Totally agree, great insight into the characteristics of the two cars. I'm lucky enough to have an S3 elise and a 420S Caterham. I love how bonkers and anger the Caterham is but there's something about the way you can move the weight around in the elise and use the roll oversteer to rotate the car which I find totally intoxicating. Thanks for the great video!

If you are going to have an impractical car you may as well go all out crazy. Thats why i bought my"7" . Aero screen , no heater or anything like that. Totally stripped out at 535 kg. A very modest 180HP but will lap my local track as quick as a GT3 Cup car. Nothing beats 200kph with the wind in your hair and no screen.

IMHO Caterham 7 is THE benchmark for ALL sports cars. Obviously a 170 Caterham isn’t quick, but it still conveys all the brilliance of the 7 traits. Driving the 7 even in hail on a motorway is totally viable especially with a tonneau on. I’ve owned both Caterhams & Elise’s & even though I’m an S1 Elise owner now, if I’m being honest the Caterham with 300 bhp per tonne is a better drivers car - it will simply make you smile way way more than an Elise (or any other car) but it’s also less of a ‘car’ than an Elise and an Elise is enough for me atm. Either car is a truly great thing. Enjoy!

Two absolutely brilliant machines!

Nice vid. I think the original plan was for a Ducati like toy, not a daily. Amazing technology jump with the aluminium tub. At the time - to beat the Mazda Elan copy, fully made sense to go mid engined group C LeMans racer. But oh how I wish the Elise was Front engined, and hence easy to drive on the limit like a Caterham. Would have made it possibly a tad slower round a track, but even more engaging.

Very interesting POV, for a Lotus Elise (S1 Sport135) owner. I've read all there is here in France in terms of press reviews, but I was still waiting for a comparison between these two, and see if a Seven with 84 bhp can still provide enough fun for an Elise driver. I guess now I have to find one I can try (not an easy task here).

Love both cars. They both make me smile 😍Would love to see you in a Caterham on track!

The 420R is the ultimate driving machine. Nothing comes close. I used to have a S1 Exige with a VHPD K series but it's nothing like my 420R. Caterham. There is no substitute..

your on my local and favourite roads! currently saving up to get either a caterham or elise at the end of the year but having recently driven a caterham, it's the one I.ll be getting- just so much fun!

8:48 - Ayyo, what's Scoob and the gang doing in Britain?

Another great review. 2 very different drives. it would be interesting to see you track a Caterham. I've driven both and the Caterham gave a much bigger adrenaline rush but the Lotus creature comforts and extra safety features are hard to ignore. Objectively 2 very different levels of technology so fun and value s the only fair comparison.

Nice video. I've a Lotus Elise S1 (early lightweight) and a Zetec engined Caterham so they are probably closer than the two you tested. We're so lucky to have what I consider to be the two greatest sportscars of all time made in the UK. Differences? Well ine is a rather quicker 7 and slower Elise but the difference I find is this - the Elise is like a racing thoroughbred the 7 like Ben Hur's chariot. Impossible to say which is best but they are very different...

Good film and review Bex. I think the comparison is a difficult one in a way, especially when the focus is not on performance. Both great cars, but the Lotus will always be more practical and comfortable as a daily driver, as it's primarily built for the road. The Caterham on the other hand is a track car first and foremost, but the lower powered models are equally at home on the road. A Caterham is all about just having fun and in the right conditions nothing beats it in my opinion. It's a car for masochistic hedonists (for example, I enjoyed the hour's drive in pouring rain I did earlier this week to get mine serviced). Other than perhaps an Arial Atom, I don't think anything equals the Caterham in what it does best.

Bless you at 6:23

The Atom.

💖🙏

lotus looks amaazing. i love it. glad you got it instead of bmws which are boring and i don't care if they are faster

Me likey

How’s it go….the turbo sound….? didn’t quite get it …..🤔

Lotus wins regardless , because the Caterham is just a continuation of the Lotus 7 . So it's more of an old V new Lotus comparison .

975kg?! My 111R is 875. Sounds like my NA has similar Weight/Power and keeps the screaming 8500RPM red line. No interest in the SC.