BenF

I had terrible problems getting my shower cap from Softbits, which I ordered back in May. After making a big fuss, they gave me an alternative version. Unfortunately it seems to be their policy, that rather than having an inventory, they take orders and then wait until they have enough to actually make a batch, which means you could be waiting months or the best part of a year. I had a similarly bad experience back in 2010 when I ordered a tonneau from them...

Premier Power are near Leamington Spa and know their stuff.

That's very Austin Powers!

James... just had a look on the web and you must be right Andy did say DS5220 in the email he sent to me, but must have been a typo!

Hi Sam Recommendation from Andy at Sevens and Classics were the Ferodo DS5220, can be bought from Demon Tweeks He fitted some for me (+ new discs) this summer and am very happy with the performance. Ben

Already out of stock everywhere! The 1l bottles are good for touring...

Scott - I'd never heard that joke! Actually on returning to the UK from Germany, it's been a bit disheartening to find that even some technicians are calling themselves engineers! I agree that Simon has done some great stuff - e.g. the I.R.S conversion as discussed recently on here and in LF However on this topic, the claim to use dampers to change car balance has been pretty comprehensively debunked for asphalt-based motorsport - with the assumption that baseline settings are in the ballpark. You still hear this kind of stuff spoken about in more amateur motorsport (I even worked with an F2 engineer a couple of years ago who was claiming this) but it has no credibility any more. In fact, in my years working away from top-line motorsport, I've heard all manners of claptrap spoken on this subject. The danger with homeopathic remedies is that for 7s, even if they are just a placebo, but they can result in people parting with hard-earned cash for things which don't really work. That's also the problem with using subjective feedback as proof - when told a change is going to improve things, people tend to concur. It does not mean the change worked - that needs to be backed up by some kind of science. Of course you can cure a handling balance by doing a disproportionately large change (going to an extremely high damping at the rear can be used to move the mechanical balance rearwards on corner entry, but this is only having an effect on the turn-in phase), but these solutions often have large side downsides and that's why they are not commonly used.

Simon, you might know Rob's dampers, but what are your qualifications regarding vehicle performance? Happy to compare if you come clean about your engineering degree and job experience and I'll do the same. I know that sounds a bit harsh, but in my time in motorsport I've come across so many salesmen pushing bogus cures for handling, it ceases to be a joke. If you can genuinely justify why on earth dampers would have such an effect on handling, please explain - and I'd be happy to give my side of the story (which is based on being a customer of damper suppliers for over 2 decades - and also someone who had to technically evaluate the performance of dampers, from simulations and 7 poster tests, through to actually running them on racing cars)

duplicate post

To give some impartial advice - it's NOTHING to do with damper settings! James' observations sound right, with the tyre temps. Only thing I'd say is that higher pressures usually help warm-up, because the energy is going into a smaller contact patch. So usually warm-up is improved but then peak grip is lower once up to temp. Normal practice with racing tyres was to put in an extra 0.5-0.8psi to see a noticeable difference in warm-up, but this was with tyres which were already in blankets at 80degC Being a road tyre, I'd expect the ZZS to work well at a 50-60degC. Racing tyres tend to work well at 80-100degC, but they are higher working range. 30degC at the end of the inlap does seem low. Also depends exactly on how you're measuring it. I'd consider trying a stiffer RARB setting. Plus, is there much preload on the LSD? On my R300K with CR500s and the wider rear tyres and LSD, it understeered loads in the low speed. The main thing which helped was going to the 6" rear tyres, after which the balance was way better.

Just ordered one now...

Just got my replacement Banner from Tayna delivered today. One question on the battery front - my current (old) Banner does not have a vent pipe fitted and neither does the replacement. Not been a problem in the 3500 miles of use I've done in the car so far, but If I remember correctly, the Banner on my last 7 did have a vent pipe. Is the vent pipe really necessary?

If Milton Keynes is not too far away, there is a 7 repairer there, TangoMikeRomeo used them to have his 7 repaired & resprayed following being back ended - the result was good from what I saw.

A different story for me Stu - thanks for the loan of the jump pack!

Problem solved - the visible part of the fuse itself was intact, but one of the legs was bent sideways and I think there was actually a break in an area you could not see. So now with a new fuse, all back to normal! Thanks for the advice and as usual Jonathan is the voice of reason! I spend a couple of hours trying to solve that problem. I know the car a lot better now, but could have avoided some stress if I found that earlier. Have not even eaten yet!

I'm actually having a parallel chat about this on a Beds Bucks Northants Whatsapp chat... Yes, the LH and RH circuits do indeed have different fuses. I will double check but I already went through them all once.

12V.... yes of course, for some reason I thought it should be less for the sidelight. The earth to sidelight connection is good and this earth connection is also good, as the main headlamp is working. Plus, the connection from the headlamp bowl to the plug just inboard of the suspension is good, there is continuity. I now notice that the rear light on that side is also part of the same circuit and also does not illuminate when I switch the lights on (either sides or main), but the brake lights do work. So it looks like the break is between the connector plug to the headlamp bracket and the fuse box - but unfortunately there is nothing obvious to be seen and it's pretty difficult to test. I guess I need to be getting a professional to look at it, unless there are any other suggestions.

Thanks Jonathan Multimeter mended - so progress of sorts (thanks for offer). Any tips on where to start diagnosing, with a working multimeter? What should the voltage be to the sidelight?

Hello Whilst attempting my LED headlamp conversion, I noticed that one sidelight was not working. I was going to use this to power the halo on the LED lamp. Current checks done: No obvious break in the loom. All fuses checked (but anyway unlikely as other sidelight is working). Sidelight bulb swapped from side to side, confirms it's not the bulb. Multimeter b*ggered so cannot check in detail until I order another one! Does anyone have a wiring diagram for a CSR200? (I guess not that different from other 7s). Anything else obvious to check? This could be a right pain to get to the bottom of. At least the main bulb is working... Ben

HI Ian thanks In my instructions, this was not mentioned. I think the model I bought (same as dan sigma 140) is slightly different to yours. In any case, one of the sidelights is currently not working (even with a conventional setup), so I need to sort that problem first before doing the LED conversion. Ben

Actually just noticed this post from SM25T on the same subject Plug lead into H4 headlamp socket but wrap some insulation around it to cover all parts of contacts. Need to join sidelight wire to Halo ring wire .... easy enough Will try this....

Hello I bought Wisamic LED headlights, with the halo LED light, which I want to use as the sidelight. The connector for the main headlight is a straightforward plug in, see the green connector above. Easy. To get the halo LEDs to work, as per Wrightpayne's advice on another thread, presumably I should just I just cut off the sidelight connector, remove the sidelight earth wire and then connect the positive sidelight wire to the looped wire on the Wisamic unit. Is that right? Regards Ben

I can't speak for others, but I always found that an S3 chassis tends to bounce around a bit too much on bumpy UK B-roads. Not so much to affect performance, but more general driving enjoyment (my old S3 was very well sorted and was very quick through the corners). I decided then to go for a CSR rather than an SV because I felt this bouncing was a limitation to enjoyment and I have not been disappointed. It just is more comfortable on bumpier roads, you have to worry less about making corrections and reacting to the car moving around. So I would hope to have a similar feeling with the IRS conversion.

Hi James, I think Sam is saying that how well a car has been generally set up will outweigh (or cloud) the comparison of De Dion vs IRS. I also agree that the effect of damping on car handling on the limit is very difficult to define and I cannot remember ever seeing it being the dominating factor, even in a couple of cases where I had a car break a rear damper during a race. I would still argue global car balance is the main effect on limit handling. Considering that most race tracks are smoother than public roads, I would imagine the main benefit is on public roads. In terms of lap time, it is very rare to see a large lap time difference between different suspension concepts, unless one is very wrong in the first place. This mod should be more about driving pleasure. Oh yes and I also read LF, looks great, very nice job. Looking forward to seeing this conversion on some 7s soon.

Hi Howard, Which? magazine did a test of dash cams recently. The best models were from Nextbase. There was an expensive option, the 422GW and then a less expensive option, the 222. Worth looking into Ben