Superlite GTA

[Fran Hall RCR]

Mr.Wolfe..
Paint will be upto the builder, but your rendering is certainly one way...all the bodies will be supplied in kit format and will be in a white gelcoat finish

 

[Leon R]

Fran,
I know I am a bit late to the party, but would like to thank you for this awesome project! As a hard core Mitsu guy, I just couldn’t get excited about Factory Five’s 818 project (even though, they are local to me). But I loved the idea of Japanese turbo four based kit car. Your car answers any reservations I might have had with the 818! Great choice!

And do not get bogged down in 4G63 building/tuning discussion. Making cheap, reliable power from this engine is trivial between 300-700hp. Going much above 700hp starts to get tricky, but so few people need or want that much power, that it isn’t even worth discussing (not here, anyway, there are plenty of DSM forums for that).

I am eagerly waiting for any updates!

 

[agepag]

Nice pics! This car is going to be something special. I can't wait for the final product

 

[Merim]

late to this party for sure, wow this looks awesome. For the tall guys, I had a 90 awd eclipse after i graduated college and that was one of my favorite cars. Fit really well inside for being 6'3". buddy had a 95 that was a little tighter fit with the sunroof, but no sunroof was easy. this is going to be awesome, can't wait to see the final results here.

 

[patdown]

Fran, the picts look great. You've come a long way. Looking at the front view, something bothered me about the headlights. I believe they come from a Toyota Celica, IIRC. In the final product, will the headlights be recessed the same amount as the shown in clay? The recess looks to be about an inch. On most cars with contoured type headlamp assemblies, the headlight is flush, or almost so, with the body contour. I would guess this is done for aero and wind noise considerations. Also, there are no federally mandated side marker lights. Will that be done when after the molds are pulled? Looking good. Keep up the good work and your followers informed.

 

[Fran Hall RCR]

If you spend some time checking out OEM cars you will find many of them do not have flush mounted lights but they appear so... most have raised or recessed headlight lenses...but as they are OEM manufactured people seem to over look this detail....the new Subaru/Toyota/Scion has lights that protrude from one of the body lines by over an inch....nasty in the flesh but lost in photography..also the body gap /headlight recess ,with many oem's is over half an inch ...we seem to be held to a much higher standard than that...maybe we need to charge Mclaren prices and tell the world ...Hey thats what you get for 250k....wink ...as discussed in the Auction thread..

The lights on the Apex are positioned to comply with DOT requirements but also with my own personal stylistic requirements....the headlights are available with Halo/HID and even LED packages...(as an option)

The side markers are federally mandated for an OEM ...not a kit car...but we actually have some that mount in the wheel flat surface for production....and they are much nicer than many of the mega money cars like the Astons etc..

 

[nichols]

Fran, this car looks incredible. For those donor cars with a sunroof, will that functionality be maintained? Just want to make sure I can keep an eye out for the proper donor.

Once upon a time I also owned a '99 GSX. It had quite a few power modifications (the best at the track was 11.1 @ traps ranging from 125-130mph) so I'm looking forward to a much lighter chassis with a very easy, reliable, 350-400hp from the motor.

Will this be set up for one drivetrain configuration, or will it accept both? An AWD version of this car would be absolutely stunning.

 

[Fran Hall RCR]

The sunroof will be lost...our roof skin converts sunroof/non sunroof to a full roof surface as shown...so any donor is fine..

No AWD versions as the engine is mid mounted...

 

[Fran Hall RCR]

I do have a customer that wants to build a wild Apex.....if his plans come to fruition he may well have an AWD ...but its not something we will ever offer from the factory...sorry.....although he well may...better reach deep into your pocket book though...

 

[Doc Todd]

Fran, or others, what are the appropriate donor car years? I think I remember something in the early 1990's but cannot recall. Thanks!

 

[Josh]

95-99

 

[Merim]

Looking at the clay a little more, totally reminds me of a lamborghini gallardo in the front. This is really going to look amazing, any photoshop guys want to do a full on paint job on the clay

 

[Ben Whittle]

I do have a customer that wants to build a wild Apex.....if his plans come to fruition he may well have an AWD ...but its not something we will ever offer from the factory...sorry.....although he well may...better reach deep into your pocket book though...

Interesting, what engine/trans combo (if you are allowed to divuldge)?

 

[Fran Hall RCR]

Cant tell ya Benji....and dont try to guess its futile....:lipsrsealed::thumbsup:

 

[Fran Hall RCR]

Moulds are now underway......and its looking like full production for end of 2012 and deliveries in Jan 2013 are on track

 

[Justin]

Moulds are now underway......and its looking like full production for end of 2012 and deliveries in Jan 2013 are on track

Way to go, team RCR!!! Will you be building the first "demo" car?

 

[patdown]

I understand you on the raised/recessed headlight issue. The car is really impressive. Thanks for the info on mandates for side lights.

Do you have a guestimate of when you will get details on the superlite website? I'm sure I'm not the only one that wants to know.

 

[Brad R.]

And do not get bogged down in 4G63 building/tuning discussion. Making cheap, reliable power from this engine is trivial between 300-700hp.

It'd be nice to see a twin-charged 4G63T (possibly stroked too)... would certainly fix-up the low-end grunt concern.

 

[Josh]

^Yeah, my thoughts exactly. Use a GSX drivetrain to get awd. This all reminds me of Ronin's Lotus.

The World's Fastest Lotus? - YouTube

 

[Dominic]

Using a GSX drivetrain to make it AWD just doesn't add up in a rear engine package. When I was building the 4g63 that came up all the time. Visualize the FF layout in an Eclipse GS-T. To make it rear engine RWD you take the whole drivetrain and move it behind you so it is now driving the rear wheels. Using the GSX drivetrain wouldn't work unless you added two more wheels behind the drivetrain, and I am pretty sure that would suck. Also, MR should work just fine in this platform. Having all of the powertrain weight over the drive wheels isn't cool in a FF car because physics kicks your traction limited ass on a launch, and blows goats in turns because you are trying to steer with the powered front wheels. In the perfect world of MR cars, things go much more smoothly and the AWD crutch isn't as necessary, especially with nice meaty tires everywhere.