Gordon Murrays new mid-engine rwd sportscar

[Lefty 200 Drams]

Mentioned in evo this month (o/t one of the best recent issues IMHO).

Anyone got any more details on it?

He says £12k in todays money, ultra light (and quotes the Elise as being far too heavy) and mid engined.

Sounds fantastic

[snotrag]

Re-jigged Smart Roadster? We know he's a fan of those. I'd expect it to be tiny - a 'city-sports car' type thing.

What happened to that AC thing based on the Smart Roadster?

[Stu R]

Sounds very smart roadster esque but I've yet to peruse this months evo.

[TommyBuoy]

No more details, but read this in EVO too.

Does sound amazing, but how he can say the latest Elise is too heavy - effectively saying his creation would be lighter, but then go onto to say a retail price for £12,000 seems a bit optimistic doesn't it?

I can't believe Lotus have put too much extra weight in?

Saying that, if it's true then it would be a first day purchase I reckon!

Edited to say I had completely missed the Smart Roadster angle!

Edited by TommyBuoy on Friday 28th May 11:32

[Lefty 200 Drams]

I think they quoted the Elise s3 as 875kg. Wasn't the S1 ~700kg?

[Stu R]

Lefty 200 Drams said:

I think they quoted the Elise s3 as 875kg. Wasn't the S1 ~700kg?

S1 was 750KG and S2 nearer 900KG I think? Could be wrong, I've heard the claimed figures are a bit optimistic, though I've no idea how much truth there is in that.

[kambites]

Stu R said:

Lefty 200 Drams said:

I think they quoted the Elise s3 as 875kg. Wasn't the S1 ~700kg?

S1 was 750KG and S2 nearer 900KG I think? Could be wrong, I've heard the claimed figures are a bit optimistic, though I've no idea how much truth there is in that.

The big difference wasn't S1 to S2, it was K-series to Toyota.

[10 Pence Short]

TommyBuoy said:

Does sound amazing, but how he can say the latest Elise is too heavy - effectively saying his creation would be lighter, but then go onto to say a retail price for £12,000 seems a bit optimistic doesn't it?

When you consider a 5 door C1/Aygo/107 capable of seating 4 adults is 800kg, I'd say the Elise is overweight.

[Lefty 200 Drams]

I haven't got the mag to hand but I think it quoted sub-600kgs as the target.

Regarding the smart roadster, if it had a bit more power and a manual box I'd have been more interested.

[Stu R]

Thanks Kambites, didn't think of that

Lefty 200 Drams said:

I haven't got the mag to hand but I think it quoted sub-600kgs as the target.

Regarding the smart roadster, if it had a bit more power and a manual box I'd have been more interested.

There's Suzuki GSXR engine conversions out there

[stuckmojo]

Stu R said:

Thanks Kambites, didn't think of that

Lefty 200 Drams said:

I haven't got the mag to hand but I think it quoted sub-600kgs as the target.

Regarding the smart roadster, if it had a bit more power and a manual box I'd have been more interested.

There's Suzuki GSXR engine conversions out there

I was about to say, my next car is likely to be one of those things. I was overtaken by one a few days ago and the sound and the progress it made were awesome.

[Lefty 200 Drams]

A bike engined smart roadster would be ace but no reverse gear?

[Andrew_M]

The smart is quite is a funny one with it's weight as it's about 800kg's, circa 60kg is the engine and the panels are plastic which can't weigh much interior/wheels/bits and bobs will make up a few hundred. I think that steel tridion cell [the black/silver bit] weighs 400kg+. If that was made from a lighter material and the posh bits were ditched, with the addition of an eager 1.5 n/a 120hp engine with manual box it would be a nice little pocket rocket.

[Stu R]

Lefty 200 Drams said:

A bike engined smart roadster would be ace but no reverse gear?

you can get reverse gear modules fitted, no problem, quaife et al do them.

[Fittster]

This would be the same Gordon Murray who has been talking about his city car for about 15 years without actually producing a car.

[Lefty 200 Drams]

Andrew_M said:

The smart is quite is a funny one with it's weight as it's about 800kg's, circa 60kg is the engine and the panels are plastic which can't weigh much interior/wheels/bits and bobs will make up a few hundred. I think that steel tridion cell [the black/silver bit] weighs 400kg+. If that was made from a lighter material and the posh bits were ditched, with the addition of an eager 1.5 n/a 120hp engine with manual box it would be a nice little pocket rocket.

That's what Willis was talkin' 'bout.

[emicen]

Based on recent performances (ie his city car rather than something he did a decade ago ) it will look wk and have very limited appeal.

Gordon Murray is a credible engineer, but having done nothing of mainstream note in quite some time now I'm becoming gradually more and more tired of him bumping his gums about everything everyone else does being lame and his is going to be better.

[Rochester TVR]

Anyone got any pictures of this?

[RobM77]

For Gordon Murray the Elise/Exige may seem too heavy. After all, the Mclaren F1 that he designed weighed pretty much the same as an Exige, despite having three leather trimmed seats, carpets, air con, CD autochanger, more boot space than a Fiesta and a 6.2 litre V12! The reason though was exotic materials, and as such I don't believe an Elise-esque sports car could be built to sell for £12k and undercut the Elise much by weight. The only way I can see it happening is if Murray's sports car has a totally different design and capacity of engine with a lot less power, which is probably the case knowing his previous project Kimber plans.

[Swarley]

They are heavy! My lotus 23b is 480kg (wet), and that has a steal space frame chassis with an aluminium skin, fibre glass body and a cast iron block.

Ok so if you crash it your dead, but shirley with with the weight you save with a modern engine you could make it safer.