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PostPosted: April 24, 2015, 4:50 pm 
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No affiliation, happen to run into this on a search on youtube and saw their prototype, thought I would share for discussion with this group. Looks like they start shipping June 1 2015. Interesting approach in how they reuse the cobalt subframe and attach to the frame directly as well as reusing looks like most of the car. kit starts at 5k for the barebones version.

Based on my quick search these guys are out of texas and are actually cnc machinists? I guess they're breaking out into making cars.

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PostPosted: April 25, 2015, 9:47 pm 
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Yeah we had a thread on them a while back and I even went to the car show to talk to them and see the car.

It needs some development so I wouldn't want one of the first couple, but I think they will work on getting everything dialed in once it's shown to be important.

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PostPosted: April 25, 2015, 9:59 pm 
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Not sure how well that radiator will function once you get the firewall in there and who came up with that rear suspension.

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PostPosted: April 25, 2015, 11:09 pm 
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wrightcomputing wrote:
who came up with that rear suspension.


Colin Chapman, you may have heard of him. :mrgreen:

The strut mounts are pretty bizarre though.


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PostPosted: May 25, 2015, 6:39 pm 
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"The strut mounts are pretty bizarre though." Definitely! They look like the nitrogen struts on the back door of my van!

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PostPosted: May 26, 2015, 7:57 pm 
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Well, the struts might be the struts off of a Cobalt w/ softer springs?

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PostPosted: May 26, 2015, 9:07 pm 
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The MacPherson struts, yeah. But I was referring to the six (what appears to be) nitrogen struts holding the top of the MacPherson struts! What's up with that?

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PostPosted: May 26, 2015, 9:16 pm 
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geek49203 wrote:
Well, the struts might be the struts off of a Cobalt w/ softer springs?


Stock springs. Those aren't nitrogen shocks, they are hard mounts. It's amazingly sturdy at least just throwing my weight on it. I've not seen it under hard cornering or bumps.

So far I haven't seen any indication on their part to actually drive it hard and see how it handles. Maybe they've done it and it scared them slippery pants and didn't know what to do to correct it.

But I do know that their shop neighbor is a guy who could help them with the handling. It's Brian Anderson who developed the Ultralites.

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PostPosted: May 27, 2015, 8:25 am 
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I still just shake my head when I look at that frame. I think if they put the ends up on blocks and a dial gauge in the middle and stepped in it - it would give one pause for thought. That seems like a minimum for something you're going to sell to the public.

You can't count on the bolted on subframe to provide any strength tot he frame so that leaves the upper rails holding the front and the back of the car straight and level. People don't build ladder frame cars out of that size tubing. The bracing to the roll bar, front and rear, is designed to fold that tube in half.

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PostPosted: May 27, 2015, 10:09 am 
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horizenjob wrote:
People don't build ladder frame cars out of that size tubing. The bracing to the roll bar, front and rear, is designed to fold that tube in half.


Sorry but I'm not seeing it. The tubing looks right to me. The rear brace feeds the load into the subframe. The forward brace feeds the load into a triangulated node. Assuming that the subframe is hard mounted without a rubber bushing I'd consider the subframe as structural. The frame looks weak in torsion but that is not a safety issue.

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PostPosted: May 27, 2015, 10:18 am 
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True the roll bar is subject to bending. Do you suppose they designed for that?


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PostPosted: May 27, 2015, 3:35 pm 
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Not optimal but probably adequate. The roll bar must be just for looks. Or for leaning on when you're standing next to the car.


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PostPosted: May 27, 2015, 4:13 pm 
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nick47 wrote:
. The roll bar must be just for looks. Or for leaning on when you're standing next to the car.


Hahahaha

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PostPosted: May 27, 2015, 7:02 pm 
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I think you are asking a lot of the highlighted bar in this image.

The forces from the rear are pushed up into the roll bar, due to the length giving about a 4x leverage on the highlighted bar. Also factor 400lbs+ of passenger weight pushing down on that same point. If you removed that bar it would almost certainly buckle. That is leaving a lot of work to be done by that bar. It is also the area least supported by the wheels.
Attachment:
Weakness.png


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PostPosted: May 27, 2015, 7:52 pm 
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crumple zone?

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