toedrag

On a semi-related note, another composite used on bicycles that could also be interesting for an automotive application is 'carbon fiber flax', which is supposed to be stronger, lighter, and much cheaper than traditional carbon fiber.

Nicely done, Mike!

ROFL! Is your garage the staging area before you hoist it into a tree and add a ladder?

Very cool! That should be appealing to many! It seems very close to a Westfield's weight, but the kit should be a little cheaper than Westfield. And then, allowing the use of the Miata parts with the M-spec inboard suspension is genius! Leaving room for a turbo & IC just sweetens the deal. USA, USA, USA!

A new Stalker model, They added lightness!! http://stalkercars.com/models/stalker-mx5/

As-is. I like your (and others') commentary, Croc!

Stalker HQ doesn't like to self-promote too often, so I'll shamelessly do it for them: Official Results of the 2015 SCCA Solo Nationals in Nebraska are here: http://cdn.growassets.net/user_files/scca/downloads/000/009/326/2015_Tire_Rack_SCCA_Solo_Nationals.pdf?1442067308 Keep in mind that the AXR is in it's infancy, as in, just released within the past year. The driver has owned his AXR for a mere 5 months. He was only 0.4 seconds behind the first place winner, reigning EM National Champion, Jeff Kiesel in his Turbo Rotory powered Sprite (a purpose built autocross car that he's been tweaking for many years, I'm told). Oh, and I think the AXR is one of the few competitive cars to also be street legal. Lots more details here: http://stalkercars.com/news/ It's quite an accomplishment for both the driver & the car, in my opinion. http://stalkercars.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Twins2.jpg

That's the digital speedometer; since the camera's capture rate is faster than the speedo's refresh rate, when filmed, it appears to flicker.

Mike, it was spectacular and educational. Surprisingly, they initially had trouble finding an instructor for me; once they did, that instructor told me that some were afraid of the car. I drove the oval section very conservatively, usually shifting into 5th or 6th with only a tiny bit of throttle input to get some low rev airflow to see how the coolant temp reacted and because the oval just isn't that exciting to me. My coolant temp warning light is set to come on at around 230F, which meant most of the time I was driving, that red light was on. But, after poking around the interwebs some, it appears that LS3's can operate higher than that without issue. My oil temperature light never came on, and it's set to trigger at about 270F; I think the oil temp was around 240-250F most of the time. The infield portion of the course was fun, and the car handled it beautifully - so much grip, great brakes, gobs of power, and very well balanced. The same instructor rode with me on my last 4 sessions, and he was very complimentary of the car. I exited early on one session because of a fuel smell and because fuel droplets splashed on the inside of the windshield, coming from behind the cockpit. After getting to the pits, I realized that my tank was so full that on the sharp right hander after the oval (Turn 4?), liquid fuel was overflowing into the vent hose (which connects to the top of the tank), then working its way down to the little breather filter at the bottom of the car, and as it dripped out of the filter, the wind would pick up the droplets and fling them into the cockpit. The same thing happened on the Pike's Peak drive, only it was tiny pebbles being carried by the wind back into the cockpit, not fuel (wifey & I couldn't understand why it kept raining rocks inside the cockpit) It wasn't all puppy dogs and ice cream, however. Apparently, some of the instructors' fears about the car were well founded, and this point was illustrated when I let an instructor friend drive the car during Group A's session late in the day. I was riding with him, and before we set off, I gave him a briefing on the car, but as you'll find out shortly, I omitted a key detail. As he drives around the oval and enters the first braking zone, he locked the brakes, we spun 180 degrees, and exited the track backwards into the grass. Tires were fine, but something wasn't quite right, so we limped back to the pits and discovered two bent lower control arms. The replacements are on order from Stalker HQ. (The detail I accidentally omitted during the briefing was the lack of ABS.) The instructor let me drive his car during my last session and offered to cover the cost of the replacement LCAs. I took the rear suspension apart two days ago, and it does look like the only casualties were the rear LCAs. He & I are still friends. The spin is interesting because it might mean that the rear brakes locked first, which would actually make me happy since there has been some debate about the brake bias with the Stalkers and since I had the brake bias knob set to give full pressure to the rears. I'll do some more controlled testing at a future track day.

