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I am very happy with the OMP Pista in my Ultralite. I prefer composite seats over metal ones for their out-of-the-box comfort as well as the certification. http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4039/4475515576_1ff20ee34a.jpg You can see more about my seat setup at http://www.rahulnair.net/blog/2010/04/01/setting-up-a-seven-safety/

I stand corrected - just looked up the rules and only HPDE requires SA. That said if you are driving a car with a roll bar (which most 7's have) you probably want an SA helmet which has been tested for multiple rollbar impacts. http://www.smf.org/helmetfaq#aSAMKdiff

Yes. Technically most clubs should not be allowing you to autocross in an M helmet anyway.

i'd recommend getting a helmet from one of the known brands as they will tend be longer lasting and more comfortable. Saferacer.com has a good selection starting from I personally have been using an HJC Si-12 for 7 odd years (250+ hours) and really like it. When you wear them for stuff like endurance racing or karting the saved weight really does make a difference.

Well to be honest he did warn me that he was going to be screaming for comedic effect the whole time

Follows on from the Truth in 50 seconds videos from last year. The Ultralite he rides in is mine. I ended up hitting a cone near the start and since the camera was still rolling on a ruined lap I gave it some extra tail out action after that.

The Golden Gate Lotus Club will be announcing its annual ticket purchase in a couple of weeks. Gives you a slight discount to the races but more importantly gives you cheap parking in the corrals right off T2. I'll post it on here when the thing goes live. If all you want to do is see the cars and watch them on track (practice not race) I'd suggest going for the Pre-Historics which are the weekend before the main event and are much lower key. Very small crowds mean that you can spend as long as you like checking out individual cars but you wont have any of the star drivers/owners around.

While I do like the S2000 motor in a Seven I have to wonder about the timing of launching a kit a few years after the relatively rare donor car (compared to say a Miata or Focus) has gone out of production. When I cracked the block in my S2K it took a bit of hunting around to find a decent replacement engine. If I was to ever build a Seven from scratch I would do a Duratech or go all out for an LS V8. The easy availability of engines and parts make them the obvious choice IMHO.

This is the brace on my Ultralite http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7160/6810643331_cd3450976d.jpg

I dont think people who buy this will care too much about the carbon footprint. But the ability to get an extra 163 hp for just 125 lbs of low slung weight does make it a fairly attractive tradeoff especially at low speed acceleration.

That is one of the negatives of having large wheels on the Ultralite. I run 235/275 F/R and just the rubber by itself weighs a hundred pounds. Measuring the weight with the wheels is just going to make me sad.

Very nice! What speeds were you hitting down the back straight? I'd imagine it would be pretty close to the top speed of the Ultralite.

If you delay to the July 4th weekend you can also check out the West Coast Lotus Meet in Seattle on July 4th weekend http://www.westcoastlotusmeet.com/

The car does have one side bar on each side.

That is true of all all old cars. GRM put a Jag XKE and a Porsche 356 up against a Honda Odyssey minivan a few years ago and it trounced them both. http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/articles/soccer-moms-revenge/

Except the 2nd amendment is by definition an amendment and not part of the original constitution (adopted 4 years later according to Wikipedia). And there is precedent to adding an amendment and then removing it later(21st repealed the 18th). Plus its not like the founders were a 100% right about everything. The original document clearly allows slavery which was then repealed by the 13th amendment. I am not an american myself and I find the it interesting how people from 200+ years ago are expected to have been right for all eternity despite having several of their decisions being changed already.

They claim that it only loses 10% charge a year and comes with a 3 year warranty. They are best charged using a balance charger which you can buy on Amazon for $25. From what I've read it sounds like the LiFe batteries do not like low loads like car alarms for extended periods and are best used in total cut-off systems (aka kill switched vehicles). I did about 150 miles in the Se7en with the new battery this weekend and everything was fine

Got my EVO2 battery today and I have to say that the size and weight differential is mind boggling - you really have to hold one yourself to feel the difference. It was especially large in my case as I went from the 25 lbs PC925 to the 3.5 lbs EVO2. http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8330/8393755404_0a4c4ef998.jpg http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8492/8393756634_9d84def88b.jpg

I see a C7 Z06 in my future

Apple is definitely Li-Ion: http://www.apple.com/batteries/ That said my new new Evo2 16 cell battery just shippind so I guess I believe in LiFePh

I'd be happy to participate and submit pics but the problem usually is that you need someone to step and do the work of selecting/editing the pics.

Are you sure they were Lithium phosphate? All reports I've seen call them Li-Ion

I'm sure its buildable but I'm not so sure if it will be safe to drive on the street. Most drivers will estimate the distance between themselves and the car in the next lane based on the nose and will not expect a car to be significantly wider than the nose. Would be interesting to drive though

I cant help you with the Caterham questions but once you have the car setup you should join us at the GGLC trackdays: http://www.gglotus.org/trkdays/ggtrkday.htm The next one is at Laguna on Feb 11 and we invariably have a couple of different sevens there.

West Coast Lotus meet in in Seattle over July 4th weekend and all Sevens are welcome. It will include a trackday (optional), autocross, drives, dinners and two private museum tours among other things. Site: http://westcoastlotusmeet.com/