Croc

Burn him at the stake!!!! Traitor!!!

Not really surprising. Porsches are made now for doctors, attorneys, TV starlets, Paris Hilton, hairdressers and retired semi-executive flunkeys/wankers. I doubt any of them know how to change gear! Porsche shifted from being a sports car manufacturer for drivers to 'mainstream aspirational' as dumbing down the brand makes more money for them through being a status symbol. And thats what it is all about - money. The problem with appealing to this demographic is their general ineptness behind a wheel that comes with such low-brow personalities. They dont know how to time revs, clutch and shifting. Heel and toe is now something you see in a shoe store. The variety of electronic driving aids is intended to allow you to get to a Starbucks to have your mega-grandee cinnamon latte in quick time. Cornering? Needed to be able to be able to turn into a parking space at 15 mph to beat grandma in her Buick. Their natural habitat is the clogged arterial roads of Los Angeles or New York City - who wants a stick shift for the 0 - 5mph sprint in a traffic jam? I think I will stay with the purists and continue to drive a seven - you feel the breeze through your thinning greying hair, smell the hot oil, feel the throb of the engine through the ball of your right foot on the throttle, the friction rubbing from applying the brake, the kickback through the steering as it loads up on a spirited corner, and enjoy the challenging finesse required to navigate the gears smoothly at high revs.

Not as much concern as with 309hp Duratec redlined at 9500rpm! :willy_nilly: I would not worry Mike - you will have spun off the track before that happens....:jester: ok I will be good and leave now...:leaving:

You need the extra diff struts in a CSR otherwise you will rip the diff out with the torque of the 2.3 Duratec. I had these installed: http://www.caterhamparts.co.uk/product.php?id_product=4802 There is a LHS one as well. Sorry I do not have a photo and the car is 1.5 hours away right now. It does reduce the trunk space significantly but its not as if I am carrying a make up kit around with me. For the CSR there are apparently 2 types of diff strut - race and road. You will need to find out which diff spec you have - centered mounting or that with offset mounting where the unequal spacers are used. The advantage of using the Caterham struts over the other version you are consider is that they are plug and play with a CSR. Not sure what advantage the other form of strut offers you?

yeah yeah yeah....use the other hand! They all say that! :rofl: All jokes aside, it sounds impressive. I will definitely be giving the point bys this weekend (in my mustang)

Blubarisax has a sadev so can answer specific questions on his experiences and would have the name of the guy he bought through in Germany who help lighten his wallet. My other recollection is a Sadev was put in an S3 chassis by Carl (last name who escapes me) who runs the Seven Speed website. He goes by the name Mad Hatter on Blatchat.com and occaisonally pops up on USA7s. I would seek him out through his Seven Speed site.

No I definitely dont think you are wet and I will go out there saying I believe you can get over 150mph. So lets assume you make more than 270hp. The CSR with that horsepower in the Cosworth Duratec, a standard 6 speed Caterham box with the 1:1 6th gear, and the 3.41 diff was tested to 155mph at a redline of 7800rpm (for that engine). So your ideas are ballpark achievable if you can solve the engine problem and you change a diff ratio to either the 3.35 or 3.41 alternatives. I love hearing from other people on this forum who are as bonkers as I am! :rofl:

Hold on a moment. So you add all this power dont you still run up against a gearing issue? Assume a diff ratio of 3.62 and the usual Caterham 6spd 1:1 ratio in 6th then you would still max out at your redline at the same top speed (135-138mph) unless you (1) increase your rev limit or (2) change your diff ratio to the 3.38 or 3.41 or even 3.15 (if my memory of Caterham diff ratios is correct). Are you trying for (1) alone or for both (1) and (2)?

Having driven both IRS Birkin and Caterham, de Dion Caterham and live axle Birkin and Caterham I can say the IRS makes an extraordinary difference - the cars are less thrown off line by bumps/craters/potholes/ridges. Some people may feel this changes the character of the car - I think it just makes it much faster point to point. To be honest I did not feel the de Dion made much improvement over the regular live axle. So yes an IRS is desirable but I have never seen one down at this price point - lowest was around $28k. For this Birkin's price I would change to 13 inch wheels and increase the profile of the tires to keep the same diameter - you would reduce unsprung weight, soften the ride and the handling would still be just as good. Your bigger issue is whether you can register it - we can discuss that on Saturday - PM sent.

Caterham sold on ebay for $23690 thats a good deal for someone.

:hat: Shhhh! Auction closes in 3 hours.

