Silber

I'm in the greater Salt Lake City area.

Are you looking for local pickup only, or would you be interested in shipping it?

It is no longer for sale. I had the privilege of purchasing it last summer.

For continuity and reference for anyone else with similar problems, I'll keep any further updates regarding the bogging/hesitation issues I first experienced in the other thread I started: But I did want to share the dyno results here. It's not the most powerful car I've owned, nor is it much compared to many of the other 7's on the forum, but it makes for a great power to weight ratio and I figure it's not too bad for nearly a mile above sea-level. I don't foresee trying to get more power out of it, but rather I'd like to give my Birkin a weight-loss treatment. I'm planning on removing the windshield washer reservoir, getting a lighter battery, some smaller/lighter headlights, and possibly even removing the windshield wipers/motor and the heater core with its associated plumbing. I'd like to get the car as close to 1200 lbs as possible. Oh, and one other quirk with this car: the throttle cable is actually a bicycle brake cable with the barrel style cable end filed down to fit in the lever for the throttle bodies. I can't imagine that's standard equipment on these cars....

Thanks Croc. I'm the third owner of the car. The first used it for autocross, but the second had no intent to race it, and thus had it aligned to very conservative street specs. I plan on road use, ~10 autocross events/year, and the occasional track day. Autocrossing the car was a learning experience. I only did one event with the car to give it an initial shake-down, knowing that some major changes needed to happen before the final setup and tuning can take place. The car came with Bridgestone RE71R tires from 2018 with about 4k miles of street use. Tons of tread, not a lot of grip. I also still need to get the seating position just right. I'm not a tall person and find the reach to the brakes and shifter just slightly too far. Takeaways from that one autocross event are as follows: First, the car was severely lacking front grip. The amount of understeer was honestly very surprising, but makes a lot of sense considering the front camber was set to -0.5 degrees, the rear sway bar was on the softest setting, and the car likely has a rear weight bias with a driver (I'm guessing here though...). Looking at the photos from the event shows a good bit of roll on the rear of the car. The plan to address this is to start with an alignment with the following specs, and then fine tune with the rear sway bar, shocks, and tire pressures to get the handling just right. Any input on the alignment would be appreciated. Front Camber: -2.5 degrees Toe: 1/16th inch Toe out Caster: ?? As positive as possible ?? Rear Camber: -1.5 degrees Toe: Zero 20 mm rake Second takeaway was the complete inability to trail-brake without the car trying to spin. My initial thought was brake bias, and subsequent testing confirmed the rear brakes locking before the fronts. I like to be able to carry some speed into a corner, having been brought up in the school of momentum-management with all those years in an underpowered Miata, so making sure the Birkin doesn't want to enter the corner backwards is a key point to address. There are two master cylinders and a bias bar for the brakes, so I'll be asking for some advice on best practices for adjusting brake bias later on. Third takeaway was the definite need for some better tires. I'm interested in hearing other's thoughts and experiences with autocrossing their 7's and tires that they've used. As I'm looking to primarily autocross versus track time, I've been looking for tires that turn on quickly, especially considering the lack of mass with the Birkin. I came across a handy guide from Grassroots Motorsports that has helped me in learning about the current tire market: https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/articles/track-tire-buyers-guide/ My conclusion, considering my budget for tires (which isn't much) and knowing I'm going to be underprepped for my class and thus not competitive, is to get the Kuhmo Ecsta V730 in 205/50r15 for both front and rear. Supposedly turns on fast, wears well, and is not too far behind the fastest tires, while also being more affordable, checks all the boxes for me. Anyone have any experience with these tires on their 7? I'm also hoping moving up to 205's from 195's on the front will also help with the understeer.

