Croc

While you are right that we did not get an S1 on track at NJMP, DaveD on this forum has tracked/autocrossed his S1 and was hoping to put it out on track with all the sevens at NJMP at some point (hopefully this year!). Drop him a PM here and seek his input. Personally I feel the quality of an S1 is a clear step above other sevens that I have seen straight from the manufacturer. The only time that seems to differ is when you can an individual builder who goes to extreme lengths to really produce something special.

Should be open on the Friday and Saturday night given they are always booked out on weekend days. Will need to confirm this closer to the date. And I am not mounting a horse this time - someone elses turn to look silly :jester:

Congratulations Paul! Looking forward to seeing it in person when you get it into state.

Sorry Steve - I was offerring intro sessions at NJMP for those who have not been on track before. The idea is to get those seveners who have not tried out their cars on track before to get a safer approach to starting off. This does not impact the original purpose of this post - decide on a date for the June Sevens track day which seems to be settling on TrackDaze given the frustrations I know Greg (Nova) has sadly been having trying to put together a good program. Sorry if I confused you.

Roman - PM sent with details.

I hit refresh 10 times and Westfield comes up only twice, Stalkers every other time. I guess it is like Dean says - Westfield dont pay enough!

There is a distributor? I only ever see Stalkers advertised at the top of my screen? Still I think they should pay you as you are the only one visible from where I sit.

Sorry John - its a slow day here in the office while I am picking the new interior designs and finishes for my private jet that was paid for with my low tax rate at the expense of CA taxpayers.....oh...wrong thread...this should be in the political arguments section! :jester: Seriously John - thanks for being a good brand ambassador for Westfield - the UK factory should pay you for the free publicity you provide or at least establish a US distributor.

I have to say that it was an interesting article and very complimentary on how Westfield finally has got its quality act together. No longer is there the stigma of driving a canoe. For a marque that does not have much meaningful representation in the US other than a few good forum participants (JohnCH/Hank/etc) it is nice to see some positive news from the media posted in the forum. That said, I do prefer the regular Westfield Birkin SV rear end styling treatment that they copied from Caterham who copied it from Colin Chapman's seven rear end. Ultralite was a little late to the copying party - did they use a post office van as a rear end model like Colin Chapman did? :jester: Its all ok anyway as we all drive a bunch of fakes - some (owners?) better looking than others. Mind you, I am not a fan of the Westfield WTF body style which has a droopy rear end - like someone melted the fiberglass rear end with a hairdryer?

You keep away from my Uncle Albert or I will bite your leg off! :rofl:

Stupid me - I thought daylight saving was introduced by Ronald Reagan to stop the sun fading the curtains in California? :iamwithstupid: I am totally confused what "fruitloops" and "home-seexuals" in CA have to do with daylight saving? Far be it for me to judge but I suppose if the shoe fits they can wear it - leave me well out of it! :ack:

Putting aside my mischievous humor above, would it make better sense to start off with an intro session at one of the private member days? Intro group is about 5 sessions in the day, ride along instructors, no passing, always behind the pace car. The instructors are extremely well accredited and respected by me. He starts off slow and as the day progresses he increases the speed. Lots of classroom sessions and instructions. Takes the pressure off you because there is no passing so you do not worry about holding people up. $195 for the day including breakfast/lunch and all refreshments (except beers in the bar at the end of the day). I made the same offer to Pe7e on this forum for him to try in the coming months. I think it is the best way to I have ever seen to learn track driving - slower learning curve but it is much safer. We can also get you out as a passenger in a seven (either mine when it gets back from the shop in April or Karl's gorgeous car) so you see the lines from a seven perspective. Passengers are allowed on accredited private member days but not commercial track days unlike what Kitcat said above. I promise I will not let you out on track with Kitcat (wild man!) ETA - I would make the same offer to any prospective seven track candidate just so you start off the right way. Tom and I saw how bad some track day instruction can be at an event last year when some wrong lines were being taught which had some unfortunate results.

Do you want me to come and hold your broomstick for you?

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.