Fenix Automotive

[BobE]

In the latest edition of Evo magazine there is a brief update from Lee saying the project is delayed until next year as the styling for the new car is `substantially evolved`. Does anyone know any more details?

[slipstream 1985]

good i cant afford one yet and would e nice to get one at release date!!

[joust]

Yep. Deails are that it looks substantially different :-)

[joust]

Of course, if you want the full details, over to Fenix's own website and the post from Lee himself.

http://www.fenixautomotive.com/entry.php?25-So-cal...

J

[CRB1]

Yes,

I'm keeping closer tabs on Fenix these days. A years delay suits me fine!

[joust]

CRB1 said:

Yes,
I'm keeping closer tabs on Fenix these days. A years delay suits me fine!

To quote from Lee's post

"Well not really delays as we always said cars would be delivered spring next year. It would have been nice to have a car on the road in the UK by now, (a prototype) but sorry we dont. Mostly the reason is our desision to embrace modern technology and deliver an even better product than even I ever thought possible."

So no overall delay, just a lack of a demonstrator. It would I'm sure be "fun" to drive the chassis and drivetrain with no body or interior, but not sure how good PR it would be

[Blu3R]

Not that its going to affect me but, by embracing new technology won't it mean the car will just get more and more expensive in the end?

[wessexrfc]

Blu3R said:

Not that its going to affect me but, by embracing new technology won't it mean the car will just get more and more expensive in the end?

Not if the new tech is more efficient, ie reducing the labour in the boby moulding department and,(reading the blog from Lee) less messing around to get the finish/alignment correct.

[joust]

My understanding is that the moulds are a lot more accurate and hence require significantly less 'work' post forming the body. If you find the thread about visiting the M12 factory you'll see that there was a heck of a lot of work done using the old way to get the panels "right" on the body.

Sounds all good to me therefore.

[hoyin]

I actually have some knowledge about this! In my job we do a lot of 3d modelling for milling.

Basically we model the entire product in 3D send the file where a 5 axis router mills the form work - usually EPS foam with great accuracy.

This is then coated with a resin paste and remilled to form your form work.

It is all digital so it is fast and accurate - I would have thought in a production car you would be saving time and money.

Plus mockups could be made overnight. You could get the whole car modelled and milled out 1:1 to see what it looked like.

I am glad they have embraced technology.

[Jim O.]

Went over to a place that does carbon fiber work - they had a scanner that could digitize a whole car into a format that Solidworks could use. Once it was in Solidworks, they could make whatever modifications were necessary, or model new parts to fit onto the existing bodywork. From there, they could send it to a giant cnc machine, which would cut molds or bucks for them to use for the carbon fiber layup. It was really neat - they said that their scanner is accurate enough that if you started scanning a car in the morning, broke for lunch, and started scanning again, the thermal expansion of the car on a hot day would be enough to throw off the data. One of the things they were working on were body panels for a car being built for the Paris to Dakar Rally - they actually rented a car, scanned it, and were creating the molds to duplicate the body in carbon fiber. When they finished, they were going to mount the panels onto a tube frame that another company was building, so from the outside, it would look like a production car, but on the inside, it was a purpose-built racecar.

They also showed us examples of stuff they developed before they went digital - they had to do all the work using full size clay models, templates to keep the clays consistent from side to side, etc. Using the modern digital technology is way faster, much less labor intensive, and much more accurate...And very, very cool!

[egomeister]

Great to hear that they have finally gone digital as it offers a lot of benefits over traditional methods, mainly doen to accuracy and actually having an idea where your parts lie in the context of the vehicle itself.

Many companies shy away from the digital route as you have a big expense up front at the design stage, rather than all your expense being in manufacture. From experience, it's worth going through the pain for the downstream benefits. Some people get put off by the costs, but it doesn't have to be that bad if you know where to look

[joust]

Edited by joust on Saturday 2nd October 09:47

[RobP]

joust said:

Edited by joust on Saturday 2nd October 09:47

Nice post, Justin!

[lotus160sport]

Move on nothing to see here?

[GTRene]

wonder how the car will look like, promises looking good, also the new way of making it what I have read.

found also a little video on his website doing a interview on 03-09-2010, also proof that Lee can smile funny that in car video.

can't wait to see the car and how its gonna amaze us, hope the price is nice too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxSDBrMdSr0&fea...

and here the friendly after-talks after that ride as a passenger in that accelerating fast car

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wt8ikbZ2YV4&fea...

[joust]

RobP said:

joust said:

Edited by joust on Saturday 2nd October 09:47

Nice post, Justin!

The joys of PH's mobile site. It doesn't quite work right so I managed to post on here when I replied to another thread, and you can't delete from the mobile version.

J

[joust]

GTRene said:

wonder how the car will look like, promises looking good, also the new way of making it what I have read.
found also a little video on his website doing a interview on 03-09-2010, also proof that Lee can smile funny that in car video.
can't wait to see the car and how its gonna amaze us, hope the price is nice too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxSDBrMdSr0&fea...
and here the friendly after-talks after that ride as a passenger in that accelerating fast car
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wt8ikbZ2YV4&fea...

Twas very funny her reaction to Lee driving her in my car.

As for progress on the Fenix, all good.

J