Davemk1

I'm sorry - I thought you posted that in a straight line brake test that you got pretty even lock up. Ideally one would start with too much front bias and front lock up and then adjust to the rear until you get too much in the rear and then move back toward the front some so that you get all 4 wheels doing the most work they can. I think it's a bit easier to have a small amount of lock up in the front than having any in the rear as it's easier to deal with. Dave

Hey Don - I don't understand what you mean by this - "The even lockup is both fronts left and right not front to back." The physics of this gets really interesting. A light car won't necessarily stop any quicker than a heavier car. I can hear the 'boo - hiss!" out there but there is a good physics thing going on here. The amount of braking force a tire can generate is based largely on how much weigh is pushing down on it. So a heavier car will generate more grip than a lighter car oddly enough. At the same time a heavier car requires more grip to slow it down and the two can come pretty close to washing out in the end. So just because your new car is lighter than the old does not mean it will stop shorter. I know that seems counter intuitive but it's the way it works. The way to make a car stop shorter it to give it enough braking power (pads to rotors) and optimize the set up so that under hard braking all four tires are doing the same amount of work and use the stickest tires you can find.......easier said than done I must say. But that is the goal. One issue you could have is cool mornings and very wide tires on a light car - you'll never get them warm. If the fronts are cold (the rears will warm with driving force) then all bets are off. Take tire temps and I'll bet the fronts will be shocking cool compared to the Vette which would warm them all up. From my experience I seriously doubt you would ever be able to feel a 25 or even 50 lbs lighter spring. The difference is the amount the front end will sink is VERY small (is they are 500 lbs now and they move 2" under hard braking then moving to 450lbs springs would allow the car to about 1/4" more). You'll get much more change by playing with the damping than you will the spring rate for gross adjustments like this. It would be great if you have 2 way adjustable shocks so that you could decrease the rebound damping in the rear (allowing it to rise more) while at the same time decreasing the compression damping in the front to allow it to sink more. This would allow more weight shift. Thanks for the offer on a co-drive. I'm sure it would be fun. But I never drive anyone else's car unless I can afford to buy it if i wad it up........and I can't afford your car. Give it time and learn the car before you go making changes......even if it goes very well it will take a ver years to get used to the car and make changes to the set up so that the two of you mesh. it just takes time and the more runs you can get the better. Good luck with it. dave

Hey Don - At the risk of insulting the driver (whom I know BTW) I think the issue could come as much from technique as anything else. If you are getting even lock up in a straight line then the bias is certainly in the ballpark. What I've found happening with drivers that go from a car with ABS (your Vette has very good ABS) to a car without ABS is that the driver needs to adapt. If you go raging into a corner and simply panic brake with all your might you will lock up something and it will most likely be the fronts. IMO the reason for this is simple but can be hard to explain........ If you are rolling along and do a brake test (not in a solo run) I'll bet you lift from the gas and wait a half a second (causing forward weight shift) and then you apply the brake in less than a full on panic mode. If you hit the brake pedal a bit more slowly you will again cause a bit more weight shift to the front which in turn will give the front tires better bite which in turn will allow more brake to be fed in..........it's a positive feedback loop of sorts. It's the weight shift that is the key thing here. If on the other hand you go from full throttle (weight shifted to the rear) and then stomp on the brake pedal you can get the fronts to lock before the weight shift can happen (it can only happen so fast due to inertia and shock damping) and without the needed weight shift the fronts can lock. There are a few ways to improve this of course - one can give more bias to the rear, which is really just taking some out of the front unless the car is set up with a bias bar, so that even under full autocross panic brake the fronts won't be as likely to lock. This has some real downsides of course in that when you do less of a panic brake and more trail braking you are much more likely to lock the rears which will make the fronts locking seem wonderful. Picture braking mid sweeper in Helena and you get the idea. In the end I think it will just take you some time to get used to not having ABS and having to feed in the brake just a tad slower to get that weight shift to happen before really standing on the brakes and making the car feel like it has dropped anchor. You can also accomplish this with left foot braking. Does the car have a stick or auto trans? If it's an auto left footing will be easier to master and you can apply a bit of brake while still on the gas and this will start the weight shift.........then you drop the throttle and press harder on the brake and it will kick ass. I hope that helps. If you try it and have little success the best thing you can do is fit dual masters and a bias bar and you can really fine tune the system. I'll bet this is easier said than done though. dave

