Three weeks of hard work

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I like how this car is seemingly designed to save the life of the driver by ensure certain death of any passenger in the event of a roll over... :confused: Wtf were they thinking?
 
NathanE said:
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I like how this car is seemingly designed to save the life of the driver by ensure certain death of any passenger in the event of a roll over... :confused: Wtf were they thinking?
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It's a completely un-braced bar so it will probably fold flat and kill the driver anyway, if that's any consolation. Un-braced roll over bars = chocolate teapot.
 
amigafan2003 said:
Plenty of Sevens running 17's or larger out there.......
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The Dax suits the 17's far more than the others, but I guess that's because they are pretty chunky cars compared with most 7 clones. All the others look like Tonka Toys IMO.

gurdas said:
I'm curious as to why these cars are called '7' style cars, what significance is the word 7? I know it was used by Lotus and then the design licensed to Caterham, but what does the number 7 actually mean?

Also amigafan, I plan on building a gbs zero (last one you pictured) at some point towards the end of the year:D
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7 is simply the model number that Lotus gave the original car, it doesn't mean anything. Since all the other cars have very 7-like styling, '7' has become a somewhat generic term, like "Hoover" is for vacuum cleaner. The Zero is a really nice looking car, probably one of the closest looking models to the original Caterham (surprised there's been no litigation yet!)
 
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gurdas said:
I'm curious as to why these cars are called '7' style cars, what significance is the word 7? I know it was used by Lotus and then the design licensed to Caterham, but what does the number 7 actually mean?

Also amigafan, I plan on building a gbs zero (last one you pictured) at some point towards the end of the year:D
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Colin Chapmans first car was imaginatively called the 'Lotus mk 1' (It was actually an Austin 7 modified for trials). He then built a few other cars for his own competitive use before the mark 6 which was his first customer car.

Following on from that it seemed logical to call his next car the mark 7. The Lotus mark 7 (or just Lotus 7 as it's usually called) is the car which all 'seven type' kit cars are based on. The numbering system was carried on through Lotus' history although at some point they became type x rather than mark x for some reason.
 
As for why I've chosen the zero, it's just fantastic value for what you get and the guys seem very helpful which is useful should I require any assistance during the build.
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Get yourself over to locostbuilders.co.uk and you'll find plenty of reasons as to why the kit is so cheap :)
Personaly i'd be keeping a look out for part built MK's, MNR's or MAC1's. All have been succesfully raced and are proven units.
 
amigafan2003 said:
I do like the CSR wheels but they just look daft imo (see - I said IMO!) being so small - I could seriously consider a 15" set if I could find them for reasonable money :-(

My Kahn's came it at 6.8kg a wheel.
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Suppose that isn't too bad for a 17" wheel, however my stock MX5 comes with wheels that are 2 pounds lighter than that and isn't a kit car.

And wouldn't 17" wheels be more expensive to buy in the first place than some nice lightweight 15" wheels?

I've just bought a set of 15" wheels with 5mm Michelin Pilot rubber all round for £200 delivered (second hand), so they are out there.
 
Dogbreath said:
7 is simply the model number that Lotus gave the original car, it doesn't mean anything. Since all the other cars have very 7-like styling, '7' has become a somewhat generic term, like "Hoover" is for vacuum cleaner. The Zero is a really nice looking car, probably one of the closest looking models to the original Caterham (surprised there's been no litigation yet!)
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Thanks for that info. The zero is a very pretty car, it's just missing something in the grill....like a 7!

I can't wait to take a built one out for a test drive before confirming my order. Roll on dissertation deadline!
 
And wouldn't 17" wheels be more expensive to buy in the first place
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No, they are straight off the donor car, which is the main reason they are on the Westfield, a point which most people seem to miss (or ignore) when criticising the wheel choice. When the tyres need replacing, I may consider replacing the whole lot with some decent 15's. But then I might not, as I like the 17's (and it's my car so everyone else can swivel :-p )

And in my circle of friends, everyone thinks it looks cool on those wheels (and that includes one person that's had a a Westy, MK Indy and another who had a Dax) so I'm hardly going to get upset by internet warriors who have never been near a 7 type car. If I can leave an Aston Martin Vantage for dead on the country roads home from work then it's not really affecting the performance enough to change the wheel size.

Right, sorry for the thread hijack, again, just needed to say that.

Back on topic, why did you cancel the SVA test - just not ready yet? Are you on the WSCC? If so, what's your username?
 
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amigafan2003 said:
And in my circle of friends, everyone thinks it looks cool on those wheels (and that includes one person that's had a a Westy, MK Indy and another who had a Dax) so I'm hardly going to get upset by internet warriors who have never been near a 7 type car.
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I've not been near a Ferrari 430 Scuderia either, does that mean my opinion on that is also null and void?

:rolleyes:
 
Reality Bites said:
strange, i thought the two companies were linked?

http://www.zerokits.com/page7.htm
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They are very much linked, GBS bought Robin Hood. My point is that RH have churned out some appalling crap in the past, but the Zero is the first design I've seen that has had some actual engineering applied to it, and they've managed to get the proportions spot on, something that many 7 clones fail at. I hardly think it's coincidental that they've given the Zero it's own web site, to distance it from the RH reputation.
 
Ooof. Know someone who had a Westfield, I struggled to get in it. Any tall people own them? I'm only 6'3.
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I'm 6ft 2" and 16.5 stone - I have a widebody with the lowered floor pan. The seat is mounted to the floor on very shallow runners but it is all the way back. I've also extended the steering wheel two inches towards the driver. Made a 200 mile round trip to Carlilse an didn't have so much as an ache when I got out - it was suprisingly comfortable. In fact, I could have carried on for a fair bit.

The odd thing is the Westfield Race seats, for me, are more comfortable than the Westfield "more padded" sports seats.

I've not been near a Ferrari 430 Scuderia either, does that mean my opinion on that is also null and void?
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You could say IN YOUR OPINION whether it looks good or not but the moment you said something about the way it handles your opinion becomes utterly worthless ;-)

Also amigafan, I plan on building a gbs zero (last one you pictured) at some point towards the end of the year
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The Zero's are getting rave reviews in the kit car mags atm - good choice :-)
 
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