Kitcat

I cant wait to take photos of you getting in/out:)! Better be doing yoga this winter....

Excellent car and looks to be in excellent shape. Feel free to add lots more pictures:). Google: simple sevens, for a site dedicated to original cars like yours. Looks to be something else interesting behind it in the garage. What car is it?

Best tire? Derserves its own thread:). It's like asking what the best oil is. But...,I ran 205x50x 15' Toyo RA1'a on my X-flow wh/weighed a bit less and made less power and the tires were perfect on and off the track. They weighed a ton, BTW. You dont want super grip unless you have a dry sump/Accusump set up as the grip advantage is soon offset by oil starvatin and a dead engine(:.

I just got an e-mail from Simpson Racing w/a link to their new You-Tube video:"15 minutes can save your life". Very interesting. Stuff like how to best protect ''the male organs", that one got my attention. Also noting driver weight dictates belt width. Chock-full of advice, explanations, pictures, diagrams, etc. I would call it must-watch/read for those of us who do track days. And well ahead of driving season, so safety items can be added, upgraded,etc. I will count on someone else to add the link.

In this month's issue of Grassroots Motorsports: A nice ad for a aluminum trailer, complete w/photo, followed by "must sell ASAP" then "first offer takes it". I am tempted to offer a penny and hope I am first:).

Amazing crash video, esp in slo-mo. He had very little crash protection:roll-over bar was stout but too small/short, no side bars, no arm restraints, so-so seat, no HANS, etc. But he survived, mostly because his belts (wh/look like they are both improperly anchored at the same spot on his rollbar) kept him in his seat and because it looks like the car never landed real hard on the roll-bar (tho hard to say), it just spun mostly in the air and then eventually landed on its side.

Klassic and TW: I think yr both right. Diesels are popular in Europe due to high cost of fuel. And, they care about emissions, but they dont care as much abt soot as US does. So their diesels, wh/can produce a lot of soot, still pass their emissions tests but not ours. However, the latest diesels from VM and Mercedes do pass our higher soot standards, in part because the US has upped the nature of diesel fuel commonly sold for pedestrian cars (You never see the thick plumes of black soot coming from passenger diesels anymore). The newest diesels are totally quiet as well, no more "diesel clatter.". Diesel fuel is still more expensive, some times 10 cents, some times a buck. Gas prices are all over the map, diesel pump-price seems to be more stable.

I think the only reason I don't get airborn there is I am so much slower! My car does get very light through that spot tho.

ER: Are you implying that the "defective driving unit" is in approximately the same location as the driver:)? Your V10 Touareg is a much stouter vehicle than my V6 vehicle, no? It has substantial skid plates, an air suspension, etc, right? In the real world, it is likely able to tow more than mine can, regardless of tow rating. And it has serious off-road capacity, also lacking in mine. OTOH, my highway mileage is superior, at least when I am not towing.

Z3 Stalker: I have the turbo diesel 6, 3.0 liter. Not the V10 on the prior version. The newer Touareg weighs abt 500 lbs less than the prior model as well. I think mine weighs around 4600 lbs and w/me, tires, tools etc seems to have enough heft to stand up to the loaded trailer with out any problems. I have over 10K of towing miles. I also recently bought, but haven't installed, a brake controller for the trailer. I have not had any stopping issues but that is more a result of defensive and cautious driving. One early panic stopped showed it stops, and ABS works fine, but the distance is definitely longer.

My 2011 Touareg diesel has 65,000 miles, many of them towing my enclosed 4,000 trailer/7 combo. I have had zero electrical problems/zero mechanical problems. My favorite towing moment was when a guy in a big Dodge Ram blew by me on a downhill interstate hauling his enclosed trailer, and I blew buy him going up the steep hill that followed. This SUV gets 33-37 mpg at 65 mph, 30-32 mpg at 70 mph. It is rated to tow 7700lbs. Tows smoothly, never an issue with the trailer wagging the dog. Towing MPG is not impressive, 12-14 mpg depending on speed/wind direction. With a 26 gallon tank, long distance hauling is easy. It is quiet and comfortable inside. Passengers in rear seat are happy w/reclining seats, tons of head, leg room. It is abt the same length as a Honda Accord, so is easy to drive /park. Gripes: well, the name is pretty stupid and is hard to spell. I have read every comparo the car mags have done on it and except for one, it is typically towards the top and one rated it at the top. Consumer Reports likes it as well tho agrees it has reliabilty issues. It is a "badge-enginered" Cayenne or Audi Q7 for $10K-30K less.

A friend who was watching the blowout with me commented that he thot the altitude got to the Broncos (I think he called it "lowtitude" tho:)).

I read elsewhere that long time Caterham/Lotus enthusiast, Tony Vaccarro, is now a new Caterham dealer and parts supplier. He is located in Buffalo NY. Several other dealers have surfaced here. Anyone know who all of the new dealers under Superformance will be and where they are located? Tho they have sold a lot of Caterhams over the years, it doesn't look like Sevens and Elans is an "official" dealer any more, true?

My wife had the same experience in our shower: kaboom/crash. There she was standing in a shower stall full of glass, unable to move. Fortunately I was in the next room and was able to come in w/shoes and walk over the glass and get her out. The glass repair guy said he saw it 2-3x a year. He suggested we replace the unframed sliding glass doors with doors that were framed. Which we did. My wife had minor cuts and scrapes. The advert for the doors said in the unlikely event they broke, the glass was designed to break into smooth, round pellets. I'd say that was true of 90%, but the other 10% was deadly. I think Mini should cover this. I will bet they have a measurable # of widow explosions, annually. And I wld also bet they will feign ignorance and claim it was a stone, etc.

Ya know, way back when, some early Lotus sevens ran in F1, w/o their fenders. They dont seem to have evolved as much as the F1 cars have:).

Beyond my "skill" level:). But if you google: road and track supercar system v8, its waiting for you, in all of its pug-ugliness.

R&T has an article abt the Supercar System V8, wh/it descibes as "part Caterham", part Corvette V8. Kind of a pug-ugly version of a se7en for twice what a Stalker L3 goes for.

The photo looks like a Formula V, with skinny tires and minimal body (Note the driver's head above the roll-over bar: what could go wrong?).

Bill: That's a lovely, classic se7en you have. With the Vauxhall and 6 sp, it should be pretty peppy as well. Tom: Are you hoping to be able to put a little more rubber on your car:)?

MoPho: Where is your car headed?

Poorichard: Excellent first post! I look forward to seeing the Super Stalkers out in force at this event. My first "event" as a se7en owner was the 50TH anniversary party at the Tale of the Dragon the Slngsht and Al Navarro put together. I was blown away by the build quality of some of the Stalkers, and their phenomenal speed (as well as by Slingsht's in-car computer screen, and I wont even bring up Al running out of gas:)). Yellow SS: this is turning into a THING Jlumba: Do it! You will win the highly coveted: "He Drove the Furthest award," as well as the newly created: "He Took the Longest Ferry Ride Whilst Getting Here" award. There will be lots of other awards to go around including "Most Polished Se7en" award and the highly coveted "First to Break Down" award. Last year we had a guy sweep 3 awards but I know he wont feel bad if he loses those next time. There is the "Not that Bad" award for whoever shows up with the most drinkable wine. Plus whatever other "awards" I can dream up between now and then. For on-track cars, there is the "Most Agricultural" award that Croc and i have been battling over. And the "Most breakdowns award" tho some mite accuse me of setting that one up just to be sure I win at least one.

Paul: It is often possible for observers to ''hitch" a ride with one of the on-track cars. It will give you a unique perspective of the track (and the car).

Tom: Why do you torture BBall with BDA's like that:)? And here I am 45' from Middletown, OH. I cld just toss that engine in my trailer when I go thru Middletown on my way to NJMP and deliver it to him there! Nice to see that some of the Stalkers are coming. Maybe MigetRacer will be tempted and will show us all the fast line? Wonder if a car mag wld like to cover this? Grassroots Motorsports has an eclectic view of cars and especially loves the hands on, built it myself stuff. Automobile covered our event in 2007. Superformance could bring some cars and get some free ink too???

I think he runs a Lotus Twin Cam (yr toast Steve:)).

Speaking of aesthetics: a big difference between Lowcosts compared to Cats and Birkins is the door cut-out. On Cats, etc, it is a diagonal from front to rear, on Lowcosts it is horizontal. It may seem trivial but, to my eyes, the diagonal cut-out in Cats, etc., adds a flow to the design whereas the Lowcost approach is purely functional.