There’s a light to warn of the impending rev limiter, but unless I deliberately take it there, I’ll have probably naturally felt the urge to shift up a gear by then. And while the sound is all authentic, there is a symposer (a tube and a vibrating membrane) to accentuate the induction noise.
By today’s standards, 100bhp per litre is modest and so is a redline in the mid-6000s. That redline and power output are figures an old 1.7-litre Ford Kent Crossflow would be familiar with. And if I told you that the Horse engine reminded me a bit of one of those, I wouldn’t mean it as an insult.
This is, I don’t think it’s unkind to say, a functional rather than spectacular sort of engine. It will pull at any revs because it has modern electronics but there’s notable response from 2000rpm and it pulls very keenly from 3000-5000rpm.
If there is turbo lag, and even at low boost pressures I suppose there must be some, you don’t really notice it in a car as light as a Seven. Perhaps it would be more notable in the dry, but in the wet there’s sufficient response to light up the rear tyres out of Druids hairpin easily, and even in higher-speed corners enough to straighten the car’s line without feeling like you’re waiting for the engine to do your bidding.
It’s just linear, progressive and responsive, and I think the symposer takes the edge off some gravelliness, to add some gruff induction ‘bwoap’.
It’s geared for around 3000rpm at 60mph in sixth, and while it’s hard to gauge how the large expanse of a race circuit totally matches the road, that and the ratios – with a gearshift every bit as tight and slick as the Mazda five-speed’s – feels ‘about right’.
In truth the whole package does. Would it be nicer if it was a super-light, naturally aspirated 1.6-litre that revved to 9000rpm and made 160bhp while it was getting there? Perhaps, but people don’t make engines like that which meet regulatory requirements any more.
The Horse engine hits the right numbers. And, in its delivery, in its responses, and even in its aural appeal, it largely hits the mark too. I think Academy drivers are going to have as much fun as ever. The future supply is pleasingly secure.
And if you must have a naturally aspirated Seven, you know who to call.
