is a handling circuit it's what a Caterham is designed for, yet the Bowler still keeps up. If the course was any more open, the Caterham would have been slaughtered. Don't get me wrong, Colin Chapman's idea of the perfect sports car holds as true today as ever, build it light and you don't need much power. But the Bower defies the laws of physics.

[@monument4852]

But what would be the outcome if the bowler didnt keep cutting corners and going onto the grass and gravel at each corner? i know lots of roads where that could not happen so then it would be too far behind to use the power to make up on the straight

[@Dogslow]

he said it all, so quick in a straight line

[@JoeRUGBY10]

That's what the new defender should look like.

[@TheFilurr]

do i remeber correctly when i say there's a 270 bhp caterham? and if yes they should have used that instead

[@dude2106]

So the Bowler can keep up with a precision track tool of a car, on a track. But also climb mount Everest on the way home just for fun. Holy cow. It might be expensive, but holy crap its fast for an off road car!

[@mgmarrison]

Would be interesting to see which Caterham in the range you'd need to get away, and what set-up, horsepower, etc...

[@calvin1966vintage]

Any Caterham with over 175bhp.

[@EncomICA]

Great match up. Two fantastic cars.

[@drewqqq]

Autocar seems to be returning to form!

[@bptryp]

It's somewhat of a display of how far we've come and what engineering can do

[@meale87]

I'd like to see what happens when the Caterham is an R500!

[@LeeFinneyZ9]

doesn't even sound like the Caterham is being driven hard to me !!! But those Bowlers are awesome pieces of kit :D

[@philiprowney]

I used to buy your mag every week and am sorry I didn't sub you earlier. Great race.

[@GalavantT]

Excellent video! Great work chaps.

[@SpottingBanana]

The Bowler has such an epic acceleration!!!

[@davidtaylor1482]

Now race them both of road, which is what the Bowler was built for, and see what time difference you get then

[@VestedUTuber]

The Bowler EXR is a lot like Rufus from Street Fighter 4. Big and heavy, but fast and nimble. You could drive off the lot, hit the Nurburgring for a lap or two, and then head to the rocks for some crawling one day, and then enter the Paris-Dakar the next.

[@HesteBremse]

Great - if you get the chance take somewhere offroadish, would love to see it perform in a more rugged environment ;)

[@toeboe106]

The scariest thing about that Wildcat is that you would be following that Caterham,sneeze, and then wonder what that bump in the road was!!

[@Khazar01]

Also there is the Ariel Atom 500 (500hp) which is pretty much the same weight as the Caterham

[@wHAmEz]

Seriously good video guys!!

[@1JAMROCK1]

fantastic vid lol ! the video reminded me of some nat geo clip where something like a cheetah went hunting a small nimble antelope !

[@122A7]

true but i think its not much of a camparison of which is the better track car, its just showing how good the bowler can be on track, remember the bowler is a full on dakar rally car.

[@C42ST3N]

The power to weigh ratio isn´t the same. You should use an R300. Also importent is which tyres did you use on both cars.

[@pex3]

/ it's an accomplishment that a car that weighs almost 4 times as much can keep up despite not being a track oriented car in any way

[@kphag]

Such insanity! Love this race!

[@VestedUTuber]

I think what they're trying to do is show how fast and nimble the Bowler EXR is despite it being designed for off-road use in extreme environments. A typical SUV would get eaten alive by that basic Caterham, but the Bowler EXR could more or less keep up with it.

[@sasquatsch9]

I think that is too much, such a Caterham would be an undriveable beast. These cars are good as they are.

[@crackalot1]

Gotta love that Bowler..

[@wonnozline4094]

Cool video!! Without any Music except The V8....

[@TetraRage]

Autocar usually do some pointless head 2 heads, but this was awesome. How much fun was that lol.

[@hayksamvelyan]

I'm glad they found a way to make the Range Rover look better

[@rdrg7362]

Great fun, thanks Autocar!

[@rafaelgonz2099]

I would like to see a Caterham R500 and the Prowler with slicks. That should be an interesting one.

[@RMAGEDN740]

8:00 really confused about the shoe???

[@asshatnowhere159]

this isn't a price comparison, its just a demonstration on how fast the Bowler is. it is comparing both ends of the scale, small light and low power vs Huge heavy and powerful. I hate it how every time a car show does one of these comparisons, not for competitions sake, everyone always tries to 'modify' one of the cars as if the test determines which one goes in the market or not

[@AldiLover89]

u sure? the old bowler is based on a LR. but looking at the chassis of this new bowler, it looks alot like its based on an RR sport... not entirely sure though.

[@YouArentSlick]

I'd like to see this vs a cayenne turbo s, of course this beast would win but it would be interesting to see.

[@K2edg]

I'd like to see this with a evenly matched power to weigh car of any kind. Do it again with a 180hp Caterham!! but that would make a boring video.

[@Thorge01]

but then off road - the Bowler would eat the Caterham for breakfast - lol (even if your Cataham would have 550 hp)

[@asshatnowhere159]

depends on the type of comparison. this isn't a consumer adivice type comparison as in 'E92 M3 vs Audi Rs4'. you only really mention price when all else is equal to an extent. if price really was to be considered then I think autocar wouldn't even be comparing these two. it's like when they compared the speed of a smaller formula car vs a Nissan gtr

[@K2edg]

Ok 140hp 1140lb Caterham v's a 550hp 3813lb Bowler that seems an even power match......... what about running a 170hp Caterham against the Bolwer? when it stops pulling away down the stright due to the better Hp-Weight ratio it will be interesting to see how much the Caterham gets on it in the corners. Then bring out a Proper R Caterham and watch it just disappear. I know its a how fast the 4x4 is but it had to be rigged to make it look that quick. (bit of advice for you....... if you show pictures of the guy driving the caterham make sure it doesn't catch the rev counter showing the guy shifting gear early and free wheeling. Tyre squeal from the Bowler and non from the lighter caterham is a dead give away how hard they where pushing)

[@K2edg]

There not on an Off road track? there point is the EXR is as fast as a Caterham but they use the slowest one they could get there hands on :)

[@K2edg]

What are you talking about? the Bowler is £150k so you can buy an all singing Rangerover and an R620 Caterham for the Price of an EXR.......... If you knew anything about off roading you would understand it's not about speed, if your doing the Dakar rally then yeh great get a Bowler but if you are doing real off road stuff buy a Defender.

[@K2edg]

I didn't say the EXR was a worse car??? i said it was unfair......You get a car with a better HP-Weight ratio its going to be faster, so the EXR with its much better HP/Weight may look better but in reality if you had put an evenly matched Caterham on the track the EXR wouldn't be able to see it after the first couple of corners (Hp-Weight is a good way to gauge cars straight line speed but you can never beat Physics so the Lighter car will change direction quicker and stop quicker) They did this test as a WOW look at that Video but in reality the EXR is not the best Road car or Off road car its strong point is racing across sand dunes at 100mph.

[@AntDogBootyHog]

I agree. Simply put the Caterham dominates asphalt and the bowler dominates dirt. I am glad everyone else noticed that the Caterham was basically coasting around the corners haha.

[@AntDogBootyHog]

I agree. Simply put the Caterham dominates asphalt and the bowler dominates dirt. I am glad everyone else noticed that the Caterham was basically coasting around the corners haha.

[@Gingeftw]

It is only the slowest caterham you can buy, R500 would probably murder it! But tbf its a great effort from that tank!

[@Travelbeatcreations.official]

If I ever get a caterham, it will be modified so much that it will eat up any record holder at the Nürburgring with ease. For power without sacrificing weight, I'll go for a Renesis quad rotary engine coupled to a twin turbo. The sound from that kind of engine is nothing like what you hear on a daily basis, it's more furious than anything else. What other modification I'll do will not be revealed, gotta have some few secrets for myself :P

[@calvin1966vintage]

You might reconsider this. I've held 125mph in a Caterham, and some nutters push them to over 150mph. They are great cars for cornering but their high speed aerodynamics are terrible. You'd be better of in an Elise.

[@jonholmes1556]

why is he mispronouncing Bowler?

[@markziff7234]

Soup bowl, salary bowl or how about we go ten pin bowling, or maybe robin hood can dive some lessons on archery with a bow & arrows?

[@ianrutherford878]

@@markziff7234 The comparison might be with the bowler hat ,or a bowler in cricket,but it seems someone has a preferred way of saying their name which usually trumps right or wrong.

[@guiyof1]

Amazing, this version should win the Dakar!

[@scyther6666]

The caterham seven supersport is the best car to take to the track. Imagine a really fast go-cart only faster. Extremely fun to drive

[@VestedUTuber]

scyther6666 **cougharielatomcugh** Though I guess the experience is very similar.

[@johncunningham4820]

Secret Service types all over the World would probably LOVE to get these is their Fleet . What a Brute , but HANDLES as well .

