Agreed. Just not one I happen to buy into. I'm more about practical driver than once a month track car, so I would sacrifice that look (and some lightness) for a smooth body line.

That said, I'd still like to have some form of kit like this. But I'm pretty sure it's never gonna happen.

 

There is a body under development. We'll see what it looks like. Some people will hate it, because that's what people do. At least the non-styling of the current setup is honest about being aesthetically challenged

This is the vehicular equivalent of a naked bike.

 

I have loved this kit for a while for many reasons, mainly the cost, finished weight, and ease of build. I think it will do well and I don't personally really care much how it looks as long as it doesn't make me cringe looking at it, which it doesn't. Function to me is weighted so heavily with me on this car, that it would be hard to turn it down for form.

 

~$2500 to do the bodywork and paint on the miata...
Take that off the cost of the exocet, plus say another $1000 for whatever is on the miata that I'd take off & sell (hard top, roll bar, uhhh...) before scraping the shell. Hmmm....

 

how hard is it to make one of these things street legal?

 

How do these kits work with something like an 8.8 rear end that deletes the PPF?

 

Depends on what point it is still a 'miata' if you reuse most of the car except the body panels, in your state's eyes.

Or how much of a bitch it is to register/title a kit car or homebuilt in your state. Keith gave a link above that gives some good info.

 

Braineack, that's going to vary by state. I suspect that almost all of the existing builds are simply registered as Miatas.

But if you want to be fully legal, check the laws for your area. Basically, you'll need to prove ownership of the major parts (no stolen cars involved) and have basic safety equipment like lights. You may or may not need a windshield and wipers, this varies by state and also by inspector. It's no different than a Factory Five Roadster that uses a Mustang donor.

If you delete the PPF, you'll need to find some way to mount the rear of the trans and the front of the diff - just like you would in a Miata. A transmission crossmember would be very easy to do, and usually the diff mounts are attached to the subframe.

 

Yeah, if you're able to unbolt the 8.8 diff/rear subframe crap, you should be able to bolt it onto this exocet as-is, I would assume.

Also, if you have the Race Kit chassis, I would think a piece of plexiglass across the front would be simple to do and work as a windshield for titling.

 

Usually a windshield has to be safety glass with the appropriate markings - plexiglass is definitely not kosher. Luckily, flat glass is pretty cheap. The safety glass for my Locost windshield cost me about $30. And Exomotive already has some designs for a glass windshield on the caged cars, although I don't think it's past the CAD stage yet.

 

Are the fenders aluminum or fiberglass? Needs some 15x10 275's.

 

Fiberglass.

 

Its open wheeled, why limit yourself to 15" wheels?




I guess my question regarding the 8.8 was if this tube frame required the ppf as a structure or if you can remove it and be good to go that way?

 

The PPF is not required as a structure, no. The current frame was designed with the expectation that LSx engines were going to get installed.

 

Will a stock body skin fit over top of one of these?
The frame is shipped fully welded?
I am sure it's in the works, but when can we expect a Configurator like you have for the Westfield?

 

A stock body should fit over the chassis - check the overlay I posted on the previous page. All the hard points are the same, so it should just be a matter of bracketry.

Of course, you can't just lift the body off a Miata. It's a unibody. But if you recreated it in carbon fiber, this might be a good shortcut to a spaceframe Miata. I'm not sure how much weight you'd save by that point versus a stripped Miata.

The frame is shipped fully welded and powdercoat is an option. Since there aren't many options at this point - just the three basic kits plus powdercoating and wing mounts - we hadn't really considered a configurator. Once we've got a few more options, we'll probably put one together.

Items we're looking at are mostly completion packs, such as a kit of all the pieces you need to easily assemble a fuel system instead of bending your own lines. Exactly what's required will become more clear as we build our own. We're also looking at turn-keys and rollers. In a roller, we'd drop the frame on to a Miata rollerskate and ship it to you. All the heavy lifting would be done and you'd have to do all the finishing work such as running brake lines, wiring, etc. We're still looking at the numbers to see if that makes sense financially.

 

Can you compare and contrast this with a Locost and the Westfield?

 

Whats the difference in firewall width? Perhaps one could cut off the entire miata front windshield area from the firewall and weld it to the chassis?

On a side note in ur first pic i see you have a vmaxx with the helpers on the bottom. Whats the difference between top and bottom location for the vmaxx helper springs?

 

Again, see the overlay I posted earlier. I can't see that working out, but if you really really want to try I won't try to stop you

Helpers on top, helpers on the bottom, doesn't really matter.

Compare the Sevens to an Exocet. You mean, besides the fact that a Locost starts with a dream and not a whole lot else, whereas an Exocet starts with pretty much all the parts you need to put it together? Even a Westie is a more involved build than the Exocet should be, although I'll have a much better idea of that once ours is built.

Ignoring the obvious fact that you need to design, weld and build the Locost - the driving experience is different. On a Locost (Westfield, Caterham, any Seven clone), you sit pretty much on the back wheel with a long nose in front of you. So you're driving off the back wheels. This is why they're so easy to drive sideways The Exocet feels like a Miata, pivoting around the gearshift. This is why they're so easy to drive fast right out of the box. The Exocet feels a bit more manic because of it. Not that a Seven is terribly inert. I'll be taking my Locost on track tomorrow to refresh myself. I do remember it being harder work physically, but that's going to vary from car to car.

There's more room in an Exocet chassis for your feet, and your arms and elbows are inside the cage while they hang out in the breeze in the Seven. The Exocet chassis is also stiffer, I believe. Brakes, well, that's up to implementation. The Exocet we drove had our four wheel Little Big Brake Kit and it hauled down really well. It had better brakes than the Westfield but they're probably pretty similar to my Locost in terms of effectiveness. Apples to apples, the Exocet is a couple of hundred pounds heavier.

When it comes to modification, the Exocet is just a Miata so it's super-easy. Even an FM II is a bolt-on. The Locost will require continuing design/weld/build on your part for everything from exhaust to shocks. Westfield upgrades are a mixed bag - some stuff is bolt-on, some is DIY.

In terms of raw speed, it's a pretty close match. Our turbo Westfield has lapped in the 1:00.xx range on our track. The turbo Exocet that was at the Summer Camp ran a 1:01.9 fresh out of the box, and there's more to come there.

 

Think an Exocet would be faster than an EVO X on a tight twisty bumpy back road?