Thanks for the kind comments and questions. It does get down the road pretty well. The engine doesn't have that much grunt down low but the throttle response is very crisp and that gives it a wonderful feel. Once the tach hits 5500ish and the cam change happens (super smooth compared to the Lotus Elise I owned before this) things really ramp up very nicely. If you rev it to 8500 and then hit the next gear you stay above the cam change and it puts you back in the seat pretty darn well. Its hard for me to compare the Westfield to the Birkin directly. I sold the Birkin about 5 years ago and got an Elise that I supercharged. I ran it for 4 years and then sold it and bought the Westfield kit. My point is that it has been 4-5 years since I drove the Birkin. With that caveat - the Westfield is bigger by a few inches in most directions and as discussed above that allows me to better fit in the car and look through the windshield and not over it. This alone shapes much of the experience and makes it just feel more 'right' for me personally. Compared to the Birkin the West feels much stiffer. One could feel the Birkin chassis twist when cornered hard - especially when on slicks - but the West feels more of one piece. My guess is this is due to the tunnel design of the West with all the tubes and riveted alloy panels. My Birkin had a simple driveshaft plastic cover that was in no way structural and all the loads where carried by the sides of the car. I think the Birkin felt lighter than the West....I think - it's hard to remember. The Birkin felt more flickable (the downside being it also felt less stable at speed) but this could also be geometry or wheelbase. My Birkin had a 87" wheelbase were the West is 92". The Birkin weighed just under 1300 lbs and the West weighs in at right on 1400 as set up. It's hard to tell if I can feel that 100 lbs or if it's all the other differences i'm feeling. My Birkin had a live rear axle and it was fine on a smooth surface but once things got bumpy one could feel the weight of all that axle and diff moving up and down back there and the ride and traction got choppy. The West of course has IRS and it tracks very well even on very bumpy turns and just feels stuck to the floor. Of course the big difference between the two is the character of the engine. My Birkin had a Zetec running on Weber side drafts. It was torquey and pulled nicely but not overly powerful. It rev'd to about 6500 as I recall. The Honda feels bombproof and seems to be as happy at 8000 rpms as it does at idle. The limiter seems to cut in just under 9000 rpms and the power is still rising. The throttle response on the Honda is crazy quick - quicker than anything else I've ever driven. A flick of the toe brings instant shove and that gives the car a feeling of being even quicker than it really is. So there it is. I look forward to getting the final sorting of the West done and to putting it on slicks in the spring. Should be fun. dave

I received my Westfield kit late this past spring and spent the summer putting it together and while the process had its ups and downs I couldn't be more pleased with the end result. The car drives and handles very well, is very quick, and the Omex ECU and tune feel factory smooth with even power delivery and a perfectly smooth idle. I still have a few things to do (fit the side curtains, hood, and tonneau cover) it is for the most part done. One of the things I'm most pleased with is the fact that I fit so well in the car. I'd owned a Birkin S3 years ago and at 6'4" tall it was a real challenge to get myself to fit into it well and eking out 1/4" here and 1/2 " there was the thing to do to make it work for me.........and even then it was never quite what I needed. This car just fits bigger........I suppose because it is bigger. I have enough leg room that I don't even need to run the seat all the way back and with the standard lowered floors and optional taller RAC roll bar the bar is still just a bit higher than my head while wearing a helmet. I even fit in it with the hood in place with a helmet on. I think in the long term I'll take the seat runners out and fix the seat directly to the floor and lower it another inch but it's not really needed. So if you are tall and want a Seven this could be a good choice for you. Here are a few photos of the car taken on a day much nicer than today......I want the rain to quit so I can take it out. dave

I don't think we are getting screwed by the cable companies.......we are getting screwed by our elected officials who are in the pocket of the cable companies and who allow this type of thing to happen legally. Don't get me wrong......I have no love lost of the cable companies but they are doing what they are allowed to do. It's the oligarchy that is giving us the sh!t end of the stick. We just need to take our faces our of our smart phones for 30 seconds and look around and realize the net is well on its way to changing to match all the other playing fields out there - unlevel. dave

Yes - just because of the added weight of the car with the engine in place. I would think that without it that 4 guys could easily lift the car off the stands and set it down but once the engine is in that would be a lot tougher. I am a member of the Westfield forum and have not seen this talked about so it must not be that big a deal. dave

So - I'll be building my Westfield in a month or so and your photos bring a question to mind...........after you have the engine dropped into place how do you get the car down off the work stands? dave

I've been watching this build and some of the others happening over at the Westfield forum. It's cool to see the different ways some folks are handling the running of brake and fuel lines. I'm told my kit should arrive here in Montana at the end of the month and then the build will begin. I have my engine and trans nearly ready to drop in place and fully inspected and it looks like it should run well and make some good numbers. I can't wait.......... dave

Thanks - I look forward to the Westfield getting here in a big way. I'm getting the Mega S2000 and have the engine and trans sitting here and ready to drop in place but it will be some time still before the big crate arrives..........then starts the assembly! dave