Great time at LOG 35! Nice to put some faces to names. A few pictures: http://www471.pair.com/stalkerv/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=28881&g2_serialNumber=2 http://www471.pair.com/stalkerv/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=28846&g2_serialNumber=2 http://www471.pair.com/stalkerv/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=28877&g2_serialNumber=2 http://www471.pair.com/stalkerv/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=28853&g2_serialNumber=2

Picked up the tilting trailer from Stalker HQ. The trailer fits on my side of our 2-car garage, and I just park the car right on it. Loading & unloading is a piece of cake, and we still have enough room to get kiddos loaded up on the minivan's side of the garage. http://www471.pair.com/stalkerv/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=28839&g2_serialNumber=3

Nzou is clearly a fictitious person fabricated by the pro-hunter propaganda machine (and the NRA, of course)....:jester:

Spotted another red Slingshot, but this time in Richardson, TX.

Thank you! Thank you! The dark color and black fenders do have a slimming effect. On the mirror, it's hard to tell in the pictures, but the mirror body (in addition to the pivoting arm of the mount) can rotate upwards so that the view clears most of the fender. The driver's side works well; I haven't messed with the passenger side much yet. I've got a couple track days scheduled in Aug & Sept to see how it handles some twisties.

Here's a time lapse video of the build...about 1 year condensed to 2.5 minutes Oh, and if you see ads, I didn't put those in. Youtube automatically detected that the audio stream, a piece known as Zigeunerweisen, has a copyright protection, and the copyright owner is the one who may insist on using ads.

Woot! Pictures of the completed build below. And, I've scheduled 3 upcoming track days, 2 in Aug (one for LOG!) & 1 in Sept. I'm pretty excited. 250 miles on the car so far, and I plan to put some major miles this weekend while wifey & kids are out of town. I also have one of the tilting trailers on order from Stalker HQ in Florida. With their supplied "garage mount" hitch, I'll be able to park the trailer in the garage and drive the car on/off at my leisure. http://www471.pair.com/stalkerv/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=28802&g2_serialNumber=2 http://www471.pair.com/stalkerv/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=28805&g2_serialNumber=2 http://www471.pair.com/stalkerv/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=28811&g2_serialNumber=3 http://www471.pair.com/stalkerv/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=28815&g2_serialNumber=3

Looks great! Welcome!

Hi Bonjo2, sending you a PM about the trailer

ROFL! That was amazing! Thx for sharing.

Agree with Croc. The Texas admittance committee will not be pleased. There should have been an "after" photo of an empty plate & some smiling faces.

Wow, talk about small world, and yeah, probably the same one. Good stuff.

Spotted a Slingshot in Galveston, TX today. We never got close enough to see what state was on the rear license plate.

Corbeau Sprint, LE-Pro, LE-Driver, LE-X. Zolder is another brand to look at. These will be a bit pricey, and some may only be available from the UK. Sabelt GT-160 in Medium, http://www.sabelt.com/it/racing/prodotti/allestimento-vettura/sedili/Documents/PDF_SEDILI.pdf

What about the Momo Supercup (std size, not the XL)? http://www.momousa.com/images/products/Racing/seats/supercup/tabellasupercup.jpg

The boot replacement was easier than I anticipated. It took about 3-4 hours, working at a relaxed pace. The boot kit from the axle supplier came with 1 boot, 2 clamps, and 1 pack of grease. Since the grease was in an unmarked ziplock bag, I'm not sure what its make/model is. Here's a better picture of the suspect area with the axle removed from the diff: http://www471.pair.com/stalkerv/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=28758&g2_serialNumber=3 And now with the clamp removed: http://www471.pair.com/stalkerv/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=28761&g2_serialNumber=3 In the middle of reassembly: http://www471.pair.com/stalkerv/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=28775&g2_serialNumber=3 All buttoned up. Notice how the new clamp is much narrower than the original: http://www471.pair.com/stalkerv/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=28777&g2_serialNumber=3