JohnCh

I’m bored tonight (wife is working late) so I put together a list of se7ens that are available in the US today either new or used. I’m sure I am missing several manufacturers, so perhaps others can add on? BTW my criteria is that the cars are either available in the US new via a distributor/dealer, or I have heard of at least one such model in the US. Okay, not very scientific, but it is a start... Manufacturer / Website / Country / Official US Presence? Deman / www.deman-motorsport.com / Canada / www.deman-motorsport.com Donkervoort / www.donkervoort.nl / Netherlands / No Fraser / www.fraser.co.nz / New Zealand / No Birkin / www.birkindirect.com / South Africa / No Superformance / No longer produced / South Africa Caterham / www.caterham.co.uk / UK / www.uscaterham.com Dax / www.daxcars.co.uk / UK / No Tiger / www.tigersportscars.com / UK / No Westfield / www.westfield-sportscars.co.uk / UK / www.manikllc.com Champion Motorcars / No longer produced / US Rotus / No longer produced / US Brunton (Stalker) / www.bruntonauto.com / US / www.bruntonauto.com WCM (Ultralite) / www.wcmultralite.com / US / www.wcmultralite.com Laminar Concepts (Viking SRX-7) / No longer produced / US -John

Not sure how I missed that second diagram. But then again, I'm not noted for my attention to detail Check out this crash test dummy video. It shows the ASM vs. regular 4-point & 3-point harnesses. -John

I read this a little differently. I believe that comment was specifically referring to a crotch strap running to the floor of the car in front of the seat, not over the sides – i.e. you should run the crotch strap down a hole in the seat bottom rather than over the front. On page 25 they show that a traditional crotch strap which buckles into a slot on the rotary buckle should run down through the seat to the floor. It should run at an angle from 0 deg to 20 deg rearward. The Profi F models, which run the crotch strap through D-rings on the lap belts and then attach to the shoulder harness buckles, rather than attaching to the rotary buckle, can run under the legs as you described. See page 12 for a comparison of how the crotch straps attach on the F-model vs. normal mounting. Looking at the diagram of the Profi F models, it appears that crotch straps are much farther apart than a traditional 6-point system, and therefore run on the inner thigh rather than in front of the crotch. This is probably why they can be mounted differently. I would hate to think of the consequences of mounting a narrow angle 6-point crotch strap to the rear of the car. Those harnesses will use your crotch as the brake. A properly mounted traditional 5/6-point should prevent the lapbelt from riding up, which in turn will prevent you from sliding under it. It shouldn’t simply act as a crotch brake -- although I'm sure it does that a bit as well. Regarding 4-points, Schroth actually has a 4-point system that addresses the lapbelt movement issue in an accident. Their ASM technology employs an asymmetric shoulder harness system. The inner shoulder harness is longer and the slack is taken up by stitching the extra length over itself. In an accident, the stitching breaks, lengthening that belt and rotating your body outward. As this happens your hips also rotate, thus further tightening the lapbelt and digging it into you beneath your hip bone. This stops you from sliding under the harness. Lapbelt angle is crucial in this system. If it is a severe angle (like my Westfield had before adding new lapbelt mounts) then the lapbelt will ride up too high and won’t allow the rotation of your hips to stop your forward progress. -John

I'm confused. That picture is of a 6-point crotch strap. -John

Welcome Chad! I live in Sammamish, so not that far from you. I'd love to see the Ultralite when you get it. -John

Interesting article here on sealed lead acid batteries. -John

Is that Richard Morris's old car? It is beautiful! -John

Well that seals it for me. I have never had an issue with my 3+ year old PC680. It's started the car in 30 degree weather, and after multiple start attempts when tuning. Thanks for saving me some money -John

I agree $180 is expensive for a battery, but that is only ~$60 more than the equivalent Odyssey and is roughly 6lb lighter. Hmm…$10/lb. The Voltphreak is insanely light but if I bought a $460 battery my wife would either kill me, or go boot shopping. Either way, I lose… -John

Does anyone have experience with the Braille Battery? At 6.5lb it makes my PC680 look downright portly! Thanks, John

Bob/Gert, Thanks for the feedback. Although a kill switch is a nice feature, I am really just looking for a remote battery disconnect. My battery is not easily accessible and I did have a small under bonnet fire a couple of years ago when the throttle cable broke, landed on the 12V+ connection to the alternator while touching the air filter. In case anyone is wondering, yes, a red hot cable will ignite an oil impregnated air filter. Quickly. I would really like to have a battery disconnect switch in the cockpit in case I have a similar problem in the future. I hadn’t considered the fact that the solenoid draws power whenever the switch is flicked to the on position. That will be a learning curve… Thanks, John

Does anyone have any experience with this remote kill switch from Painless Wiring Products? I like the idea that I can have an unobtrusive switch in the cockpit to turn off the electrical system, so this seems to fit the bill. Thanks, John

I know Westfield owners in the in the UK who are 6’4” and have no issues, but my friend who is 6’5” and all leg doesn’t fit in my car. As for foot room, again it varies a lot by car. My size 11.5s won’t fit in a normal Caterham unless I am wearing my SpeedCats, but I can wear normal street shoes in my Westfield. I know of someone with a Caterham SV who has no problems driving his car in his size 12 street shoes. Take Stan’s advice and contact the CCC contingent. They’re a great bunch of guys who would be happy to show you their cars. -John

