Croc

Posting this by phone. Sitting on a yacht, anchored just opposite the Sydney Opera House enjoying the perfect sunny blue sky day with another cold drink in hand. Fireworks start at 9pm and again at midnight. So to all Seveners, glass raised in cheers wishing a great 2012! :party:

Go Pro 2 has a single external stereo 3.5mm mic plug socket. You need to use it with the skeleton case as the waterproof one blocks the socket. Works pretty well from my testing in November's track day. I am on the wait list for the wifi backpack so you can connect it to phones and other items to operate the camera remotely. Apparently you will be able to aim it via iphone/android.

RaceRender is what I use to sync my GoProII/VIO POV/MD80 cameras to output from my datalogger. Luckily it is easy to use so I have faith you could make it work.

Was this before or after Jon tried to drive it? :ack:

The seven scrubbed up nicely in those photos. I do like a yellow seven. I think a prospective purchaser should try and live with the RHD first. I flip back and forth between US, UK, Germany and Australia all the time. Apart from the odd time of getting into the passenger seat and wondering where the steering wheel has gone or todays trick where I put the window down trying to change gear, I think it is fairly easy to switch back and forth. I would recommend an Ez-pass or similar e-toll tag though

I saw it on my flight last week - superb viewing. Brought back the era of 80s/early 90s F1 so well. Definitely worth seeing - preferably with a nice high volume to enjoy the sound track.

Jim - My experiments have shown me the rear "trunk" of my seven under the tonneau cover is the best mic placement for sound for me, despite it getting a fair amount of diff noise. The other option is run the mic forward way way way up under the dash but I get wind noise there. Not sure what brand data logger RNR is using but I can confirm that they are really good at wasting huge amounts of my time by analyzing track data. I am still studying my November track day data. When you merge it with the camera footage, I have found it very helpful at showing me where i am slow and can make changes to improve speed.

there is a Merry Christmas post up in the Sevens board but hey I can do it again! Wishing the USA7s group a wonderful Christmas full of good food, alcohol, family, friendship and other things too naughty to mention! :cheers:

Nonsense. Boxologist has graduated so is able to demonstrate great skill in hitting any auto-x cone plus make a Miata soar through the air and land safely mostly unscathed. Now rookie Slngsht here managed to get airborne but up-ended his Miata from a simple tail out spin. Pathetic freshman display of skill. I think Slngsht failed "Introductory Trashing Your Miata 101." :jester: Hi Jon! :seeya:

Its not heading for depression - call it modestly positive growth (major growth around the mines, less so in the suburbanized east coast). Aussie/US dollar will come back to 0.93 during 2012 but the share market looks primed for a minimum 10% gain over all of 2012. Some people are doing it tough but overall it is better than what you are putting up with in Christchurch. Melbourne and Sydney feel fine from what I have seen this trip but I am hearing from the various family members I have in Brisbane that it is little flat with more workers than jobs. Sydney is way too expensive for accommodation costs but maybe do some research on whether Melbourne can offer the same opportunity with a better climate. I think it may just surprise you. Other options - reserach Newcastle/Hunter and Wollongong regions - larger in population than Christchurch, plenty of jobs, cheaper accommodation and a great quality of life available around there.

I see you went to the Boxologist School of Driving Miatas! :jester:

G'day Kiwi - I saw the news the other night just after I arrived in Sydney. The liquefaction looks really bad this time and so many people were interviewed on TV were clearly at breaking point saying its time to get out. I can understand your desire to want to move. If you need an Aussie citizen reference for the immigration papers let me know. I am helping another friend of mine make the move to Sydney for all the same reasons.

Merry Christmas USA7s! :party: May I just point out that Kiwi's pic is actually from Sydney and not NZ but I will be out on the harbor with the boat later today enjoying that very view! It is a lovely 75 degrees (F) with blue skies. :cooldude:

Shamelessly pinched from OzClubbies: Ford has announced plans to acquire French automaker Renault and engineering teams have already joined forces to create the perfect small car for women. Mixing the Renault Clio and the Ford Taurus, they have designed the Clitaurus. It comes in pink and the average male car thief won't be able to find it, let alone turn it on, even if someone tells him where it is and how to do it. Rumor has it though, that it leaks transmission fluid once a month and can be a real bitch to start in the morning! Some have reported that on cold winter mornings, when you really need it, you can't get it to turn over. New models are initially fun to own, but very costly to maintain and horribly expensive to get rid of. Used models may initially appear to have curb appeal and a low price, but eventually have an increased appetite for fuel, and the curb weight typically increases with age. Manufacturers are baffled as to how the size of the trunk increases, but say that the paint may just make it LOOK bigger. This model is not expected to reach collector status. Most owners find it is best to lease one, and replace it as needed.

