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Keep the ideas coming. I just eyeballed the car and I dont think that there is enough room to go around to the back of the car. The rear wheels completely fill the wheel arches which mans going through the fender wont work. Also with the roughly 4 inches of ground clearance I cant go under the frame either. Will put out some measuring tape and look more carefully tonight. I just spoke to the guy at Quiet Horsepower (http://www.quiethorsepower.com) and he suggested either using 2 Phase 10 exhausts in series (pic 1) or a Phase 9 in concert with a phase 10 (pic 2). He builds exhausts for a lot of 911s and Formula Atlantic cars so he should be able to get it under sound but it sure will be an odd looking setup http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4021/4389805733_def52968a6.jpg http://www.quiethorsepower.com/images/side_914-6.jpg

Something like a second muffler in series on the side with the exhaust tube exiting out the back? Interesting idea - I'll have to see if there is enough clearance under the chassis to route an exhaust tube without impacting the suspension or the gas tank.

I was intentionally at max revs while passing the sound station. I've done the whole lift and change line at Laguna before and to me it just isnt worth it. Now that I have a good baseline I'm exploring options on how to reduce the sound level. I've started a new thread on the subject: http://usa7s.com/vb/showthread.php?p=39521 The Nittos are really good. Now that the release compounds are gone they are sticking very well and it actually takes some effort to get the wheels to break loose.

Couldn't you put the O2 sensors in the new exhaust? The U-bend solution could also work with an existing exhaust/heatshield as well. You can see the dual muffler Caterham I was talking about at http://gotbluemilk.com/web100215b/56/imagepages/image41.html Incidentally one of the previous owners of my car has actually taken it to Laguna and I even have a picture of it from a GGLC track day. Though I also have a picture of the Caterham above at the same event without its second muffler so maybe is was a higher sound day and/or the sound guy had the day off. http://farm1.static.flickr.com/35/103720832_cf11109f9b.jpg

I was at Laguna Seca for a sound check yesterday and got an incredible 109 dB reading. It was actually so loud that rather than the usual 3 lap sound check the flagger furiously waved me down before I could complete a full lap. Now the sound limit for Laguna is 92 dB (most other tracks are in the 102-103 range) and since that is my closest track I really would like to run there. I've spoken to the Hushpower folks about getting an exhaust to quieten it down but we dont really know if their solutions will actually do enough. One option would be to get their exhaust (~$200) and pre drill it for super traps. That way if I ever blow sound I can always put the traps in and hopefully pass sound. I also spoke to Phase 9 which is a local muffler fabricator used by a lot of Porsche guys and they suggested going for a 2 step solution. Use a single muffler for daily use that brings you down to the ~100 dB and then use a quick release second muffler on a u-bend pipe to quieten it down to the 92 dB limit. I actually saw a Caterham using this exact setup at Laguna and while its not elegant it does certainly work. What are other people using for mufflers on their Ultralites and are there any other options that I've missed? BTW I am running what I beleive is the stock muffler - pic below: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2793/4313274614_e1f7dd2caa.jpg

Sound check result: 109 dB. Maximum allowed : 92 dB :banghead::banghead::banghead: There is no chance in hell of this particular header/exhaust combo ever passing sound at Laguna. I'm going to be talking to Hushpower and a local Porsche exhaust fabricator to see what we can come up with.

Since mine was the very first car that Brian built it is running an aftermarket ECU (SDS) rather than the stock one that people use nowadays. Therefore no oxygen sensor and v-tech at 6k :driving: Tomorrow is not just tire testing day - I just heard back from Wine Country Motorsports that they finally have the HALO style race seats back in stock. Will be driving to Infineon to try out a seat fitment of that as well. All in all should be about 300 miles round trip in the seven which should be an interesting experience. Hope my back survives.

The WCM Ultralite (http://www.wcmultralite.com/) is also wide and long enough to fit most anyone.

