Crawley

Soldato
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Thinking about hiring a Caterham for the day.

The dealer is based over in Crawley. Would like to know whether there are any decent driving roads in the area?
 
not considered hiring over a few days?

Chances are that you'll find that 'day' will fly


Na. One day will be enough. I don't have a garage to put the car in so would prefer not to keep it over night.
 
Just finished my day with the Caterham 420S.

Had a fantastic time. The weather was great - sunny and warm. And the Griffin Inn pub was really good!

Will post pics later. Thanks all
 
So we (myself and the other half) arrived at caterham shortly after 10am. With hardly a cloud in sight!



Upon arrival I was greeted by the person who arranged my Caterham Experience session. Who required a deposit and a few documents.

Fast forward 10 mins and I'm outside being introduced to this -



This is the Caterham 7 270. This car comes in two flavours. The 270S and 270R. The model given to me was the 270S. And is the "softer " of the two flavours /specs



Before being handed the keys a member of caterham gave me a detailed introduction to the car. This was much appreciated as it had been around 7 years since my last drive in a caterham (on track).

First stop was a 30 min hoon to some random location. I literally pulled out my phone and started looking for some B roads. Seconds later I'm heading to an area called Rudgwick (ever heard of it?). Twas a good call as the route offered twities, roundabouts and fairly short dual carriage ways. The car was simply amazing.



So where to next? Someone here mentioned a place called The Griffin Inn. At this point it was shortly after 11am. The nav predicted it would take me 1 hour to get to the Griffin Inn.



A great pub over in Fletching, Sussex. First of all thank you to whomever suggested this place. The food and atmosphere was amazing.



Before I left the owner comes up to me. To complement me for having such a great looking car (I couldn't disclose the truth lol). We had a small chat then. And then shoehorned myself into the 7









Likes
* The colour - Never thought I'd say this. But this metallic green looked simply stunning in person. It was a real head turner

*Head turner - people who know about these cars loved it. I received multiple thumbs ups and nods from grown ups. Smiles and finger pointing from kids almost breaking their necks to look down (from their tall hatchbacks) at the car.

*Noise - for a little two litre engine this thing sounds fantastic. And the pops and bangs from the exhaust :eek:

*Handling - so easy to drive near the limit. I'd love to go out in the R spec. As the suspension in the S was just a little too soft for my liking.

Final thoughts - if your into these cars. Please either by one, test drive or hire one. They're simply amazing. This is the best car I've driven since the Mini GP2. Im now left wanting one...... Badly. Unfortunately I don't have a garage and I wouldn't feel comfortable leaving a car like this on the public road :(.

Price of hire £175 + £300 deposit
*120 mile limit - 0.5p for every mile beyond the limit
*car to be returned by 4pm
*car to be returned with full tank of petrol.



I can see myself heading to Crawley again ..... Very soon!
 
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Conversely I live in the area, wasn't aware of that stereotype, have two fully insured cars on the drive and never had a smack with an uninsured illegal. RH10/11 postcodes for insurance are decent.

Looks good OP, tempted to do this myself. A run down A23->Ifield Ave->Charlwood->Leigh->Betchworth->Box Hill might be nice too.

Thats doesn't seem like a bad cost for a day like that, nice write up :)

Make it happen. You won't regret it!

I've been day dreaming about the entire day ever since lol
 
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