Croc

Ow - blowing up motors always is expensive. And BEC's seem to do this with frustrating regularity. I did like your Blues Brothers reference though! From your description it sounded like you used the downshift as engine braking (with regular wheel brakes) to slow down? I always thought engine braking was a bad thing on a BEC? My question is how much extra reliability/durability/extra mileage do you get from upgrading the spec you are considering (or drooling?) over? If there is not a meaningful difference then stick a complete engine and transmission in it and go fang it and wait for it to go boom again. I am not familiar with the 1397 kit and suspect most people here have no clue given the number of car engines? If you want to talk Hayabusa drop a PM to Ottocycle on here as he knows his ways around them very well. If he does not answer quickly - let me know and I can ping him by phone/email.

Come on Jon - you know that is cruel. :troll: Karl is always going to be much faster than you at any of these events simply because he turns up and you, by contrast, are yet to turn up because you are [insert word here]. Side note - I think the word is "chicken"

A USA7s member (Blubarisax) recently achieved the rare feat of being 'too fast' at US Porsche Club of America (PCA) HPDE (track day) events which resulted in the PCA National Executive posting new rules on what conststitutes an acceptable car for future HPDE events. While I have not seen the revised rules, I understand from a reputable PCA official the new rule effectively says that the body must extend to all 4 corners of the car and integrate over the wheels. In theory this would permit the standard clam shells fenders to be used however, I suspect the rules would be revised again to just ban sevens completely once the PCA person who rewrote the rules realized his (or quite possibly her...) error.:smash: I want to congratulate Karl on replaying history yet again on the Caterham for being "too fast to race": - 1960s - banned from mixed car class racing in the US - 1970s - banned from mixed car class racing in the UK - 2003 - banned from racing at the Nurburging 24 Hours - 2012 - banned from PCA HPDE events :bs: Congratulations Karl! :cooldude:

Hey! you got your 15 mins of fame. Thanks to you being so fast, the PCA National Secretary banned all Caterhams from PCA USA HPDE events! I think that deserves a round of applause :cheers:

Wow! Good find Alaskossie! I guess he started from the back of the grid? Not sure why he would be there unless he missed qualifying? Or he is following the practice followed in some European countries of reverse ordering the grid to make it exciting to watch? I suspect he has more than a normal R500 - paddle shifting is not standard so I guess he has the sadev sequential. That would make me look smooth too! I did a double take on the video for another reason. I raced this circuit once in a 2L BMW E36 FIA Euro spec car in late 1997. It is Zhuhai Circuit in China - just north of Macau and across the other side of the Pearl River estuary from Hong Kong. It did not have all the grandstands then - just temporary scaffolding seats. I definitely was not as successful as the R500!

And to think that I lived for 6 months in Bangkok calling it home!

The website shows $38k for a regular classic styled LS V8 turnkey. http://www.bruntonauto.com/turnkey/turnkey.htm Add a little extra for the M Spec suspension enhancements and the website says you are at $40k. http://www.bruntonauto.com/stalkermspec/stalkermspec.htm Pretty good value for what it offers. I suspect the price above is for a base LS putting out about 300hp - so the only sensible conclusion would be to up the engine spec to something like 500hp. I am sure that would add $5-10k to the cost but definitely be worth it as it would nicely offset the modest weight penalty that comes with a Stalker over say a Birkin/Westfield or Caterham.

To me this one line just sums up the incredible amount of work that you have put into your car Raceral! You literally went to the ends of the earth to finish it just right. Great color combination, beautifully detailed engine. Beautiful effort - congratulations!

Car is owned by Jeff who is a member on this forum. Relocated to the NYC area recently. Jeff was running with Tom, MichaelD and I on the Sunday session before our July track days on the Mon/Tues with SCDA. I also featured it in the videos I put together. You would like him Mike - he is fast! :rofl:

I like the concept of a small v8 in a light car however, the styling does me in. My preference was always the Sunbeam Tiger. Same concept just a better resolved styling treatment. Or even better a TR5 with an engine transplant. I suspect I would be massively disappointed in the handling and brakes today though

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/CSR/NJMP%2006252012/DSC_3805_edited-1.jpg http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/CSR/NJMP%2006252012/DSC_3806_edited-1.jpg http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/CSR/NJMP%2006252012/DSC_3807_edited-1.jpg http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/CSR/NJMP%2006252012/DSC_3814_edited-1.jpg

Taken at NJMP Lightning yesterday - nothing special just a track day. Definitely not Mopho quality but some here may enjoy them. http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/CSR/NJMP%2006252012/DSC_3779_edited-1.jpg http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/CSR/NJMP%2006252012/DSC_3795_edited-1.jpg http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/CSR/NJMP%2006252012/DSC_3798_edited-1.jpg http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/CSR/NJMP%2006252012/DSC_3801_edited-1.jpg

Mondo - My thoughts and wishes are with you at this rough time.

