Spotted. Saleen S7 04/17/10

[Kona9]

On 17th mid afternoon. Looking for a patio, admiring the ladies strutting their stuff, and came upon this.

Colorado plates with ZR plate trim. Pretty humble guy.

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s135/kona9/GetAttachment-1.jpg

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s135/kona9/GetAttachmentt.jpg

[pf0sh0]

oooooooooooo weeeeeeeeeee. thats sick

[HondaKid]

That is one long ass car, check out the real estate from the seat back. Is that rear wheel way larger than the front one? Real nice spot.

One nice thing Calgary has, a shit load of exotic cars. I was waiting at a long red light last week, directly in front was a Lambo, it felt like I was directly in front of a Marshall amp. Those pipes were buzzing with sweet sounds and vibes.

To hear an Saleen S7:

s8cz5tU_SV4

[signature7]

WOW Nice spot.

[Kloubek]

One of my fav cars. Very nice.

Bet he spends a fair amount of time at the pumps....

[schocker]

Cool spotting. I believe I have seen that one before on a flatbed years ago with the colorado plates coming into calgary on highway 1. :thumbsup:

[MGCM]

:( how come i never see the fun cars, all i seem to ever come across is Lambo's and rly they kinda get old after u've seen too many of them. Tho, I did see an R8 a few weeks back :D can't go wrong with an Audi R8

[JustinGTP]

Awesome :)

[RickDaTuner]

This S7 is on its 3 or 4th Engine, i can't remember. Saleen made a cool looking car but the reliability of it is just piss poor

[MGCM]

Originally posted by RickDaTuner
This S7 is on its 3 or 4th Engine, i can remember. Saleen made a cool looking car but the reliability of it is just piss poor

....................proof of said statement? I find it hard to believe the engine on that S7 has been replaced 3 times already.

[RickDaTuner]

Originally posted by MGCM


....................proof of said statement? I find it hard to believe the engine on that S7 has been replaced 3 times already.

You are hearing right form the horses mouth. I used to work for ZR. It blew once on a run to BC, blew another time on a trip to the US, Once at the track, and I can't remember if there was another time, might have just been a blown turbo.

Each time the car has been Sent back to Saleen as it still under warranty.

here is the vid for the US run

1tYJWQM4x2A

and

kTG51lggQQI

[SCHIDER23]

Great spotting, about the engine reliabilitythat's not cool.:thumbsdow

[94boosted]

That's an awesome spot, never seen one of those in Calgary.

[beyond_ban]

I've seen that one twice now. Cool car to spot, thats for sure. It used to be parked in the ZR showroom so i was able to get a close up look to it. I couldn't believe how horrendous the paint was. I guess its better to see these cars get used then to be garage queens their entire life.

[Twin_Cam_Turbo]

Good spot!

[B20EF]

Originally posted by beyond_ban
I guess its better to see these cars get used then to be garage queens their entire life.

:werd: He drives all his cars as they were designed to perform, or at least the best he can. :burnout:

[AndyL]

Spotted it in canmore at the visitors center...
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i277/cgyreefer/IMGP0538.jpg

Grabbed a couple shots - for a spotted thread - wanted to ask if that wing was actually a saleen addition (i hope not!) or rice...

[LMVantage]

Originally posted by MGCM


....................proof of said statement? I find it hard to believe the engine on that S7 has been replaced 3 times already.

That's correct regarding the engines. Those things are horribly unreliable - or at least that one is.

As for the wing, from what I remember it's a Saleen piece.

[AndyL]

Oi, can't believe Saleen would add that...

Its mounts looked well done, and effective (was expecting double sided 3m tape when I first spied it) and seemed to match the front lip - I just couldn't see it being a Saleen piece...

Nice to see the cars getting used...

[scat19]

SEX.

Great spot.

[HondaKid]

Originally posted by AndyL
Spotted it in canmore at the visitors center...
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i277/cgyreefer/IMGP0538.jpg

Grabbed a couple shots - for a spotted thread - wanted to ask if that wing was actually a saleen addition (i hope not!) or rice...

Bet he took the old highway to Canmore, nice winding roads and never a cop in sight.

[freshprince1]

Very cool car. Nice spot.

[davesparky6]

Nice.... Never seen one in the flesh before. Good spot!

[bubbley]

Sweet Mother!

[MGCM]

Originally posted by RickDaTuner


You are hearing right form the horses mouth. I used to work for ZR. It blew once on a run to BC, blew another time on a trip to the US, Once at the track, and I can't remember if there was another time, might have just been a blown turbo.

Each time the car has been Sent back to Saleen as it still under warranty.

here is the vid for the US run

1tYJWQM4x2A

and

kTG51lggQQI

......................help me understand how a car that expensive have a poor quality motor? Could it not be custom built to last MUCH longer? IMHO replace the weak parts with custom STRONGER parts, if you can afford a Saleen S7 you can easily afford some custom engine work to make the thing reliable right? Am I on the right track here or is the car so rare that no machine shop will do custom parts for it?

[RickDaTuner]

Originally posted by MGCM


......................help me understand how a car that expensive have a poor quality motor? Could it not be custom built to last MUCH longer? IMHO replace the weak parts with custom STRONGER parts, if you can afford a Saleen S7 you can easily afford some custom engine work to make the thing reliable right? Am I on the right track here or is the car so rare that no machine shop will do custom parts for it?

Building high performance cars that run an excess of 700hp is no easy feat.
All these engines are hand built, and any little imperfection be it from minute surface imperfection or a missed measurement of 0.001" results in disaster. While saleen has been building high performance machines for a very long time, this was a relatively new venture for them, as a result they had a great deal of kinks to work out.

I think you can only truly appreciate all these ultra high performance cars like the Veyron and the Zonda F when you truly understand the precision and complexity of the components being assembled.

Making parts out of aluminum or titanium doesn't make a difference with these engines, because its not the strength of the materials that makes them fail but instead how they are put together.
Under the pretences that you stated F1 cars should never ever have an engine failure, and should last for ever. But even these well seasoned engineers have mishaps like this happen all the time.
Take into account BMW-Sauber, this team is running Ferrari engines, but have been having nothing but problems with their power plants, yet STR-Ferrari is running the same engine and they are doing just fine.

The kind of stuff that the common back yard tuner gets away with on a car like a Honda with an eBay turbo kit is light years apart from the finesse and intricate detail that goes into putting these motors together.

for the record, I am not the owner. I was just at one point associated with this car.

[LMVantage]

That's exactly it. This car was a race car modified for the road, not the other way around. Because of this, race car engines aren't designed for every day use, and they tend to break down. Build quality also isn't the same.

For this car specifically, I think it has a lot to do with the car having some bad luck. Glad to see he has it back and running though, it's an incredible machine.

[MGCM]

Thx for the info guys, I had it all backwards and really should have been thinking that already. I am a race enthusiast and do enjoy watching F1, Rolex, anything with a proper road course and not just a stupid oval. I also have recently started competing in auto-x :) will be at race city this sunday for my 2nd competition in the civic.

[2Valve0]

amazing car

[Sorath]

must be hard to see out of that thing, reminds me of the esprit

[lilmira]

Nice spot. Too bad about the engine, may be God can fix it.

[LMVantage]

Originally posted by Sorath
must be hard to see out of that thing, reminds me of the esprit

Like most exotics, you'd simply get used to it. Not having a back window isn't a huge deal when you're familiar with your car. The Esprit is much easier to see out of than the S7.

[OBDIIM50]

How does every car with a wing these days automatically become rice? Like WTF? I'd say that S7 is as nice as it gets. That wing is pretty useful. It's a God damned race car.. Why would Saleen put a wing on their car if it wasn't useful? Lurn tew stop bein jealuzz

[Graham_A_M]

Originally posted by RickDaTuner
This S7 is on its 3 or 4th Engine, i can't remember. Saleen made a cool looking car but the reliability of it is just piss poor

These engines were designed to run 1/2 race gas, 1/2 premium. Most owners dont do that, which causes these engines to tank. This guy I was talking to is the friend of this guy, and yes if this is the same one, its had new engines numererous times. Only because where he travels too; race gas isn't always available. (Its not like hes short on money for rebuilding the engine anyway).

[2EFNFAST]

Originally posted by MGCM


......................help me understand how a car that expensive have a poor quality motor? Could it not be custom built to last MUCH longer? IMHO replace the weak parts with custom STRONGER parts, if you can afford a Saleen S7 you can easily afford some custom engine work to make the thing reliable right? Am I on the right track here or is the car so rare that no machine shop will do custom parts for it?

The S7, atleast the earlier year ones, are crap cars overal. Cool - yes. Awesome - yes. Reliable - no.

edit: my basis is somebody who has 2 at this shop at hte moment right now.

[BrianLaarvs]

Must be filling up with V-Power. Smart man. :thumbsup:

[beyond_ban]

Originally posted by BrianLaarvs
Must be filling up with V-Power. Smart man. :thumbsup:

:confused: