Croc

I have just dribbled all over my keyboard!

Great car! Enjoy it as much as you can before the weather shuts us down for the season. :seeya:

When I did the Harley Davidson factory tour in Reading PA they said the average weight of their bikes was 1200 pounds. I bet the Japanese bikes are lighter though!

No affiliation or connection to me - just reposting in case anyone is looking. Contact seller not me. Nicely priced SCCA spec zetec caterham race car from Entropy Racing is for sale through Sports & Specialist Cars in Hopewell NJ. http://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/dealer/caterham/super_7/1481192.html Asking NOW $15500 (was $18500) Has a VIN but no title...interesting.... For those who do not know Entropy Racing, these guys support race teams and rent race cars for use in races, SCCA license school or track days. Was being rented at about $1200 per day supported. http://assets.hemmings.com/uimage/12187677-425-0.jpg?rev=1

Hallelujah! And this forum is a better place for all the humor its inmates have brought here! :rofl:

Pah! Its only got 275hp. I already have that. I want at least 325hp for my next seven.

Disappointing but not really surprising - Youtube is Google. :svengo: I might hold off updating my iPOS software knowing this There are other Youtube buffer apps that can be used but they are not as good as the official youtube one.

I always use my horn out on the track! :D Tom was not the only one playing practical jokes out there on track, I got blackflagged for using my hazard lights on track - I was travelling below 45mph (on track) following a glacially slow Porsche in a no-pass zone. My excuse was that using hazards on highway when below 45mph is NJ law! :jester: The little red Miata can blow the "doors" off my car too - 350-370hp supercharged 2.3L duratec with lots of modifications. The driver is very good too. Best pit discussion of the day was asking a plastic surgeon all about the breast enhancements and getting all the good facts. Filled in a rain delay beautifully.

Really sorry I could not make it but I was in FL driving something pretty special...errr...not - a brand new red Chevy Impala. Good to see Wil has finally got the Maserati painted - I love his color choice. That is just one remarkable scratch build.

Tom's (Yellowss7) is using a Drift HD with an external mic run way way up under the dash. Video was set at 720HD 60fps. Its amazing how long it has taken for a bunch of sevens to sort out decent sound and video on our cars in a track environment. It has been a real trial and error process.

Some still pics of the car in the pits: http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/Miscellaneous/bugattiA.jpg http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/Miscellaneous/BugattiB.jpg And in the pic below Tom is standing at left agape at another cute toy - a Formula Mazda or a Formula Ford Ranger as I called it and really badly upset the owner in the bar that night. He was even more outraged when I said I had a similar engine in my Caterham ....oops....not my most tactful moment! http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/Miscellaneous/BugattiC.jpg

Let me embed your video for you Can I just say for the record that the Bugatti Veyron did not catch me I could see him across the track as I was in Turn 10 he was coming out of Turn 6 and the distance stayed fairly constant. For all the 1000hp he was jaw droppingly quick in a straight line - he went past Tom in the above video at 160mph but then tippy-toed around corners. The bit that just clinched it for me that the owner is a true and worthy car nut - he did not put any blue painters tape over the body to mask it ahead of the track session - :hurray:

I am definitely out for this weekend. I have a Saturday meeting in Orlando that I was committed to yesterday. Have a great time guys! Sorry I missed it.

You are on! Free non-driving guest pass coming up just for you. Keep the weekend of Nov 17/18 free - it will be a group I think you will enjoy. I cannot think of anyone more experienced that I want handling my drinks! Agree completely with this one. This is why I am disappointed with the PCA thinking and I am concerned it is the start of a slippery slope for our cars.

From the dictionary a berk (plural berks) (UK, slang, pejorative) A fool, prat, twit. (UK, slang) An idiot, in an affectionate sense. So a Berkin must be a car driven by a Berk? What does that make Birkin (or the rare Birkin SV) owners? :jester:

Martin - Thanks for putting this discussion on a technical footing (despite me being slightly mischievous above). Just to clarify, while you need to refer to the club racing rules to find the correct reg that governs permissible cars the original issue only comes from eligible participation in HPDE/track days. Extracting the essence of your comments: From the discussions Yellowss7 and myself were having with the PCA official last Friday (lets leave him/her unnamed to protect our useful source), the rule you refer to above was revised in July 2012. Prior to July 2012 this rule did not contain the bolded text. Prior to the recent rule change there was no rule to prevent a Seven with front cycle wings (or clamshells) from participating in PCA HPDE. Following the modification with the new rule text, cycle wing cars are clearly prohibited - as was intended by PCA. However, clamshells would still be permissible but was beyond the intent of the PCA when making their rule modification (again as per PCA official). This is good information - however, what is your understanding when the seven is equipped with cycle wings as is more common in recent production sevens? By the way, Karl's car is equipped with cycle wings. My speculation was that if Karl installed clams them he would again be eligible to run with PCA HPDE (no competition - just HPDE). Obviously that would last about as long until PCA Exec realized they goofed with the reg rewrite done in July 2012 and made another change to achieve their desired intent. I can only agree with you wholeheartedly!

Putting aside my comments about Karl being too fast, :rofl: the "public" explanation comes down to track safety. PCA would have to be concerned about what wayward Caterhams can do to someones 911, 996, 997, 924, 944, 9....etc. It is not a long mental stretch (even for a Porsche driver) to jump to potential legal liability issues in the event of Karl (or more likely Jon) taking out in an incident someone's Porsche show pony. They are probably less concerned what a 3800lb 911 could do to Karl in a 1400lb seven but it just might have also entered their thoughts quickly while they were debating which color they should next anodize their knob.... Personally I think it smells of elitist snobbery - how dare they take away my opportunity to show up a Porsche on track! I do find this exceptionally ironic given the well known 911 series tendency for the rear snapping out into uncontrollable lift off oversteer :svengo:

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!