NVP66S

One of the major inputs to my purchase decision is the commonality of drivetrain parts. I like being able to walk into any car parts store and say: "Gimme a set of brake pads for a '97 Miata" Or any other engine/clutch/transmission parts. Yes, I understand that choosing the Honda S2000 as a donor would have increased performance, but I am happy with the lower cost Miata. A manufacturer offering something new on the market needs to ruthlessly analyze the size of the market and when will break-even come.

I thought that Pole dancing originated in Poland. But seriously, I wouldn't touch that joke with a 10 foot Pole, or a 6 foot Latvian. (Feel free to respond, but cash only,no Czechs allowed)

After reading Croc's excellent post, I still think there is a straightforward and legal way to register your one example, as long as it has never been registered in Canada, for the simple reason that it's not a finished build yet. That is, you (as a private citizen) partially assembled it in Canada, then finished assembling it in the US. That is a concise, specific question that the various regulatory agencies can answer before you attempt to take it across the border. They may say yes or no, or they may specify a maximum % built before moving the project.

Works fine for me. I'm using Windows 7 on a PC.

Could it have been 'Drop throttle oversteer' ?

I support what toedrag said and have a few more comments. I commute on a motorcycle about 1/3 of the time, and drive my 7 on public roads. Being an engineer nerd I have to analyze everything and personal safety is high on that list. Motorcycles are dangerous, there's no getting around that. But if you look at the statistics, a lot of the fatalities involve alcohol, or not knowing the capabilities of the vehicle or rider. Lots of bikers going off on a tangent to a curve. I rode motorcycle when I was 16, and now I am riding at 61. (please no numerology jokes). If you asked me about safety at 16, my response was "If you want to hit me with a car, you have to catch me first". The only time I had a serious accident was just after trading a 250 cc bike for a 650 cc bike. I found out the hard way that the added power made it easier to overpower the tires coming out of a corner. I have to admit, it's less fun now, but I have a far greater chance of surviving. I think the greatest hazard accident scenario on public roads is the same for a 7 as for a motorcycle. That is, an oncoming car making a left turn in front of you. The other guy's defense is "Officer, I didn't see him". On the other hand, our sevens are so different that the other driver is more likely to pause and say "WTF is THAT??". Believe it or not, that's a safety feature. I've heard the owner of a funny little electric car say that he's seen other cars have accidents because the drivers were staring at him.

Assuming constant acceleration, a=v^2 / 2x, and using 207 mph = 92.5 m/sec, that gives a= 17 m/sec^2 or 1.74 g. It looks like he's using a hydrogen peroxide monopropellant thruster with a catalyst pack. The hardest part of this is making the ~95% peroxide. (Or maybe you can buy it in France?) Two of my acquaintenances have built and ridden rocket bikes with hybrid motors using nitrous oxide and butadiene. Both bikes were kinda scary. Unfortunately, one of them was killed by a nitrous oxide explosion.

If you take the same identical car with 2 engine options, the lower power engine will get the car better gas mileage. Certainly not because the smaller engine is more efficient; it's not. The lower power engine will run at greater % throttle to develop the same power. This means the throttle plate is relatively more open for the smaller engine. Power is consumed by pumping intake gas through the flow restriction of the throttle plates, and therefore demand more power from the bigger engine. In the case of your motorcycle, the throttle plates are almost closed and lots of gasoline is being burned to provide that pumping power that the low horsepower Elio doesn't need. This is one of the reasons why Diesels get better mileage - no throttle. The tradeoff of course is acceleration ability. Also, the aerodynamic drag on the Elio is less. Not many vehicles out there that have worse drag coefficients than a motorcycle...................... maybe a 7. OK, I'll stop being uber-nerd now.

I ride an 85 HP 600 cc 4-cyl Honda motorcycle, and a 100 HP 675 cc Triumph triple. The triple sounds waaay better. And 3 cyl engines are better balanced than I-4s. Hey, I like triples, but certainly wouldn't put one in a se7en.

I've heard that Top Gear is the BBC's most popular show. In my opinion, that is partially because it's not politically correct. But as the BBC has no advertising revenue, they don't need to care about ratings. I like that show enough to actually buy the discs, which have a full hour of content, not with 20 minutes cut out by BBC America.

