Kitcat

My hat's off to all those whose hats are in the ring. And to those who have worked hard and are stepping down, or stepping back(Mazda/John). Mike

I don't blame car companies-they made what people wanted. And people wanted large gas-guzzling SUV's. Why? Search me, bigger is better? I have a theory that as the average American's body has increased in size, their car sizes have increased to compensate. OK, the car companies were enablers and complicit, but if some had tried to market mostly small, gas efficient automobiles over the last 20 years,they would have been eaten alive by the car companies who catered to what the car-buying public really wanted. I think the mess we are in now is the result of too little not too much government regulation (I know I have just offended the sensibilities of 95% of the members here, and am donning my helmet and Nomex as I type). The only reason Detroit makes any cars that get 1/2 decent gas mileage is the government required them to, via CAFE standards. Thanks to the light truck gas mileage exemption, huge, gas guzzling automobiles were then replaced by huge gas-guzzling SUV's and pick ups. Had the CAFE standards been extended to all light vehicles, the problem would be much smaller. Of course, the government also helped us get in this fix by supporting super cheap gas prices via its gas-tax policy and refusal to do anything serious about the problem. So here we are, Detroit's on the ropes and we are "addicted to oil" as W noted, with the consequence that we are beholden to the likes of Chavez in Venezuela, our buddies in Saudi Arabia, etc., etc.

3 point seat belt, and a separate lap belt, cinched very tight,+ ball cap, earplugs, sound muffs, frequent grin.

This guy got royally screwed. Sure, life's tough, ditto auto business, but if they deliberately tried to screw him they couldn't have done a better job. Especially forcing the million dollar remodeling and telling him to shove his inventory. His bankruptcy seems imminent and then on down the line. Lots of pain for lots of innocent people. Still, something had to happen and it was either sacrifice a select few or watch the whole company drown together. One of the few (only?) things "W" ever said that made sense to me was, when asked about the auto companies' woes: "Just build better product". That was before he got the whole bailout ball rolling tho. Am I the only one skeptical about the likelihood that having Fiat as a partner will help?

Car weighs 1225 lbs, 93 hp on the chassis dyno, 13 lbs per pony-but I'll match its sound against anyone's:).

OK, there is a thread asking how many miles driven thus far. How about a different measure of Seven love/devotion: money & time. Unlike the previous 2 years, when I was trying to bankrupt myself on my Seven, I am comfortable reporting: $o so far on maintenance/improvements, and zero time spent fixing/improving things. I know I have set the bar pretty low, can anyone beat those numbers:) (Hopefully your wives don't read this).

500 miles. One 200 mile trip, rest around town stuff.

I drove a right hand drive Cat Crossflow with cycle fenders and a allegedly more powerful engine than my stock 135 hp version. This was 2 years before I finally purchased my own Cat. Very little difference. The car is so narrow the driving position made little difference,tho the right side is vastly cooler (temp wise) than the left. The engine felt no more powerful. It was fun to watch the front suspension work (not possible in my clam fendered Seven). My strongest memory was every one freaking out, asking questions, looking & pointing. And how amazingly loud and rough and low it was. Definitely not a stealth vehicle.

Welders typically get lung disease from all the fumes they breathe, year after year. Then low back problems from all the bending, lifting. My law practice consists of helping injured workers get SS disability and I have represented a number of welders over the 35 years I have been doing this. Carpal tunnel seems to be an equal opportunity disease and affects people across a broad cross section. Certainly repetitive use of the hands and wrists are a risk factor tho. Mike

My modestly powered open diff dedion seems to corner better at the track when it lifts the inside rear wheel a bit. The heavily loaded outside wheel has super grip and the inside, lightly loaded wheel very little so it spins slightly as it loses traction. The result is the car seems to pivot around the slightly spinning inside wheel in the desired direction around the turn. If I had tons of power it might really light up the spinning wheel and subtract power from the outside one. But that doesn't seem to happen on my car. Again, it's all about balance.

