CarlB

Carbon can be sanded or cut with the same tools as steel. To cut carbon I typically use a cut off wheel. For drilling I use a carbide bit. The kind that looks like sandy bumps.

I was thinking about making my own carbon dash. I didn't want the lay out Caterham supplies. I recently found this company Ultimatecarbon.co.uk . I was a little confused when they suggested having the dash lacquered, but they are talking about regular automotive clear coat. I am very pleased with the quality. It is a vacuum bagged part and very high quality. The first picture is the dash I made from aluminum and I am not particularly pleased with. The second is the ultimate carbon dash on top of the alu dash

All three cars are very different and I don't think you can compare them. All three are really great at what they were intended to do. Everything has trade-offs. I can't afford two of these cars, but I have the one I want. I think the Caterham is more fun. I like being connected to the road.

What Hoosier tires are you using?

The companies that make engines for ships are building engines to run on ammonia and using wind power to generate hydrogen is a way to store energy and power engines. There are electric drones flying around without batteries. I do not remember the name but it isn't battery. The process has been known for sometime. It is a chemical reaction that produces power and it is as energy dense as gasoline. Once the device stops producing electricity it can't be recharged. The device has to be recycled. There are some very light electric motors being made for drones. It seems plausible to me a toy like a 7 could be made electric without changing its lightness, but you would have limited range. Real transportation faces some big hurdles. Engines with some form of energy storage are probably going to be slightly more efficient and as clean as electric cars. The grid in major metropolitan areas of the US will not support the increase and there is a lot of opposition to expanding it.

Its only normal if you are trying to induce oversteer to get the car to turn. The weight shifts to the front under braking and the front should wear more. If the brakes are working properly have someone slowly step on the brakes. with the car in the air and someone turning a front wheel and someone else turning a back wheel the fronts should stop first. Racecars have ways of changing that balance and it is sometimes used to get a car to turn better.

Wow - Beautiful car

The grid is a problem in most places in the US. The variable load on the electric grid is heating and cooling. Unless you want it to be like California and there are periods that the power isn't available. The YouTube video talks about time of use rates because they know the grid can't support it. On a Peak summer day in the north east there is no way a increase of the magnitude they are talking about can be accommodated. The transmission system is full and straining. I live outside Washington DC. The electric grid is controlled in a pool. The pool is called PJM. Pennsylvania Jersey Maryland (Delaware doesn't count) energy pool. they decide what power plants run and how the power will be delivered to the utilities. In my area when the temperature gets to 90 degrees the distribution system is full, and if there are more than a normal amount of power plants that can't run there is a big issue. On a hot August day it is not uncommon for DC to be 90 degrees at night. We can't build anything in this country. How long do you think the permits will take to build new transmission lines into major US cities? Where is the power going to come from. Are we going to put solar panels over Manhattan? Combines Cycle gas turbine power plants and the most efficient least cost and fastest permitting power plant to build. They are about 50% efficient at turning the potential energy in the fuel to electric power. The power needs to be distributed. The video uses the figure of 25%. The real answer is a little more complicated. It can be 50% on the peak usage day. As you increase the load the resistance goes up. The electric motor in the car probably has a efficiency of about 92%. The drive line losses are probably close to the same for cars with electric motors or engines. Electric might be slightly better. There are reciprocating engines that are 50% efficient. The problem is that the engine achieves that at peak torque and wide open throttle. Look at the energy recovery systems that F-1 cars use. there are Diesel engines that meet emission regulations and are 50% efficient at less than peak torque. That technology spreads the efficiency curve out. Gasoline has 30 times the energy density of the best battery. The energy delivery to turn the wheels is degraded by the efficiency of the engine but the trade off is range or weight with a affect on performance. Has anyone considered the environmental impact of lithium batteries?

Thank you - I would really like them. I have a good home

I am excited to do both this year. I have a car ready to go and plan to do as many track days as I can. My only limitation will be a planned trip to October Fest. Hopefully things will be good enough to go.

Lots of race cars used the Triumph spindle, Including early 60s formula one cars. I have played with a lot of Formula Fords and similar cars. Very common for them to use that spindle.

I have a 1999 S-3 and the wiper motor is Lucas and was used in a lot of BMC and Triumphs. The gas gauged sending unit is from a classic Mini. I believe the spindles are Triumph Spitfire, but haven't confirmed. They are used on a lot of race cars. The rear brakes are the same as the larger of the Merkurs the Scorpio. The gas cap on my car was a Rover part.

I love my R-53. I bought a 05 R-53 and my wife said she wouldn't drive it because she wouldn't feel safe. After the first month she was asking to use it. When it was time for her to get a new car, she wanted my Purple Haze MINI. I looked at new R-56 MINIs but didn't like the car (loved the engine). It took some time but I got a 06 JCW without a sun roof. At the same time we also had a 530 wagon. It is a big comfortable boat but it still steered like a BMW and handled well for its size.

I have one other toy car. A 06 R-53 MINI JCW. A really fun point and shoot car. The suspension is all tricked out and I use to autocross it. All the stuff Croc was saying about BMWs and newer cars in general I agree with. They are turning all of them into appliances. Most new BMWs feel like Cadillacs. They use to have great steering. My wife has a 2020 four door MINI and it has been turned into a BMW. All the raw feeling from the R-53 is gone. As the country song says "I like my Truck" (I like my bar to) I have a 2019 Chevy Colorado. For driving into town it is smaller than the huge generation of pickups. I think it is as big as what full size trucks were 20 years ago. It is comfortable doesn't mind the DC pot holes and has a big back seat. I use the box to carry stuff all the time.

Sorry - I posted my thank you on the other Thread. Thank you all for the help

Thank you all for the help. I appreciate it. I had called the US distributor but never got a call back. The instillation process looks like a very well though out way to retain the fenders. They weren't fooling around on the material. 316 is a very high quality Stainless. There will not be any corrosion problems.

For a number of years I attended a MINI Copper event at the Tail of the Dragon. At some point I need to take my 7 down there. All the roads in that area are really fun, but the Dragon is about as close to driving on a track as you can get. 318 turns in 11 miles

Does anyone know where to get some of the ones used to attach cycle wings on? I saw the thread on here and want to use them, but can't locate them anywhere.

I worked for a industrial engine manufacturer. One of our distributors built a compressor package that needed a little more power. He installed a refrigeration circuit on it where the evaporator was used like a intercooler. Like the Dodge there was a net power gain at the flywheel. The refrigeration circuit needs to be designed to the engine air flow. You are moving BTUs of heat and more power requires more hot air to cool. This was a natural gas engine driving a compressor that pumped natural gas from the wells through a collection system.

I agree with the things being said about what affects the sound. My Zetec sound close to this one. I think mine is a little crisper. I credit the deep sound of mine to a Flow Master Muffler. Mine has throttle bodies, the middle Kent cams, ten to one compression (compression makes a difference) and a light flywheel.

I think there are a couple of things going on. The weight is a issue, but the bigger issue is vaporizing the fuel. The fuel has to vaporize to burn. I would also say I wouldn't think it would be worth the effort. The benefit is at high RPM.

Glad to hear about a new owner. You are welcome to come try my car. I have a S3 that currently has seats that are very similar to Tillet seats in it. I also have the leather seats we can substitute. I ware size 10.5 D shoes. the length isn't the problem the width is. You need driving shoes. I use tennis shoes that are about the same shape as driving shoes. I live in Fairfax Virginia. My car has a roll cage if you want to know what it is like to get in a car with a cage and removable steering wheel.

You need one of these.

Tires are made out of a number of things and all of them have hydrocarbons. The hydrocarbons start evaporating as soon as the tire is made. The only thing we are discussing is how fast and how the evaporation affects the other components.

First anything but laminated safety glass is not legal. There are safety regulations. Lexan would be a great material from a safety standpoint, but the problem is all the plastics scratch to easily.