Kitcat

The above are too pedestrian to generate much sales volume (IMHO), esp since Lotus will want to charge 2-3x as much as the run-of-the-mill SUV, which those look like. But a sporty SUV can be pretty cool, even at the track. I just read a review of the new $50K Mercedes small SUV which generates track numbers similar to the Alfa 4C but for less $, and they toss in a back seat. And it gets 29 mpg on the highway. Like Dave, I think, if done correctly and it's not just some badge-engineered item, it could save Lotus from disappearing entirely.

My Duratec powered Birkin would not run smoothly, or with out cutting out, misfiring, etc., unless on extremely light throttle, until FULLY warmed up. I took it to a tech who said the ECU that came from Bikin had a very inadequate program for warm-ups. I assume it was the Haltech system you have? Maybe let it idle for 10 minutes and see if it then makes smooth power?

Thx DD, that's exactly the info I needed!

Well, on the clams/babes issue, when I was at Gettysburg (with the above 2 reprobates) I had a "professional" woman literally beg for a ride (in the car I think). And Tom was nowhere around-it was all the power-of-the-clams:).

I just weighed my carbon fiber Caterham CSR-style front cycle fenders-each is 1.8 lbs. When added to the 16lb total combined weight of each front wheel/tire, it certainly adds lightness.

DallasDude: Who do you buy your Hoosiers from, with phone number? I left a message w/R Krause, yesterday, no reply. Thx! BTW, I checked and I have the 6x13 wheels all around. What size tires do you use front and back? Currently my rear cantilevered Goodyears are much taller/wider than the fronts. So I would like to maintain that staggered set up. Since I am just doing track days, I am hoping to avoid the cost of new wheels for a performance edge I dont need.

Steve: I will be staying at the track as well. Even though the room is overpriced for what you get, I like the proximity (and lack of driving after over-celebrating). Face it: you are a trend setter, next year everyone will be back at the track:).

Ditto Croc's comments on price. Attention all lurkers-this is your moment to act!

Asking price?

Croc: Thx, I either didn't know, or forgot. Still a cool car either way and looking forward to pix, including of the drive train hopefully. Mike

I cant wait to see the pix, I have fond memories of chasing it around NJMP at the first USA7S event there 4 years ago.

Garmin just announced the VIRB-X and EX action cameras. Croc, would you mind taking a break from organizing the NJMP event, and collecting se7ns for sale and do a review of this:). Is it a worthy competitor/successor to the GoPro? PS: that should say "replacement", not "repacement"

Croc: Let's see some of your long-delayed but (hopefully) now completed garage/car-temple.I suspect that some of your required features (like the fountain that continuously sprays used motor oil) slowed things up:).

Steve: I drive right by Craig's 1 x a month on my way to visit family. If this ends up yours, I am happy to pick it up and bring to NJMP. BTW, I am keeping mine after all.

Dave: Great lines! I think your turns 2-3-4-5 sequence was pretty close to perfect. Maybe use all of the track in the bowl? You are "pinching off" the turn instead of letting the car's momentum carry you wide left 3/4's of the way thru. An instructor there told me to turn the wheel so I hit the bottom apex and just hold the wheel there. After you run wide that same wheel set will carry you back over to where you ordinarily enter the front straight on the far right. And you don't have to lift. You consistently out-braked folks at end of straight and made up a lot of time on them there. I do know I was not able to catch you. Croc-your plate is full putting on this event, dont sweat the videos!

It is now fixed and all is well, thx Croc. Now all I have to do is find some "Hillary for President" stickers to put all over Tom's trailer....

Mike, it IS deja vu all over again! The link now works, so I can sign up for USA7s group. But then I will have signed up twice. I tried canceling the 1st signups but cant figure out how to do that. I was hoping someone cld just cross my name off one list and put me on the other.