Jlumba: 15w50 Mobile One. Last coupla changes have been Redline full synthetic tho. Don't recall why I switched, probably read something on a tech forum like this one, did it, then forgot about .

Just ck'd, the Mobile One & Redline oils I have been using have 1200 ppm ZDDP. By happenstance though, not thru any knowledgeable planning on my part. I never heard of ZDDP until today:).

I never question advice about oil that is provided by a member named "oilteq"! Any thots on what we Kent Crossflow owners should be adding? (No worries about the effect on our non-existent cat converters, of course). I am running Mobile One 15-45. It's been in the car for 23K miles (after the dinosaur oil break in period). All seems to be well. Oils, manufacturers, synthetics, viscosity, change intervals, etc., have been a rich source of mostly uninformed debate on the many car forums where I hang out, so I am interested in your opinion. Mike

As a car junkie I confess to thinking that more is better when it comes to power. Toward that end I bought a 414 hp BMW M3 last year. It's terrific. But that extra power can't be used on public roads 99% of the time. I get up to warp speed in no time and start scaring myself and others. On the other hand, I can drive my little Crossflow Cat flat out much of the time since the most immediate result is noise, not speed. And of course, in a Seven, the illusion of speed always exceeds the reality of the situation-with noise/wind/vibration/smells all increasing the sense of high speed. So my question to those of you out there who have driven Sevens in multi-levels of power: is it the excess hp worth it? Or is the ultimate Seven, something moderately powered where the focus is on how to use the Seven's amazing balance and handling to achieve rapid progress, rather than brute strength? (I promise to not let the answers affect my never-ending quest for more power, just curious:)). Mike

Mike R: Is your wife running "The Flying Pig" marathon here this weekend? If so, she is a pretty hardcore runner-lots of hills for a full marathon. Mike M

Doesn't it detract from this site to have these politicized comments? Because some of us would trade a Carter, not to mention an Obama, for a Bush II in a heartbeat. But I think it's best to skip that debate and focus our attention on our shared love of our cars. They provide a such nice distraction from the increasingly hostile right-left rhetoric. (IMHO).

Those are the best track-day photos I have seen.

Drove mine to work today (zero % chance of rain) and it is parked in the lot below my office. I can look out anytime I want and watch pedestrians on the busy adjacent downtown sidewalk doing double takes:).

Chaz: Your birthday tradition is a great one. I guess we all owned Miatas at some point (I have had 2 and extensively auto-X'd one in SCCA's CSP class). I write to note that I bought my used '97 Caterham 2 years ago w/13K miles on it for just a little more than I paid for my last Miata. So maybe your birthday dream car isn't as unobtainable as it might seem?

Steve: Are you using 3d ignition? I have a vague memory that you are. If so, do you like it? Has gas mileage improved? (I get 10-14 around town, 18-20 on the highway). I know you are making more power than I am, but your hotter cam may explain that somewhat. Mike

Spaz: I would be surprised if the Honda motorcycle engine in your car weiged 400 lbs. Even my mighty Crossflow lump isn't that much. I would guess 175 lbs for your engine. Or do I have your car mixed up with someone elses? Overall weight of 1100 lbs seems believable. I wld guess Hank tips in around 1050 lbs, rollcage and all.

Ditto: Redline MT-90, 10K miles thus far and no problems.

Dumb question: How do you know if your exhaust gasket is leaking? In the driver's seat of my Crossflow there frequently is an exotic cocktail of smells: exhaust blow-back, carburetor blow-by, evaporating engine crude, etc., etc. Can you feel it with your fingers, do you need to rev the engine? Mike

My non-SV has a 9 gallon tank. Gas guage hits empty when 1 1/2-2 gallons are left in the tank. I ran it all the way down til it died last year (w/a 1 gallon gas jug at the ready) and then put 9 gallons in it.

Evo school was best $ I ever invested in improving driving skills. Nothing like 3 National Champions providing in-car advice and getting 40 runs per day to get it right. If you can auto-X you can track day. The biggest leap is from street driving to auto -X (IMHO).