jimrankin

You should tape a few tell-tails all over that bad puppy just to see what the shape is really doing. It looks like a really slick entry but you might find it's picking up drag/lift from the back falling off like that. Might be just sloped enough that it stays stuck and just flows off. Excuse for a adding a really cool spoiler if it is lifting though.....

We have been in tha same boat down here in the Bay Area, no summer yet! I did drive the S2K to work yesterday, just to celebrate the 10 day forcast of NO RAIN!! A bit damp with fog at 6AM but cleared off nicely later. I guess were getting "payback" for all that California Weather bragging we did a while back. It's the second week of June and most of the snow pack is still frozen solid up in the Sierras. One of my friends from out in the valley said he is usually on his second irrigation water call by now instead of waiting for the ground to dry out enough to get around on his tractor. LOL. Texas and Arizona are dried out and burning, half the mid west is flattened, the east cost is too hot and we are pushing three months late for summer. Not that we can do much about it but maybe Al Gore is right, the sky is falling! Better weather and great driving wishes for everyone!

Went to 8" fronts and 9" rears but after going through a tire and wheel clinic found out that for pure track speed and handling a car of our weight and horsepower will be faster with shorter and narrower street tires. That is offset for the width part if your running a really light sidewall ultra gummy tire like a Hoosier but still better "shorter" on either the street or track tire. I'm not a serious racer so the tall/wide (heavy) Nitto's I'm running now are fine for me as double duty track/street. The 6.5" rims will fit up to 225 tires on a light car as your not going to be running a lot of air in them. Probably going to put the tires on a set of my MINI 16" Enki track wheels since they are basically brand new and won't sell for half what a lesser quality tire set is going to cost me at Tire Rack.

I'm not even sure if my coverage will work anymore because some of the newer changes by the major insurers have slipped in disclaimers. The one you want to worry about is that if your "Driving School" holds it classes at a facility that also host "speed events" you are not covered. They are probably getting too many claims with the recent growth in organizations (HOD is a good example) putting really large numbers of "daily driver" comprehensive insured cars on track. Even though these are pretty safe events hitting much more than a cone cost big bucks these days. So if your agent tells you over the phone "your covered" have him send you a list of disclaimers if he has them.

Snell and other DOT sanctioning groups use a letter designation (it's on line but don't have the link handy) as they do provide ratings for motocycle, off road and other types of helmets specific to different sports, down to your kids pedal bike.

Some tracks require an "automobile" helmet as the criteria for motorcycle and auto are quite different. When you price them you will see the difference and just because they are listed under "automotive helmets" on some sites does not mean they have the correct designation to pass at the track. Auto helmets must meet multiple impact and flame retardant standards that bike helmets don't have to. They are also allowed more cut out next to the eye.

I have a set of four Motegi TrackLite Black Forged (not the cast version) 16 X 6 1/2" 5X100 wheels that are basically brand new and have Dunlop Direzza Sport Z-1 Star Spec 205-50-16 87V tires mounted and balanced on them. If someone is interested in the "wheels only" it's not a problem, I can use the tires on my MINI. These came with the S2K but I wanted a brighter, more "spoked" look and went with Power Silver Team Dynamics Wheels. PM me with your email if you want a photo or any info as no matter how low I set my pixel count I can't seem to post anything to this site.

But you have to admit, that 100-6 was really cool looking!! They were actually no slouch in a straight line either, once you got past bothering to use that "un-shiftable" first gear and just smoked the tire so you didn't bog. Did you run the big single side-pipe? One of the "friends" cars I lusted after as a youth but never owned.

I went to the Indy 500 in 1971 and it was the best three day party I ever went to, they even had a car race at the end! LOL. I paid to park my van on a lawn (and access to the house toilet)just across from a track underpass on Thursday evening when they started closing off the streets for the event. Semi trailers full of beer selling cases out the back and all night block parties right through to Sunday morning. The police directed the closest parked cars through first and I raced across the golf course flat out and ended up right at the fence next to the track. Cost of the admission was $5 and I still have the ticket stashed somewhere. Probably a "bit more" than 5 bucks to get in now but I bet the party is still a big draw and as much fun.

My bussines partners brother used to build several types of commercial trailers, mostly for United Rentals and other fleet renters. Great big OLD Butler buildings in the Valley out past Chico, no heat, no air, blue toilets outside, none of the workers spoke english (or probably had Green Cards) bought wheels/axle/tires/steel in bulk and sprayed everything in a lean-to. Every piece was cut/set in jigs and the whole build from cutting stock, welding and painting was done literally in hours, everybody ran all day. I watched the stock builds when they were making us a custom 20,000LB tilt for a large fork lift and couldn't beleive how quick they went. Now the shocker.. He eventually closed because he couldn't get his bids down to the competition any longer. So, if you buy in bulk and figure your time at minimum wage, your probably still too high! LOL.

Congrats on getting your CA tin plate!! I went through the same thing until I got turned on to going to the Los Gatos DMV instead of the San Mateo. It was like transfering from "short bus" employees to MIT grads. They have it down pat at Los Gatos. As long as the economy stay stagnant SB100 will not be a problem. Biggest reason for the original "long lines and take your chances" for an SB100 was the backlog of "in limbo" cars that had no way to register before SB100 and a booming California economy that had Cobra kits selling like dune buggys used to. Hope to see you and your car at a track day or "7" get together in the future.

MOPHO has the great curent pick but through 49 years of owning cars I had a chance to "go through" owning some I REALLY wish I still had. Three MGA's, '57 cevy Belair hardtop with factory dual quads and three on the tree (yes, Hearst Shifter with syncro lock was my first mod on that one) '55 chevy Belair convertible that I transplanted a small block into to replace the 6-powerglide it came with, '59 morgan that came and went because I couldn't afford to keep it running and a few "lesser" others that were fun or just nice. Now I just plan on keeping the current pack, unless something really inviting come up, and watch my friends trade through the "done that, what's new" game. LOL.

Original or new they both give a driver a lot of car and a lot of fun for the money and both are so forgiving of being driven to their limit and past that even us "kind of decent" drivers have a real fun day behind the wheel. Also, underpowered as it was, the MGA was probably the best "fun and friendly" car an over adventurous teen age idiot (me) ever got behind the wheel of. Just my bucks worth, I'm sure we all feel that way about something that got left off. Maybe it should have been "50 best drivers car from each decade". LOL.

And who was on the audio track?

The more I watch the videos (well, the ones where the driver really seems to have it together) the more I realize just how much better they are at getting everything out of the cars. When I was pushing 25 I had slower cars but was faster than I am now, pushing 65 years old in faster cars. Then, four wheel drifts were where I wanted to be, now they just warn me I'm pushing too hard for my reaction times. LOL. Still crazy fun and now I can even replace tires BEFORE they cord. Thanks for posting the Videos!.

For us S2K owners without windscreens the MFS option is out but the blind spot issue is still well in place. I am using the larger SPA mirrors and even made longer mounting stalks out of matching round aluminum stock I drilled and tapped to match. I'm still "under mirrored" and find quick lane changes on the highway and passing on the track a bit of a heart stopper. If anybody out there happy with their larger section side mirrors would like to comment or post a photo I'd love to hear from them. Thanks!!

The video didn't seem any beter than my GOPRO but your right, GOPRO sound sucks for autosports (and they spout good sound as being a big thing on their website). If they had a remote mike it would probably sound a lot like yours does. With the car parked it does do a great job of picking up pit conversations and cars on track (I forget to push STOP a lot) LOL. On the sound alone I'd have gone your route!

If the plan is to make Caterham Company into a manufacturer for a larger market share base lets hope that it becomes something of a "multi-line" event where they make a weathertight, sporty, "yes, you can get in through a door" second line with instant manufacturer name recognition, call the "luxury" car by another designation and leave the "7's" pretty much where they are. As for joking around about "Lotus" names, my wife had to have a Thunderbird when they got redesigned "smaller" in the early 80's. We ended up with an "Elan" but a "Lotus" it was not. It was the one and only Ford I ever bought and wasn't actually a bad car as far as American cars went at the time. Hi-pro small block with the "sport" package (she wouldn't go for the turbo 4 cyl. and a stick) but still not anything to take on a twisty road just for fun.