I have not got one for sale but I bought mine on Ebay UK through a seller "Barbarav1959" Fits well, delivered promptly and she was making other seven goodies including a roll bar mesh screen wind blocker. Softbits produced theirs later but it looks to be thicker nylon than what i have. If no one comes up with a solution then ordering through Softbits from the US works well - call them by phone rather than using the website (most important).

Thaanks for the photos Kiwi. I loved seeing the "P" plate on the seven! Do you get P plates too when you register your car and transfer your license? I just cannot imagine you getting slapped with the teenager night curfew rule. Also Surfers Paradise has changed a LOT since I was last there. My parents used to do the drive from Sydney with my sister and I as kids to Surfers for the summer vacation on the beach. Good stuff to see. Where did you end up in Brisbane?

Legal or not, I just do it myself in NJ and tell the guys that it is such a pain to fill that they may want to leave me to it otherwise they will get other customers yelling at them. Most are smart enough to realize that I am trying to help them out and they give way gracefully. Only once have I had a problem attendant and even then he learned pretty quickly that there is an art to doing it.....so he ended up giving it over to me and sulked off to his little hut.

She goes nice!!! :cooldude: I like that! By the second video you were dialed in well. I could see the impact of older tires with the front not wanting to turn in to apex at times and the rear sometimes getting twitchy but very nice. Great circuit too. More of a hp circuit which should disadvantage you on higher traffic days.

There are a few threads on blatchat where other people have the same issue - it is not unique to a CSR since the seats and their tracks are the same. The most common and cheapest UK solution is 1) as you point out followed by 2). I would not bother with 3) as it costs a lot and has the same effect as 1) and 2). If you do follow 2) make sure you put little grommets in to stop water splashing through on puddles.

I give Mazda 2 months before he has disassembled it in bits as a "next project"! :toetap05: :jester: Good to see you here - hope you are doing well Mazda?

Hi Klasik Its not Traqmate. At the time of purchase I looked at it and thought it was too expensive, the integrated camera option was not HD (I think it is now?) and it required fixed installation to a car. I wanted something flexible, accurate and could handle good quality video. So I looked at bike lap timers and now use this: http://racechronosystems.com/index.shtml Its dead easy to set and use. No driving around the circuit or playing with software to get a circuit to record. Easy to use with the touchscreen. With the included GPS logger, I bluetooth the logger and the touchscreen together and put the touchscreen in a fixed pocket on the car interior. There is a live timer screen but I do use it. I could always mount it on the dash if I want - suction mount, screws or superstrong velcro. It is very easy to switch around between cars. The GPS logger matchbox sized thing is mounted on the transmission tunnel with velcro. It can last an entire weekend before needing to recharge. Touchscreen unit batteries last all day without needing recharge. I export the data in a separate CSV spreadsheet for each individual session and import it and the GoPro video for the same session into RaceRender. I can have 4 videos and data and a separate audio track for synchronization - surprisingly easy to do once you understand the process. http://www.racerender.com/RR2/Features.html Once I have merged the data then I edit if I need to otherwise I just study it myself to work out where I have gone wrong again. I can usually see the tach and I have speed on screen which is my biggest clue for whether I am faster or slower through a corner. I also have actual lap times and splits by sector but I do not show that on video. I have also tried out the QStarz LTQ6000 which does the same stuff but is not intuitive with all the buttons and needs software to set the start/finish line (because I am not allowed to stop the car there during a session!). Some people may find it clunky with having to merge things afterwards but 2xGoPro HD2 (front and the other moves around from rear view, cockpit, wishbone, bedroom, etc) and a touchscreen pro with the bluetooth GPS logger is still cheaper than the comparable Traqmate and I think it is easier to use, less hassle to install and just as useful. If money was not an issue I would look past the Traqmate and go for the VBox Lite unit once they have released the new HD camera option (maybe they have now?). This has superb analysis software - the best I have tried out there for looking at car data, circuit and camera simultaneously. The big bonus is all of the data and video footage is synchonized automatically. For cameras it really is a toss up. I am very sure it is not your driving. GoPro is more expensive but has more accessories. I use mine underwater, on the track, skydiving, on the road, dodgy third world country travel, and now in aircraft so I can add lens filters, various mounts, etc to get great results. If you are less interested in the accessories then I would go for a Drift HD as for the same price as a GoPro HD2 you get the included wifi remote, same quality picture, external mic option, waterproof, inbuilt LCD screen for aiming. On a GoPro the wifi remote and LCD screen are extra and mutually exclusive. The wifi on the Gopro also chews through batteries at a rapid rate - something that I have not seen the Drift Hd do. The GoPro is much better protected - I have put mine on the lower front wishbones for track work and the case has taken some big hits. To stabilize your video footage you need to have the right mount and video setting. Try your Gopro on the highest frames per second with the highest resolution you can get with that. On the HD2 I can get 1080 30fps but that gives me rolling shutter effect on a track car. So dropping the setting to 960 48fps or even 720 60fps makes a steadier image and not much drop in resolution quality. For mounts I would forget what comes with the kits and order up a nice manfrotto mount with a rotating ball head: http://www.sevenspeed.co.uk/products/manfrotto-super-clamp-with-ball-and-socket-head Solid as a rock, versatile, super quick and easy to put on and take off and cheaper than the Gopro mounts. B&H has them for sale here: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/546356-REG/Manfrotto_035RL_035RL_Super_Clamp_with.html and http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/687361-REG/Oben_BD_0_BD_0_TABLE_TOP_BALL.html I would recommend taping the surface to be clamped with painter tape/or a thin rubber liner (to protect the surface) and putting a safety tether on. 1000 miles is a haul whether you travel north or south. Sadly I do not own a trailer (or even a vehicle with a tow hitch) as I am one of these people in NYC who lives with no parking space - so I drive to the circuit, run and spin around and then drive home (although I will fix that problem next year). It would be a haul to drive to Florida for me in the seven. I will say it is awesome fun running around with other sevens - I am very lucky to have a good group of drivers local to me!

