The Caterham 160S: A Car I Wanted to Love But Couldn't

[@CC-qe1gq]

I own one of those. I fully agree the gearbox is the real weak point of the car but you learn to use it after a while. Although, it remains an odd gearbox with too short gear ratios. On the contrary, I find the peddle absolutely fine. Once again, you need to learn how to use it but once you've done it, you don't find it constraining. You need a bit of attention with the rear axle on the wet but I don't find unpredictable despite I drive the car all year long, as far as the weather allows it, and I live on the Alps.

[@C.I...]

*pedal

[@CC-qe1gq]

@@C.I... yes, I'm not an English native speaker 😋

[@newtonscradle6105]

Did you have much difficulty registering your car in France? I'm looking at one & live in provence

[@CC-qe1gq]

@@newtonscradle6105 I can't help, I'm not French 🤷🏻‍♀️

[@imcarlvideos]

"It's like a van gearbox", It is, all the running gear came straight from the Suzuki Every K Van here in Japan.

[@JayEmmOnCars]

Ha, brilliant

[@imcarlvideos]

The 160 Caterham is registerd as a K car here in Japan. K car registration is a lot cheaper than a regular car, insurance, road taxes, etc.etc.When it first came out they were snapped up like hotcakes here in Japan.

[@BigDuke6ixx]

Best Clarkson impression on KZbin. He's got Jezza's twatisms perfectly.

[@Motor_Alchemist]

@@BigDuke6ixx That’s cos he is one 🤣

[@chrisdavidson911]

i like how the screw head in the tail light is horizontal

[@1silvervespa]

This version is more fun like an MGB or Triumph Spitfire . You might even keep your licence with it . Also not everyone needs a Track car to have fun.

[@MrAndyj007]

brillant Jay, i find it so annoying when you get in car and the pedal box is too small.. your the first to even mention it in any review ive watched... great work..

[@ianscott3180]

That engine is right for a bike for a reason. I have had a couple of 7's and you would soon want a few more horses. The 620 is too much but somewhere north of 150 is ideal for a road going 7.

[@yardleypen]

Informative review.

[@johnnytenjobs]

This is very similar in size to the very earliest Lotus 7s. People were smaller and lighter in those days.

[@eusdeenius]

TVR at 3:40

[@wetlettuce4768]

He should of attempted to chase it down for a review :D

[@jamesward7425]

You get used to using the outside of your feet quite quickly. Allowing your left to overlap your right without interference. Good to hear your thoughts on the 160 though.

[@millband]

I've driven a lap of Blyton Park in that very car! Felt like driving on ice after stepping out of my Elise, but in a good way. Good point about gears. I've had two Smart Roadsters with a similarly boosty 698cc triple. Mapped to 109bhp but powerband only 2k rpm. Paddleshift gearbox was much maligned but no way would a manual be better with that engine. Close ratios to make use of limited power meant if you shift every gear at the redline you're already changing to 4th as you hit 60. Soon get tired of that with a stickshift!

[@allosaurusfragilis7782]

My sister had a smart roadster and I thought the design was superb. It was great fun to drive but that laggy gearbox just ruined the drive for me, I'm afraid. I just couldn't get past it. Oh well....

[@chrisdavidson911]

i'm usually a size 10ish shoe (depending on what i'm getting, somehow), and have had that 2 peddles at once problem with a few cars, the worst was a corsa "b" i was stuck with for a while. pressing the brake with the side of my foot was never fun. i've got a weird feeling i'd be more willing to put up with it with one of these though! i keep wishing lotus would do something like this with the elise

[@wetlettuce4768]

For me the worst peddlebox is the one in the Peugeot 206 quite possibly the worst car you can buy in the UK this day and age, everytime I pressed the clutch peddle the side of my foot would touch the back of the brake peddle and then add in the steering column rubbing against my toes every time I hit the brakes....

[@1183newman]

I suffered with this in my old elise with shoes on, trainers and i was fine. I have quite wide feet as well. Good for balance, not so good for driving track focused cars with shoes on.

[@C.I...]

It's PEDALS

[@chrisdavidson911]

@@C.I... like that actually matters? you've missed someone while going through the comments

[@clanmac66]

Nice review as usual Mr Jay!

[@leechampion6538]

Very honest . It is easy to have too much in these cars, but I think in 2023 you can now have too little too….

[@isambardchisilwitt1232]

Good but I was somehow expecting a GT3 as per the facebook teaser. 🤔

[@JayEmmOnCars]

+Isambard Chisilwitt That video is being edited now

[@WhiteMouse77]

....AC Cobra and it's derivates seems to be much more enjoable toycars in every aspect of drawbacks JayM described for Caterham...I also wonder if later editions of Donkenworth version are any better........BTW do you notice? James May from TG didn't mentioned any of these faults when tested it....

[@PowderMoney1303]

So peddle box not good for Shreks :) lol Good review.

[@satsahota1765]

It’s bad manners to call a stranger fat or shrek

[@antoniojesuscalderonmartin8596]

Dear Jay, How tall and weight are you? I am 1.83m tall and 98kg weight and I am not sure if I fit in this car.

[@JayEmmOnCars]

You'll fit

[@antoniojesuscalderonmartin8596]

@@JayEmmOnCars Thank you Jay, Good news¡

[@tbone5654]

Get a Sony FDR-X3000 4K with optical stabilizer.

[@RBEmerson]

Indeed. See my demo with a helmet mount and bumpy road. Dunno if this allowed but... kzbin.info/www/bejne/sIeVoWSQermVl8U One and a half big gripes. Minor gripe: The accessory door hinge committed suicide. Half gripe - no on-camera video but the Sony phone app makes up for this. The X3000 handles external power, meaning it can shoot until the SD fills up without expecting the internal battery to go under. But... Big gripe: NO EXTENDED 4K! The camera heats up from all the work the CPU & GPU do. 15-20 minutes later the camera shuts down totally. 1080@60 fps works all day long. BTDT

[@markmark5269]

Cut the crap about the live rear axle would you, the Escort Mk2 is one of the most successful rally cars in history, the Opel Asconas did pretty good as well, and today will even challeng 4WD WRCs in Irish tarmac rallys for example, with a PROPERLY setup live rear axle. Escorts were renown for the traction on gravel as well. So rather than attacking the live rear axle per say, look to the people who have never gotten it right from the very first Lotus 7, and now Caterham with their stupidly short radius arms (and also most Locost 7 builds with live rear ends) that walks the axle all over the place, and lowers the chassis on hard acceleration, de-weighting the rear tyres.

[@Matyaz84]

This car brand is something else, just LOL. 0:22 in 2017? Really? Never seen this car before. Cheers from Slovenia :)

[@wetlettuce4768]

Well it is based on a 1950s design and supposed to be able to be built by someone on the weekends in a shed with a set of spanners

[@voncoconut5293]

I simply don't understand this review. This Caterham does exactly what it says on the tin and as such it should not be criticised because of one's shoe size. After all, the factory produces a menu for all tastes within this genre of hairshirt sports cars. The 160s is a low cost skiddy little weekend toy that can help you keep your driving licence. Personally, I wouldn't own one - but that's not the point.

[@JayEmmOnCars]

+von Coconut I understand what you are saying, however I can't help but think with 40 years of development they could have found a way to make the S3 pedal box more accommodating.

[@01Jelen10]

I don't get the criticism about short gears.

[@Strider9655]

Needs more power, that's barely going to keep up with a family hatchback............ And you might not think you want a super fast car, but believe me when I say that nothing attracts aggression from other drivers than a 7, and when that happens you need the power there to make them realise you're not to be messed with, because without it you're going to be driving around with a white van or a 4x4 sitting 12 inches from the back of your skull, with only a fuel tank between you.

