Category: Affordable Sports 
Price Range: No data available
Supercar-slaying performance, beautifully balanced handling, great six-speed 'box, racecar-with-numberplates looks.
Unforgiving ride, no ABS, excessive care is needed in standing water.
Hardcore R300 is at home on the road and is our pick of the Caterham range.
Last time we encountered a 7 with the 175bhp 2.0-litre Ford engine it was in far more sensible Roadsport trim that boasted such luxuries as a windscreen, doors and hood. It romped off with the full five stars on our On the Road section.
The Superlight then, you might think, might be a step too far for the road. There's no windscreen to protect you so you need to don a crash helmet to avoid being blinded by an unfortunate grasshopper.
A complete absence of weatherproofing, meanwhile, will also mean that even on the sunniest days you'll have an unhealthy obsession with the weather and probably still dress for a monsoon - just in case.
Factor in a fiddly four-point harness and the 7 will quickly become too much for even the most committed performance junkie.
That's a shame, because the incredible Superlight R300 is appreciably much better to drive than the Roadsport.
Let's start with the engine. It's exactly the same unit as the one fitted to the Roadsport, but in the R300 appears to have had a complete personality overhaul.
Thank the glorious close-ratio six-speed gearbox. Bunching up the ratios reveals an engine with a frenzied appetite for revs. Think a rabid Honda S2000, but with far more torque and about three times the noise.
The differing engine character completely changes how you drive the 7.
In the Roadsport you rely on the Ford engine's torque to haul you out of a bend but in the Superlight you change down one or two gears to get the thrill. It's hugely satisfying and it delivers a devastating charge right up to its peak power at 7,000rpm.
It hugely quick in a straight line sprinting to 60mph in just 4.5 seconds while topping out a very blustery 140mph.
It's not just the engine's new-found urgency that's more at home with the 7's character. The Superlight suspension adds a new dimension to the Caterham's steering.
It's more linear and precise and the weighting is better. There is a huge cost for the improved steering feel though - the Roadsport's soft ride is banished and despite being as well damped as ever, sitting over the rear axle you'll begin to dread the next motorway expansion joint, while bumpy B-roads add a white knuckle element.
Traction, even on the damp roads we drove, was never less than impressive, boosted in our case by our car's optional £895 limited slip differential that shuffled torque effectively and allowed a more progressive transition into oversteer when exiting a corner. It also makes the R300 serious fun on a quiet roundabout.
