I'm suffering with a case of low confidence in the Tiger It's in the best condition it's ever been (touch wood), but there have been a series of events that have knocked my confidence.

A while back I was following another 7 and he had a fairly bad off. Pretty scary actually. Then I had an incident where my sump hit a cat's eye, ripped half the sump off and set fire to the back of the car (picture petrol vapour catching fire and a fire ball over the roll bar chasing me and my son down the road!). After the back end of the car was resprayed, melted lights replaced etc I must have done literally 20 miles before one of the wishbones snapped. It happened reversing off my drive fortunately and BGH (who then re-worked them for me) confirmed that the originals were not really up to the job (to be fair to Tiger there was a recall on them which the previous owner must have missed). I can't help but think what would have happened if it had broken at speed though.

I've just MOTd and taxed the car after having changed the pedal box, brake lines, calipers and a few other bits. I find myself going down the road thinking "what if something snapped now".

Anyone else suffered with this and how did you deal with it?

[Edited on 30/4/11 by contaminated]

get a helmet, a race suit, and go for it!!




:-)


sorry if that doesn't help,....

It does a bit - the helmet has made an appearance!

Nowt as bad as yours but I've had consistent bad fortune with mine. Generally down to clutch and clutch cable faults to the point where I carry 5 replacement clutch arms The enjoyment as such just isn't there in driving it anymore due to being let down to much. I SVA'd in June 2009 and I bet I've not done 100 miles.
I just tinker with it and take it around the block now. Shame really but I just can't relax in it.

book a track day and push the car as far as you can to restore confidence

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Originally posted by mistergrumpy
Nowt as bad as yours but I've had consistent bad fortune with mine. Generally down to clutch and clutch cable faults to the point where I carry 5 replacement clutch arms The enjoyment as such just isn't there in driving it anymore due to being let down to much. I SVA'd in June 2009 and I bet I've not done 100 miles.
I just tinker with it and take it around the block now. Shame really but I just can't relax in it.

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Originally posted by omega0684
book a track day and push the car as far as you can to restore confidence

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quote:

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Originally posted by mistergrumpy
Nowt as bad as yours but I've had consistent bad fortune with mine. Generally down to clutch and clutch cable faults to the point where I carry 5 replacement clutch arms The enjoyment as such just isn't there in driving it anymore due to being let down to much. I SVA'd in June 2009 and I bet I've not done 100 miles.
I just tinker with it and take it around the block now. Shame really but I just can't relax in it.

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Originally posted by James

quote:

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Originally posted by mistergrumpy
Nowt as bad as yours but I've had consistent bad fortune with mine. Generally down to clutch and clutch cable faults to the point where I carry 5 replacement clutch arms The enjoyment as such just isn't there in driving it anymore due to being let down to much. I SVA'd in June 2009 and I bet I've not done 100 miles.
I just tinker with it and take it around the block now. Shame really but I just can't relax in it.

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Doesn't this just mean you have an inherent fault with the clutch or pedal setup that needs fixing?

Would sorting the problem properly not restore confidence?

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i'm going to do a 300mile trip tomorrow to stoneleigh in a car i've only driven to a mot center since october last year, and if it makes it there and back i'll be suprised lol

The ongoing issue is the clutch arm really. They just seem to wear prematurely and it's been a constant slog to find out why. The latest is that I've altered the pedal ratio and bracket now ready for testing next week when I can tax it. I've had the arm slip and stick inside the clutch case more times than I can remember causing various results.I've had the soldered nipple come off the cable and leave me stranded. I've had a snapped cable, a slipped cable, repleced by an excellent but expensive Venhill, really worth it though. List goes on and confidence is knocked but I do keep at it. One day I'll beat it, afterall I beat the SVA!

With that much trouble having been re-build, it's now a new car and should be perfect. Get on a track day and get some instruction to build your confidence.

When I was building my Indy, it took me about 4 years to complete.

Towards the end, a friend came round and was helping sort a few things out when he noticed my entire rear suspension ws only finger tight - obviously I'd done this at an early stage with the intention of tightening everything up at a later date.

Soon after, we found that the rear hubs were the same

This put a constant element of doubt in my mind that, no matter how much I went over the car and double triple checked it, I'd missed something simple but dangerous.

My way of getting my head round the fact that I was driving the fastest car I ever had, that was built by my hands and welded by a bloke in a shed near Worksop, was to take it to a trackday and start off slow, gradually winding the speed up as my confidence in MK's fabrication and my mechanical ability built up. The track was Elvington (and a very wet one at that!), which means if anything goes wrong, there's nothing to hit or cause any danger but a few cones*.





* 300mph rocket cars excluded.

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Originally posted by contaminated

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Originally posted by omega0684
book a track day and push the car as far as you can to restore confidence

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I think that might be an idea actually - ta

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I was (and slightly still am) over confident with my car. Considering I did not build the car and only did basic checks when I first got it I did several drives out (with yourself one one occasion). I also dis a track day 3 weeks after getting it and a 1000 mile trip to the ring 2 months after getting it. I only did basic nut and bolt checks and carried minimum tools. My car got there and back without fault, something even the original builder congratulated me to have the courage to do!!

So I think miles of 'test drives' and track days to grow your confidence and relax is a good idea. Sounds like you have had some real misfortune with your car but it wont last. A combination of naivety and excitement gave me the confidence following my accident last year. I also try not to dwell or question my car to much when driving it. Everybody can hear funny 'new' noises when driving if they listen hard enough!

HTH and best of luck,

Biz

Seems to me you're friends off, you're fire and snapped wishbone were not you're fault at all. They were accidents and I hope sincerely you're friend was ok.

I'm assuming you've built you're car yourself - if you have then you know it better than anyone and I bet you've taken more care and time with your brakes than a garage would have.

Confidence in non-break downs isn't needed I don't think, cars do break down so just get it towed and then fix it.

Confidence in the car itself you can only get by driving it without incident - I agree with all of above - big circuit with loads of runoff - get out and have some fun. Soon as the smiles back you're sorted.

If you find you aren't gaining confidence you won't be enjoying the driving so although it sounds harsh maybe might be time to move on - I was in same situation when I sold my big bike, I just wasn't enjoying it so I sold it before I started really hating it. That way leaving the door open for another.

i find the fact that i bolted it all together to actually give me confidence rather than the opposite,
you will always have the what is that new noise worry no matter what you drive its just that in a 7 style car you can hear the new noises better.
as said before get the car to a trackday where you can safely push the car, if the day goes well your confidence will be restored for certain

mistergrumpy,,, have you fitted a clutch pedal stop?, i had the same problem with my zx9 and as soon as the stop was fitted i never had a problem again. just a thought

Yep I have a pedal stop. There seems to be a very short distance between the clutch engaging and being overpulled.