yellowss7

I run 13 inch Hoosiers on my 195 hp (flywheel) Caterham with the 6 speed box. 3.62 diff. I've pushed it to about 7000 rpm in 6th, which by my gear calc spread sheet is 120 mph. Still have 1000 rpm left to red line. I certainly cannot keep up with Croc and Karl with their almost 100hp advantage even though they are driving big fat bastards. :jester: Tom

SCDA just announced their 2012 trackday schedule and they will be running a trackday event at NJMP on Monday and Tuesday June 25th and 26th. Last year we had a good turn out of 7s on track and a few others who came out and joined in the comraderie. Let's see if we can get an even better turnout this year. We have a lot more on board cameras to capture all the fun and I'm sure there will be some trackside peanut gallery video as well from those that attend but may not track their car. With the first snow of the year on the ground here in the northeast, it's about time that we start the hype. Clear your schedules now, get your cars in shape. Let's see if we can get enough cars to have our own run group. Otherwise we will just have to continue to torment the Corvettes, Porsches and other "mobile chicanes' that are out there with us. So who is going to make it this year? 1. Yellowss7 (Tom) Driver 2. The Stig (Martin)Driver 3. Kitcat (Mike M.) Driver 4. Croc (Mike J.) Driving God 5. Redgoose (Ron) Driver 6. Ottocycle (Dermot) Driver 7. Blubarisax (Karl) Driver 8. Dave D. (Dave) Driver 9. Sabbot (Stewart) Driver 10. Michael D. (Michael) Driver 11. BBall7754 (Steve) Driver 12. S1 Steve (Steve) Spectator 13. Crewst (Tim) Spectator/Driver 14. RacerLRP (Robert) Driver 15. Jim (not a USA7s poster) Driver

Thank Ronnie. I was curious about the 170 degree field of view. Is it really distorted? (fisheye) Some of the sellers on EBay offer replacement lens with smaller fields of view. Wondering if that would be a good option. Tom

Ronnie, I'm looking at purchasing the Drift HD cam. What's your thoughts on it? Tom

Ah come on, ripping one little rear wing off doesn't put me in the same category as the rest of those pics. :rofl: Luckily I had removed the steel bolts and replaced them with only 4 nylon ones so there was no damage to the rear sideskin. Wings are a disposable item when you autox. Right Box :cheers: Tom

Happy New Year to all!! :party: My oldest daughter gets Married tomorrow. We are having one heck of a New Years eve Party for 250 of our friends and relatives. :cheers: I'll have to start looking under the seat cushions for loose change to pay for a new set of slicks for the upcoming years. :willy_nilly: Enjoy yourself and be safe! Tom

Jim, what Data logger/video system are you looking at. I'm hoping to do the same this year. I'm looking at the DRIFT HD cam like this one. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Drift-Innovation-HD-1080p-Helmet-Digital-Video-Action-Camera-Camcorder-NEW-USA-/360415945794?_trksid=p4340.m185&_trkparms=algo%3DSIC.NPJS%26its%3DI%26itu%3DUA%26otn%3D5%26pmod%3D290632684942%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D5235688859188589642 and possibly this data logger. http://www.hrpworld.com/index.cfm?tpc=Racepak-G2X-GPS-Based-Data-Acquisition-System-Kit&form_prod_id=4557&action=product Anyone have any other recommendations? Tom

Merry Christmas to all from Sunny Philadelphia!!:seeya: Tom

Honestly, it sounds more like a circus than a nice track day. Michael, how many cars on track for a usual session in the past? Tom

Thanks, DR. Since as Mike says only 2 turns on TBolt are possible at 100+mph, the benefit vs cost may not be worth it. As there is usually a drag penalty too, it may actually be a real negative as my 195bhp is no where near the SUPER Powerful engine that the driving gods like Mike and Mike and Karl have.:puke:I'll wait for Croc and Karl to test them out before I join the Carbon Tart club. :jester: Tom

Just curious, since I don't drive at F1 speeds like Croc, what effect would the front wing have on front end downforce on a normal lap at TBolt at NJMP? End of Front straight top speed of say 120mph into a right hand 65-72mph turn and the right hand turn onto the front straitght at say 100mph. Maybe turn 4 at Tbolt, say entrance at 80 mph. Other than that most speeds are sub 100 going into turns of 60 or less. I find it hard to imagine that the downforce at those relatively low speeds would enable significantly higher speeds in the turns or I am wrong? Of course my Clamshell front wing would certainly create way more lift than any size wing could offset.:ack::rofl: Tom

An excellent present:driving:it is. I'm looking forward to the 2012 season. As for the keeping up portion. I'll have to try driving harder not to let you lap me. Tom