What's a couple of cubic inches between friends? :cheers: It is interesting that my engine was originally ordered through the Cosworth CEO by a personal friend. It had some special treatments that are not in the standard Caterham 260 spec engine because of its unusual purchase channel. No idea what that counts for but I happily made a mess of my shorts once I realized the car became available through CAT USA and I could afford to have a midlife crisis without a woman to eff it up. I think Karl may have had a similar indecent experience when getting his motor. One day I will get it dynoed but for now I am happy and secure in the knowledge that I can lap Tom in a 20 minute session and monster most other cars And Kitcat, as for your spurious :jester: hp claims I would point out: 1) the 135hp Crossflow was a flywheel advertising claim and not a rear wheel claim as you dynoed it for 95hp. Allowing for drivetrain loss the numbers look to be within a more reasonably tolerance. 2) Dyno or no dyno, a 210hp Birkin is no longer a 210hp Birkin when the owner detonates it and has to replace it with a something of dubious provenance pulled out of some random 'chick car' or a "mommyobile" that had been trashed in a supermarket fight over a parking space! :hat:

275FWHP for me and 195FWHP for Tom makes me 41% more than Tom. How do I know this so well? Tom beat me up and won a bar room argument on hp one day when I accused him being much closer to me in the hp stakes. While i do not have a dyno sheet, I do have a Cosworth letter certifying they dynoed at 275hp at their UK facility. No reason to sue them yet... More food for thought - I have the same gearbox and diff ratios as Tom. He would get to the same speeds I am doing if he had a longer straight. And Tom is 'lighter in his loafers' around a track... :jester:

Youtube will ask you if you want it to fix shaky videos during the upload process. Unfortunately I find it makes the video worse! NJMP has the two tracks - Thunderbolt and Lightning. http://www.njmp.com/facility/track-maps.html In the video, Tom was running the Lightning circuit which is shorter but really quite fun because of the flowing nature. Momentum driving styles work well here. The other track, Thunderbolt is far more technical but is an interesting challenge for a seven as the first half is open and fast but the second half tightens up tremendously. So the big hp cars get away quickly but you reel them back quickly later on as they lurch through the slow bits. Assuming no traffic issues - On Lightning the front straight sees me top out around 125mph if I get a clear run on a cool day and about 105mph on the back straight. Drop that around 10-13mph on a hot day. This is from GPS logging data I collect. Speedo for my car reads 10mph faster but we all know how accurate that is! Assuming no traffic issues - For Thunderbolt, the front straight is about 135mph on a cool day with a clear run and about 110mph on the back straight. Hot days drop you back 10-15mph. With a passenger on a hot day takes you down 15-20mph. Now those speeds are for my car which has a third more hp than Tom. I have GPS data on a November day showing Tom getting to around 121mph area on the front straight of Thunderbolt. He struggles to about 115mph on a hot day. If you want to get a sense of the laps with some data then try these videos: Lightning - Traffic is a problem up to about 3 minutes then it clears out and MichaelD (with the be-winged seven in front) and I start having decent runs. Thunderbolt - Data logged footage of me following Kitcat on a nice clean lap staring 0.30: Come and join us next June when we have the sevens event. We could do with some more sevens who like going fast!

The digital audio recorder has to be sync'ed with the video in a post production editing process. It does not hook into the Gopro. I do not mind this since I sync the data from the Racechrono Touchscreen to the video anyway. Given your techy prowess I would not recommend this option and would recommend that you stay with a GoPro external mic solution (or other camera with an external mic - lots of other cheap ones on the market now plus I very much like the Drift HD that Tom uses because of its standard remote).

Not quite Karl - it is normally the red seven that does that. :rofl: Tom is way too polite to beat you up! :seeya: