Al N.

From Ben at RMSCI, via Al Navarro... "On the drive shaft front: the drive shafts are specially made for Caterham. I do not know of a compatible replacement. If the guys is just trying to get one repaired I can get the parts and recommend a couple of shops who can do the work. Other than that he is going to be stuck buying a new one from a Caterham dealer."

I'd have to answer this two ways...semi-realistically and win the lottery-realistically. Semi: Whatever V-12 Ferrari I could get for $70k or under. Condition and service history more important than model. Alternate Ferrari would be some V-8 variant, probably Mondial Convert. so I could take the wife and kids along. Still in the semi-relistic universe, I'd get an 1966-1973 911s. These cars represent a sort of purity to me that persists. Entering lottery-land, I would probably get a Zonda or refurbed McLaren F1.

Gert-I think with a few exceptions, the stable of the average Seven owner is pretty average. No insults intended either way here. I mean, how many folks of those who have chimed in (perhaps self-selection is at work?) have listed things like "2006 BMW 760"? It's all about priorities....like our kids' educations and, of course, the Sevens. For example, my biz partner rolls in a newish land rover and inifiniti. While our household runs a Pilot pusing 100k miles and a leased TT that will soon become something like a $16k Honda Fit.

What better way to end a CRAZY work week before a long holiday weekend than to post at my home away from home. 49 people have signed up for the July 07, 2007 meet...how crazy is that. Scott N. had asked early on what kind of meet we wanted it to be. Somewhere between the bicoastal Skyline weekend day trips and LOG I think is going to be eventual answer. Thanks again everyone!

I guess I'm in the wrong biz, PK..nice fleet — 2 fun cars!

I decline to comment (and so should Mazda) on the grounds it may incriminate... Perhaps we can make this a "roundtable" discussion at 7-7-7!

Under 3k in over a year. I'd think Angus and Tessa in the UK are close to record, if not the recordholders.

FYI, since I have Orange, my need for a sportyish daily driver has dropped to nil. I am probably going to get a Honda Fit when the TT lease is up.

The original "Skyline Seven" (if you count Bart and Nancy, who came sans Seven) had a good chuckle over this at lunch in Shenandoah. I think i had hte sportiest true daily driver (Audi TT), altought B & N have a BMW 540 after years of flogging a Corsica, I think. Chez Navarro: 2004 Audi TT 225 Coupe, 2003 Honda Pilot, Polaris Ranger UTV. Also currently taking up space in my driveway until they get back from an extended vacation are my parents' Subaru Impreza (decidedly not an STi or WRX) and Forester (also not any fun variant).

I'm with Bernie on the "make sure you understand what you are getting" thing. I have to say that if you are sensitive to costs now, you may end up hating the entire experience. While I haven't had anything major go wrong (YET), putting in the ATL Fuel Cell (and running all new A/N lines and fittings was not cheap. Remember that I do none of the work on my car myself (which people have already drug me over the coals for!). That said, there are plenty of folks on this board who have gotten into the hobby for not that much cash and who have minimal running costs. To that point, once I did all the initial tweaks to my Cat, it's been pretty inexpensive to run. Now I have to save up for the trailer for 7/7/7.

FWIW, if you go to the blog of that Caterham, it sounds a bit leaky to me...

I wouldn't worry so much about the official distributorship thing, as Dick and Bernie L. and Woody H. will probably have lines on anything you might need. It's too bad you can't find someone near you with a Birkin, just to see how those cars are finished/trimmed out. If it's the ali/carbon one on Dick's site, I happen to hate those gold wheels. However, I think this may have one of those elusive retro-titles which should allow you to register as a 1967. And the wheels are easily swapped.

07/07/07 covered by radiose7en.com I hadn't been to Andrew P's site in a few days (that day job is killing me!) and was pleasantly surprised to see that our not-so-little event warranted a post.

Found it! http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

This one was simpler...didn't need to know ratios. I'll try and find it.

Six, I've got size 7.5/8 feet, so I've driven the Seven wearing workboots no problem. I did have a pair of Adidas driving shoes, the Tuscanys. I also notice that Puma Cats seem to be popular among the folks I know. I've thought about pilotis, but think they are just to racer for my tastes. Currently my "dedicated driviing shoes" are Puma S-Bahns, but only because they were on sale. Again, I have small feet so I pretty much wear anything...frequently my Garmont trail shoes. The only shoes I've had issues with are running shoes which have a wider than normal sole.

Hey Tom. Maybe runout isn't an accurate term. It allowed you to calculate what speedo variation would be for any number of tire and wheel variations (lots of diameter and aspect ration combos)...so for example, if your speedo was calibrated for 14 185/60, it calculated what the error would be if you switched to say a 15 195/45. Someone had posted it on Se7ens.net, and it's where I got the notion that my speedo was off by 9.5%. It would be good to have that link here at USA7s....I bet Keith Tanner knows where it is.

Or perhaps it's because with the 6 speed cat gearbox, i do very little downshifting when entering corners?

At Skip Barber, my instructor gave me a good "swing thought" for heel-toe...it had to do with the position of your knee. This was more of the "roll the foot" way as opposed to the heel thing shown in that vid that Mazda posted. The way I learned...to just brake, keep your right knee directly above the right foot. To tap the throttle under braking, roll knee to the right and the foot will generally follow. BTW, in my experience, a lot of the success of heel toe-ing has to do with the pedal set up. In my old focus ZX3, it was really easy. Not so much in the TT. And the Seven...funny but I haven't tried it yet. Maybe I'm braking way too early?!

Well, if one recent registrant's description of his ride is accurate (a 500 hp CMC), I'd say you're going to need it Mazda, to take the "King of the Dyno" title at TotD.

I had a very good conversation with a premier mobile dyno outfit today. They have not finalized their 2007 calendar yet, but seemed very interested in our event as it is something out of the ordinary. Additionally, I've been corresponding with various media sources regarding our event and got a nice email today from a publication you all have heard of...still too far off to commit, but they want us to keep in touch.

Does anyone have that Miata tire rollout calc?

No. 6-It's funny because I think once you get out of the new range, things really open up. New Cats are disgustingly expensive (esp the new CSR), I only got mine because the builder/dealer sold at a price that I thought (and still think) could not be duplicated. The used market scared me because I had never owned one before and was sure that any used one would have been wrung out by the previous owner (not unlike buying a Subie STi second-hand). Also, the "almost new" cars seemed to be at a price point just a few clicks shy of a new one. It really depends...I think nice used Cats and Loti can be had in the high teens to mid $20k range...however one MINT restoration on a Series 2 I saw last year was going for $32k!!! It's funny because when strangers ask me how much my car cost (a very strange and slightly rude question...would I ask a Ferrari owner what they paid?), I say..."You can get a nice used one in the teens, but new ones can be over $60k depending on the spec."

I'm still catching up, but wanted to thank everyone for their input so far. Don't be shy!

I wanted to post here just to remind folks to vote.