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Paul Gibney - Lancashire AO

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Why did James May go out in an aeroscreened car and no helmet or goggles until he got something in his eye?? 

It's a known fact that they don't like kit cars on TG, so I think that May was just being ****** .. and an idiot!

 

The light blue one certainly sounded lovely and looked like a whole lotta fun.... £50k tho! I'll stick with my Westie; bang for buck, can't go wrong :orange-westy:

It did look a lot of fun but he just couldn't get all the power down .. fun on a track but nowhere else! £50k for a track car .. hmmm, no thanks!

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It's a known fact that they don't like kit cars on TG, so I think that May was just being ****** .. and an idiot!

Reading too much into it there I suspect. It's just the usual TG silliness for our enjoyment. I do hope it hurt though!

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Glad it's not just me that thought the concept was a bit naff looking. I thought they had tried it before

Don't think the little Suzuki one was given a fair test and for 16k I would expect some alloys

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Don't think the little Suzuki one was given a fair test and for 16k I would expect some alloys

 

I agree - it's a cheap looking car that's still quite expensive IMO

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Fact of life

By the time most people can have a house and family, then can consider spending money on a new hobby car

They are in there 40s 50s or 60s

I can't see that concept car appealing to anyone out of their teens!!!!!!!

The 160 is a new entry level Cateram for at second hand prices

The 620 I want to see a dry lap ;)

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yeah me too, i would also like to see the 160 driven properly around the track for a realistic time. in some respects the 160 is probably more in keep with the 7 ethos of small and light. that engine cant weigh much

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16k is cheep when you compare it with a 30k golf gti. There's no real comparison but it would be nice to see a hot lap comparing the two. I bet the 160 would be better to learn some track skills in as well. I wonder how hard it is yo get a swift gti engine in the 160 catering van ? Now that could be fun

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The thing you have to remember about the 160 is that it isn't designed, targeted or intended for our European market. It's be built to be compliant with our legislation, so that it can be sold here too, but anything else is almost a happy coincidence.

 

It's been made because it was needed in some of the Asian markets where (thanks to the businesses owners) they're having a real push. But if it wasn't for that "need" it wouldn't have been developed.

 

As it is, it's an interesting alternative take on the Seven, and truth be told, just like Dom said, spiritually, much closer to the original Lotus than any R series! Certainly sounds like a fun car!

 

As for the program. I think sometime we read too much into these things. One thing that is beyond doubt, Clarkson loathes Caterhams, always has, probably always will. (That doesn't mean he doesn't respect the performance etc) It doesn't help matters that his wife is, or at least was, for many years, really into Caterhams! To the extent of competing in them in several events. This just makes him hate them more!

 

He also certainly doesn't like kits. I don't think you can assume the other two, or the other producers necessarily share the same view though.

 

I think the Hamster is caught in the middle, privately liking them, but publicly, just a little too concerned with his own image, hence some of the back handed compliments and put downs.

 

May on the other hand was unusually, perhaps the perfect choice to review them. He makes no bones about generally liking them. He's also on record as saying he'd like to have a go at a kit.

 

As far as the goggles thing goes. Two points spring to mind; I'm not sure if it's just for presenting reasons, but they all seem to need to be practically forced into wearing helmets/goggles down the barrel of a gun!

 

The other, specific to that piece to camera; I have a sneaking suspicion it was James May being bl**** minded and trying to make a point. He seems to have a personal loathing for aeroscreens - perhaps it's his hairstyle! He picks up on it in practically every Caterham review/feature and makes a fuss. Just use a press car with a windscreen and you'd see even better results from the road tests. Leave the aeroscreened cars for the Stigg.

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James May needs a bl**** haircut IMHO

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James May needs a bl**dy haircut IMHO

 

Less than his brother does! :d

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Damn long haired May brothers. Hippy's, the lot of them :d :d :d :d

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The thing you have to remember about the 160 is that it isn't designed, targeted or intended for our European market. It's be built to be compliant with our legislation, so that it can be sold here too, but anything else is almost a happy coincidence.

 

According to Ian Stent's review of the 160 in Complete Kit Car the car he tested was a left hooker bound for the continent where it is renamed the 165 to emphasise the fact that it meets Euro 5 emissions.

His most negative comment was regarding the tight footwell and carried out the test drive in his socks! Size 8.5 shoes.

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They made it compliant because that made sense, but the "need" for the model was created by the Asian market, not the European. Though I certainly hope it does well over here.

 

For companies of this size, once the basic premis for a model has been established, it makes sense to sell it in as many markets as possible, even if those markets wouldn't "justify" that model on their own.

 

A bit like with Westfield, the Sport Turbo was essentially a tool to win sales in Europe, which it did very well. If they can sell some in the UK too, so much the better, but it wasn't necessarily designed with the UK markets requirements in mind!

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