Battery Tenders (that's a trade name) are excellent for flooded cells. The float voltage is a bit different for AGM (absorbed glass mat) and gel cells. If you have one of these, a Battery Minder (another trade name) is better because it gets programmed for each cell type every time you use it. I have one of each. You can identify the flooded type because it has either screw caps or pry caps. Have fun!

Vented lead-acid batteries are prone to generate hydrogen during the last phase of charging. The gas bubbles will entrain a bit of sulfuric acid from the electrolyte. Sulfuric acid can small like the methyl mercaptan that is added to natural gas and propane. Pull the charger, check the water level, and only add distilled or RO water, as the calcium carbonate will poison the cell and prematurely kill the battery. Soft water is just as bad, as it exchanges the carbonate ions for chloride ions. Ditto bottled drinking water, as it has "minerals added for taste". WWII submarines had this problem writ large. Bored yet?

The part of TX government that makes DMV regulations is: Texas Department of Motor Vehicles (TxDMV) 4000 Jackson Avenue Austin, Texas 78731

Ummm... just a thought. If that's the reason you have to sell it, you might try getting a new title and registration instead of trying to import it.

Sorry to hear about this. Of course this is a little thing, right? Positive thinking..... You'll be back in the air and back on the road real soon now. Dan

I registered my freshly built (by me) car in Texas last year. First, it is a go/no-go thing as to whether the car was purchased through a US importer or whether you are doing this as a one-time thing. My kit was imported by Manik, so that hurdle was passed. Second, that 'Assembled and Rebuilt Vehicle Manual" that mrmustang referred to, is their bible. I registered my car as a "custom vehicle" per section 4.3 of that manual. That followed the decision that my car is a replica of a 1962 Lotus, which the AA is not. I showed them photos of the Lotus to clarify that.

I had the great good fortune of occupying the hangar next to Glacier Girl at Oshkosh a few years ago. Got to taxi behind her too. A truly amazing and successful effort.

Huh?

Mental Health Hotline Hello, and welcome to the mental health hotline... If you are obsessive-compulsive, press 1 repeatedly. If you are codependent, please ask someone to press 2 for you. If you have multiple personalities, press 3, 4, 5,and 6. If you are paranoid, we know who you are and what you want. Stay on the line so we can trace your call. If you are delusional, press 7 and your call will be transferred to the mother ship. If you are schizophrenic, listen carefully and a small voice will tell you which number to press. If you are a manic-depressive, it doesn't matter which number you press, no one will answer. If you have a nervous disorder, please fidget with the pound key until a representative comes on the line. If you have amnesia, press 8 and state your name, address, telephone number, date of birth, social security number, and your mother's maiden name. If you have post-traumatic stress disorder, s-l-o-w-l-y & c-a-r-e-f-u-l-l-y press 0 0 0. If you have bipolar disorder, please leave a message after the beep or before the beep or after the beep. Please wait for the beep. If you have short-term memory loss, press 9. If you have short-term memory loss, press 9. If you have short-term memory loss, press 9. If you have low self-esteem, please hang up. All operators are too busy to talk to you.

Heh. I still have the manual from my Lionel-Porter chemistry set. And I think I was about 10 when I got a .22/.410 over/under rifle/shotgun. I never could hit anything with that.

I think you are confusing the Toyota Corolla with Adam Carolla. Two very different things, man.

Now that's funny. I clearly remember when Lincoln's birthday and Washington's birthday were merged. I call it Nixon's birthday.

What are your tastes? For more car stuff, there's the Nethercutt auto museum in Sylmar, depending on what part of L.A. you're visiting. Lots of restored '20s thru '40s cars but you can't look inside. http://www.yelp.com/biz/nethercutt-museum-sylmar If you're into drag racing, the NHRA museum is about 35 miles East of L.A. center. http://museum.nhra.com/

I guessed two, based on the forensics lab tub used for getting barrel marks.

There's a Lotus 23 up for auction at BaT http://bringatrailer.com/listing/1962-lotus-23/