Time to start a thread about my journey with my car as I prepare for really diving into owning my 2009 Birkin S3. My journey started about 20 years ago as a car-obsessed youth, memorizing statistics but having no idea what it's actually like to drive a car. I remember reading about the Caterham R500, smitten by the idea of a car that can do 0-100-0 mph faster than almost anything. Unaware at the time, but in hindsight very clear, the ethos of 7's has been central in what I find enjoyable in driving. Fast forward to my early 20's, I bought a cherry '96 Mazda Miata from my next-door neighbor, that over the next nine years turned it from a completely unmolested street-car to a barely-legal autocross machine. Before its demise it was about 1950 lbs, with 108 whp from a stock 1.8L, and was just a blast to drive at autocross, despite being grossly underpowered. Unfortunately I was one of those poor souls that had a major accident at an autocross event and crashed the car head-on in a 2.5 ft square concrete block. The car stopped in about 10 ft; the concrete block went about 40 ft. That event led to trying out a couple of other cars over the next few years: a '99 Miata and a supercharged Subaru BRZ. Neither car possessed the same character as that first Miata. The NB was too slow, the BRZ was too big and lazy. I missed the rawness of that the NA, and after much pondering and introspection, I realized that yearning wasn't necessarily for something with more power, but something with less weight. Coming full circle back to my childhood, suddenly the idea of getting a 7 was forefront in my mind. I started searching the market to discover that Caterhams were out of my reach. I tossed the idea around of building an Exocet or other Miata-based kit car, but with two young kids.... that wasn't going to happen. I joined the forum and started lurking and learning, and discovered that Birkins are very similar to Caterhams, but without the "name-brand" price. Then, after seeing a car for sale here on the forum, a chance to drive a 7 here in Utah (thanks @kayentaskier!), a couple of trips down to Las Vegas, and a year later, I purchased the 2009 Birkin S3 seen above. It has a 2.0L Duratec with Crower Cams and ITB's, and thankfully was fairly easy to get registered in Utah. I've put almost 800 miles on it in the last six months, and have some key takeaways that I'll address in subsequent posts: Autocrossing it showed some shortcomings; needs an alignment, tires, damper and sway-bar adjustment, and brake bias adjusted The engine was not happy at the higher elevation in Utah; ended up getting it dyno tuned. Better but not perfect Going to address some maintenance items: fluids, harnesses, new wideband O2 Thinking about maybe getting some new seats?? Going to use the original roll bar and windshield primarily, while keeping the roll cage the car came with for track use. Plan is to remove the windshield from the roll cage and make an aeroscreen. Thanks for reading, look for more posts in the coming days/months as I learn more about the car, and enjoy a few more pictures of the car and from my first autocross with it.

I barely made it into the 80's (born in '89). With the performance capabilities of modern cars, plus all the luxury, convenience, and weatherproofing, I'm not surprised that more people of my generation and younger aren't purchasing 7's. That and the cost of entry is pretty steep unless one buys a non-Caterham 7 (like I did). Why buy an expensive car with little more practicality than a motorcycle when I can get a car that is faster, quieter, easier to drive, more comfortable in every way, and decently practical?? My answer is because I was specifically looking to get away from all the comforts and conveniences that make modern cars so large and heavy, looking for something that was fast because of its inherent lightness rather than having 600 hp, and looking for a raw and undiluted driving experience. Oh, and I have always thought modern 7s are awesome since I found out about them as a kid.

I purchased my Birkin in June, and since then recorded 734 miles between my wife and me. With winter looming I probably wont get many more chances to drive it before spring. The plan for 2024 is to get it dialed in for auto-x and track duty and put a lot more than 700 miles on the car.

Ah, you went without me! I'm bummed the weather didn't cooperate for when we were planning our drive. You can always feel free to send me an impromptu text message if you are wanting to drive and would like some company. Let's definitely find a time this week. Cheers, Gregory

Update on this issue. Some digging around in the engine bay revealed that the car does have a MAP sensor, which answers the question of speed density vs. alpha-n. I found a tuner who was willing to work with the FAST ECU (which is apparently quite unpopular) who discovered that the ignition timing was pretty good, but the fuel mapping needed to be bumped up across the board; the engine was running lean. The result of the tune was a safe 176 whp/144 torque, and a engine that feels much happier. Next steps are to order a cable from FAST to do my own data logging, replace or upgrade the old, inaccurate wideband O2 sensor connected to a dashboard AFR gauge, and take the car back up the canyon to see if the ECU can handle the big elevation changes.

MV8, thanks for the reply. For the short term I am going to see if I can find a tuner who can re-work the tune for my elevation, and hopefully provide some altitude compensation, even with the alpha-n type mapping. Long term I may start down the rabbit hole of learning how to do my own tuning, incorporate a system like you described to take actual MAP readings and tune it via speed density, or sell the ITB setup and acquire an intake manifold, sacrificing a little hp and the "cool factor" of the ITBs for better driveability. Hopefully I haven't caused too much damage driving it around...