They do it differently down south?!!! Someone said there was driving as well? :conehead: What happens if you are not registered with NASA - do you get shoved down into hacker land?

US$130k to US$195k I will be very interested to read the road test as sadly there is not much hope of getting a Donke here in the US.

Just to clarify, the photos I posted are from the Caterham CSR chassis demonstrator that currently sits in their showroom and is clear of all plumbing/radiator/etc. The shocks are the ones that come on the CSR Superlight. They are the "Dynamic Suspensions" Damper units developed by Multimatic for the car and are fully adjustable. Apparently you can even pump in/remove oil from the reservoir to change the damping effect (not that I plan to worry about this with the odd track day!) The regular CSR gets adjustable Nitrons.

There is no data since as far as I know a front winged seven has not made it into a wind tunnel. From the wind tunnel experience, just for the CSR roster of aero improvements there was a small incremental benefit that increases as you get further north of 100mph but essentially unnoticeable below. Link that to Thunderbolt where you only get over 100mph on 2 parts of the circuit for cornering - last corner onto main straight and T3. Of these T3 is the highest speed as I think with a good set of sticky slicks and a lot of courage you could be seeing 110-115mph in my car through that very fast sweeping turn (not that I do! :rofl:) so I have to believe any benefit is so low that even an F1 driver would not notice. However, for a place like Silverstone which in F1 GP format is an insanely fast circuit where there are a lot of corners that you turn through at 100mph and higher then this would be the place I would want to test to see the result of an aero improvement. The race R300 I had could have definitely benefited with a front wing as it was a pig at understeering at silly speed turns unless I got off the throttle to get weight on the front tires to have turn in bite.

Inboard suspension looks nicely simple on a seven: http://mycaterham.com/mediac/400_0/media/DIR_175409/0049.jpg http://mycaterham.com/mediac/400_0/media/DIR_175409/0106.jpg http://mycaterham.com/mediac/400_0/media/DIR_175409/0105.jpg Still uses the exact same shocks as a regular Caterham so no weight saving here, just the (ever so tiny) marginal aero benefit.

Hmmm....not sure aero will help you keep up with 650hp as big aero slows your ultimate speed down as it adds downforce? However, I like the challenge of helping other people spend their money. Here are some possibilities for dual wings: Dual Wings - did you mean dual element rear wings? http://www.reverie.ltd.uk/product_list.php?group=A%20RWING&subgroup=A%20RWING%20DE Or did you mean winglets/whiskers that mount to the front of a nose cone? http://www.caterhamparts.co.uk/product.php?id_product=3274 I think Carbon Mods and Fluke also sell these. Probably others around in fiberglass too. Or did you mean the wing foils that mount on the A-frame of a front suspension? http://www.fluke-motorsport.co.uk/wishbone-foils-p-1039.html Or for a splitter try: http://www.mickmadecomposites.co.uk/products.htm

Well I asked Santa for something blonde, leggy and cute but apparently I am not naughty enough to warrant such a present. :svengo: Anyway, I got a a very valuable present for Christmas that I can enjoy in 2012. It gives me the ability to "keep up" with Tom in his Seven. :driving:

Martin - As a gentleman of exceedingly good taste in carbon (meaning me...not you! :jester: ) happily exploring the infinite ways I can put carbon fiber on a seven, I can share some photos of how they mount a front wing to a Caterham Levante/CSR. The off-the-shelf mounts do not work on a S3/SV chassis but I bet you could jury-rig it with some duct tape. http://www.reverie.ltd.uk/Images/upload/Caterham_Steve%20Wilson%2001-Aug-08%20004edit.jpg http://www.reverie.ltd.uk/Images/upload/CaterhamFrontWing%20004.jpg http://www.reverie.ltd.uk/Images/upload/Caterham_Steve%20Wilson%2001-Aug-08%20005.jpg

:rofl:

No, sadly it was Newark as in UK.

I had the fortune (misfortune?) to see the stand of this company at the Newark Kit Car Show this year. I posted the pics in June 2011 but luckily you all failed to vomit until now! The Sonic 7 actually looks a lot better in the flesh than it photographs. Still I am nervous of the idea of a car where you get a paper cut just by touching it: http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/june%202011/DSC00680_edited-1.jpg As for the Exomotive Exocet, sadly, I did not photograph it, preferring to photograph its butt ugly sister, the Rocket. The lady at extreme left looks like she is holding the contents of her stomach in: http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/june%202011/DSC00682_edited-1.jpg I quite like the look of the Atom or Jon W's (on this site) excellent scratch build recreation but there are an increasing number of copycat kit cars out there that just fail to successfully emulate the styling by getting the basic proportions wrong. Given the numbers on display and the people prowling around, the company seemed to have a lot of interest and looked successful at the show. Just goes to show that not everyone has taste.