Kitcat

Prospective buyers have asked: What does it weigh? I dont know but estimate 1300 lbs, am trying to get it on a scale and will post if I do. What's the difference between a Birkin and a Caterham? The Birkin is a short-cockpit 7, the Caterham, a long cockpit version. That means the Caterham driver can push his seat further from the steering wheel and have more upper torso room. Leg room/seat width/height are the same. How do they compare on the street? Depends wh/Caterham you are comparing it to. The Birkin is pretty stiffly sprung so rides harder than my stock Caterham X-flow. I suspect not as harsh as a Cat Superlight. What abt at the track? Six of one 1/2 dozen of other. What advantage does the Birkin's IRS have over Dedion? I haven't found any difference, both are great, on street and on the track. What does it cost to ship? I split the $2K cost to ship my new Cat from Seattle to Cincy, in an enclosed trailer. That was the deal of the century. If you are patient, price drops. If you want the car in 10 days it goes waaaay up.

As many know, I have listed my Birkin for sale. Prospective buyers are asking what the driver's size limit is. At 5'9", 160 lbs, I know I fit. Who is bigger and how well do you fit? It is the short-cockpit size wh/means more leg room than torso. So what is the upper limit?

Shark, great car. To attach photos, hit "post reply" to this thread, then at bottom hit "Go Advanced", then hit "Browse" to upload your photos. You can do 5 at a time. Once uploaded you can do 5 more,etc. It takes a looong time to upload, be patient. It's best if the photos are done in "attach to e-mail" mode as that involves less data to transfer. Or, just "Edit" your original post using same procedure. Good luck on sale!

Search: Hot feet, for one of several threads on this perennial issue.

Way cool. As much as I admire race car drivers, the video of the motorcycle racers seems to show a different level of connection between man and machine. When we had our track day at NJMP 3 weeks ago we were comparing top speeds at end of straight. The best of us were hitting maybe 130 mph. A motorcycle instructor wandered by and we asked what he was hitting there:175 mph, on his 650 cc Suzuki. Yikes, don't fall off.

The car is on its 2nd engine. The 1st was tuned by TMW. After he got it the 1st owner took it to Abascus racing and they rewired, removed faulty parts, and tuned it (At a cost of abt $1.5K to prior owner). When I blew the engine in May, 2012, due to oil cavitation issue/inadequate oil pan design at a track day, I purchased a Duratec for $1K w/9000 miles on it. My mechanic put it in, added the Jenvey ITB's and Active Technologies fuel rail, hooked it up to Haltech, and it ran great. So, no further tune. My plan is to take to a local dyno shop and get some hard numbers and post here. And also to modify tune if needed. BTW, redline is 6800-7000. Transmission is close ratio, per prev owner. I suspect,but dont know, that it is Subaru diff, definitely not a Quaife. Don't know final drive ratio. I do know top speed is abt 125 mph per my GPS, in 5th. It hits 100 km (62 mph) in 2nd. Dick Brink at TMW may be able to supply info. It was 1st Duratec vehicle they built. It is stock unless otherwise noted, so a visit to their website for stock specs mite reveal more info than I have.

As noted elsewhere, I have purchased a track-only Caterham and am now selling my Birkin. I can't afford 2 automotive toys (even one is a challenge), so one has to go. Faithful readers of this site know I have spent the last year bringing my car up to spec and getting everything to work as promised/ designed. After $10K in parts and mechanic's bills and various bouts of up-grade-itis, the car is where I want it to be. Only for me to have a change of heart about having a dual purpose, street/track car and opting for full-tilt track se7en (Cage, dry sump, fire suppression system, slicks, etc., etc.). So here's what I am offering, as represented in the attached pictures: *2009 Birkin with all of the latest Birkin upgrades noted on the Texas Motor Works website. This car has 1200 miles in it, and counting, as I am driving it on a near-daily basis. *Duratec 2.0 engine, stage II cam, Jenvey ITB's, upgraded ceramic coated headers, est 215 hp. Plz ignore the bogus "Lotus" name stenciled on cam cover by prior Lotus-obsessed owner (Lotus never made an engine this nice:)). *Aggressively baffled oil pan with latest Birkin upgrade (trapdoor) for track use, *Extra vents/breathers in crankcase and valve cover for track use, * IRS, LSD, *Haltec Platinum1000 ECU, *Wide track suspension, adjustable Gazz shocks, adjustable coil overs (so car can be corner balanced), *Carbon fiber Caterham (Tilet) driver's seat w/anchor belt cut outs, ($1.7K),Caterham fiberglass racing seat on passenger side($800.00)(both seats are on sliders and can be adjusted fore an aft), *Adjustable pedal assembly, *Wilwood calipers, upgraded braided brake lines, *Upgraded(new) Ultima dry cell battery, *Aluminum fly wheel, ,5sp T9 transmission, annular clutch, *Upgraded Simpson 6 point belts, driver and passenger, * 3M paint protection film on all critical areas, * Cabin cover,Tonneau, Aftermarket, upgraded mirrors, * Upgraded (louder) dual horns, * Two sets of wheels, after market 949 Racing wheels and stock (much heavier) Birkin wheels. Toyo R'1s tires on back, Avon C500's up front. The car is a rocket ship.It is fun on the street and a blast on the track. At the recent usa7s.com trackday at NJMP it was the equal of the many high spec Caterhams in attendance . The only time I was passed was by a Porsche 944 w/'Vette engine-and I almost was able to hang w/him:). Price: $29,500. Mike Mooney 513-977-4213 mjmooney@fuse.net Cincinnati, OH

