The sun and other issues

[eVox]

So I have been going through and making a mental list of all the things that bother me about driving my seven. A lot of people give me strange looks when I tell them that I am rarely dying to drive it, and sometimes I drive it partially because I feel that I 'should'.

 

I'm looking for y'all's suggestions to these problems...

 

The sun. I've had quite a few drives be uncomfortable and dangerous because I am forced to squint (or use a hand as a visor) due to the sun. Usually the solution is a tight-fitting baseball hat and sunglasses, but these are often forgotten, and are not 100% effective. Its a shame to think a sunny day car is anything but that.

 

Nauseous after drives- After a lot of drives, I come back feeling funny/slightly sick. I think this is due to the drone of the exhaust and the exhaust fumes themselves. The exhaust currently exists just in front of the driver's side rear fender The new engine has the exhaust on the passenger side, and a turbo should help quiet it further.

 

Stressful driving- I live in downtown atlanta. dealing with traffic can be stressful. I was thinking of raising the ride height a bit. Maybe adding some music would help?

 

Driving feeling- I like cars that carve the road and flow around turns. I plan on playing with front and rear toe, and fixing my anti-ackerman.

 

I really want this car to be a treat to drive. I want my daily driver to be neglected.

[MHKflyer52]

So I have been going through and making a mental list of all the things that bother me about driving my seven. A lot of people give me strange looks when I tell them that I am rarely dying to drive it, and sometimes I drive it partially because I feel that I 'should'.

 

I'm looking for y'all's suggestions to these problems...

 

The sun. I've had quite a few drives be uncomfortable and dangerous because I am forced to squint (or use a hand as a visor) due to the sun. Usually the solution is a tight-fitting baseball hat and sunglasses, but these are often forgotten, and are not 100% effective. Its a shame to think a sunny day car is anything but that.

 

Nauseous after drives- After a lot of drives, I come back feeling funny/slightly sick. I think this is due to the drone of the exhaust and the exhaust fumes themselves. The exhaust currently exists just in front of the driver's side rear fender The new engine has the exhaust on the passenger side, and a turbo should help quiet it further.

 

Stressful driving- I live in downtown atlanta. dealing with traffic can be stressful. I was thinking of raising the ride height a bit. Maybe adding some music would help?

 

Driving feeling- I like cars that carve the road and flow around turns. I plan on playing with front and rear toe, and fixing my anti-ackerman.

 

I really want this car to be a treat to drive. I want my daily driver to be neglected.

 

Well here is my input in order and don't take it to seriously:

1. The Sun: Don't drive your car with out a ballcap and sun glasses or only on cloudy / overcast days......:smilielol5:......get a softtop to keep you out of the sun.

2. Nauseous after drives: Purchase and use Meclizine or anti motion sickness tablets which can be purchased at all drug stores. Don't go so fast through the twisties or around corners......:smilielol5:......slow up to prevent the roll effect while driving.

3. Stressful driving- I live in downtown atlanta: Move to the country where their is less traffic.....:smilielol5:......you should try driving in Southern California traffic, out here you have to drive like you are riding a motorcycle or you'll get run over by and SUV that is on 20" rims and tires and has never been anywhere near dirt let alone off road and usually driven by someone who is totally into bling and might have a drivers license or is shaving or putting on makeup or the such......

4. Drive feeling: Adjust shocks to give a softer ride and drive on smoother roads......get the setup correct for street driving and not auto-x-ing and loose the wing.......:smilielol5:......

 

Could not resist....sometimes I just park my 7 for a couple of weeks or longer and do not even go near it until I get the need to go for a ride....I tell people that it is my four wheeled motorcycle that dose not fall over when I pullup to a stop sign and they seem to get that and just smile....hope you figure it out, but that is part of owning a 7 and the way it is in most cases if it is setup for track and auto-x-ing and you drive it on the street. I find that I am good for about an hour before I have to take a break and just get out of the car and strech and walk around before I get going again on most drives.

[Kitcat]

I use foam ear plugs and wear a ball cap and wear sound deadening ear muffs to hold the hat on, keep the noise out.

 

I avoid interstate travel in rush hours.

 

I dont know abt your car's set up but if its not the most incredibly rewarding driving experience on earth, something is wrong. Maybe bum a ride with another Se7en owner in your area and see what you think. Perhaps its your car and not you?

 

Too much sun and I will put the top up, unzip the back window and leave the doors off.

 

Taking a Se7en break is a good move. If you are not dying to get back in after 2-4 weeks, maybe it's time for a different car. There is no shame in enjoying your 7 then replacing it with something else.

 

I drove my car 325 miles yesterday, round trip, to a track day, where I drove 125 miles on track. It was wonderful, and great end to summer. So for me, the thrill is still there.

 

Mike

[rnr]

The sun. I've had quite a few drives be uncomfortable and dangerous because I am forced to squint (or use a hand as a visor) due to the sun. Usually the solution is a tight-fitting baseball hat and sunglasses, but these are often forgotten, and are not 100% effective. Its a shame to think a sunny day car is anything but that.

 

My helmet works quite well for me and I always leave it in the car which means I cant forget it. Cant you just leave the glasses and cap in the car when parked at home?

 

P.S: I went to Gatech 02-04 for my HCI masters

[shiva]

Earplugs are a great thing to have with those car. I always wear a pair when I do highway.

 

Keep the ear buzzing away and the dizzyness

[Croc]

I have a couple of ideas:

 

1) I am short sighted so I suffer from sun glare more than most because of the lenses I have to wear to see. I find a hat is as useful as a pair of tits on a bull because it gets blown off at the SUV/tractor trailer I meet. I ended up with a pair of Bobster polarized sun glasses which cover the entire eye socket. They wrap around so I do not lose peripheral vision but the best bit is that they completely block out sun from coming through the top of the glasses or the side.

 

Another option which I find useful is the Softbits4sevens half hood which blocks out the sun coming over the top of the screen.

 

If the issue is driving directly into the sun then I used one of these on my old daily driver http://www.autosportcatalog.com/index.cfm?fa=p&pid=1862&cid=61

 

Like others I leave my cap, ear plugs and glasses in the car ready for when I next jump in to play.

 

2) Nausea - I swear by Bonine for motion/sea sickness which you can buy over the counter. Now if the issue is exhaust fumes then maybe there is an aerodynamic issue here. My exhaust exits at the rear of the car and every so often I get the fume smell. THe recommended fix for the rear exhaust problem is to install a side exit. If that is still not working for you then maybe you need an angled tip to angle it in some direction to maximise it being picked up by the airflow around the car and dispersed. THe old trick of putting it on the passenger side of the car also works well!

 

3) I drive my car in Manhattan and the New York metro area and unfortunately you have to drive to survive the taxis, soccer mom minivans, weekend boy races, etc. My car is set up for street driving and not auto-x. I find it has a very good ride quality and absorbs the bumps well. Good seats allow me to sit there for many hours without discomfort. The biggest stress comes from trying to avoid the suddenly appearing potholes, canyons, road ridges and other delights constructed by both the NY and NJ Roads Departments. Unfortunately the only answer to that is work out how to escape the city quicker.

 

Our cars were never designed to live around downtown so we have to accept the comprises they bring. To avoid the compromises then we just have to use our daily drivers for the regular boring commute and save our "special" for the fun purposes that we have them for.

 

I do find that our cars are designed for one element of urban life - the Holland and Lincoln Tunnels in New York produce just fantastic aural experiences running up and down the gears. You can always find some fun - you just have to look for it.

[TheDingo8MyBaby]

As much as I dislike driving with the doors, I always find that I'm much less beaten after using them. Less wind, less sound...etc. I try to use them if I'll be on the freeway.

 

I also dislike driving with the top up, but I have heard pretty good things about the half hood to give you a bit of protection from the sun.

 

If it's a motion sickness thing, my girlfriend loves these anti nausea wrist bands. http://www.amazon.com/BioBands-Acupressure-Band-Nausea-Relief/dp/B001KN5790/ref=pd_sbs_hpc_2

[Boxologist]

the nausea may be the first sympton of carbon monoxide poisoning. This is a worst case scenario, u just may be very sensitive to a decreased oxygen load in your blood. definitely have the exhaust as far from u as possible. i will be switched from the rear exit to the side exit over the winter. I will just make sure that the tip extends just beyond the tyre so the exhaust has no chance of collecting in the turbulent wake behind the 7.

 

having a bimini/half hood made up is an excellent idea for sun protection as well.

driving is stressful, doubly so with our cars and nonobservant city drivers. just havce the car high enough that road debris won't damage the underside.

 

Toe kills tyres. motorsports alignments for motorsport lifetimes.

[powderbrake]

With the smaller windscreens on my Ultralite, I always wear goggles over my glasses to protect from gravel. These are Scott Motocross goggles, and I cover the top half with black electrical tape, and it does a great job of keeping the sun out of my eyes.

 

When th esun is low in the sky, sometimes you just have to put your hand up.

[snookwheel]

I cover the top half with black electrical tape, and it does a great job of keeping the sun out of my eyes.

 

Neat idea!

[slomove]

I do quite a bit of long distance touring and find the Seven at least as comfy as my Accord. Actually for some reason I have less of a stiff back and knees when getting out after several hours drive.

 

Key to the positive driving experience for me is:

- good seats (mine are Cobra seats). I have a terry cloth cover over the vinyl to reduce sweating.

- 3/4 Lexan doors that keep the open feel but cut most of the wind buffeting. The remaining wind is mild enough to wear regular close fitting sunglasses.

- bimini top (half hood) to avoid getting sauteed in the SoCal summer sun. But if it is less than 80 degrees I prefer topless and wear a sun hat with long bill and neck shroud (foreign legion style).

- ample water

- side exit with sufficiently long exit pipe. When driving slow and around tight curves I still get a whiff once a while but not too bad.

- proper suspension setup for a smooth ride

- minimize freeway driving and really avoid L.A. freeways (well, if possible)

- thorough footwell and tunnel insulation, fresh air louvers for the footwell.

- limit daily drives to 250-300 miles on longer highway tours.

 

Gert

[Mondo]

Earplugs make the biggest difference for me.... seems to calm things down. I was going to put on a couple sun visors like cobras have but my car has that wide angle mirror that clips to the top of the windshield.

Just be glad you don't have a machine polished metal dash like mine... when the sun is behind and hits this baby I almost get a sunburn!

[gjslutz]

I avoid high congested traffic in my 7. I see too many people not paying attention to their driving; I like to have room for evasive maneuvers. Ear plugs are a must due to wind noise when I have the aeroshield on, I also wear goggles then, due to the road trash the tires throw. If I have the top on the noise level goes up a large amount. It is like I’m in a drum. I have taken some long trips in mine, but like to avoid traffic if I can. I would not drive mine in Atlanta in rush hour at all! My Birkin has the side exhaust exit, just in front of the L. rear tire and I get no exhaust fumes from it. That could be as it is not in stop & go traffic where I would smell other cars as well, likely your problem there. I would be a nervous wreck in the congestion waiting for some one to run over me, “They would have to pull my cold dead body out of it.” A 35MPH impact with another car would likely be terminal.

 

I do wear a ball cap and the enclosed sun glasses, local road type M.C. shops sell them. They seal air from your eyes also.

[austin sr]

I just use the ball cap and motorcycle (polarized) sunglasses. I also add ear protection muffs that I added a motorcycle intercom system with a place to add input from my i-pod. I found this drastically reduced stress and made road trips with my wife much better when we could talk easier, and had some music if we wanted. She listens to the music most of the time, I find the car makes enough music for me :-) The muffs make the comfort lever much better as they help with the buffeting on my left ear. If it is very cold, I wear a full face helmet.

[Hank]

I tried the baseball cap the other day and it blew off at 90mph. By the time I turned around in traffic 2 people ran over it. I wear my STIG helmet (white Simpson Bandit with blue shield) on high sun days so I don't get sun burned. If the sun isn't brutal and I ditch the helmet I wear a pair of safety glasses that are cupped almost like swimming goggles and they have an elastic strap as well. They aren't tinted though.

[kennyrayandersen]

Earplugs make the biggest difference for me.... seems to calm things down. I was going to put on a couple sun visors like cobras have but my car has that wide angle mirror that clips to the top of the windshield.

Just be glad you don't have a machine polished metal dash like mine... when the sun is behind and hits this baby I almost get a sunburn!

 

DANG! that dash looks good. I wonder what the angle woulf have to be so the reflection won't whack you in the eyes. It seems like if it were more vertical, it wouldn't have as big a issue? Dang that dash looks good!

[drew...]

I have found that an ear plug in the outside ear (left for driver - right for passenger) is a huge improvement. It significantly reduces the fatigue factor and allows you to hear what's going on around you.

A second improvement is use of the half doors - the aerodynamics of the rear fender tends to create a wind blast upward and into your face. The half doors reduce this buffeting.

I wear the Wiley-X motorcycle glasses with the foam padding as eye protection. My only complaint is that they are the transition type "sunglasses" and if the sun is coming directly at you through the windshield they do not darken (sunrise and sunset). Otherwise they work very well.

For a sunvisor I have been looking at some of the snowboard/ski helmets - very lightweight or a CF half helmet for a motorcycle with a visor attached.

[JohnK]

Driving feeling- I like cars that carve the road and flow around turns. I plan on playing with front and rear toe, and fixing my anti-ackerman.

 

I really want this car to be a treat to drive. I want my daily driver to be neglected.

 

Different Se7ens offer different initial attractions to the buyer. As you play with suspension settings to make your car "a treat to drive" you might find it useful to at least ride in or better yet spend time driving other makes if you can swing it. This'll give you a sense of perspective as you dial in your suspension. Personal experience in this, Kitcat took me for a ride in his Caterham on roads that I was very familiar with, but that were new to him. I was dumbfounded at how comfortable the ride was and yet the car was very nimble on some very challenging twisty bits. There's a post I added on this list a while back that describes the suspension development work that Caterham's done if you're into seeing how this is approached. Have fun.