It's fast, isn't it?' It was the first thing evo publisher Mohammed said, as we dived into the Media City tunnel. He had actually said plenty more about the factory-built Caterham before he'd jumped into the passenger seat; mainly about the styling, the outstanding overall condition and the fact that it was actually road-registered here in Dubai.

But these were all givens. The speed that we were being catapulted around that day seemed quite 'outer-body', and far from a given - considering we were only being chaperoned by less than 200bhp. The figure may sound weedy, but this particular Caterham has more oomph than the Superlight-R.

We had picked a good day to take a mid-afternoon cruise in our new Caterham too. The weather was quite settled and the sun had done its worst. But it's still not what you would call the sensible option, and a far from practical purchase. However, there is room for my laptop, Ted Baker bag, packed lunch, a passenger and a box of spare parts (which includes oil filter, fan belt and endless hoses) in the boot if something untoward was to happen.

The small matter of 606kg dry weight is probably why it's quicker still than the Superlight R300. Whichever way you look at it, our Fast Fleet two-seater is quick; recording 100kph in 3.8 seconds - a second off that of the standard 165bhp model. The factory top speed is noted at 192kph, however at our recent Porsche-slaying day at the Dubai Autodrome we recorded 191.4kph in fourth, with another gear to go, before braking into turn 1 and a flying lap of one minute 21.6 seconds, beating a 2007 911 Carrera 4S cabriolet around the Club Circuit by 5/10ths of a second, and 1.171kph faster. May sound silly to mention but don't forget the 911 costs $ 101k, compared to this 8 year old factory-built Seven that cost a mere $ 15,000 and is dire need of being set-up up correctly.

The engine itself is a normally aspirated HPC-spec Opel 2.0-litre 16v DOHC, running 10.50:1 compression ratio. The factory 1998cc 165bhp, achieved at 6000rpm, has since been increased to a rolling-road proven 180bhp with the aid of an aftermarket chip and sports exhaust, delivering an improvement over the factory 165lb ft of torque (at 4500rpm) to the two rear 7x16in lightweight Caterham aluminium alloys. 133.5 inches long, 62 inches wide, five inches ground clearance with 49/51 per cent weight distribution (front to rear) and a power to weight ratio of 302bhp per ton, it is no surprise that we now rapidly out-accelerate everything - bikes included. And it sounds like a bike. At lower revs it grumbles meaningful. At just over tick over it has a more raspy sound, that is traded for a far more meaty tone way and above 4000rpm.

Not one to follow convention, I decided to throw caution, common sense, A/C and a roof to the wind when I bought the Caterham. In a month that rarely saw a dip below 40 degrees, with regular highs of 47, I made matters worse by using the newest addition to the Fast Fleet every day, some days without the doors and wearing my helmet. One thing is for sure, it's definitely quieter ¨C but only just -  than the newer Caterham Gulf7 260 - devoid sadly of all the hissing, snapping, popping and vicious backfiring. That said, the HPC Caterham is still capable of turning heads, with a sharp pop of backfire when you tease the speedo to 3500rpm in third. This is thanks in part to the officially fitted restrictive factory exhaust system, with a catalytic converter removed and replaced with a stainless steel system fabricated and installed in Sharjah.

So far running costs are at a minimum. Aside from the $ 290 insurance and $ 15 of fuel this month, the only thing I've had to shell out for is a set of new directional silica compound Dunlop Z-rated 205/45ZR16 SP Sport 9000 tyres. Replacing the year-old Falken rubber, the new Dunlops offer 15 per cent better wet and dry handling, improved stability and shorter braking distances. There is also lower unsprung weight through the latest production techniques, the Dunlop Maximum Flange Shield system protecting our light alloys from kerbing.

No matter what Bassam may say I'm happy for it to be my daily hack, and will continue for it to be so for some time yet, which means I'll have to invest in some more washing powder, as I've been getting through t-shirts and undergarments at a rate of knots, taking three times the number of showers needed for one person, per day too.

I've also lost two-thirds of my body mass due to dehydration, burned calories, arms, legs, toes, lower back and fingers everytime I've strapped myself in. But what fun!