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Great cars and, scenery isn't too shabby either!

All that space is just begging for more se7ens:). Ya can never have too many!

Didn't watch all but it's clear that you are much, much faster the others in the bowl before the straight, unless they are holding you up. You typically are mid 70's mph at slowest, others mid 50's and mid 60's. And you are faster when chasing someone rather than just circulating. Helps explain why I never caught you. I liked how aggressive you were climbing curbs also, using all the road. Not much to criticize really (tho I cld find something if pushed, I am sure:)).

Hey, I said I owned it, I didn't say I drove it:).

10XX, best to open a separate thread at the for-sale section of this Forum if you are trying to market your Stalker (wh/looks great/ditto price). What are your other 3 se7ens? Looks like one is a Stalker.

A coupla other thots: My Duratec gets better gas mileage than my little gashog X-flow. Of course, if you cared, you wldnt have a se7en in 1st place. And the Duratec is much more tractable:it pulls easily 1500 rpm's up, X-flow didn't really "clear its throat" till 3000 rpm's. And since it is so tractable, I can shift 1-3-5 in the Duratec. Again tho, if you are not running up thru the gears with gusto, ya mite as well trade for a Prius (wh/I own BTW).

Why not A6's? I know they are an auto-x compound, but our cars are so light I think they wld heat cycle out before cording. My newly purchased Caterham uses Goodyear slicks, huge in back, small up front. Apparently they are predominant in Formula Ford. Under SSCA's archaic rules, wheel width is limited to 7&1/2", so there is much overhang on both sides of the rims. Haven't tried them yet, cant wait to.

I have a Duratec Birkin, a Zetec Caterham and just sold a X-flow Caterham. Sort of depends what the use of car is. I loved the X-flow. It sounded like a race car had just been let out on the street. And it more than held its own on the track. The X-flow didn't have super acceleration after 70 mph and top speed was 106 vs 125 in the other cars. So if you are mostly using it on the street, and lite track use, I wld be very happy with X-flow. If you want to strap on a rocket sled, or be (much) more competitive at the track, get a car with the other engines. They also sound good (just not as good (IMHO)). I "upgraded" by purchasing an existing car and selling my X-flow Cat. My Birkin will be listed here in nxt few days, if I can get it together to clean it up, take photos, etc. I have spent a not-so-small fortune fixing the multiple problems it came with and it appears to be in terrific shape. I have tracked it and street driven it since last repair and it has run like a top. If you want to test drive, there are a # of se7ens owners in your vicinity who I am sure wld take you for a spin. Maybe do a separate post asking if anyone wants to volunteer? It makes tons of sense: the experience may be much different than you have imagined, both good/bad (faster lower, racier, louder, hotter, cruder, smaller, etc.). And I visit Meadville PA 1x a month and can bring my Birkin if you are sorely tempted by it:). Mike M.

Been in my garage 2 weeks (it arrived when I was at NJMP w/you guys). Haven't even started it, been driving/racing the Birkin,(wh/is street legal) and getting it ready to sell.

MD: what exactly is a NASA event? I am used to non-competitive track days w/lots of track time. This seems like less track time, more competition, right? And, when in August?

In the bowl I can't seem to get down to the low apex cone unless I lift and feather the throttle in the 1st part. Once I head down to the low cone, I floor it and my goal, like yours, is to keep the pedal down. If you watch your speedometer needle on your 1st Lightning lap, you rapidly build speed heading down to the cone, past it and out, but then the needle hesitates, or drops for a second toward end of the bowl. I suspect I do the same thing, just to be sure car is straight. Like you/Steve, I dont want to bend my car (esp at 110 mph entering the straight)!

Two areas where I thing we all could add some speed were 3-4-5, as mentioned, and I think vid somewhat shows. My strategy was to early apex 3 and get off of the curbing mid turn at 3 quickly and over and up and onto middle-end of mid 4 climbing curbing aggressively there, then go way out onto turn 5 on curbing. In other words try to make that series of turns as straight as possible. You have to sacrifice some speed at entrance to 3 to make it possible to get into it shallowly and out quickly but you can really make up that time w/that line thru the rest of the sequence. The other big area is the bowl: most drivers hit the cone apex at bottom just fine but then only let their speed carry them 1/2 way back up bowl to outside left of the track. If you drop the hammer and stay on gas from apex cone at bottom onward and dont back off, your speed will force you to use all the track in the last 1/2 of the bowl and will force you to continue to steer right (just as advised by Enrique) til you actually enter the straight- just use the banking and keep steering right and also use the upper left side track curbing to shoot you over to the inside apex on right before entering the straight. Most folks seem to hit the low apex cone, back off a bit, stay somewhat right and hit rt apex onto straight. It is very safe but costs speed as you have to lift to make it happen. Not that I was successfully able to do any of that on a consistent basis:).

Interesting and, as always, humbling. Not sure what I was doing 1st lap on Lightning (warm up?), kinda drove down the middle of the track. I did get on it on the 2nd go round a little more. But, I missed lots of chances to use more track, as we all did. That's the most obvious area of improvement that I see on all 4 drivers-we are not using all the track. Haven't looked @ T-Bolt, that's next.

Speaking of trailering, here are a few lessons learned after a year: Listen to your hitch-if it is squeaking like crazy, the tongue is most likely not properly loaded. Typically a frequent loud rattle indicates it's underloaded, a deep less frequent groan occurs if it's overloaded. Make sure the ball is in the socket/receiver, not sitting on top (Oh yeah!). Have 2 spare trailer tires (I have had 2 flats so far). And remember a jack that works and a lug wrench that fits Ck trailer tire air pressure. Don't leave w/o doing one complete walk around visual. Even if you know everything is packed and secured. I have spotted ramps unpacked, side door unlatched, blocks to prevent trailer from rolling still in place, etc. Speaking of wheel chocks-spring for nice heavy metal ones. The plastic ones will just crush if you forget, and can wash away in a heavy storm. Don't be in a hurry; you will be safer, get better mileage and arrive more relaxed. For a lifetime hotrod, this was a hard lesson. I was shocked at how many other people go the speed limit. Who knew? Never wind your tongue up w/the trailer's emergency brake wire entangled. Never drive with your emergency trailer brake line dragging-it will break apart. Rotating the trailer's 2 safety chains 1-2x will keep them off the ground. Keep your trailer brake battery charged. Don't mistake reverse for park when you jump out to hook up your trailer. Make sure everything is really secure in the trailer-loose items, say a semi-secure bicycle, can damage your car. Remember to update your trailer license plate, and if you do, dont leave the updated sticker home as you leave for a 1500 mile trip to NJMP. Have a spare key to the trailer door, locks, etc, in your tow vehicle, not 500 miles away at your house. Try to never have to back up. Other ideas/suggestions?

Kiwi: I have the new Birkin (2009 w/wide track/IRS, etc.). I measured the spot you suggested yesterday and it was 6". The US Birkin dealer has very specific front suspension set up advice also. I cant find the specs tho will post if I run across. I do know the lower A arms are not parrallel to the ground under the ideal set up (engine side is a bit higher than wheel side). My car has a nicely baffled wet sump. But-I still blew up the engine at a track day. Turns out the stock (raceline?) pan is deficient for aggressive track use. It can be easily modified w/a trap door. If you send me your e-mail address I will forward a photo of the mod. USA Birkin also recommends adding a breather tube/catch can to valve cover, one on exhaust and one on intake side, to keep crank pressure under control, if track use is expected. I ultimately had 4 breather tubes (and still blew up the engine due to oil starvation). My replacement engine just had the stock breather tube and one extra and did fine at last track day (w/modded oil pan). Also, Duratec oil spec 5-20 is too thin for sustained, heavy track use. I would upgrade to 5-50, like the Cosworth Duratecs use for track. For spirited street use, I think the 5-20 is fine. There is a Birkin discussion group on Yahoo that is an excellent source of info. Google "birkinowners yahoo" for details.

Michael D. Not sure what total spec is. Apparently made 170 hp at rear wheels wh/is decent for a Zetec. Full cage, 21 gallon (!) fuel cell, fire suppression system, dry sump, race seat so tight I barely fit (has helmet wings also), wind deflector rather than wind shield, lap timer, 6 sp, LSD, Dedion, SV rear fenders so as to fit humongous (never used) mounted set of Goodyear slicks, much smaller front slicks, mounted set of rain tires and a new set of unused rain tires. With the slicks and everything fully operational I think I will be abt 3-5 seconds faster a lap at NJMP-look out Vette engined 944's! And, our occasional visitor here, 1TurboFocus, says he's looking for a Zetec Caterham to turbocharge. Ya never know:).

Yes, I will no longer be pushed to the edge of the photos:). Your post reminds me that my earlier comment that se7eners were slowing down too much before corners did not pertain to you either as I never followed you. I have to assume I missed seeing you and Croc out there because we were all circling at abt the same speed. So we never caught up to each other.