What’s the most fun you can have at 20mph? I’ll give you a clue: it isn’t stop-starting across most of south London on a Tuesday morning. Thankfully, things are about to get considerably more exciting. The venue is Brands Hatch, the car is a Caterham Seven and today’s ‘work’ involves skids, spins and generally going sideways.
By the time we finish, I’ll have improved my car control, steamed up my crash helmet from laughing and massacred many unsuspecting plastic cones. All at less than 20mph.
Story of the Caterham Seven
If you want a raw, unfiltered driving experience, nothing beats a Caterham Seven. First conceived as the Lotus Seven in 1957, this open-wheeled roadster embodied Colin Chapman’s much-quoted mantra of “Simplify, then add lightness”.
Caterham Cars bought the rights to the Seven in 1973 and has assembled it ever since – originally in my home town of Caterham, Surrey, and now in nearby Dartford, Kent. The Seven has grown more powerful and (slightly) more comfortable over the years, but the basic recipe hasn’t changed.
The current range stretches from the three-cylinder 85hp Seven 170 to the supercar-baiting 310hp 620R. Today, I’ll be driving the mid-range Seven 360R, powered by a 180hp Ford Duratec engine with a five-speed manual gearbox driving the rear wheels: good for 0-62mph in 4.8 seconds and 130mph. Track-focused ‘R’ specification adds a limited-slip differential, composite race seats, a beefier brake master cylinder and a lightweight flywheel.
Force and finesse
I arrive at Brands Hatch, grab a coffee, then join my fellow journalists for a driver briefing. After a few stern safety warnings, motorsport presenter Samantha Parker, who will race a Seven in the Caterham Academy this year, talks me through the technique.
Drifting requires a combination of force and finesse: a sharp right-foot jab to unsettle the car’s rear end and get it sliding, then delicate throttle and steering inputs to keep it from straightening up (understeer) or spinning out (excessive oversteer).
To help these Sevens drift, they feature harder compound tyres and slightly jacked-up rear suspension. Each one also has a substantial roll cage, as fitted to the Caterham race cars, which removes the option to fit a roof. “What happens if it rains?” I ask naively. “You’ll get wet,” says Sam.
Strapped in and ready
The clouds are dark and ominous as we head outside. The drift experience doesn’t actually take place on Brands Hatch circuit, but in the huge parking area next to Hailwoods cafe. As Sam and her team lay out some sacrificial cones, I clamber aboard a Seven and get strapped in.
Mine is a wide-bodied SV model, but it’s still a snug fit. I step carefully over the hot side-exit exhaust, then drop down into a hip-hugging seat. The 360R has a carbon fibre dashboard and four-point harness belts, but it does without the heater and carpets of the plusher ‘S’ version. There are no frills – and no distractions from driving.
Prod a red button and the engine ignites with a gruff growl. I pull down my visor and edge forwards, impatient to get started. Seriously, how hard can this be?
Drifting away
Our day will be split into four challenges: slalom, donuts, figures of eight and then a full drift course – with style points awarded for the most flamboyant driving.
The slalom weaves back and forth between cones, which are positioned wide apart to allow space for mistakes. I’m surprised by how easily the Caterham can be provoked into a slide, but holding it there is far trickier. I spin and stall the engine a couple of times, then gradually start to find a flow. When I get it right, it feels fantastic.
After a quick debrief (I’m working too hard at the wheel, apparently, so need to relax my arms, make smaller inputs and look further ahead), we try a tighter, more technical slalom, then move on to donuts. Essentially, this is what I attempted in the college car park 25 years ago: going in circles and making tyre smoke. Only no one orders me off the premises this time.
Interestingly, the Seven is easier to drift in a clockwise direction than anti-clockwise, because I’m sitting on the inside of the ‘corner’. These details make a difference when your car weighs just 560kg.
Making a splash
Before we attempt the figures of eight, the leaden clouds finally come good on their threat and it starts to rain. I assume that wet tarmac will make drifting more difficult, but actually the opposite proves true. Not only is the Caterham easier to flick sideways, it seems to slide more progressively as well.
Executed perfectly, the figure of eight can be one continuous drift with a transition in the middle. For me, it’s more like a couple of long corners joined up by a straight, but I manage several good circuits – punctuated by several spins and scattered cones.
By the time we break for lunch, I’m soaking wet, but gaining confidence and eager to get back in the car. Like any motorsport, drifting is addictive and seriously good fun.
It’s not the winning…
The final challenge of the day is the drift course, which combines all of the above with the promise of prizes for the winner – and an audience watching your every slip-up and slide. The rain has stopped now and some sections of the drying tarmac have more grip than others, making it harder to predict how the car will react.
I manage a near-flawless practice run, then get carried away when it counts, losing control on the final figure of eight and pirouetting through a full 360 degrees. Dammit! When the points are totted up, Matt Prior from Autocar magazine wins the bottle of bubbly and baseball cap, along with the grudging admiration of his peers.
If you’d like to try for yourself, Caterham drift days are held at Brands Hatch and Donington Park circuit in Leicestershire. The price of £359 includes breakfast, lunch and far more driving time than most track experiences allow. I’m told some drift novices have even progressed to racing in the Caterham Academy. Like I said, motorsport is addictive.
Tim Pitt writes for Motoring Research
Caterham Seven 360 R
PRICE: From £38,490
POWER: 180hp
TORQUE: 143lb ft
0-62MPH: 4.8sec
TOP SPEED: 130mph
KERB WEIGHT: 560kg