Mk Indy or Exocet?

[torqueofthedevil]

First build (previously owned a fireblade engined stuart Taylor).

Want to go car engine - easy build - road legal and track

[matlee]

Exocet*

• My opinion may be a little bit biased.

[PaulKemp]

Exocet cheap and easy
MK perhaps a little more track focused

[ugg10]

Have a look at the Sylva J15, there is a new MGF single donor version coming out soon (J15M), small, nimble, Jeremy Philips design/engineering so handling is very good (J16 which is based upon gained Which Kit best car of the year a couple of years ago) and to my eyes significnatly more pretty than either 7evens or Exocet.

Or if you are looking for a seven, want a single donor and have a reasonable budget then look at the Roadrunner SR2 (MX5 based) or the GKD Legend (BMW 3 Series based, 4 pot available).

http://www.sylva.co.uk/j15.html
http://www.roadrunnerracing.net/the-roadrunner-sr2...
http://www.gkdsportscars.com/

[AdiT]

ugg10 said:

Have a look at the Sylva J15, there is a new MGF single donor version coming out soon (J15M), small, nimble, Jeremy Philips design/engineering so handling is very good (J16 which is based upon gained Which Kit best car of the year a couple of years ago) and to my eyes significnatly more pretty than either 7evens or Exocet.

Or if you are looking for a seven, want a single donor and have a reasonable budget then look at the Roadrunner SR2 (MX5 based) or the GKD Legend (BMW 3 Series based, 4 pot available).

http://www.sylva.co.uk/j15.html
http://www.roadrunnerracing.net/the-roadrunner-sr2...
http://www.gkdsportscars.com/

Got to agree with that. The Exocet is probably the easiest build and beauty is in the eye of the beholder...but it's ugly!

If I was looking for a 7 then it'd be the SR2 and for looks the J15. I'd throw the Riot in with that list as well. Basically the same mechanicals as the J15 but probably easier to sort the bodywork.

[blitzracing]

Ginetta G20 if you can find one.

[Furyblade_Lee]

blitzracing said:

Ginetta G20 if you can find one.

Still available as a kit to build yourself is it?

[MG CHRIS]

For a first build exocet hands down so simple to build and cheaper than almost all other kits out there.

But im biased as im also building one.

[Sloan85]

I was looking at the Exocet. I researched for weeks and even went to see a couple of MX5s on eBay but after seeing it at Stoneleigh I decided it wasn't for me. I thought it was ugly.

I went for an MK indy in the end.

[blitzracing]

Furyblade_Lee said:

Still available as a kit to build yourself is it?

I dont know the current status of buying on from the factory new- but ex track cars are very good value for money at around £5-6k and you will have most of the bits you need for a road car already. just add lights and whatever else you need for SVA.

[cptsideways]

You might want to have a closer look at the design side of an Excocet before parting with your monies. It would appear to have been designed by someone who has not got a clue on structures. Just my opinion of course, have a look for yourself or with someone who does know.

[torqueofthedevil]

cptsideways said:

You might want to have a closer look at the design side of an Excocet before parting with your monies. It would appear to have been designed by someone who has not got a clue on structures. Just my opinion of course, have a look for yourself or with someone who does know.

Wht do you mean? Never hears that before. Sone very good reviews

[Nikolai]

Some good reviews yes but how often do you read a bad review? Its such a small industry the magazines never say a bad word especially about the more popular manufacturers for fear of missing out on future content/stories. I've not seen the chassis up close but am always skeptical of kits that have completely different weight and/or weight distribution but don't change the brakes, brake bias or damping and spring rates.

But yes you get what you pay for and the Exocet is a cheap route to kit car thrills.

[TheLastPost]

torqueofthedevil said:

cptsideways said:

You might want to have a closer look at the design side of an Excocet before parting with your monies. It would appear to have been designed by someone who has not got a clue on structures. Just my opinion of course, have a look for yourself or with someone who does know.

Wht do you mean? Never hears that before. Sone very good reviews

Cptsideways is right - though to be fair I think it's at least partly a case of the Exocet being very much designed down to a budget, rather than necessarily being due to incompetence on the part of the designer.

Some key areas of 'compromise' (though some could be improved for not very much cost at all):

• The top and bottom of the engine bay is totally untriangulated. This is a difficult area to do well on front engined spaceframe cars, but the Exocet is particularly dire:

• The Scuttle (see above), front and rear bulkheads are completely untriangulated; hell, he's even put an extra, cosmetic bend in the rollover bar, which will reduce stiffness even below that of a simple, unbraced rollover bar:

• The frame that drops down from the main side trellises to create the floorpan is completely untriangulated, which means that the floor pan will add little to the torsional stiffness.

There's plenty else wrong with it, but basically it's an object lesson in how not to design a spaceframe.

...and that's just the chassis: don't get me started on the use of unmodified donor subframes and suspension geometry/springs on kit cars - it's enough to make the skin crawl of any engineering 'purist'.



Again, in fairness to MEV, the Exocet is just a cheap rip-off of the Ariel Atom, which is itself deeply flawed as a structural concept, but even the atom chassis makes a somewhat more thorough and considered attempt at triangulation:




The Exocet has been successful because it's a very cheap, easy-to-build bit of fun, but as with most things in life, you get what you pay for.

Edited by TheLastPost on Sunday 10th February 11:30

[torqueofthedevil]

You clearly know your stuff but people still rate them highly don't they? As they do the atom, despite flaws. Arent 7 type kit cars also budget kit cars?

I'm not defending them, I don't have one, but they seem to be perceived by most as being good.

[TheLastPost]

torqueofthedevil said:

You clearly know your stuff but people still rate them highly don't they?

There are a lot of people out there who don't know their arse from their elbow, to put it bluntly.

R**** H*** made themselves one of the most prolific kit manufacturers in the country on the back of them.

If people lack the engineering sensibilities and knowledge to properly assess a design on its technical merits, they will, not unnaturally, be swayed by apparent value for money.

And don't get me wrong - if you want a cheap bit of fun that provides you with some satisfaction to build, and a roadster that is cheap enough to throw away after a few years when you've had your fun with it, and if you're not after the last word in performance and handling sophistication, then they're a perfectly good idea.

torqueofthedevil said:

Arent 7 type kit cars also budget kit cars?

To a greater or lesser degree, yes. And (to a greater or lesser degree) they also have their flaws - though with one or two exceptions, those flaws are not nearly so obvious and significant as the Exocet.

I'd be delighted to get into a discussion of the finer points of chassis design and torsional stiffness if you wish, but I think I'd bore most people to death - I'm well known for it.

[mad4amanda]

If I was looking for a 7 style kit Id definately go GKD its such a good solution in my mind and they now have a supercharger option too!

[KMF]

Pictures of US made Atoms. There are pleanty of UK atom pictures about

[TheLastPost]

KMF said:

There are pleanty of UK atom pictures about

Feel free to post some, and to discuss where their design has been improved over the 'US made' ones.

I just selected the first images I came across on Google that showed the chassis construction reasonably clearly.

This looks like a right hand drive model?:

[one eyed mick]

I would hardly call caterham budget whilst Robin Hood was but has given lots of people immense fun on that budget not every body can afford or wants to spend 30k on a weekend toy but does enjoy touring ,shows and good club membership instead of expensive track /race oriented projects. BTW typing Robin Hood does not hurt ,is not anti social or criminal