James A

Oops I misunderstood! We still have fun battling the Mazdas, but SCCA gave the RX-8s a 100 pound weight reduction and they were already faster, and the new Prather build MX-5s are just crazy fast. Oh well given how much Mazda throws at SCCA I guess they get their way.

I think a lot of these records are going to fall as the SCCA has given and will likely continue to give anything made by Mazda a lot of leeway, more hp, less weight etc. Mazda is a big sponsor in SCCA and they do "effect" the rules! Just go to the GCR and look at the restrictions on Catherhams and those on anything Mazda, quite a difference.

Craig, I don't have one available, but make sure you get the upgraded De Dion, we have broken two of the older style! The new ones have thicker tubing, eliminated the through the tube shock mount, gusseted the other shock mount tube, and better looking welds! My recommendation, from having had two break in a race, go get a new one, put corrosion prevention (like WaxOil) inside of the new one and you have eliminated a failure point. Oh, we have broken a front spindle also, and I watched my son's front wheel proceed him down the straight away at MSR Houston, put the upgraded Caterham front spindle kit in or at least the Dave Bean spindles!

Great cage to hold up so well! Sure glad the driver walked away.

I would recommend front camber of -3 degrees and use the -1.5 degree rear camber plates, start there and tire test to see where you should end up. Can't go wrong with R6s, the sizes you are planning to use will work just great.

Oh yea, the RX-8 has been on the podium twice at Nationals, we it is a quick car and a terrific driver.

Yes, almost everything looks huge when you are racing a Caterham. At a Rational (regional/national) race a while back we had low attendance so the big bore and small bore production groups were combined so we were out with transam cars as well as our normal competition. It was a blast, but getting passed by a transam car at the end of a straight is pretty dramatic! And, you bring up a real problem, people don't see us, part of the reason we painted our car lime green!

Are your cambers set up for bias ply or radial tires? For radials I like Hoosier A6s or R6s, not much else compares unless you go to a full race tire like the Hoosier 43543 R80 in radial or the 43191 45B in Bias ply. But, the 43543 and 43191 won't last long, we get one race weekend out of them, in other words about 3 hours of track time, but it is hard time! The A6s and R6s wear much better at close to the same grip, but if you are road racing and need that little extra edge then go with full race tires rather than the DOTs. If you are doing track days, DEs, then as others suggest, take-offs, R888, other far less expensive options.

Hey, your bug splat matches my son's race car!

Yep, I agree, I sold my Elise as the 7 was way more fun, and quicker around the track and at autocross.

If you have clamshell front wings the wide track suspension may not fit under them. If you have cycle wings you may need to modify them.

I hate to see you sell it! But, the Stang will be fun. jim

Nice Boss!!!! Love that car, saw some at a track day last weekend while I worked on the race car. One in particular was very well driven and fast. The Contour VCT on the exhaust was for emissions only and robs power, and thus my desire to install the VCT delete and regrind the exhaust cam.

I know you went through a lot early on in your tuning efforts, I did not know you tried an SVT delete. Didn't you have some oil pressure issue involving the SVT that once you solved got your HP back where it should have been all along? There are some SCCA E Production race cars running SVT engines with the delete and producing some significant horsepower, thank goodness they have a 100 pound weight penalty over the non-SVT cars. I know the VCT deletes are very effective as VCT was for emissions and not performance. I am going to try the VCT delete so I can play with my exhaust cams to get some more power.

I finally found a VCT delete for my Contour engine, but before I install it and all that that entails who has experience using a VCT or SVT delete? At least I can now modify my exhaust cam for some improved performance. Experience anyone?

It will be a very fun ride!!

Well, if it is a Caterham than it is a 1972 or later. And if it is a Caterham, why all the Lotus badges etc.?

You know Brad, I thought I was a good driver, decent racer, even better autocrosser, but from the day this kid got in a race car he is consistently faster than me, and not just by a little.