supersportsp

Just a shot of JohnCH's Westfield and my Caterham from a cars and coffee style get together in Redmond on Saturday. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v715/tgodbout/se7ensrtc.jpg

Get a more aerodynamic car.

If you only have 300 hp worth of traction, what does the extra power get you?

http://www.erareplicas.com/fia/fia.htm If I was going to get a Cobra replica, it would be the ERA 289 FIA. The 427 cars by and large drive like poo.

I just replaced both of my heater hoses last fall as they had become cracked. They aren't cheap, but Ben actually had some in stock in Denver. $70 was the damage for both I think.

California is the 8th largest economy in the world. Until about 10 years ago, more Porsches were sold in SoCal than the rest of the US combined. I am not saying there aren't a lot of Seven reps out there, but Cobra's are very popular in the US, and the US is by far the biggest car market in the world representing over 30% of cars in use globally.

There are probably more Cobra rep's in SoCal than Seven rep's in the whole world. Shelby still makes the car. Kirkham, Factory Five, ERA etc., etc.... Kit Car Builder Mag has a yearly Cobra replica guide issue.

I test drove an SV before I got my S3. By far the biggest difference is in the pedal box area. Much easier to move my size 12's around and manipulate the pedals. The extra width is nice, but it isn't like going from a go kart to a SUV or anything. It is still relatively snug. The extra length was nice, even though I was still all the way back against the rear bulkhead. For fast track work I would probably be more effective in an SV because of the ease of use aspect with the pedals. What wasn't any better for me was the distance between thigh and the bottom of the steering wheel. Just as tight as an S3.

http://www.topspeed.com/cars/lotus/2011-lotus-new-7-concept-ar106630.html http://pictures.topspeed.com/IMG/jpg/201103/2011-lotus-new-7-concept-2w.jpg

Didn't notice that. Certainly looks like they did. Also, in this photo notice the cross brace between the lower a-arms under the nose cone. http://www.westermann-motorsport.com/shop/images/product_images/popup_images/157_4.JPG

It is actually somewhat affordable. I paid $572.69 for mine, and another $117 for the removable petty strut extension that goes from the bar and bolts into the passenger foot well. That included shipping from the UK but not from Caterham USA to my house. I would definitely be interested in a solution that I wouldn't bang my head on and gives me a little more height clearance. If it was bolt in and fit the S3 chassis points it would be even more attractive.

Perhaps an alternative to winglets, aero wishbones etc. http://www.westermann-motorsport.com/shop/product_info.php?info=p157_Carbon-fibre-wishbone-foils--lower-.html Has anyone ever tried these? I like the concept. 1. Helps clean up air around the upper and lower arms (same effect as aero wishbones). 2. Overall shape seems to indicate at worst reduced lift and perhaps even some minor downforce? http://www.westermann-motorsport.com/shop/images/product_images/popup_images/157_7.JPG

Or ask me. Since I just got this bar. That is the FIA bar for the S3 chassis. I got one for my '97 and it is a direct bolt in replacement. It is slightly taller than the standard bar, but not a lot. It isn't without issue. The big one for me is the rather dramatic forward slope. You don't see it in the photo you posted, but you do in the ones I posted below. I am 6'2" and big for an S3 chassis for sure, but the stock bar doesn't really slope forward, thus I didn't have to worry about banging my head on it. As you can see in the photos below, the upper part of the bar protrudes into the cockpit area several inches. Not a big deal if you are shorter, but for me it has forced me to reconsider the purchase and I still might go another direction. There are rumors that they are no longer making the taller FIA bar, but I would contact Ben for confirmation there. Also, the cross bars cut out a lot of your rearward visibility out of your central review mirror. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v715/tgodbout/photo5.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v715/tgodbout/photo6.jpg It is massively beefy relative to the older or newer stock bars however.

Another thing to consider is the weight. Everyone here is talking about the grip levels, with some talk of wet traction issues, but there is a significant difference in tire weight. A R1R is about 2.5 pounds heavier than the same sized T1R. It affects handling significantly, especially on cars as light as ours. The Avon CR500s are the lightest tires for our cars. The T1R is the next lightest for a street tire. Also, a big difference can be in sidewall stiffness. Typically, the R compound tires have a significantly stiffer sidewalls which often accounts for the extra weight. Some believe that the uber stiff sidewalls are detrimental to the handling on ultra light cars like ours. The ZZRs that were mentioned earlier (I also just bought these) are a Caterham specific version that are lighter with a less stiff sidewall that you would get in a standard ZZR that you bought for an M3 or 911.

Well, after a trip this afternoon to buy an angle grinder, the car is now sitting on its news wheels. It took about 20 minutes of cautious grinding on each side to get enough clearance. It is tricky because if I ground too much I started to grind into the welds for De Dion tube to its end plate. I still need to go back in and do some more surgical work, perhaps with a file to free up a little more room for safety, but I just took it for a spin and all was well. I can tell you that the big sticky ZZR's on roads still coated in some sand and rocks from winter makes a hell of a racket. Going slowly down a local street I could actually see rocks being picked up by the front tires and being flung in the air.

http://www.autoblog.com/2011/03/04/aston-martin-unveils-amr-one-lmp1-race-car/#continued I will take one in normally aspirated form for my Caterham thank you. Man, this thing is going to sound awesome. A 2.0 liter compact straight six would be so sweet. "Engine– In line 6 cylinder, direct injected, turbocharged and intercooled DOHC Petrol engine, 4 valves per cylinder. Approx 540bhp"

http://www.autoblog.com/2011/03/04/ktm-x-bow-will-start-at-88-500-in-the-u-s/ Official starting price is $88.5k sans motor/trans.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v715/tgodbout/Cat-1800.jpg

If you aren't looking for DOT R compounds, I would recommend the Toyo Proxes T1-R. It is the lightest 15" tire for our cars that I could find after a good deal of research. Quite sticky, but good wet traction as well.

Drop me a PM. I have a full five wheel set that I am considering parting with.

It would be very interesting to do Pike Peak in the 911 RSR hybrid. Semi AWD system and electricity doesn't run out of oxygen as you get higher. It would be in the AWD class though.

To the bank to take out a 2nd mortgage.

I don't really care whether it is considered a 7 or not, or even 7-like. I do care that they all are fun, light and powerful. The X-Bow is appealing to me largely because it was developed by Dallara. Dallara kind of knows what they are doing when it comes to developing quick cars. For example: http://img.infocoches.com/img/lancia/1983-LC2-Gruppo-C/lancia_1983-LC2-Gruppo-C-001_4.jpg http://pictures.topspeed.com/IMG/crop/200602/1993-ferrari-333-sp-10_800x0w.jpg http://www.7extrememotorsports.com/lemans/cars/audi-r8-06.jpg The chassis technology on an X-bow is very, very impressive. It makes an Atom look like an original 7 by comparison. It is pretty damn spendy, and not terribly attractive, but I would still love to drive one.

Yes, because the cavernous trunk of ours can swallow several pairs of jeans and some clean socks. People tour on motorcycles all the time. In fact, I am going to go way out on a limb here and say people tour on motorcycles much more often than they do in Se7ens. KTM even has bags for the X-bow. http://www.shop.britishracinggroup.com/KTM-X-Bow-Driver-Bag-XPP00000390.htm http://www.shop.britishracinggroup.com/KTM-X-Bow-Co-Driver-Bag-XPP00000400.htm http://www.shop.britishracinggroup.com/X-Bow-Steering-Wheel-Bag-X0012050001.htm To me it isn't a Se7en because it is not front engine/rwd. And, it has no resemblance what so ever to an original Lotus Seven.