Mazda, I certainly hope that you will make the effort to get it done in time for our Spring Trackday event. Hopefully, you and Al will both have your cars ready by then. :driving: Tom

Went to the Cars and Coffee today here in West Chester, Pa. Not a huge turn out, mostly Ferraris, Porsches and three Loti, an old Elan, an Esprit and an Elise. ( I left my 7 home, as it was only 32F when I went) The new McLaren made an appearance. After the initial buzz, almost no one even bothered to look at it twice. Price tag $288K. Not as sexy as a Ferrari 458 IMO. Engine bay is blah, interior is spartan. Front view is eh. Scissor doors are the only attraction. It better be a great track car because it reminds me of how bland the NSX looked next to the Ferraris of the day. Just my opinion. Tom

This year was the last year for the SA2000 helmets. I have to get a new one as mine was a 2000 too. SA2005 or SA2010 are required. Must be full shield too if I remember correctly. Arm Restrainst aren't required but recommended. Brake lights must work. Battery tie down secure. They will check that the tires aren't corded. They will check that you don't have any leaks, that your wheels/bearings don't have any play. I don't belive they check on the date of your harnesses but may check that they aren't frayed. You are responsible for the general tech of your car. Brake pads and Fluid. Bonnet catches must be secure. Long pants are required. That's about it. Tom

If this is your race car, there is NO WAY I'm getting on the track with you in my 7. :willy_nilly: That's waaay too much metal around you. Can you say MAD MAX. :driving: [/url]

Great premise, and I too would be seriously distracted, but watching it I noticed that every guy wore his watch on his right wrist, which would signify that they were left handed, but all of them were holding the beer with their right hand. Probably a set up, but who cares.:drool: Tom

Dermot, we will certainly try to get another Day on the track in the spring, hopefully with alot more 7s this time. Of course you will be included in our esteemed group. We'll have to see how many are interested as we could have the option of renting the track ourselves if we can get suffienct numbers. Otherwise, we will probably run with the SCDA group again. Hope to see you in the spring. Tom

A new set of Hoosier slicks, a new2010SA compliant helmet, a HANS device. It's all for my safety honey, honest!:driving: Tom

Despite all the claims about lift with the clams, I've never thought that the car felt like it was unstable due to lift. Although on the Sunday session at lightning, there was a little wind kicking up and coming down the straight the wind actually turned my head/helmet and the car definately moved a bit sideways. But that was due to a crosswind gust. The Slicks were definately at the end of their useful life as I felt like I did 4 wheel drifts thru some of the tighter turns. That being said though, Mike and Mike both have Waaaay bigger balls than I do. They are fearless, while I on the other hand have no desire to actually find the limit of my car's capablilities. I'm just out there having fun. :cheers: Tom

Very nicely done Mike!:hurray: It's amazing to see how much speed you carry thru turn 4 on TBolt. You definatly have that corner nailed. Your car also pulls really strongly up the hill on the back straight, Much faster than I can get there. Yeah, one or twice a year is not enough. We have to do this more often. This only shows the driving. The banter takes the experience to a completely different level. :party: Tom

After 4 trackdays this year following Kitcat and Croc, both of whom use everybit of the track, and throw up copious amounts of dust, grit and stones,:smash: plus about 10 or more other days, I just spent about 2 hours changing out the slicks for the street tires and cleaning off all the accumulated rubber and crap that covered the nose, bonnet, sides, front clams and rear wings. Now in full discloser, my 10 inch wide slicks probably were a big contributing factor to alot of the stuff on the rear wings, but the nose cone and clams had a fair share of other peoples rubber marks on them too. The nose and front edges of the clams took a fair peppering, resulting in quite a few chips. I am positive the clear gaurd would have prevented almost all of them as the rear wings and the carbon stone guards, which I had the 3m stuff applied to, were in really good shape comparatively. Tom

Croc and Kitcat are very good drivers and their cars are capable of staying with or being the fastest out there. However, when we watched the advanced group run, the comments from all of us was, "Holy Crap" !!! I don't think any of us would have enjoyed being out there with that run group for too long. The pace and the much later passing manuevers were intimidating to me. Make sure you run in a group/level that matches your skill and car's performance capability. Just my opinion. Tom

Excellent new avatar Mike:hurray: For those of you who can't make it out. After one of Mike's offs, he came back in with several clover leafs sticking out from between the rim and the tire. Obviously a souvenir from his gardening adventure. Lessons learned, if you want to run on the track with us you have to have a great sense of humor and thick skin as the wit is unrelenting.:jester: Tom

Karl, I may be interested in the avon slicks. What width rim are they speced for? I assume it is tires only not already mounted on rims, right? Tom