[@CastleAdam]

Fair enough, he doesn’t fit the car

[@davidhayes4814]

Drive in bare feet. no, it is not illegal. I have been doing it for years.

[@robertwillis4061]

Use Racing drivers shoes. They are narrow They are not that expensive. If you only wear them in in Caterham they will last ages.

[@chriswood1984]

I wonder if a Caterham with a naturally aspirated 1600cc crossflow be nicer? Or a 1700 Supersprint?

[@JayEmmOnCars]

+Chris Wood I am fairly sure the answer is yes

[@whiskeyromeobravo3645]

A 1700cc Ford Kent crossflow w dual Webers is BRILLIANT! THE classic iteration of the Caterham, née Lotus 7. Any “upgrades/modernizations” from there is a crime against the brilliance of Colin Chapman. I’m frankly glad the 160 is not for YOU.

[@Hunne2303]

wide feet or wide shoes? had the same with me elise...smaller shoes and bingo! oh ok...just explained that...well then, that is a serious bummer :(

[@JayEmmOnCars]

+Hunne2303 Yeah trust me the Elise is nothing in comparison

[@jthomas9837]

Have you done any Westfield vids or reviews

[@jellybaby7]

It's like if someone hired a much abused car and done a complete review on it as if it just came out of the factory? In other words, pointless. It was clearly designed to be a cheaper weekend summer blast using std factory brand parts and not having vast development spent on gearbox ratios or Morgan wooden dash designs or every day commute use. Still, gave me a laugh at the attempt.

[@JayEmmOnCars]

This car actually did come out of the factory. Like literally, I picked it up at the factory, having just been rebuilt, by the factory.

[@jellybaby7]

@@JayEmmOnCars My bad. It's just that u said '2nd gear notchy but that mayb cause its just been rebuilt' 'needs 6th gear for motorway but not designed for motorway'. It just sounded funny like complaining about the things that are not expected in a cheaper car like this. Would be nice to choose 1 test road and compare it to similar spec (new 124, elise, 1500 MX-5) to give viewers a comparable choice. Cheers.

[@JayEmmOnCars]

@@jellybaby7 it's not that cheap - this one was over £20,000 - the same price as an MX5

[@jellybaby7]

Don't know what I'm moaning about, Caterham's build quality is awful for the high prices, panel gaps, I'll fitting arches and the odd angle steering column on the SV.

[@JayEmmOnCars]

@@jellybaby7 They aren't any better even when you're spending £60,000 on one. It always annoys me when people call the Elise a "kit car" - they have no idea how different kit cars are

[@KannX]

I think that Caterham should make more civilized version of their car with removable hardtop. It would be usable even in winter then.

[@JayEmmOnCars]

+KannX Google Caterham 21. It was a disaster

[@esotericman22]

These cars don't drive well in the wet trust me

[@Dryfloorsign]

@@JayEmmOnCars but how?

[@speedfinder1]

Buy a wider body car...........

[@JayEmmOnCars]

The 160 is the only one not available in wide body

[@speedfinder1]

I'm thinking that the axle on the 160 may well be from the "Suzuki Carry" commercial vehicle, hence the low overall gear ratio and lack of motorway prowess. This also dictates the narrowness of the 160 (Series 3) size chassis. Looking at the 160 objectively, it appears to be aimed at the "20 somethings" and the driver with the less developed physique! If it makes you feel any better, I'm restoring a series two and they are MUCH smaller in the cockpit size. Colin Chapman was, I have read 5' 7" tall of trim physique and fitted the early cars like they were made for him. The early cars are so uncomfortable that a 200 mile journey in one, will have to looking to the first person you meet at the end of your journey!

[@JayEmmOnCars]

It's not a bad guess, I know the rear is from a k car or similar hence the singular choice of body.

[@ranjanaluwihare1511]

A caterham with a Suzuki jimny engine? Rather drive a jimny than this!£?!&? Rx

[@BAZZASTUONO]

It's shit for a 7!