Mike: Thx for the update, you and Tom have obviously been very busy! This looks like another amazing event, I dont know how you guys do it. Tidbits: Is your garaj-mahal now ready? Is the plummeting gas price reflected in the race gas price? (I like to put a tankful every year just to clean out the Cat's "arteries"). Finally: Is there a link somewhere that takes us to where we sign up for the track days via MotorSport Registration? Ditto Tech sheet. Ditto the non-track aspects (karting, dinner, etc)? Is it all in the e-mail you separately sent us? (Update: I NOW see the link in the e-mail to sign up for the two track days and so signed up for 7/4 and 5, using Michael Johnson at my NJMP member sponsor and the "white" group as my run group-I didn't see a USA7s group-is there one at MotorsportReg? I know there is a separate 7's run group at the event itself). (Update x2: I now see the link in your e-mail Mike that wld have directed me to the USA7s group, but I wasnt able to get that link to work. Any thots on how I switch from the white group to the USA7s. You are right, if I drove like I surf the Web I'd go off on the first corner:)). As you know from past experience, I am easily confused, so I may have missed the obvious here(:. But you also know, IF I can manage it, anyone can:)! Anyhow, since this seems to be the new, official, event thread, maybe put all info for signing up for all aspects of this amazing weekend here? I have booked a "VIP" room on the track via the track's website.

Seb: Be prepared with a different in-car experience with the areoscreen. At speed, it can feel like your helmet is getting pulled straight up and off. Maybe an areo helmet wld help? If I scrunch down it helps. Neither of our heads sticks that far up, thanks to out Colin Chapman-esq heights:), but it is an issue at top speed in my Cat (which is abt 5 mph less than your 124 mph on Lightening).

I agree that as we get older, we take a closer look at ways of extending what can start to seem like "borrowed time". I turn 70 next year so the youth oriented thought of being immortal has long since faded. OTOH, as my time on earth shrinks, my desire to make the most of it increases. My reaction has been to try to have a safer track vehicle (full cage, fuel cell, fire suppression system, etc.), not fewer track days. And as a track-only se7en, I couldn't drive it on the public roads if I wanted (Altho I am tempted:)). Bottom line to me: better to burn out than rust, in the timeless words of the Neil Young song.

I have bought and sold 3 se7ens, all on this Forum's for-sale section. Your asking price and bottom line will determine interest and likelihood of sale. I typically established a price based on a rough look at the market and advertised for that but set a bottom line price a coupla thousand lower. As Croc said: photos, photos, photos. And, spend some time. Don't do it in front of your garbage cans. Find a neutral background (wall) somewhere nearby. Don't use the photos that turned out fuzzy. Photograph everything, undercarriage, engine bay, chassis, top up, top down lights on/off, etc. Photos will sell your car because some one will see them and fall in love. If you cant handle a camera, use a friend who is handy with one (As a reward take then for a ride with the top down, they mite buy it:)). Is price your only sales criteria? I sold my Caterham and my Birkin for less than I really wanted and less than I thought I could eventually get because I thought the buyers would give then a good home (they were car nuts, se7en nuts, mechanically inclined, happy to spend a week, or a year, tearing things apart). Be patient with prospective buyers. Some seem to have no serious interest in your car, they just love to talk and ask questions. Others think a se7en is just a sportier car than a Miata, they have no idea what they are getting in to. So you have to be willing to educate them (will they even fit for instance?). Prime time to sell-at least in the northern climes is Springtime-we all get a bit irrational as spring fever hits after 4 -6 months of cabin fever. Finally-the big one:is the wife/girlfriend/significant other on-board? Have they really been asked or it is just an assumption?. I took buyers more seriously when the girlfriend/wife showed up for the test drive-and loved it:).

Shane: Laughter is the best medicine? Looks like you are going to test that theory:). So, no GoPro or other video record of the event? If it had been at NJMP, Croc wld have had cameras hanging off your car everwhere!

I was expecting a lot worse damage to the car, given the catastrophic nature of the suspension failure and your ensuing injuries (Just hearing the words "burst fracture", makes me wince). Hopefully, you can be fixed as easily as the car.

Shane: As a disability attorney, I am used to asking clients to rate their pain. Typically we use a 0-10 scale, with most really bad pain rating at around a 7-8, with occasional spikes higher. At one hearing the judge asked my client to rate his pain on the 0-10 scale and he gave it an 11. The judge said "That's impossible." To which my client said:"Tell that to my pain!". Sounds like you know what the 11/10 pain is all about(:.

As far as I know, the only "qualification" for being on this forum is a fascination for all things automotive: the smaller and lighter, the better. Of course the various iterations of the se7en fit that qualification, but so do dozens of other cars. The AA is a prime example!