No matter how hard you push with the right foot you only get what the motor can give, but on the other hand you can always push a bit less if you have excess... You only have "too much power" if it comes at the expense of the overall ability of the car to use it for gain. That said, I still stand by my previous statement that I have had more "fun" in lighter lower powered cars that out handle more powerful cars. But if you can make a more powerful car that is still light and handles, well, you figure it out.

All aluminum chevy small block with dry sump and injection; shorter in height than our S2000 motors so lower center of gravity, only a little bit longer so still a short car, just as dependable as the Honda, way BIG HP, no waiting on Vtec to kick in, no more dreaming of expensive "more power" parts adds..... oh crap, now I have to get another car. LOL

Check out the MINI as the "second/wife" car as having had one for several years and having experienced RNR's Lotus and another friends Miata I can conclude this for you: Most fun; Elise, hands down. Practical "second" car, no. Cheapest: Good used Miata. Fun, yes, practical "second" car, no, but closer. All around; MINI. Ordered an '04 in '03 and started tracking it as soon as I got it past break-in. Have beat the living crap out of it for 80K miles, still keeps on taking it with a smile and I still smile almost as much as in the 7 when I twist it through the early morning on ramps. Two person total comfort no matter how big you are, gobs of room if you just fold down the rear seats because they really aren't anywhere you want to put people for more than a quick trip anyway. As an aside, my wife was hit in a crosswalk and is in a large full leg cast. Between the BMW wagon, my trucks, other cars and the MINI, the MINI wins hands down as a patient hauler. The whole side of the car is one big door, the seats slide so far back she can sit down and swing her leg in without touching the front of the opening and it's low enough I can lean down and pull her out to standing on one leg without her having to "drop" from a taller seat. Wheel chair fits in back with room for another one if I needed it.

Used them on my MINI, two sets worth as track tires and they were pretty good all the way to worn out, but at 200 wear rating may be a bit hard for a lighter car like a 7. Not sure just what the rating is on the NT-1s but they "feel" softer, or maybe the 615's in my shed are one heat cycle past throwing away.

The Apexi looks like a pretty good idea since I'm not really looking to go wild on things in the near future and this seems like a good "stop gap" measure for taming the Vtec goblin. Haven't even said "hi" to the partly assembled car in the past few weeks due to work having me convert my garage back into a wood shop to make specialty jigs for a project and just when that was done family emergencies took over. I'll make sure to at least open the garage and pet it this weekend. Maybe buying it presents will make it love me again.LOL. Thanks for the updates and advice.

Replaced some Dunlop Star Specs with Nitto NT-1's and have been happy both on the street and the track with them. Several track days last year and still seem soft and sticky. Not the "Ultimate" tire by any means and won't compare with something like Hoosiers but street legal, enough tread to work in slightly wet, a lot less money and if you just happen to take an off track excursion you won't have to hold you breath and wait for the "POP". Also, give you plenty of notice about letting go once you get them down in pressure. First time out with them I had no benchmark so was going to start a little high and come down. Wound up backwards the minute I started pushing it and thought I had made a mistake not going with something else. Just kept dropping the pressure and they got better and better all the way to about 14-15 Lbs hot. Lower still stuck but I thought I could feel the car shifting on the sidewalls in transition even though the edges didn't seem to be rolling over and heat was still fairly well distributed. My S2k weighs in at about 1,400 lbs and the tires have to make up for a host of my poor driving skills.

When the next set of federal mandates hit the car industry we are going to see a replay of the mid 1970's decline in factory "performance" cars. Then the only option for real performance is going to be fork out big bucks for a restored 60's big block or one of the US/German/Japanese Mega V8's being probuced now. Those may turn out to be the next set of rich boys collectors toys.With that and gas prices smaller and lighter is going to start looking good to the current batch of "mid priced kids" who will be coming into the same age we started not just being crazy over cars, but able to spend decent sums of money on them. We can only hope that they turn out to be the next set of build it yoursel "hot rodders" since it seems so far to have kind of skipped a generation. I've owned a bunch of hot "V8" cars but always seemed to have the most fun in cars with smaller motors and better road manners. Maybe gas prices and federal mandates will jump the grandkids right past the big block and into something like a 7 or another replica.