Kitcat

Every time you go to an airport you look at all that concrete and fantasize about what a great auto-X course it would be. When the traffic light turns green, you cuss out the drivers ahead who are not launching instantly. You think of the mom next to you in the mini-van as a competitor and the purchase of endless tools as an "investment". After years of watching me fiddle with my Miata my neighbor came home at twilight one evening as I was sitting in front of the Miata on my work stool with the hood up and the owner's manual out in my lap. My neighbor shouts out to his wife:" Look honey, now he's reading it bedtime stories!" He was even more impressed when an acorn fell off the beautiful oak tree in my yard and put a small dent in the car's aluminum hood, so I had the tree removed.

Thanks for all the info. It doesn't look like an overwhelming problem, especially if you check first with the organizers.

A 7 owner on another forum complained that he was frequently not allowed to participate at track days because he had a "race car." Although this sounds a lot like the too-fast-to-race complaint lodged against the original 7, as a prospective owner I am wondering if anyone else has experienced this problem. If so, how often? To my mind, a race track is the 7's natural environment. Not being able to access a track with it would eliminate much of the reason I would consider owning it. What have your experiences been?

The owner of the only Caterham 7 I have driven showed me a beautiful aluminum scale model of it and said it had taken more time to construct than the real thing had.

Speaking of "headroom to grow", the sky is pretty much the limit with the Flyin Miata turbos. Mid 200's for HP & torque is routine but some of their dyno charts go up to the mid 300's & higher. In a 1300 lb car it would be like strapping yourself to a rocket!

From what I gather on the Forum, you are heard before you are seen.

It is nice, but I gotta say, the red & polished aluminum 7 listed on this very web-site's "For Sale" section looks just as good to me, altho I am no expert.

A friend tried this in his auto-x Miata and the car handled very poorly (altho it apparently launched wellhttp://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/images/emoticons/smile5.gif)

7:20 would be impressive indeed, 23 seconds faster than a ZO6 and about the same as a Porsche Carrera GT. Wikipedia reports a Westfield Megabusa doing 7:50 and a Caterham R500 Superlight doing 7:55, which are extremely good times, especially on a car that is so top-speed challenged. I got the impression that the bike was videoing the 7 as a favor-it seemed to have no trouble closing at will on the straights and often was mid-range in the revs, rather than up higher where the power is.

It does have a Seven-ish quality about it!

For the Predator event, go to their web-site and click on "Register here" under Lapping Day, on the home page.

Isn't it a little nose-heavy? If so, what is the impact on handling? What is total weight of the vehicle?

Keep the transporter, I want the car! I saw that the original is valued at around $10M.

Predator Motorsport (www.predatormotorsort.com) sponsors a lapping day every year at Putnam Park race track, about 1 hour southwest of Indy. It will be Sunday, March 25. Cost $275. It is a pure lapping day, no instruction is available. There are only 2 run groups so you get tons of track time. Putnam is a nice track for a 7 since it has lots of wiggles and just one significant straight. Lots of run off area too.

When will I get my 7? Did I mention (that due to really poor planning) I still have 3 kids in college?

60, and still no 7 First got interested when a friend smuggled a R & T magazine into study hall in '61 or so and showed me an article on the Lotus 7 kit (For about $1.2K, as I remember). It was referred to in R & T as a TDRC (thinly disguised race car) back then and the stock sports car drivers (M.G's, TR3's, etc.) hated it because they were so uncompetitive against it on the track. One favorite memory is walking to law school at the U. of Ill. every morning in the late 60's & seeing a 7 tool down the street, make an abrupt right hand turn into the parking lot, seemingly without slowing, and passing underneath the crossgate without stopping, due to its low stature. Jeez:cool!

How much $ for a complete 250 hp turbo'd engine, with FM supplying the engine (and doing install)?

For those who have not noticed, Westfield has just teamed up with FlyinMiata (www.flyinmiata.com) to produce a Miata-based Westfield variant. Flyin Miata is probably the premier Miata tuner in the country, with many performance goodies, including a large range of turbo'd Miata engines, as well as numerous other performance goodies. It is also home to Keith Tanner, a 7-nut of the first order. For some time Westfield has made a model based on a Miata donor car. Now that model is being sold as a kit, or turn-key vehicle, by F-Miata. Given their Miata expertise, this seems like a perfect fit. I was quoted a price of approximately $33K for a turn-key car with 185 rear horse-power and the customary "options" (such as a windshield/roof, etc). Seems like a deal for a car they say weighs about 1240 lbs.

Arm restraints would have kept him from using one arm to hold on to his cage while steering with the other: a driving technique that is unique. He is lucky to be alive after getting out just as his car was hit.

For an interesting, and possibly helpful, account of another 7 owner's trevails in solving a similar problem, go to : www.mycaterham.com. In particular click on "mechanical" and then "engine 2-electrical". Turns out there are roughly a zillion things that can cause the problem and this guy explored most before finally hitting on the solution.Kitcat2006-12-05 11:06:43

Tightest, most dangerous track I ever saw-like racing in a tunnel. Most crowded too. A wreck up front would have been an extreme disaster. Still, what a driver!

Isn't drag the combination of Cd times frontal area? If so, why isn't the 7's somewhat brick-like Cd offset by its tiny size?

Given the upcoming 7's meet at Tail of the Dragon and the apparently occasional discrepancy between advertised wight and actual weight of 7's clones (See recent Tech discussion) perhaps a "weigh-in" could be part of the upcoming TOTD 7's meet? Does anyone have a competent set of portable scales to lend to the cause? Perhaps there could be an award to the lightest participant? As a prospective buyer, I would be interested in knowing how much lightness has actually been added to the various Birkin, Caterham, Ultralite, etc., models.

Caterham is pronounced: a) Cat-eram, b) Kate-eram?

Does Performance Engineering do the engine installs on Nobles (which are sold in the US via 1G racing, also in Ross, OH)?