My car design - opinions?
Discussion
looks like a noble....
I would like to see a space frame chassis that you could attach any GRP moulding of any car...GT40 for the weekends perhaps,and something different for commuting...with a V8 or V12!
Porsche 962,etc.. the possibilities...
I would like to see a space frame chassis that you could attach any GRP moulding of any car...GT40 for the weekends perhaps,and something different for commuting...with a V8 or V12!
Porsche 962,etc.. the possibilities...
Edited by F.M on Sunday 31st December 22:14
LOL - so far I've been told it looks like a Ferrari, a Lambo, and now a Noble, so I suppose I'm on the lines I was looking at!
Panel work shouldn't be too tricky, most of the plugs will be cut with CNC, and I'm quite well versed in carbon fibre work and mould making. As it's a one-off no need for expensive production moulds.
Single chassis idea - wasn't there a concept car ages ago they did that on? not full body replacement but most of the panels could be swapped out to make it look reasonably different.
Panel work shouldn't be too tricky, most of the plugs will be cut with CNC, and I'm quite well versed in carbon fibre work and mould making. As it's a one-off no need for expensive production moulds.
Single chassis idea - wasn't there a concept car ages ago they did that on? not full body replacement but most of the panels could be swapped out to make it look reasonably different.
That's exactly why I decided to design my own car - there are very few cars out there I think look anything special, yet performance wise several company's have shown it's possible to make a high performance car without going to silly money - they just need to get a decent stylist in house.
Thanks!
The splitter is pretty standard really, the underside of the car is totally flat, the splitter gets thicker toward the back, before entering a larger area with a slot through to the underside. The airflow going through the front into the larger area passing over the slot causes a vacuum which sucks the front axle down to the road, all air exiting through vents behind the wheelarch. At the back venturi pipes keep the backside glued down as well.
Thats the basics of the theory anyway, or did I miss the point of the question?
The splitter is pretty standard really, the underside of the car is totally flat, the splitter gets thicker toward the back, before entering a larger area with a slot through to the underside. The airflow going through the front into the larger area passing over the slot causes a vacuum which sucks the front axle down to the road, all air exiting through vents behind the wheelarch. At the back venturi pipes keep the backside glued down as well.
Thats the basics of the theory anyway, or did I miss the point of the question?
Davi said:
LOL - so far I've been told it looks like a Ferrari, a Lambo, and now a Noble, so I suppose I'm on the lines I was looking at!
Panel work shouldn't be too tricky, most of the plugs will be cut with CNC, and I'm quite well versed in carbon fibre work and mould making. As it's a one-off no need for expensive production moulds.
Single chassis idea - wasn't there a concept car ages ago they did that on? not full body replacement but most of the panels could be swapped out to make it look reasonably different.
At the Birmingham Motor Show in .... :counts back on fingers: .... 1996(?) Alfa displayed a very nice concept which was sitting on a rolling chassis/engine that they were planning to make an supply to small volume car makers. I don't think anything ever came from it, though. Seems that these small volume makers had ideas that were much better than Alfa's own .... and we can't have that, can we, chaps?
I'm interested in the style issues for a splitter vs rolled-nose. Not much of a designer myself 
and there seem to be two distinct camps.
I've got a Westie XTR2 with a splitter a long way forward of the front wheels and 55mm ground clearance . . . planning to cross any driveways ? ? ?
and there seem to be two distinct camps. I've got a Westie XTR2 with a splitter a long way forward of the front wheels and 55mm ground clearance . . . planning to cross any driveways ? ? ?
ahh right. Personally it's splitter for me every time in a modern sports car, but you have a very good point on the ground clearance issues, I watched Hamster boy try and take that zonda out of a car park on top gear a while back and decided to make my entire ground clearance just that little bit higher 
Not much, but just enough so it's not a total pain in the backside to drive around - personally I think 55mm will be practically undrivable!
Not much, but just enough so it's not a total pain in the backside to drive around - personally I think 55mm will be practically undrivable!
Looks lovely to me. I can see why you've had so many "it looks like..." comments, but let's face it, people love to match things to a known quantity.
>> Edited by anonymous-user on Tuesday 7th March 13:49
Davi said:Not too sure about this... I'm assuming front mounted radiator? In which case you're going to need the air flow coming into the front intake is going to have to pass through a radiator core which will likely cause a bit of a stagnation area - you certainly won't get any vacuum effect through from under the car. I would suggest you could do one of two things - one could be to profile it as an aerofoil - i.e. a front wing - there are a couple of new cars recently taking this approach (Freestream and MB EOS). The more conventional approach is a splitter/airdam approach - the splitter takes advantage of the stagnation area in front of the car by providing a horizontal surface for the natural high pressure to push down on. The airdamn approach works by having an airdam at the front that reduces the airflow into the underboy. This reduced flow expands into the larger area under the car and creates a low pressure area just behind the airdam that "sucks" the front of the car down. This air flow is then further accelerated by the venturis/diffuser at the rear to gain rear downforce too. Add in side skirts to stop leakage and it gets even better.
The splitter is pretty standard really, the underside of the car is totally flat, the splitter gets thicker toward the back, before entering a larger area with a slot through to the underside. The airflow going through the front into the larger area passing over the slot causes a vacuum which sucks the front axle down to the road, all air exiting through vents behind the wheelarch. At the back venturi pipes keep the backside glued down as well.
Thats the basics of the theory anyway, or did I miss the point of the question?
F.M said:Errr, is it front engined (Mustang) or mid (GT40/962)? You *might* get something close with the GT40/962 idea, but the entire layout and hardpoints would be completely different for a Mustang I'd have thought. The idea of one chassis different body panels has been mooted on here before though - search back to some of the sketches posted by fuoriserie.
I would like to see a space frame chassis that you could attach any GRP moulding of any car...GT40 for the weekends and mach 1 mustang for commuting...with a V8!
Porsche 962 for trackdays...
>> Edited by anonymous-user on Tuesday 7th March 13:49
LexSport said:
Looks lovely to me. I can see why you've had so many "it looks like..." comments, but let's face it, people love to match things to a known quantity.
Davi said:Not too sure about this... I'm assuming front mounted radiator? In which case you're going to need the air flow coming into the front intake is going to have to pass through a radiator core which will likely cause a bit of a stagnation area - you certainly won't get any vacuum effect through from under the car. I would suggest you could do one of two things - one could be to profile it as an aerofoil - i.e. a front wing - there are a couple of new cars recently taking this approach (Freestream and MB EOS). The more conventional approach is a splitter/airdam approach - the splitter takes advantage of the stagnation area in front of the car by providing a horizontal surface for the natural high pressure to push down on. The airdamn approach works by having an airdam at the front that reduces the airflow into the underboy. This reduced flow expands into the larger area under the car and creates a low pressure area just behind the airdam that "sucks" the front of the car down. This air flow is then further accelerated by the venturis/diffuser at the rear to gain rear downforce too. Add in side skirts to stop leakage and it gets even better.
The splitter is pretty standard really, the underside of the car is totally flat, the splitter gets thicker toward the back, before entering a larger area with a slot through to the underside. The airflow going through the front into the larger area passing over the slot causes a vacuum which sucks the front axle down to the road, all air exiting through vents behind the wheelarch. At the back venturi pipes keep the backside glued down as well.
Thats the basics of the theory anyway, or did I miss the point of the question?
Thanks Lexsport
Radiator wise there are actually 2 mid mounted at an angle, just behind the main side vents (hence their size) The splitter is a kind of mix between the above. I've been assured it works well by someone of more advanced knowledge than I, so am relying on their input, I'll have to put together a side on pic, see if you concur with another view!
g32turbo said:
Nice! Wish I could draw cars 
and them lights will cost a pretty penny.
Good luck with it.
Dont be daft..... they're off a Focus. All good kit cars are Ford based
Heathen!!
I've spent months extra designing this to ensure there is virtually a zero Ford part count Davi said:
LOL - so far I've been told it looks like a Ferrari, a Lambo, and now a Noble, so I suppose I'm on the lines I was looking at!
Panel work shouldn't be too tricky, most of the plugs will be cut with CNC, and I'm quite well versed in carbon fibre work and mould making. As it's a one-off no need for expensive production moulds.
Single chassis idea - wasn't there a concept car ages ago they did that on? not full body replacement but most of the panels could be swapped out to make it look reasonably different.
Curious!
How much does a one-off bodyshell cost?
The four methods seem to be-
1)hand made foam and resin buck (used to be wood and plaster buck), take moulds and make panels
2)CNC machine foam buck, finish by hand, take moulds and make panels
3)Commission a one off aluminium bodyshell and use that to take moulds off if further cars are made
4)Make a rough shape out of fine wire mesh and/or hard foam strips, put fibre glass on this and apply filler, polish until finished shape.
The advantages being-
1) well understood and cheap if you do it yourself but very labour intensive and expensive otherwise.
2) Expensive but a good short cut over (1) Cost effective if you're paying someone else. Search the net for DPcars!
3) Expensive but but gets a one off body to a high standard that can be made to take moulds off. Caterham 21 done this way!
4) Avoids the mould making stage of (1) but results in very thick panels of uneven thickness. Sabbaro Challenge done this way.
If you have any idea of the costs for getting a CNC buck I'm sure a few of us would-be car makers would be very interested.
cymtriks said:
The four methods seem to be-
1)hand made foam and resin buck (used to be wood and plaster buck), take moulds and make panels
2)CNC machine foam buck, finish by hand, take moulds and make panels
3)Commission a one off aluminium bodyshell and use that to take moulds off if further cars are made
4)Make a rough shape out of fine wire mesh and/or hard foam strips, put fibre glass on this and apply filler, polish until finished shape.
There is another method adopted by some self build aeroplane makers, sheet foam laminated on both sides with glassfibre cloth and epoxy resin. Difficult to explain in a few words but have a look at www.deford.com/cozy/chap_05.html to get some idea of the method.
Hugh
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