Friday 12th February 2016

BAC Mono 'widebody'

Too powerfully built for the BAC Mono? New chassis has space to flex your guns

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Last year BAC updated its Mono with space for a bigger 305hp 2.5-litre engine, replacing the original 2.3. Now it's doing the same for the driver, a revised chassis design broadening the steel spaceframed safety cell a tad. In total there's an additional 56mm of breathing space, 25mm each side from the frame and 3mm from new, thinner side panels.

BAC is tactful in its explanation for the updates, saying "the changes have come about thanks to BAC's close relationship and ongoing communication with its customers" and not because the customers for £100K track toys aren't quite as minimally proportioned as the Mono. Honest.

Given power to weight based around the Mono's 580kg mass has always been a key selling point, does accommodating the larger driver compromise the previously uncompromising vision for the car? BAC says no, at least as far as the car's vital statistics are concerned. Exterior dimensions and performance are unaffected, meaning 0-60 in under three seconds, 170mph flat out and potential hero status if you've got the necessaries to punt it up Lord March's driveway faster than anything else. See here for what that involves...

"The changes will widen the appeal of the Mono, particularly as we expand into new markets such as America and the Far East," says co-founder Ian Briggs in the official press release. Stop sniggering at the back...

The new chassis will come on stream this spring. If you want one sooner than that, new or used, best lay off the pies.

Search for BAC Monos in the PH classifieds here

[minimalist]

I don't know how I missed that video before but that is a committed drive. WOW!
That slide at the end could have gone sooo wrong.

Edited by minimalist on Thursday 11th February 22:20

[Reavenger]

minimalist said:

I don't know how I missed that video before but that is a committed drive. WOW!
That slide at the end could have gone sooo wrong.

Edited by minimalist on Thursday 11th February 22:20

The bloke in the white was fairly calm about it all...

I love the look of this car. It looks fairly 'accessible'; as in drivable for people of all experiences (and size). *insert lottery winning comment here*.

[Oddball RS]

I don't see more room inside as a negative thing, it makes things more comfy and a little safer, its not about being fat! I have a big frame and I'm 6'2" some cars can be tight for height and shoulder room. I've had an Elise and a 340R in the past, the 340R was by far the most comfortable because it didn't have a roof, however I think car designers need to stop designing sportscars for 5'8" blokes that weight 11 stone. If the Elise family of cars had been 10% bigger in every dimension they would have been better cars, they wouldn't have weighed any more than the current models, they would have been more comfortable for long journeys and the top of the windscreen wouldn't always have been in my eye line.

[hairykrishna]

Not sure I've ever seen under the skin pictures before. I had in my head that it was a carbon tub.

[El Guapo]

It sounds like there was something seriously wrong with the transmission.

[SpudLink]

The Mono is pretty much at the top of my Lottery win list. There's a very good documentary on YouTube about the brothers behind BAC.

Oddball RS said:

I think car designers need to stop designing sportscars for 5'8" blokes that weight 11 stone.

Nah. 5'8" and 11 stone is the correct size for an adult male. Anything else is too big or too small.

[ewenm]

Power-to-weight stats for a lightweight car should always include the weight of the driver as the car isn't going to drive itself (yet!).

[NotNormal]

ewenm said:

Power-to-weight stats for a lightweight car should always include the weight of the driver as the car isn't going to drive itself (yet!).

Which driver?

[kambites]

NotNormal said:

Which driver?

Me, obviously.

[NotNormal]

kambites said:

Me, obviously.

Industry standard "kambites" does have a certain ring about it

[ewenm]

NotNormal said:

ewenm said:

Power-to-weight stats for a lightweight car should always include the weight of the driver as the car isn't going to drive itself (yet!).

Which driver?

The owner, so when he's boring the pub about his "lightweight" sports car he has to add 100+kg to weight

[PhillipM]

FAT Mono?

[maz8062]

I followed one of these around a series of country roads today. The car is mental, and the noise it makes, especially the gearbox, is very motorsport. When it was pootling through the villages around West Essex people couldn't keep their eyes off it - a good job the driver had a helmet on.

Very nice!

[A1VDY]

Gearbox is broken already..

[maz8062]

No, I wouldn't say it was broken, it was just very mechanical. The engine is exposed, so you hear everything. We had a few spirited bursts around the lanes but as is the way with these things, the car is limited in how fast it can go on the public highway. I was able to keep up, but the acceleration of the thing was awesome.

It was a 20 plate car driven by a young lad.

[Barchettaman]

Oddball RS said:

If the Elise family of cars had been 10% bigger in every dimension they would have been better cars, they wouldn't have weighed any more than the current models....

Wouldn’t they have weighed approximately 10% more?

[HustleRussell]

Barchettaman said:

Oddball RS said:

If the Elise family of cars had been 10% bigger in every dimension they would have been better cars, they wouldn't have weighed any more than the current models....

Wouldn’t they have weighed approximately 10% more?

Bit more than 10% probably, as all the sections would have to be beefed up to resist the additional moments from their extended length.

[Julian Thompson]

I love the car but I don’t love the concept - if that car had two seats I would probably buy one but if you’re having some track day fun it’s just so much more fun to share with your friends a bit. Monoposto is a bit solitary for me. Otherwise it’s mega.