slngsht Posted August 21, 2008 Share Posted August 21, 2008 Watched someone else drive your seven? It's a pretty cool experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
locost7018 Posted August 21, 2008 Share Posted August 21, 2008 It's scary as all get out. Especially sence mine is RHD. Russ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scannon Posted August 21, 2008 Share Posted August 21, 2008 Only from the passenger seat. That car goes no where without me in it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slngsht Posted August 21, 2008 Author Share Posted August 21, 2008 Well, my nephew drove mine for the first time yesterday, and then again today. Damn car looks intimidating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arya Ebrahimi Posted August 22, 2008 Share Posted August 22, 2008 I'm still grinning and I only went around the block Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al N. Posted August 22, 2008 Share Posted August 22, 2008 Laura drove the car once, when I was a passenger. She was a bit intimidated by the response of all the inputs (especially the throttle!). My only comment to her afterwards was that she let the revs fall too much while shifting/shifted too slowly. Other than her and mechanics, the only other person to drive it was John V. at Carlisle....but even then only a few thousand feet from the trailer to the club meeting area on the showfield. I actually wish I had let more people (especially other Se7eners) drive it when I had it. After all, it's just a car. I'll have to remedy that with the next one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gjslutz Posted August 22, 2008 Share Posted August 22, 2008 I have let a few car type driver type frends drive mine. They drove it after a breif of the handling. If I felt they couldn't handle it I didn't offer. I'm a poor pax in a car that is being driven hard on the road, so they drove it alone. As we all know the handling is best when it is solo. I also Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al N. Posted August 22, 2008 Share Posted August 22, 2008 Gary-I've actually heard some people say two up is best...for more balanced handling. I guess if it's cornerweighted for one, solo may be best. I think the trickiest thing in some se7ens (the narrow bodied cars, esp.) is the pedal spacing. People need to see if they can work them all independent in the shoes they are wearing before anyone should let them drive it. Fellow se7eners are a different case, of course, as we know the basics and need only a particular cars foibles before taking the wheel with confidence. And speaking of being a bad passenger, I will let the new folks have a laugh at my expense by providing the link to this video of Mazda driving my old Audi TT on our recon trip to Tail of the Dragon many moons ago: Good times. Good times....:ack: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arya Ebrahimi Posted August 22, 2008 Share Posted August 22, 2008 Al, I must say you expressed verbally all the things that were running through my head the few times I rode the Dragon in Frankn7 as a passenger, and I believe we were going much faster lol. I was absolutely terrified for a large portion of the drive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbanker Posted August 22, 2008 Share Posted August 22, 2008 I have let many experience autocrossers co-drive my car at solo events. Several with Se7ens themselves. Two things come to mind...First you learn a lot about how your car handles and looks compared to others. Second, you find out that others can be faster than you in your own car...that sucks..!!! One experienced Caterham owner set fast time of day for fendered cars with my car and I was about 1/2 second slower. This was last year....At least know I know the car is capable...However, this driver/owner needs some work!! Jack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boxologist Posted August 22, 2008 Share Posted August 22, 2008 4 others so far. 3 were at autoX. some friends are terrfied of driving it. edit: make it 5 and 4 were on course. i don't knowwhichis worse, seeing someone else plow coneS with it or have it be accurately countersteered at high speed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gjslutz Posted August 22, 2008 Share Posted August 22, 2008 Al, yes I'm cornerweighed for one. The new lift is great for this, prior it was a pain to do end to end to end to end all day long. You are like me as a pax. There is few I can ride with and relax, so I won't put my self through the stress. Years ago when I took my then new wife on the Tail of the Dragon it was in the fall in a Porsche with rain & leaves on the road. At one point she asked me to slow down some as she was getting sick. After a few min she said she felt beter and I coulld continue drifting. She has not changed 36 years latter. It is a different story if she gets inverted in the A/C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slngsht Posted August 22, 2008 Author Share Posted August 22, 2008 Gary-I've actually heard some people say two up is best...for more balanced handling. I guess if it's cornerweighted for one, solo may be best. I think the trickiest thing in some se7ens (the narrow bodied cars, esp.) is the pedal spacing. People need to see if they can work them all independent in the shoes they are wearing before anyone should let them drive it. Fellow se7eners are a different case, of course, as we know the basics and need only a particular cars foibles before taking the wheel with confidence. And speaking of being a bad passenger, I will let the new folks have a laugh at my expense by providing the link to this video of Mazda driving my old Audi TT on our recon trip to Tail of the Dragon many moons ago: Good times. Good times....:ack: To Al's credit, he just handed me the keys to his car on the dragon :willy:. Prior to that, I had only driven his car on the highway on the way down there. He is very trusting I drove it at 80%. The TT was a fun car, and with AWD, a pretty safe car to drive there. He's lucky we didn't take my C5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yellowss7 Posted August 22, 2008 Share Posted August 22, 2008 I've let 5 people drive my 7 so far. 4 were fellow autoxers who, I knew to be amoung the very best drivers in the Philly region. 3 of the 4 absoultely had no idea of how quick the car was and butchered their runs. One bested my time by 4 SECONDS!!!! We'll he was the Driver of the year in 07. but 4 seconds. I then realized that I really sucked. But even he ripped the fender off on his second run. He offered to replace it though. My rule is you break it you fix it. (20K for the motor is a good incentive for most not to want to take it out) Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soareyes Posted August 22, 2008 Share Posted August 22, 2008 20K for the motor is a good incentive for most not to want to take it out Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al N. Posted August 22, 2008 Share Posted August 22, 2008 So tom, you're saying that I could pay you $20k to co-drive your car next season? --- Mazda's a great driver , btw. I'm just a terrible passenger at speed and the dragon is pretty frightening at any speed over 15 mph. BTW, Gary, I got nauseous on the Dragon — as a DRIVER! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yellowss7 Posted August 22, 2008 Share Posted August 22, 2008 No Al, you can drive it anytime. I usually casually mention to my fellow autoxers, that the redline is 8000 and that a replacement motor cost $20,000, so be careful. The usual arrangement is if you cause the damage you pay for it. (there are alot of knuckleheads out there that would love to drive it as hard as they can with no consequences. A joy ride so to speak. Those are the ones I discourage.) And Yeah, the cost of a simiarly spec'd K series motor is between 10-11 thousand pounds. Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
locostv8 Posted August 22, 2008 Share Posted August 22, 2008 My mother never drove, that is probably why she si still able to take the bus to SF and walk around shopping at 84. Many years ago I was giving her a ride in my Alfa I pulled over to a bus stop and handed her bus fare, her squaeals were distracting and I was afraid I would run into something. She promised to be quiet and we continued. I neither borrow or loan a car. I had a D Gas 55 Chevy my brother borrowed, it had a shift point of a bit over 10 k. T had warned him I didn't trust the clutch, it blew breaking the back of the block off and bending and breaking an Ansen cast steel scatershield, the car never got put back together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevet Posted August 22, 2008 Share Posted August 22, 2008 Friend of mine drove my first Seven at the Brands Hatch circuit near London. He's a very experienced race driver so I was not concerned. Strangely though, he would not let me drive his car at the same event (1961 Ferrari 250SWB)... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slngsht Posted August 22, 2008 Author Share Posted August 22, 2008 Friend of mine drove my first Seven at the Brands Hatch circuit near London. He's a very experienced race driver so I was not concerned. Strangely though, he would not let me drive his car at the same event (1961 Ferrari 250SWB)... he's a selfish bastard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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