Black Hole

Congrats and good luck. I lived in Ann Arbor for six years and two degrees many moons ago. Great town but the roads are boring until you go well north. But they did build Mcity to test "interconnected vehicles". Looks like a perfect track for the 7 and right in town Since they have an Automotive Engineering department check around as we had a lot of car nuts and associated activities when I was there.

This would be a test of my driving endurance in the 7. I only have to drive 4 hrs to NJMP (in the pouring rain last year) but 12.5 hrs to CMS may require a tow

Just over 90 minutes from me so I am interested. Thanks

Here is the solution for the bottom fasteners on my car. Washers welded to the dzus fasteners make it really easy to unlatch.

Are you coming to the Litchfield drive tomorrow? You can look at the installation in my car. It uses a oil filter bypass adapter and an oil cooler in front of the radiator.

I followed up with the person who runs a Cayman prepped by Speedsport Tuning in Danbury. He highly recommends them so they could be a viable solution for you.

I agree with Seb. A couple of more ideas that I have heard positive things about but I have never used them so I cannot Directly confirm are - Speedsport tuning - they prepped one of the cars I autox against. I can find out on Saturday if they are recommended They are in Danbury which is in the area - Musante Motorsports in S Windsor. They do a lot of Porsche track prep. I see they have a division called ECS tuning. Nice shop, I have not used them but I believe their rep is good.

Thanks, I just asked wemtd about the pricing because I thought it was much higher than previous. Now I can go back and update my registration for the correct type and better rate. I did not realize I could not see actual member pricing. Thanks!

I just enrolled and did not get a late fee so it appears resolved.

Note Sunday is the Sunday in the Park Concours and Gathering. Lime Rock never has racing on Sunday per the local regulations. There is planned to be a Lotus parking/display area at the event. I may be going away that weekend but if our plans change I will go. Here is the info from Lime Rock: [h=4]SUNDAY IN THE PARK - GATHERING OF THE MARQUES:[/h]Gathering of the Marques is incredibly diverse; literally hundreds of cars lining the track, grouped by make, model or country of origin. We invite you to bring your Shelby, BMW, Corvette, Jaguars, MGs...Aston, Rolls or Loti..., Porsch, Peugeot or Pantera..., Volvo or Saab, Mini, Mercury, Mercede or Mopar, Fiat or Lambo. If it's an interesting and fun car, bring it out to Lime Rock Park to be showcased next to its brethren. Pre-registration is not required. To participate in the Gathering of the Marques, each person attending must simply purchase a weekend or Sunday admission ticket, which can be done at the gate or in advance by clicking here, and register on site. Early arrival suggested. Load in begins at 7:00am at Lime Rock's Main Gate at 60 White Hollow Road. Check-in at registration booth near the Will Call booth. Parking attendants will direct participants to their designated parking area. Load in closes at 10:00am when the show begins. Load out starts shortly after 3:00 p.m. For more information on Gathering of the Marques, contact Mitch Conroy at Mitch@limerock.com or call at 860.435.5000, ext. 113.

Thanks, that is a comprehensive list

Its less than 2 hours from my house. Other than the Porsche club who hosts events there? How many cars did they have at the event, how many runs do you get?

Is that Devens MA? I autocross with the CT Valley Porsche club in a lot in Hartford or the paddock at Lime Rock but that is a much more spacious track than we have.

There is a planned drive next Saturday 8/1 from Lime Rock into NY. We had one Evora at the last drive. I will PM you contact info.

I already requested we consider a Saturday so you can join.

Yes it was red, I think it was red with bare aluminum and clams. Passed your way yesterday in my 7 heading down 9 to 81 to Lobster Landing in Clinton

Walter Irvine of Lime Rock is trying to develop a Lotus Group in the Litchfield CT area. He hosted a meet up and drive on Sunday that bought out 9 Lotus cars (or technically 8 Lotus and 1 Caterham). We had a nice drive through the NW hills of CT and ended at the Falls Village Inn for refreshments. Even had a Lotus/Caterham 7 cross our path at Lake Waramaug (anyone on this list?). The Hyundai was a sympathy addition, he apparently had an Elise that was sacrificed on the track at Lime Rock. While we were at Lime Rock, it was Sunday and the Puritans still rule in NW CT and no racing at Lime Rock on Sundays! The group plans to do another drive starting at Lime Rock into the Duchess County area up to Rhinebeck so if you are interested please advise me and I will get you on the invite info. i do not have any tentative date yet.

I have the Schroth Profi II set up. Do your sub belts attach at the rear bulkhead like they do on my SV? In my case I had to have HMS provide a custom length for the sub belts as the standard set up was too short. They were very accommodating but it was another $50 per belt to reweb with 6" more length.

My 2.0 Duratec powered car has this oil drain plug: There is no separate crush washer, it has some type of a composite ring permanently molded to the plug. I have reused it without leakage but not sure if it is intended for repeated use or if I should trash it and get a new plug when I change the oil. The underside of the car at the back had fair amount of oil this appears to be the source of some or all of the oil: The diff breather does not have a pipe so it throws some oil around the back end. The barb is extremely close to the bottom of the boot. My understanding is the floor of the boot does not come out easily (I have a 2009 SV if that matters)? So getting a tube on could be a real challenge. I measured the barb at about 0.450" outside diameter. Does anyone know the actual diameter of this (is it standard to the diff, and is the diff from a Sierra?). And where can i source a tube. I have done some internet searches but can't seem to find the ideal part. I probably need one with a 90+ deg bend to get it on.

If it is a road car I would probably go with the SV. I have an SV but I have driven S3s and I am a nice tight fit. I am shorter and a little lighter than you so I expect you will fit in the S3 similar to the way i fit. For autocross or on the track I would prefer the S3 because I would be locked in place. But on the road the ability to move around a bit is a big plus for comfort. I have driven my car the 4.5 hrs from CT to NJMP fairly comfortably. I don't think I would say the same thing in the S3.The downside of the SV is I do slide around in the seats a bit. And looks are subjective, I prefer the look of the S3 because it is what you expect a 7 to look like, but the differences are pretty subtle if they aren't side by side. And one more thing - I can actually get into my car with the roof on. I don't think it would be possible for me in a S3 as the doors are much smaller. Not that anyone actually drives their 7 with the top on.

I just checked - the lights on the wings are only turn signal flashers. Never realized that.

The left switch is a momentary switch to flash the headlights. The right switch is two position for high / low beams

Paul - I have the Schroth flexi belts if you want to check them out. I even currently have one set for pull up and the other pull down to experiment. They are available from HMS Motorsport in MA but they are pricey. And Schroth states they are safe in the four point configuration with the ASM technology.

In case anyone needs some remedial education http://www.usa7s.net/vb/blob:http://www.usa7s.net/421a608f-50cf-45fd-87cc-707bb7207cd8

Jet engines form commercial aircraft (A320 up to A380j need to run every 7 days. Otherwise they need to be preserved by sealing them with covers on the front and back or in a bag with desiccant and humidity indicators. If you are not going to run them for 7 days there are methods to preserve for short and long term storage. The biggest risk is corrosion within the bearing compartment. My customers (commercial airlines in Asia) are flying about 10% of their number of hours they typically fly. A majority are essentially completely grounded. A flag carrier in my region usually flies 48-50,000 passengers on a Sunday. They told us they flew 274 people on a recent Sunday!