Keith, do you know in which issue the article will appear? Thanks, John

I just watched it too, and Mazda is correct. That is a Canadian car and the speedo is in km/hr. BTW if that is the stretch of road I think it is, then he is barely travelling above the posted limit and is slower than the flow of traffic. It was too freaking cold through there to drive fast! -John

It is listed here in the archives, but only active subscribers can view it. -John

Welcome David! I live in Sammamish, so not that far from you. Westfields are quite a bit roomier than a narrow body Caterham, but smaller than the SV. Unfortunately it sounds like you won't fit in my car though thanks to the Mog seats, which are pretty unforgiving. However, if you would like to see a Westfield up close, then feel free to send me a PM. Oh, and I second Mazda's request for pics of the E-type. -John

The FM Westfield uses Miata uprights which have better geometry than the Cortina units on my car. There is an upright upgrade available through Westfield and the aftermarket that improves the Ackerman geometry, and also some upgrades through the aftermarket that address castor. I will probably do the former upgrade over the winter, but the castor upgrade is too much for my pocketbook. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think my Westfield has poor steering, but I think my other cars fare a little better overall in the feel department. Where the Westfield wins out is in steering quickness and turn in speed. -John

I ran Yokohama A032R on my Westfield until the rebuild. I’m personally not a fan of those for the street. They were really slick when cold and I had trouble getting heat into them unless it was a hot day or I had strung together a *lot* of corners at speed. The sidewalls are also really stiff, which don’t match that well with such a light car. I have driven a Caterham on Kumho V700s (now the V70A) and was impressed. Granted the weather was hot (low 90’s) but they stuck well from cold and the sidewalls didn’t seem as stiff as the Yokos. I plan to upgrade to the V70A this spring. -John

Good steering feel is a wonderful thing, but I also find it is a personal thing. I’ve heard people, including automotive journalists, rave about the steering feel of specific cars, but after driving those same vehicles I’ve been left unimpressed. It’s not that those folks are wrong and I am right (well maybe it is ), but rather we may each value different qualities when turning the wheel. For me brilliant steering provides great feel of the road surface. You feel what the front tires are experiencing as it happens. It also has good weight (again, very subjective on what is too heavy or too light) and a linearity that is a little tough to describe. You can feel the steering weight up as the cornering forces build, but the progression is very smooth, very linear, and very mechanical. The two best steering vehicles I have driven are a Caterham fitted with the Freestyle inboard front suspension and an ’87 Porsche 911 with a modified front suspension. Both were simply brilliant and pushed all my buttons. My Westfield has good, but not great steering. It is something that I am working on and hope to improve over the winter. I also have a Porsche 993 and 944 turbo. For me, they both have great steering with the nod going to the 993. Another thing that I have found is that tires can really effect steering feel. When I bought my 993, the steering was good, but a notch below the 944 turbo. Upgrading the tires from Pirelli P-Zero Nero M&S to Bridgestone RE-050A made a huge difference. BTW the 911 and Caterham I mentioned earlier both ran R-compound tires which tend to have better road feel. One of the major magazines (Car & Driver?) did an article about steering a couple of years ago that tried to answer the question “Why do some cars have great steering feel?” I’ll dig through my stack of magazines later this week to see if I can find it. -John

That is essential. Along that same line, another thing to consider about the hubs is to choose ones that are airport friendly (small airport within an hour drive from the hub). On both USA2005 and PNW2007, we had co-drivers join/exit mid tour. It would also help those of us who are happy to drive hard for a couple of days to reach/leave the hub, but there is no way our wives are willing to cover 1500 miles in 2 days in a se7en. This way they can simply hop a flight and meet us there. -John

Al, Is the current thinking to do the national meet as a tour that goes from point A to point B like USA2005 & PNW2007, or as a convention where we entrench in one area and do daily drives and perhaps some organized track/autocross events? I suppose a third option is to combine the two – i.e. we could meet in one area, stay there for a few days, do some daily drives/events, and then travel a couple of days to another area where we do it all over again. Thanks, John

That's what I thought when I bought my Westfield which had been registered for the previous 5 years in CA. I even checked with WA state prior to buying the car to confirm my assumption was correct, and I was told there was no problem. The car would only need to undergo a basic safety inspection (wipers, signals work, etc.) and a VIN check to make sure it wasn't stolen. However, when I brought the car in for the inspection, they took one look at it and told me I needed to make an appointment to see the specialist. When I questioned this and pointed out that the car was currently legally registered in CA, the person trumped me with "This is not California." Kind of hard to argue with that logic. I was able to eventually register the car, but it was a bit of a hassle. -John

Don’t let the interior design of any Se7en hold you back. Part of the fun of owning these cars is that you can always modify things to suit your taste. For example, I didn’t like my Westfield’s interior, so when I rebuilt the car, I did a total redesign (before and after photos are in this post). It still isn’t quite what I want, so this winter I will give it another shot, but it is pretty easy to do. My advice is to make the effort to see, drive/ride in as many different se7ens as possible before pulling the trigger. You certainly won't go wrong with a Caterham, but you may find that you actually prefer something else. -John

That was a very camouflaged police car. My jaw dropped when I saw the lights go on.