Budget 7 alikes

[300bhp/ton]

Curious on some opinions on the budget end of the Se7en alikes.

I know of the Robin Hoods and they always seem to get mixed opinions. Locost is mentioned a fair bit but I'm not so up on them. But I know there are ton's more and I'm not really knowing anything about most of them, or even how many other kits there actually are.

Anyone want to share some views on what's hot and what's not?

[slomax]

Everyone appears to be raving about the MK indy at the moment. I don't think i have heard a bad comment about them. Interestingly, not many people seem to talk about tigers too much, although i believe they are pretty good. Second hand older westys can be had for less than £5k too, the kit quality should be unquestionable, however due to age, you need to look a bit harder to how they have stood the test of time, which is an indication of how well they have been looked after and how well they were bolted together in the first place.

[Laughingman21]

Are you looking to build or buy a finished car?

The GKD Legend can supposedly be built for £7k which includes the comprehensive kit and that's had some good reviews.

[Chris71]

The original Locost was just a set of plans (in a book) to be home built, right down to fabricating the chassis. I suspect the build standard and spec varies pretty dramatically as a result, but the fundamental design has a lot of promise. It's very similar to a live axle Caterham chassis (barring the use of rectangular tubing to make the welding easier) so it has the potential to be a good car. Our racer at uni certainly went and handled well and I'd expect a good one to be an order of magnitude better than the early Robin Hoods, which were basically just Sierras with the body chopped off (as opposed to the later cars which evolved into quite a credible Seven-a-like).

[300bhp/ton]

Laughingman21 said:

Are you looking to build or buy a finished car?

The GKD Legend can supposedly be built for £7k which includes the comprehensive kit and that's had some good reviews.

Build. Looking at a long/medium term project with a mate. Couple of years to build and complete maybe.

[jason61c]

I'm building one of the above after looking at all options. I fancied using a more modern donor car and further investigation revealed how cheap BMW parts are I decided that was it. As above its had nothing but great reviews too.

There's plenty of choice out there!

[300bhp/ton]

Have to say, this does look seriously interesting with 6 cylinder BMW power.

[jason61c]

Like this..... budget price but not budget quality, up there with the best!

[slomax]

300bhp/ton said:

Looks like a bit of questionable photoshop on the wheels. While we're on the subject of PS, is that steering wheel round?
Personally i would have left that photo un-molested.

[RadoVR6]

300bhp/ton said:

Have to say, this does look seriously interesting with 6 cylinder BMW power.

What kit is that?

Im looking into either buying a finished 7'er or a kit at the moment.

I dont like the idea of using sierra bits if i build my own so that one looks a good choice.

[300bhp/ton]

Its a GKD Legend someone mentioned above. BMW 4 or 6 cylinder options at rather competative prices. Doesn't seem to be any mention of a windscreen though. Going to give them a shout today I think.

[Jon Ison]

Be very quick, I know this car and the builder very well, its quality.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&am...

[jason61c]

300bhp/ton said:

Its a GKD Legend someone mentioned above. BMW 4 or 6 cylinder options at rather competative prices. Doesn't seem to be any mention of a windscreen though. Going to give them a shout today I think.

They do have an option for a windscreen, the new demo car has one.

[300bhp/ton]

jason61c said:

300bhp/ton said:

Its a GKD Legend someone mentioned above. BMW 4 or 6 cylinder options at rather competative prices. Doesn't seem to be any mention of a windscreen though. Going to give them a shout today I think.

They do have an option for a windscreen, the new demo car has one.

That's good to know. I have to say, I'm very much of the opinion, that if you need a helmet and race suit to drive the car on the road, then you might as well get a bike.

[Sam_68]

Chris71 said:

The original Locost {is} very similar to a live axle Caterham chassis (barring the use of rectangular tubing to make the welding easier) so it has the potential to be a good car.

It has quite different geometry to the Caterham, mind you (different steering geometry due to using Cortina uprights rather than the Caterham's Triumph uprights, and trailing arms/panhard rod at the back rather than A-frame). Also be aware that the 'book' Locost chassis has some known geometrical errors which can lead to flawed handling if not corrected.

Personally, due to the inconsistencies in design and fabrication quality, I wouldn't touch one unless I was confident in my ability to assess the car (and even then I'd be tempted to go for an old Westfield SE or Sylva instead).

Chris71 said:

...the early Robin Hoods, which were basically just Sierras with the body chopped off...

FWIIW, there have been a long series of 'Seven' type cars from Robin Hood. The early cars were Triumph Dolomite based, followed by Ford Cortina based (both live axle). The single-donor Sierra-based cars were quite a lot later, but the whole marque is probably best avoided as there are better options available.

The 'Sierra with the body chopped off' criticism is equally applicable to the budget Tigers, incedentally, which similarly use the Sierra semi-trailing arm rear suspension, which is fundamentally unsuitable for this type of car.

300bhp/ton said:

I'm very much of the opinion, that if you need a helmet and race suit to drive the car on the road, then you might as well get a bike.

I'm very much of the opinion that if you need a helmet and race suit to drive any car on the road (in fair weather, at least), then you need to grow some balls.

My first Westfield and Caterham (my daily drivers, some 20-odd years ago now - how scary is that?!) had full windscreens and I vowed never to bother with a full screen or weather gear on this type of car again. With the weather gear in place, visibility is limited, they fog up and you go deaf from the noise; with hood down, the rain just whips onto the back of the windcreen (though the comedy micro-blade wipers on flat glass are so ineffective that it probably doesn't make much difference anyway).

If you're going to go minimalist, better to make a proper job of it...

You do need a crash helmet in anything but light rain (it stings a bit at high speed) or when temperatures are down toward freezing, though.

[300bhp/ton]

Sam_68 said:

FWIIW, there have been a long series of 'Seven' type cars from Robin Hood. The early cars were Triumph Dolomite based, followed by Ford Cortina based (both live axle). The single-donor Sierra-based cars were quite a lot later, but the whole marque is probably best avoided as there are better options available.

Any examples, as that was kind of what I was after. Ta

[CanAm]

There's some good links on this thread, especially the Madaboutcars link.

[300bhp/ton]

CanAm said:

There's some good links on this thread, especially the Madaboutcars link.

Ta.

Have to say the GKD does seem to tick all the boxes though. Just need to find a suitable 328 donor!!

[Sam_68]

300bhp/ton said:

Any examples, as that was kind of what I was after. Ta

Like I said:

...I'd be tempted to go for an old Westfield SE or Sylva instead.

[300bhp/ton]

Sam_68 said:

300bhp/ton said:

Any examples, as that was kind of what I was after. Ta

Like I said:

...I'd be tempted to go for an old Westfield SE or Sylva instead.

ok thanks, but that really isn't of much help. But ta anyway.

BTW - I'm looking to build hence why a 2nd hand car isn't of much use.

And as you'd said better alternatives I assumed you meant new kits. BTW - what exactly is wrong with the Robin Hoods like the 2b's, Lightweight and current GB sports cars Zero?