pethier

They paid me 100 bucks to drive a Slingshot on a track before it was marketed. They would not tell me who made it, what they were going to call it, where the engine was, what the engine was or anything else about it. I told them I thought a Seven would be a better deal, partially because 3-wheelers are not generally allowed on autocross tracks.

thanks.

It's not how tall you are, it's how long your legs are. I can tell you a fairly-boring story about how some BMW promotional people ignored me pointing this out and caused a ridiculous situation in their ridiculous competition. I am 5'8". I have Caterham black-leather bucket seats in my car. I drive with the seat well-forward on its tracks. I do sit a bit tall in the saddle. OK, I have shorter legs than people expect. I knew a guy named Duane Johnson (actually I knew several guys named Duane Johnson, including a guy who changed his name to Duane Warren because there were just too-damned-many Duane Johnsons about) who was way shorter than I but had longer legs. Duane built us a single-seater out of my old SAAB parts. When he put the seat in to suit him, I could not reach the pedals and the roll bar was too short. We solved that by making the seat re-positionable so I was in the "Lotus position" and he sat upright. I suggest you get the bucket seats with seat tracks unless perhaps you always drove your Elise with the seat all the way back. BTW, I just turned 75.

This photo was shot at Road America. I drove it there from the Twin Cities and it shows the dead bugs to prove it. It actually has the Bridgestone autocross tires on it here. Since then I have picked up a set of twist wheels for a set of "Porsche approved" Michelin all-weather tires.

I have a 987.2 Cayman. Love it as a 3-season car. I'm going to put it to bed for the winter in about 10 minutes. I could drive it through the winter, but why? My F-150 4x4 will be fine as a winter vehicle. The Cayman has the 2.9 with the reputation for reliability. I purposely got one with the PDK because I figured it was about time I tried a dual-clutch. I like it a lot. I swapped out the steering wheel for the Sport wheel with proper paddles. The shifts are lightning-fast and solid when in the Sport Plus mode. So unlike conventional automatics. It's a great cruiser and fun at autocrosses when the weather is not Seven-friendly.

I still don't understand how a pad wears concave.

Glad to hear that avonNOVA ( I like palindromes too) are currently concentrating on hillclimb tires, since they are the ticket for USA-stye autocrossing a Caterham. The Yokohama 052 works well-enough for a dual-purpose street/autocross tire on a Caterham, but it does not not give the stick of an Avon hillclimb tire. I could not heat Hoosier A7 tires autocrossing my Elise, so I can't imagine they would work any better with a Caterham.

I see what you did there.

The cupping of the pad looks very weird. I don't see how it's possible.

Shoot. I am a member, but in the USA.

I would never consider splitting the calipers. I had this sort of calibers on my Europa. I was able to remove the pistons and replace them with stainless pistons without splitting the calipers.

I have now actually done this. The spacer is 1.6" thick. See this Flickr album and read the album description. https://www.flickr.com/photos/pethier/albums/72177720321594711/

LOL. I can drive home without a shifter knob...

I find these days I take the wheel into the eatery to prevent someone from stealing the wheel.

I think the doors are hinged so they fit in the boot. But I did discover the "elbow the bottom" trick one day when I was concerned about driving into rain, but it was not all that cold. I did not get my French-Canadian father's skin. Got the melanin-deprived Irish skin from my mother. I have the top on essentially all the time for shade or rain. I don't put on the doors unless weather demands it. My top has a zip-open rear window. With this feature, I have no need of a half-hood. I'm 74 years living and 5'10". I went to lot of trouble to make my steering wheel removable, but nearly all the time I need not remove it. I use the in/out techniques learned in the 1970s and it still works for me.

(popcorn)

I'm not sure what to make of that statement. I have seen a lot of non-Lotus-related cars at LOGs. In 2018 someone brought a Ferrari with phony Lotus badging. I didn't make it to the LOG in SLC. I did arrive early for the one in Bee Cave TX this year. I saw a C8 in the ramp and wondered if it was there for LOG. I don't know that it was.

... for my 1970 Lotus 65 Europa

Will check that out. I bought adjustable rear lower control arms from Ray ages ago.

We are car guys, not middle-school kids.

WTB Lotus nose badge. Prefer round Green and Yellow.

Matt Nesbitt photo. Do not display this anywhere without photo credit to Matt Nesbitt.

that one must be pretty new.

There is a speedier autocross picture.

One of these cars is not like the other cars. That one's my 74PHIL. There was a spirited drive to the Circuit Of The Americas (The track that is even more egotistical than the Dallas Cowboys) to some parade laps. Here is a trail-cam video of part of that drive. https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1fSd7vl83SRQHMfij0Dp3MkoOln_eOCQG Look for and click on LCR Trail Cam. If you are impatient, skip to about the 50-second mark.