Kitcat

Will you be able to lock this storage in some way, or otherwise secure it? See Southwind's car for a nice storage solution (large leather Harley Davidson bag at the back in place of the spare tire). If you don't need the passenger seat, think abt removing it for trips, that will free up some storage. On long trips I run with the top up (doors off) so it doesn't take up storage. If I unzip the rear window, it's a sort of bikini top. There is less pounding sun too.

Saw the same thing yesterday when I got my copy and wondered if it was the same Lowflyer as at USA7s. Great car!

I think the standard Caterham 3 point harness is safer than the 4 point (with it, as your upper body shoves forward, it tightens the pressure of the belt across your lap-it's the opposite with a 4 point harness). Given all the hassles of getting in & out of a Seven, the extra step of connecting the anchor strap doesn't add much to the procedure. I also sometimes use the 3 point wh/came with the car around town. Both it and the 6 point are in the car. I have used the stock seat w/the 6 point, but that means it rides up over the front of the seat cushion and isn't as effective. I have a lovely Caterham carbon fiber racing seat in the basement for eventual installation. It has the anchor strap cut out. There are much less expensive solutions but I decided to go high end as I was having one of my periodic irrational episodes of up-grade-itis. I do track mine a lot so that was my lame justification. If I draw a 500 mile circle around Cincy, I can go to 10 tracks. I do 4-8 track days a year.

FWIW-I wld recommend putting in 6 point belts, not 4 point. Per past discussions on this and other car forum sites, the addition of the anchor strap is essential to keeping the lap belt properly placed. The shoulder straps of the 4 point will lift the lap belt up and off your pelvic area in a collision. We have so little protection in these cars anyhow, optimising seat belts seems wise. Of course, 6 point belts means seats with a cutout for the anchor straps. So the standard Caterham seats won't work. And, FYI as a potential Caterham buyer, did you know it's pronounced Kate-trum, not Cat-tear-ham? Enjoy your pursuit of your dream car, its almost as much fun as actual ownership:). Mike

Great cars! Which will be faster on the track, the stock Caterham, or the 400 hp Elise? My money is on the Caterham. You will have fun finding out, keep us informed.

Zetec vs Crossflow, Jon-big difference. And the seller claims its "hard" not to break the rear tires loose in the 1st 3 gears: maybe, on a rainy cold day? I love my car, and someone is going to love this car. But it's not the torque monster it's being advertised as. Mike

As far as breaking the rear tires loose in 1st, 2nd & 3rd-:LOL! I have an identical car, there is wheelspin in 1st-period. Hyperbole aside, it seems like a good price for a Caterham.

Skinny-Yes, that's small! As the former safety cop for my local auto-x club I was surprised (shocked actually) at how lax (non-existent) the safety rules seemed to be for the spectators. There are people sitting on the edge of the course, people with their backs to the course talking, dogs hanging around! Yikes! If I learned anything in my now ended auto-x career, cars can and will get everywhere. We had cars so far off course you had to see it to believe it: brakes failed, nerves failed, brains failed, accelerators stuck wide open, cars rolled, cars flipped, one car went off course, launched itself and impacted a neighboring tree 8' off the ground, several others slid way off and launched them selves over the retaining wall and onto an adjacent busy nearby highway. I am not saying that was the norm, but we had at least one memorable event a year in my 10+ years of auto-x. No deaths or serious injuries, a few cracked ribs etc. We made every effort to keep the spectators safe, much to their disgruntlement on occasion ("Hey, I signed the waiver", etc.). Mike

Mazda-thanks for all the effort on this. I am glad that your case of upgrade-itus isn't limited to your car:). Mike

Great, now you can form a Westfield 11 club! Any idea how many Westfield 11's, total, in the US?

That is one small parking lot.

Westfield 11: I am looking forward to pictures of what seems to be a labor of love (nickle plated suspension, etc.). I hang out sometimes at nobleforums.com. It is obviously dedicated to the 220 or so Nobles in the U.S., and now to the Noble's successor, Rossion. Anyhow, one of their big posters is SJ Morgan. SJ has for years owned a Westfield 11 that he built and the car is still one of his favorite's. That says something because he's a car mag writer and drives everything including his current test vehicle, a Rossion. As far as I can tell, he's a neighbor of yours in CA. So it mite be worth checking him out. He knows everything about cars (and isn't ashamed to admit it:)), and Westfield's in particular.

I agree with much of which you say tho the Mustang certainly has a performance image that is backed up at the track and at auto-X's. And I love the Bullitt edition. On the other hand, I just bought a new M3....

Westfield 11 builder: Any idea of your top speed? My Caterham's Kent engine dynos at a few HP less than your A-series and I top out at abt 105 mph in 4th (I have a 5 speed). Due to wind resistance I cant get beyond that if I shift to 5th. Theoretically, your aerodynamically superior car shd do much better.

Swapping out my 10 year old Michelins, that came with the car when I bought it, for new Toyo RA1's was the best of the (never ending) improvements I have made to my car. Handling was transformed: the 10 year old rubber just had no grip left so I was unable to exploit the car's amazing handling-until the Toyos arrived.

Eight minutes wouldn't be too shabby. It seems to be the dividing line between the fast and the amazingly fast. For instance, an '08 BMW M3 w/414 hp and paddle shifters did it in around 8'10", driven by an expert. Top level Caterhams seem to break into the 7'50's.

Very similar cars in overall philosophy (simplicity of design, singularity of purpose). What engine will go in yours?

For more information on tires (aka, tyres) go to "the Tire Rack" website. The Tire Rack is a huge tire supplier in the US and its site has a wealth of tire info. Including, how to read the sidewall code imprinted in the tire to determine the year and the week the tire was constructed.

The market is so small, it's hard to know what effect market crash will have-or even to establish a pre-crash price level. When I bought my car about 2 years ago, I monitored E-bay, this site's for-sale section, and all the classic car sites as well as Dick Brink's store, Sevens and Elans, Rocky Mountain Sports Cars, the LOONEY site, and other Lotus Forums as well as Hemmings. In a big week, 1 new car might appear on the market. When I was looking, standard Caterhams with Crossflows, Dedion rear, 5 sp. tranny, full weather gear, few options, were going for $22-24K, depending on condition. With Zetecs add $5-10K. For Birkins, adjust downward a few thou. For Ultalites & Stalkers, it seems like the $20-30K range was typical. Special cars, regardless of brand, will command more, sometimes much more. A lot will depend on how desperate the seller is to sell.

Definitely a "three beer" question. I don't think there any bad Seven kits. All are wonderful but do bring their own pluses and minuses. As the buyer of a used Caterham two years ago, I can speak about that experience. First, for me Caterham was very attractive aesthetically. I just loved the look. Performance was secondary. I got hooked on the car in the early 60's, when there were no clones, so I became imprinted on the shape (and still prefer it). I was very attracted to the Ultralight too because the price was excellent and it spec'd out as a more modern car, while the Caterham seemed a bit "olde" English, technology wise. Like others, I wasn't as crazy about the Ultralites chunky appearance. Also the off center instrument panel would drive me nuts. Maybe it can be (or has been?) fixed but when I looked at that kit, the tach, etc, were over in the middle of the dash. Birkin seemed like the hot ticket to me. It had the look I liked and was much less money. Used ones sell for less than used Caterhams but they cost less to start with. I suspect resale values are no worse than Caterhams. If I were starting over with a brand new car, I would be tempted to go with a Birkin. Dick Brink as noted sells them and is a supporter of the whole Seven experience. However I never heard from him when I sent an inquiry so I bought my Cat. I did get a reply some time later but it was too late, I was the owner of my Caterham. Next time I mite be more patient. Westfield make a great car but I am not taken by the look. Still, the Miata running gear seems brilliant. On the other hand, in spite of my concerns about British "reliability", I have had zero problems with my 1700 cc Kent Crossflow, which has 23K miles on the clock. Not the most powerful engine but perhaps makes the best sound, at least to my ear. Stalkers can look like cobbled together back yard specials, or can have Mercedes-level fit and finish. It all depends on the builder. They and the Ultralites seem to weigh about 200 pounds more than the standard Caterham/Birkin. If you look at the my-rides section of this site you will see some Stalkers that are just beautiful. They are also very powerful and will leave my little Crossflow in their dust (in a straight line, at least). As far as the advantages of buying used, I obviously was attracted to that approach. There is instant gratification-no waiting for the car to be shipped, built, etc. Also, the car has already been titled, the mechanical gremlins have been dispatched, etc. As I discovered tho, a used car is a USED car. Mine was 10 years old and only had 13K miles. But what that meant was it had barely been used and was suffering from that lack of use. Thus far I have replaced the tires, hoses, fluids, spark plug wires, ignition module, rebuilt the starter, rebuilt then replaced the solenoid, replaced the engine mounts, added an ignition cutout switch, replaced the standard rollover bar with the FIA bar, added aluminum honeycomb protective cladding to the fuel tank, replaced the speedometer angle drive, and the speedometer cable, replaced the 3 point seat belts with 6 point belts, the clutch slave cylinder, replaced a bunch of broken rivets, fixed several burned out lite bulbs, added a protective car cover, had the engined tuned 2x (cost $800), replaced the battery, wiper blades, brake pads , had it aligned, replaced the CV boots ($500/installed) and I have a new carbon fiber race seat and all new suspension bushings waiting to be installed. So did I save money? I doubt it. All of the above was done by master mechanics charging around $100 an hour. So used can be good, but make sure the car hasn't just been gathering dust for years. Since there are so many Seven variants, the first step should be deciding how you are going to use it. Is it mostly a track car that will be towed to and from the track? Perhaps a bike engined car is the way to go then, they weigh under 1000 lbs and are very powerful and who needs reverse at the track? Are you primarily going to be part of the Cars & Coffee scene? I

Does the 8 in "Rotus 8"refer to the # of kids clustered around the car:)?

Got my stuff too, in December or so. Never noticed the reply request, sorry. Mike

Stevet: I haven't seen the Caterham video but that's how I do it. Sort of a human jacknife. I dont touch the rear fender, except maybe a little for balance. Bringing in the trailing left leg can involve yanking it in w/both hands. Hardly graceful (Does that make it disgraceful?). It's not unusual for my trailing leg/foot to knock the sidescreen off too, adding another level of hilarity for onlookers. I have never gotten in w/a passenger in place. For unknown reasons, no one has ever wanted to ride with me in the rain/cold. Mikem

http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/863486947_Hawaii-2 014.jpg Here's photo of an XK120 I took at a track day last summer.

So the Elise is basically handmade? There wasn't anything resembling an assembly line. Construction does look well thought out and organized. Makes it easier to undertand why a car that's not all that different than a Toyota MR2 (same layout, same engine, etc.) costs 2 x as much, and the same as a new 'Vette.