Second Tiger vs building up a new GBS Zero?

[parmley]

Hello All

My first post on here.

Just looking at the cheaper end of the kit car market at the moment at both kits and second hand complete cars, looked at maybe buying a Mev Exocet kit, the second hand market (used tigers and similar for around £4.5k). Was wondering are the new GBS Zero's much different to the old Robin Hoods? How are they compared with a Tiger and the likes. They are very cheap at £4500 for the Zetec kit then you just need a gearbox and rear axle and couple other bits and bobs which wouldn't cost much.

Would probably be for road use then a track day once a month. Open to the idea of bike or car engine.

Thoughts?

Jonny

[Furyblade_Lee]

For a definitive answer you should try locostbuilders as there is the most info on the net for those types of car. Personally I think the GBS Zero is THE best looking 7-alike mainly due to it looking almost identical to a Caterham, so much so that I would not be surprised if Caterham have a little word with them... It has alloy sides as per the real thing which would attract me, but also put people off because of the work involved. But a GBS Zero with a decent FiA rear rollbar and painted sides is a fine looking thing, and cartainly dynamically way ahead of the old Robin Hoods. But given say a £10k budget I'd seriously buy a scruffy Caterham 7, take it apart and rebuild it.

[singlecoil]

Furyblade_Lee said:

But given say a £10k budget I'd seriously buy a scruffy Caterham 7, take it apart and rebuild it.

[Frankthered]

singlecoil said:

Furyblade_Lee said:

But given say a £10k budget I'd seriously buy a scruffy Caterham 7, take it apart and rebuild it.

Not the most helpful comments given that the OP has £4500. Have you seen the "Budget 7 Alikes" thread? There are a lot of opinions there on Robin Hoods, Tigers and the rest.

I hear that the Locostbuilders site is a good source of this kind of information, as would be the Robin Hood Owners Club site.

I looked into the old style RH's many years ago and was put off by aspects of the design. I understand that the Zero is a completely different car, but the cynic in me says that if the kit is sooooo cheap and such great value it must be compromised in some other ways. (Like how much effort you have to put into the build or how well the finished article drives.)

Good luck - even if you can't afford a Caterham (yet)!

[singlecoil]

Frankthered said:

singlecoil said:

Furyblade_Lee said:

But given say a £10k budget I'd seriously buy a scruffy Caterham 7, take it apart and rebuild it.

Not the most helpful comments given that the OP has £4500

But he's not the only person reading this thread.

Edited by singlecoil on Saturday 25th September 14:19

[parmley]

Cheers guys

I've read most of the other threads on stuff like this. They seem to point more towards buying a second car as opposed to a cheap kit but havn't read a lot about people comparing the cheaper gbs zero kits with more expensive tiger / mk kits. I basically just want some that will be decent so the GBS Zero may be 'enough' for some road and track fun but it seems the second hand tigers may be a better option.

Jonny

[singlecoil]

parmley said:

it seems the second hand tigers may be a better option.

People who want/need to build a kit car already know that that is what they want to do, they never need to compare a kit with a ready built car because buying any car that is already in existence is not going to meet their requirements. Some people derive far more pleasure, or fulfillment from the building that they do from the driving, witness the number of recently finished kits for sale.

So, if you are not in that category, then you will always be better of buying a ready built car. It will be a LOT cheaper, and you will be on the road a LOT quicker.

[Frankthered]

singlecoil said:

Frankthered said:

singlecoil said:

Furyblade_Lee said:

But given say a £10k budget I'd seriously buy a scruffy Caterham 7, take it apart and rebuild it.

Not the most helpful comments given that the OP has £4500

But he's not the only person reading this thread.

Edited by singlecoil on Saturday 25th September 14:19

Fair point.

[Frankthered]

singlecoil said:

So, if you are not in that category, then you will always be better of buying a ready built car. It will be a LOT cheaper, and you will be on the road a LOT quicker.

Also a very good point.

[parmley]

Yeah great point, I think the problem is I would love to do a kit but it would have to spent more dollar to get excited enough about it. Probably best to go for a second hand car to start of with until I could afford a naughty kit.

[Stubby Pete]

Frankthered said:

singlecoil said:

So, if you are not in that category, then you will always be better of buying a ready built car. It will be a LOT cheaper, and you will be on the road a LOT quicker.

Also a very good point.

This is the conundrum that I'm in. I bought a very well buit car 3 years ago which is ideal for me 9 times out of 10. However, I can't help but feel that I could get a perfect car for me, with no compromise if I built one myself.

The problems are:

a) Cost-selling mine won't finance a full build.
b) Time-I'd be without a toy for at least one summer.

So what do you do? If I had my time over again, I'd build one first off. After all, what you've never had, you'll never miss.

[singlecoil]

Stubby Pete said:

So what do you do?

Complete rebuild? Maybe engine change/upgrade? A lot of building a kit car is pretty straightforward mechanical stuff, and the fact that you didn't do it on your car doesn't really matter, IMO. The stuff that separates a badly built kit from a well built one is the stuff that comes later, and are the same things that would be addressed during a rebuild.

[Stubby Pete]

I understand what you are saying but the only thing where my car is compromised is the top end speed being restricted to 120.

The only way I can do that is to increase the wheel diameter which will spoil the looks of the car, or to change the diff ratio. To change the diff ratio, the whole rear suspension will need to be changed as I already have the longest ratio available for the axle I use (Ford English).

[Stubby Pete]

Thank you very much for the link Mr Coil.

[MendipWursel]

I would recommend the new Zero. They are completely different from the older Robin Hoods with fully independant suspension, a lower gound hugging design and the build is relatively simple when compared to the older models also the value for money aspect is hard to match. GBSC have sold a lot of these kits (some 300) which could be an indication of the quality of the new design.

Edited by MendipWursel on Tuesday 28th September 19:19

Edited by MendipWursel on Tuesday 28th September 19:24

[singlecoil]

MendipWursel said:

GBSC have sold a lot of these kits (some 300) which could be an indication of the quality of the new design.

Alternatively it could be an indication of the price of the new design.



I'm by no means saying there is anything wrong with it, what I am saying is that quantity does not indicate quality.

[jason61c]

singlecoil said:

MendipWursel said:

GBSC have sold a lot of these kits (some 300) which could be an indication of the quality of the new design.

Alternatively it could be an indication of the price of the new design.



I'm by no means saying there is anything wrong with it, what I am saying is that quantity does not indicate quality.

I tell my wife the same most nights