The previous owner drove the car as is at Laguna so I'm curious to see what the meter reads. I want to get a true reading from the sound meter and then make any necessary changes to pass sound - the hushpower muffler setup sounds like a promising alternative. I've done the short shift thing in my Elise and its quite irritating to reel someone in over the course of a lap only to see them drive away between 5-6. :banghead:

Hi All As some of you may know I am the blog editor for the Golden Gate Lotus Club and we recently had a long-time members daughter email us about disposing off some random Seven parts. I figured that the USA7s community would be interested in these parts. She has posted a list of the parts on her website at http://milesspeed.com/cl/lotus/lotus.htm Please contact her directly for more info and to actually purchase the items. I haven't seen the parts myself but I have met Liz at a Lemons race so she actually is a real person and not a Nigerian scammer

Only got about 20 miles on it but the increase in grip is startling. I'd estimate I'm pulling as much G as my budys Elise does on slicks. I have to stick my datalogger in one of these days and see what it reads. Discount Tire Direct - $718 shipped and arrived in 4 days I am not sure what exhaust I'm running but you can have a look at it below. If the weather cooperates I will be doing the sound check at Laguna tomorrow. If I get the time I'll wire the data logger in tonight as well. http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4006/4313274246_ee1d910c73.jpg

LOL. Which car were you in? In my defense I dont usually drive like that - that particular trip was my first time on dry roads and I was trying out the grip. That's my story and I'm sticking to it

BTW Jim I just put a set of Nitto NT01s on my car last week. So far things seem good but I hope to be doing a few laps of Laguna this week (if the weather clears) and should have a better idea then.

I should add that the Lotus coral is only open to Lotus cars and Se7ens. If you are planning on a rental car you will have to use the general admission parking.

I'll join you for some driving and possibly the saturday of the event. Since I'm local I will not be needing a hotel room. Also I'd suggest buying your tickets via the GGLC (http://gglotus.org/ggshop/ggcorral.htm). You get a discount over the gate price and it includes parking within the Lotus corral.

Or the Ford Transit Supervan with a mid-mounted Cosworth F1 engine http://www.seriouswheels.com/cars/top-Ford-Transit-Supervan-3.htm

Congratulations on the race and thanks for the info. Was there a classing reason why you didnt got for an R500 motor or just reliability concerns? I would actually be interested in your lights story if you can spare the time. Having driven a Lemons car for a 4 hour night stint at Thunderhill on really bad headlights I'm always curious as to what a "good" solution is.

6'1", 185 lbs with size 14 feet I have plenty of room inside my Ultralite. Are you looking to buy used or build a new car?

Check out this 3200 sq ft "Barn" built by a Lotus collector (has a Mk VI instead of a 7). Lots of detail pictures with the reasoning behind the various decisions he took. http://www.lotustalk.com/forums/f218/my-lotus-barn-75834/

Your best bet might be to wait and see if anyone wants to get rid of a recent acquisition because it may not be what they expected. The last 3 that I remember (including mine) be resold in a few months of ownership because they were "too fast" and/or trouble with registration. Unfortunately with only about a 100 cars out there you may have to wait a while for the next one to come along. I was following this board and California Caterham Club for 6 months before a friend told me about the one I ended up buying

Its a fake video. The original one they did showed a random test driver prepping the car and getting in. After the Schumacher F1 deal was announced they made this new version which dropped the start and instead spliced Schumi in at the end.

Congrats Mike, I saw your post on BS and was about to PM you with USA7s info when I saw this. It's amazing how many people have an Elise and a Seven at the same time - you will be the 4th person that I know of (other than me).

R888s are perfectly safe on the street. I have used RA1 (R888s predecessor) for the last 10k miles on the Elise and I personally know at least 10 ppl that use R888s as their combo stree/track/autocross tire on Elise/Exiges with no issues. With the Ultralite being at least 600 lbs lighter you need have no safety concerns about the R888. I plan on getting a set of Nitto NT01s (same compound as RA1/R888) as my street/track tire from the Ultralite. But if I cant get that sorted in time I will be sticking with my current 235 width Falken Azenis all around. P.S: You should also check into your sound levels since Laguna has a strict 92db limit. I'm talking with the Hushpower folks to see if I can get a custom exhaust made to quiet the car down.

Are you going to be making the GGLC Laguna day (Mar 23)? I will hopefully be in the Ultralite (need to sort out seat and exhaust).

It won the 2009 Reno race and not the overall series trophy. I know this because my team finished second to them because of a wheel spacer issue :banghead: