cheapracer Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 (edited) Hi Guys, First thanks to Slngsht for letting me mention my things here. I am new here, have been reading for years and have been a member of Locost USA since 2008 and have about 3000 posts there hopefully helping and sharing where I can. Some of you may know me and some of my projects over that time. Anyway, now moving into production and thought you may be interested to see where I am going. The first couple of pre-production cars are underway now to have the bugs ironed out. Hoping to offer a very comprehensive rolling chassis kit at some of the World's most competitive prices. While it intrinsically looks like and hopefully retains the character of a Lotus/Locost 7, the design is considerably bigger and offers a massive 53" cabin width at the torso due to my unique Diamond layout. A Caterham 7 is 36" ~ 39" in comparison! Wheelbase will be closer to 97" compared to around 90" for a 7'ish and track width is considerably wider utilising around 62". Simply put, I wanted for myself and want to offer others a 7'ish car that 2 larger people can sit in with comfort with their arms inside the bodyline at all times. My friend is 6'5" and takes up 2/3rds of his Fraser's cabin and only a small child can ride with him! There's also the factor of road presense amongst some of the larger vehicles found on American roads, driving a 7'ish car can be quite an intimidating experience. Storage space will be improved and even room for cup holders! The larger size has also allowed me to position the fuel tanks in front of the rear axle line for improved safety and handling, along with massively increased trailing arm length at over 30", meaning prospective ride and handling chances are improved. It's not just bigger for the sake of it, there's a philosophy for it to be a base for 6 cylinder and V8 engines (and modern 4 turbos) designed to take the weight and torque larger engines offer, so for this the chassis design is aimed to achieve over 8000lbs per degree as the minimum target for torsion resistance and hopefully get more towards 10,000lbs per degree. That does not prevent one from using a 4 cylinder by any means but bear in mind this chassis will neccessarily be slightly heavier than a typical narrow and short 7'ish chassis. Certainly makes a sensible touring chassis option for a 4 though. It will only be a little larger and a little heavier car compared to a typical 7'ish unit but in reality and relative to standard cars, it is still very small and very light! Here's some of the 3D layout with comparisons in size to a F150 and a Caterham ... Note in picture 3D 4 the obvious comparison, A is a pair of 6' people in mine, B is the same pair the same distance apart in a typical 7'ish car and C is of course the same pair squeezed into the 7'ish ... FWIW I have nothing at all against a typical sized 7'ish, just think some people might want a larger alternate, I'm one of those people! Edited January 24, 2014 by cheapracer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheapracer Posted January 24, 2014 Author Share Posted January 24, 2014 Ok, so we need to start building them ... Need to get some tube together and start joining them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheapracer Posted January 24, 2014 Author Share Posted January 24, 2014 ...and end up looking something like this while checking out fitment and moving a few tubes around ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheapracer Posted January 24, 2014 Author Share Posted January 24, 2014 ..add some pedals, please note the ample footroom even with my size 10 boots on! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheapracer Posted January 24, 2014 Author Share Posted January 24, 2014 Next step was to sort out the rear trailing arms, was unhappy with the first iteration of front mounting so as you can see I went for another simpler design ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheapracer Posted January 24, 2014 Author Share Posted January 24, 2014 (edited) Every now and then inbetween I play with the beginnings of the bodywork (I have 2 chassis underway so I can play with one while the other is worked on) and even added a roll bar ... Front suspension is underway, get some pictures up of that on the weekend! Edited January 24, 2014 by cheapracer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kitcat Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 Very cool! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slngsht Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 cool. are you using 1.5" tubing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheapracer Posted January 25, 2014 Author Share Posted January 25, 2014 Using a spread of 2", 1.5" and 1". The chassis as you see it so far is 45kgs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeanG Posted January 25, 2014 Share Posted January 25, 2014 It doesn't look like you will have a lot of rear suspension travel. 4-6 inches? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tio pancho Posted January 26, 2014 Share Posted January 26, 2014 Forgive me, but why? David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheapracer Posted January 26, 2014 Author Share Posted January 26, 2014 It doesn't look like you will have a lot of rear suspension travel. 4-6 inches? It has clearance capability of 10" of arc travel if you needed to run the Baja 500 next year :-) . Forgive me, but why? David Why what? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Automoda Posted January 26, 2014 Share Posted January 26, 2014 You know... I'd experiment with different ideas on the nose cone. Since its just fiberglass it would be possible to do a lot with it to try to hide the extra width a bit more. To me, an important key to a good looking super 7 is how the nose cone is shaped. Since this one is so wide, you might try giving it a little more of a point on the nose instead of going straight across, or perhaps just curve it a bit on the sides so the opening is smaller. The seven was never built for looks, of course, but sometimes subtle things make a big difference on these cars. For instance I really like how Birkin's back fenders taper a little, and have a bit of angle on the front and back edges to keep it from looking like a true cylinder, or how their roll bar and windshield tapers in a little rather than having a true 90 degree bend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kitcat Posted January 26, 2014 Share Posted January 26, 2014 Speaking of aesthetics: a big difference between Lowcosts compared to Cats and Birkins is the door cut-out. On Cats, etc, it is a diagonal from front to rear, on Lowcosts it is horizontal. It may seem trivial but, to my eyes, the diagonal cut-out in Cats, etc., adds a flow to the design whereas the Lowcost approach is purely functional. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheapracer Posted January 26, 2014 Author Share Posted January 26, 2014 Thanks for your ideas guys, and yes there's some experiments coming in those areas. The first 2 are pre-production cars to look at and see what I might change from there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheapracer Posted February 22, 2014 Author Share Posted February 22, 2014 After spending a bit of time getting some body work bucks done and some of it off to the fibreglass company for finishing and mold making and other pressing projects, I got a bit more done on the rear end/trailing links and for a change the computer 3D and the reality pretty well matched up without any big changes .. http://i620.photobucket.com/albums/tt289/mongrelexo/trail3_zpscf6a269c.jpg http://i620.photobucket.com/albums/tt289/mongrelexo/trail0_zps149fae5c.jpg http://i620.photobucket.com/albums/tt289/mongrelexo/trail1_zpsea09bc70.jpg http://i620.photobucket.com/albums/tt289/mongrelexo/trail2_zpsde8988f6.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeanG Posted February 22, 2014 Share Posted February 22, 2014 Interesting take on the rear end frame. Same with the central transmission tunnel framing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheapracer Posted February 22, 2014 Author Share Posted February 22, 2014 Interesting take on the rear end frame. Same with the central transmission tunnel framing. I like triangles and simplicity Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichaelD Posted February 22, 2014 Share Posted February 22, 2014 Where will the fuel cell be placed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheapracer Posted February 22, 2014 Author Share Posted February 22, 2014 Where will the fuel cell be placed? In front of the axles behind the seats for a bit better balance and safety. You can see the 2 of them in the 3D, last picture, first post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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