I have a slightly more personal take on this..........I build bicycle frames for a living and work very hard to promote and establish my brand. I've had a few folks ask me for stickers with my logo to put on bikes they own........bikes I didn't make. I understand this is a compliment of sorts in that they want to be associated with my brand but at the same time it can give the wrong impression. If folks look at the brand X bike with my logos on it and aren't impressed that reflects on me and all my hard work is for naught. Combine that with the fact that there is some low level dishonestly with it all IMO. Homage sure........but it's still giving a false impression. I have a Westfield on the way and it will get Westfield badges.....unless i put my brand name on it dave

Thanks for the input. I've had about 1500 pounds of concrete pavers and trailer behind the car and it towed very well around town but never went down the highway with it. Thanks again, dave

Hey ER - How do you feel about folks using a newer Jetta TDi to tow a trailer with a Seven on it......say less than 2000 lbs in total? Thanks for your input. dave

Maybe that it's right have drive? Just my guess. dave

He replaced the rear hatch window in my car so no regulator involved. Dave

I have a 2004 Mini that lives outside year round here in Montana so it sees some real changes in temperature and a lot of sun. One day I started the lawn mower while a few feet to the side if the Mini and a shower or pretty sparkles in the air caught my eye. Now I was off to the side and there was no way anything came out of the mower and hit the rear hatch window but it assploded leaving just a ring of glass around the edge. Glass cubes were a good 8' away from the car. I got a mobile glass guy guy to come by and fix it and he told me he does a lot of Minis and in his opinion the glass is either thinner or brought to a higher temper that the glass is much more prone to fatigue and that they 'spontaneously' fail. He also told be he does a lot of BMW's too for the same reason. Interesting. dave

Thanks for getting back to me. I decided to go with a Westfield Mega S2000 kit and have placed my deposit for it so I'm all set and my Seven needs are taken care of for now at least All the best, dave

I hear what you are saying and at the same time disagree. In the end forums like this are about dealing with other people and nothing else. Sure we all have something in common that draws us to this place but the real attraction is the others that are here and the knowledge, experience and humor those other people have. So if it gets to the point where a given user feels that too many of the others here are not the type of people they want to hang with then there's little attraction. I've had this happen with other forums and it's sad when it happens but it does happen. If it's not controlled and the bickering outweighs the cool content in the eye of the user then they will leave......and if too many of the non-bickerer's leave the balance will quickly slide toward folks arguing about who's the smartest/strongest/fastest and the place will have little redeeming value. This is what makes the job of a mod so difficult IMO. I do not mean to speak for the gentleman who's on his way out the door but just say I can't blame him and would never say he shouldn't leave just because of the others. I hope the tone can return to a healthy one soon. All the best, dave

I'm not a very active member here but I think this place has a lot of value......and I was excited to see a thread with the focus on handling. I have a lot to learn, and some to share and I was looking forward to it. But this thread has been for the most part a waste of bandwidth and if I were a mod I'd close it, delete it and start another handling thread in its place. I would then delete every post that didn't focus on the subject. I fully realize how difficult the job of a mod is and I appreciate the time and effort you put into the forum for all out good.........i would just say that being heavy handed at times can be a good thing. Just my 2 cents.........you can now go back to trying to prove who has the bigger wang. dave

At least they list it as a flood car. dave

Cool - I imagine you can understand why I would ask as someone new, with only one post to their name, shows up and strongly defends a company. So often when this happens it's a rep of some sort or someone with some financial skin in the game. FWIW - I don't know Scannon and feel he needs no defense......that said........I took what he had to say as a pure unadulterated compliment to Caterham. Here is a guy who likes the brand so much that he was willing to take the car he bought and paid for, and bring it some distance to help promote the maker of that car. This tells me he loves the brand and that the only negative is that he laments he didn't get enough warning to be able to volunteer his time and effort to the company. If it were one of my bike customers i'd be thanking him for the desire and willingness to make the effort and not giving him any hard time. Just my 2 cents. Long live the Seven! dave

With all due respect and then some.......can you tell us who you are and who you represent. Screen names are all well and good for chat but when it comes to business it changes in my mind. Turn about being fair play and all - my name is Dave Kirk and I live in Bozeman, MT and run a VERY small bicycle company. dave

Thanks gents - I looked at the Caterham USA site to look for retailers and that tab is gone. I then looked at the Superformance site and they brag that they are the source for Caterham but have no info yet, that I can find, about how to purchase one nor what the models/cost are. I don't mean any disrespect by this but I do not know who the Beachman racing folks are and how they fit into this scheme. I looked for a Beachman racing site and I got a cool blog with Caterham photos but no info on the cars or how to purchase one. So..........I very well could have this wrong but it appears to me that if I had a wad of cash and wanted to go out and buy a new Caterham in the USA right now I couldn't really do it. I'd love to be corrected on this and welcome info and input. Thanks again, Dave

So.......I'm a bit confused. If one wanted to buy a Caterham in the USA in the near future is that possible? If so, from whom? dave

Thanks - I look forward to the process. Now I need to shop for an S2000 drivetrain. dave