[@hunghuge12]

Or you could say the Bowler can take 4 while the 7 can take 2 so the 7 would have to go round twice to do the same work. You could say that being frozen isn't the most pleasant way to enjoy a car or if you had a crash you would like to live afterwards. If that's not enough why not take it off the 7's turf (handling circuit) and put them in the Bowlers turf (sand racing) then see what happens? We have to remember the 7 is far more single minded and Bowler did simplify and add lightness.

[@BolgOfTheNorth]

That is amazing, the Caterham wouldn't get very far in the Bowler's territory.

[@omidool]

I read somewhere that Caterham Seven has got the Hayabusa engine. Maybe that was a custom-made one. It would definitely be much faster with the Busa engine considering more power and torque. (never mind the higher rpm!)

[@Skornogr4phy]

The shoe in the footwell at the end confused me endlessly.

[@marcusFZ6]

How come you have posted a video very similar to EVO mags race between the Caterham and the Porsche Cayenne Turbo S !!!!

[@pollensoft]

I like this, but you need to do 2 laps with 1 in the front and 2 laps with the other in front.

[@kikongmalikot]

gotta give credit to the bowler it was much much heavier and with its ride height i think it did quite well..just disregard the price tag :)

[@iiredeye]

Incredible performance from the land rover

[@jerm1027]

A more fair comparison would be against the Caterham 620R, It's only fair to pit a super-charged engine with another super-charged engine. Also, automatic gearbox in a handling circuit is cheating because automatics can shift faster in those crucial seconds, so the sequential manual in the 620R would help narrow the gap. Also, that entry-level Caterham not only lacks in power, but also power to weight ratio. Again, the 620R corrects this, but it would lop-sided in favor of the caterham. My last point is price. The 620R is still half the price. Let's see if the EXR S still impresses when pitted against a Caterham that is just as extreme. I suppose the Caterham 620R wasn't released until after this video, but even so, the 500 would still destroy the EXR S.

[@english1midlands]

The best of British Enginering.

[@Str8representing]

Why all that hardcore Bowler doesn't have a racing steering wheel?

[@TigerSupercatE1]

Fair enough the Caterham certainly wouldn't keep up in the Dakar! :P Although it does look like the bowler is on full slick tyres, where as the Caterham is probably on some normal road rubber. I may be wrong though.

[@nunomiguelcoelholourenco8574]

it's based on the evoque which has a RR badge... so it's a range rover based car...

[@a2xd94]

The bowler has triple the weight and QUADRUPLE the amount of power than the base(!) Caterham. I sure would hope it could stay with him! Also let's not forget that the Bowler isn't your run of the mill Land Rover. That suspension setup alone is probably worth $10000+!

[@pkkwok2008]

I would hazard a guess that the objective is very simple - to show how adding weight can ruin fun out of any car?

[@eurtostance]

you should show how much better that bowler is than a f150 raptor, but idk if they even have the raptor over in the U.K.

[@markwarrenhickey]

I get where your coming from but no matter what price will be a figure that must be taken into consideration.

[@lonersanonymous]

Just saw the timed laps at the end of the video

[@SwPiotrek]

Very cool video!

[@lifepathsthroughdark]

It´s funny to see such a big car following what is, in essence, a kart. If I were driving I´d be afraid of squashing the guy in the caterham

[@drdani111]

@ 08:00 a shoe in Caterham, it looks like the Bowler ate the passenger as it accidentally ran over it

[@DizzlerDazzler]

How about a battle against the R500 Superlight?

[@memomomomomo185]

The chassis is a space frame, nothing to do with a Range Rover. The drive train is Range Rover and it does look like one, but this is not a chopped down RR sport!

[@CHOPERUS23]

WOW Shock! A car 10 times as much as the caterham can keep up!

[@CHOPERUS23]

What's the Bowler doing on Tarmac then? Try it against an equally expensive Tarmac car then or the Caterham R620 not the budget Caterham!

[@michaelkeefer630]

CHOPERUS23 Oh I know, for a laugh, put the Caterham in an off road situation with hummm, a Bowler?

[@Colby_0-3_IRL_and_title_fights]

A rolls royce also costs 10x as much, let's see how that does? The price isn't what is being tested here. The versatility of the Bowler is what is interesting

[@davidkennedy1077]

What an awesome example of superb engineering. Now all I need to do is rob the local branch of Barclays to buy one!!! Get the shotgun!!!

[@jockeleu]

That caterham driver got balls to stay infront of that monster

[@braberdebrabel22]

I want that Bowler so mutch ...

[@muznad4199]

Wow the bowler is impressive

[@bromixPC]

TRUE, awesome machines both

[@skippysmith7526]

Put it up against the 620r and then see if it can keep up !.