Ok so it is not 1967 but thats what the ad says! no affiliation or connection to me - just reposting to assist all the forum members spend more money! Decent spec and looks nice. Good price at $23500. http://www.autotraderclassics.com/classic-car/1967-Lotus-Seven-1017513.xhtml?conversationId=67432

Both SCDA and Trackdaze have 5 run groups a day.

all will be revealed at: http://www.usa7s.com/vb/showthread.php?p=71942&posted=1#post71942

Broomstick rule on a Caterham is top of roll bar forward to the front top chassis member where the bonnet meets the nose cone. I would think it is the same for you. You will clear this easily - I have seen your car before. Trackdaze costs single day $285 early discount before May 31 $35 off both days packaged together $435 ($400 after early bird discount I think). For comparison SCDA: single day $295 both days packaged together $545 Book before April 24 and both days cost $491 after discount

No Steve - you are not allowed back in since Bruce was concerned (in the Wagon Queen post) about you giving Beverly D'Angelo a woodie.

I will start off by apologizing for the delay in getting dates posted but Tom and I have been exploring options to improve our track experiences over the prior year. In the past we have used SCDA to run at NJMP for the two days in late June. I explored using them this year, including getting our own run group but the dates were problematic being mid-week which I know rules out those who actually work for a living. Their cost was also a little steep for our run group (we could have hired the track on our own for 20% less cost). Separately I did explore renting the track for our exclusive use but the personal insurance risk from potential accidents was of concern to me. Tom and I have narrowed down to two main options: 1) Wait and see what the new LTW Motorsports can schedule at NJMP. LTW is organized by Nova and WTR on this forum and their keeness for the Lotus brand is well know. If you missed the earlier post, this is a group track day group focused on sub-3000 pound cars which would seem perfect for the sevens group. They are working hard to put something together but it is not certain which dates or in which format. Maybe Nova or WTR on here can add to this post below? 2) Join the Trackdaze group which has Lightning booked for Sat June 22 and Sun June 23. From my perspective, this has the advantage of dates known, can be booked now, weekend days, and they will take us. Max run group of 25 cars. Downside is that it is at Lightning for both days but since I rarely run there I am pretty happy with that. They do apply the broomstick test for open cars but I am comfortable that we will all pass and be within the intermediate group based on our skill - no spinning on the warm up laps Karl! Speaking of Karl - I can see he has already signed up. I can see people starting to book vacations now and we were starting to lose numbers and so it was important to get a save the date message out to you all. My strong inclination is to go for the Trackdaze event and if LTW comes up with an additional date then we join in that as well! Please add your thoughts/reactions to the proposed options/date. Also, for those that are NJMP members (or maybe should be ) there is also a big long weekend planned on July 5, 6, and 7 (Fri to Sun) - all at Lightning. Keep your calendar free for that as well.

hi Bruce - Right now the first half of June works better for me than the last half. Not sure why Steve is saying sorry as that seems to work with your dates and matches me. I have a risk of a possible work trip offshore in the first and second week of June but will not know if it will come off until around mid-May. I still we set a date now - at least it gives me incentive to control this pesky thing called work! :cheers:

guys - we should stop hijacking Iceberg's post on comparing seven brands. :grouphug:

Who remembers the National Lampoon Family Vacation movie starring Chevy Chase and Beverly D'Angelo? Well you can now buy the car - Wagon Queen Family Truckster. Puke green paint job. Acres of fake wood panelling that definitely will not give you a woody. And vast fields of cheap beige nylon velour that you can recline on. I am sure driving down an insterstate it would be the same as floating a barge down the Mississippi -all wallowy. And it would be be harder to make a right hand swing than a Democrat party member. This is the only thing that would potentially get more attention than driving a seven on the roads. http://www.mecum.com/auctions/HA0413/HA0413-150057/images/HA0413-150057_1.jpg?lastmod=030113172618 Does not say how much it will go for? Here is the link to the ad http://www.mecum.com/auctions/lot_detail.cfm?LOT_ID=HA0413-150057&entryRow=335&lottype=car&startRow=321 So who here is going to buy it? :dupe:

So where is that video Steve! I want to see a seven out on COTA!

I dont think I have ever seen a silver Ultralite before - it really suits the car and looks great. Top photos. One day I will drag my car down there to try it out. Was it another USA7s person in the Caterham behind you? they would have been even slower for top speed than you.

Hi Jeff - I heard from Jon Nelson you were out there this week "taking delivery" of your new R500. Hope it is going well and we will see you back on the east coast in time to test it out in better weather!:seeya:

I hope you mean Mar 9/10 weekend?