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videos WCM Ultralite S2k

Setting Up a Seven – When things just work

I have made a long list of modifications to the Seven since my last blog update which I still need to document on here. In the meantime I wanted to share this video from the GGLC autocross on Saturday (watch in fullscreen).

The Seven may be unreliable, impractical and difficult to live with but the few days like this when everything works are absolutely worth the hassle. Incidentally we found the reason for the surging idle it ended up that I couldn’t drive the car for the rest of the day 🙂… Read the rest

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photos track days videos WCM Ultralite S2k

Buttonwillow Weekend


After going through many of the initial setup issues on the Seven and giving it a quick shakedown at Laguna Seca, I decided that it was time to take it on my first road trip. I drove it down to Buttonwillow Raceway Park to join a group of other Se7en owners for a track weekend. The fact that there were going to be other owners there made me feel more confident that there would be enough mechanical expertise to solve any mechanical issues that may crop up. Having been to Buttonwillow once before, I knew that the heat would be brutal and was glad to pitch in with the other folks to share a couple of garages with the other folks.… Read the rest

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cars WCM Ultralite S2k

Setting up a Seven – Wheels and Tires

My new WCM Ultralite S2K

When I initially purchased the Ultralite it was running on a set of generic 7.5″ wide alloys with 235-width Falken Azeni RT-615 tires all around(above). While the Azenis are decent tires (we use them on the Lemons car), they are still street tires and just cannot cope with the absurd power of the seven. After having a few moments of wheelspin in 3rd gear, I decided that while long slides are fun, I did want to go to more grippy setup as well as increase the rear grip level to give the car some better balance.

I quickly learned that one of the more annoying things about having a kit car is the extreme amount of pain you have to go through to get a set of wheels.… Read the rest

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cars WCM Ultralite S2k

Setting up a Seven – Safety

As you can see from the picture above, when I got the Ultralite it came with a simple asymmetrical rollbar that was barely taller than my head. While most track clubs would let me drive the car as is, the lack of side impact protection meant that I was not comfortable tracking the car without a full roll cage. Additionally the existing Ultrashield race seat had no head and neck support and the harnesses were long expired which meant I generally had to perform a full safety upgrade before tracking the car. For this I turned to Tony at TC Design who is the Bay Area’s premier roll cage fabricator.… Read the rest

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cars personal thoughts WCM Ultralite S2k

Setting up a Seven – The Ultralite Experience

My new WCM Ultralite S2K

As many of you know I purchased a Lotus Seven replica called the WCM Ultralite S2K late last year to make it a street legal track toy. While the Ultralite may maintain the spirit of the original Seven, as you can see below, it has a distinctly different shape and has generally larger dimensions to accommodate drivers of all sizes. In order to move this extra bulk (relatively speaking) around it comes with the incredible F20C engine out of the Honda S2000. The end product has some astonishing performance figures:

Weight: 1300 lbs
Horsepower: 240 bhp
Redline: 9000 rpm
Power to weight ratio: 400+ hp/ton
0-60 mph: 3.5 seconds

With the (more) original predecessor

My particular car was the first prototype built by World Class Motorsports and is the actual car used in most of the magazine tests.… Read the rest