Hey everyone, seeking some help diagnosing an issue. I went to meet up with fellow forum members @kayentaskierand @rider for a drive on some great mountain roads, however I didn't make it to the meet-up location due to the car losing all driveability as I drove up a canyon, gaining over 3000 ft in elevation (~8000 total) from where I live and drive the car around. The engine would basically bog/hesitate even to the point of stalling with almost any throttle input, but would start and idle fine. After realizing I wasn't going to join the drive, I nursed the car back out of the canyon, and the engine ran better and better with lower elevation, to the point that it ran normally by the time I got home. Any suggestions as to what I can do to overcome this apparent elevation-related issue? Here are the specs on the car: 2009 Birkin w/ 2.0L Duratec AT Power ITB's Crower Stage 2 cams FAST XFI 2.0 engine management I have been watching @KnifeySpoony's thread about hesitation with his 420R, as I did notice slight hesitation sometimes at low RPMs/part throttle in first gear on my first few drives after I bought it, which the previous owner never reported having. I'm able to mostly negate it just with driving style, but my gut feeling with that was also elevation, as I'm at ~4800 ft whereas the previous owner was at ~1900 ft. Also worth noting I had this car out at auto-x a couple of weeks ago (elevation ~4300 ft), and other than my first easy launch on my very first run, I had no bogging/hesitation issues at all and the car ran like a top. Thank you for your consideration. Gregory

Finger's crossed you get it resolved by the 12th. Luckily I was able to register my 7 as a '64 Assembled Vehicle. No emissions required, just a lengthy visit to the DMV with a VIN inspection out in the parking lot.

Works for me; looking forward to it. Jim graciously met with me last year at the same spot to give me my first in-person experience with a 7.

@Frankie As Jim @kayentaskier mentioned, I bought a Birkin a little over a month ago. I'm just a little north of you in Bountiful, and I would not be opposed to meeting up with our 7's. Congratulations on your purchase. Cheers, Gregory

Thanks for the reply! I'll send you a message. I'm definitely interested in seeing the car.

I guess I should introduce myself. I am a long-time Seven fan, and have had one on my list of "Dream Cars" ever since I was a kid. It's always kind of awkward when someone asks me "What's your favorite/dream car?" and I always have to reply by asking them if they've even heard of a Seven, and then try to explain what it is after that... I have been an avid autocrosser for many years, having a '96 Miata that progressively turned more and more into a racecar. In the end I had a car that was still registered and insured for street use (barely) that weighed about 1950 lbs but only had the stock 108 whp. That car was a riot and so much fun to drive, but I was always yearning for a better power-to-weight ratio, and had plans to supercharge the car, but sadly it was wrecked and parted out. Since then I tried to cure the driving itch with a supercharged BRZ, but that never fully did it for me. So, after a lot of pondering, spreadsheets, google searches, and introspection, I decided recently that a Seven is likely the car I need to have. I say likely because I have never driven one or even ridden in one, so there is still a miniscule chance I may not like how they drive, but regardless, my journey has started to try an obtain a dream car! Regarding my new-found journey, if anyone in the greater Salt Lake City or surrounding areas has a Seven and would be willing to entertain a fanboy to come look at it, please reach out to me. And if anyone at all has any suggestions on resources and must-do's regarding buying, owning, or racing Sevens, I would be happy to hear any input. Thanks for reading! -Gregory

Hey Rick, I have a few questions that I hope you could answer for me as I am new to Sevens and Birkins in particular. 1) Was the engine new when dealer built? Or is it a used engine out of a donor car? 2) What kind of engine management does it have to control fuel and ignition? 3) Do you know what differential and/or final drive is in the car? 4) How is it titled? And is the title clean? 5) Is the 203 hp mentioned crank- or wheel-horsepower? Was it verified on a dyno? 6) If I were to make a trip down to Las Vegas in the near future, would you be open to show me the car? (You can respond to this one in a private message if you'd prefer) 7) Did you participate in any auto-x or track events with this car? 8) Where was the car located with the previous owner? 9) Do you know who built the car? Thank you in advance. I only recently started lurking here as I have begun my search for a Seven, and yours is the first that I've seen that is relatively local to me (greater Salt Lake City area). Cheers! -Gregory