kit car

[The Radium King]

you know, with all the dead boxsters floating around - blown engines, accidented, written-off, water damaged, etc., you would think someone would make a tube chassis that used boxster running gear - suspension, brakes, steering, transmission, etc. it would be light and make a heck of a go-kart regardless of what engine you used. add a fiberglass body and off to the races (literally). cut and paste your vin tags, add some fit-up and you could have a street car.

no idea what body to use, however. most kits are recreations of some sort, and the kits that try to create something new tend to look god-awful or way dated. something that riffed on a dino 246 theme would really work for me. I was thinking of a 904 body (keep it Porsche) Ginetta G12 body (lotus elise with torque) or perhaps a jag xk13 body, but the jury is still out for me.

crazy?

[woodsman]

Good idea but one that requires expert level fab skills to pull it off. Tremendous amount of work too. A 904 bodied Boxster S would be so cool though.
I've been wishing someone would start buying up all the Boxster rollers and turning them into electric cars. The batteries could go where the fuel tank was and they'd have close to 50/50 weight distribution and could be as quick or quicker than stock.

[evomind]

Originally Posted by woodsman

I've been wishing someone would start buying up all the Boxster rollers and turning them into electric cars. The batteries could go where the fuel tank was and they'd have close to 50/50 weight distribution and could be as quick or quicker than stock.

Not an electric car. God no. What would THAT cost.
If you want something really efficient the tech is already out there, its called turbo diesel. Proven, economical, and great torque. They actually sell diesel fuel at most gas stations.
Not sure why there is any push for electric vehicles. I don't think the tech is quite there, its a hassle to use as a DD, not any charging stations, huge initial cost, on and on.
If I want a lightweight, over priced, expensive "look at me, Im a great liberal" electric car, I could buy a Tesla for about 100k.
Or I can buy a nice older boxster for every day of the week with that money.
Or a few older boxsters, a 1956 replica and a 550 replica.

[The Radium King]

for the 904 i watch this guy for inspiration:

The Porsche 904 Project Page

located (relatively) nearby in bc, and sells fiberglass bodies for 904s. i think these guys could make the tube frame:

Sports car race pan VW type 1 chassis

[HAUSIDMT]

Awwww man, I was dreaming of making my own RS out of a roached out early 911. But now I want a 904!!!!

[HAUSIDMT]

Since we're on the subject, a while back Beck (of 550 kit car fame/not the musician) was working on a 904 kit. Why not drop the Boxster S running gear into it?

[particlewave]

Originally Posted by evomind

Not an electric car. God no. What would THAT cost.
If you want something really efficient the tech is already out there, its called turbo diesel. Proven, economical, and great torque. They actually sell diesel fuel at most gas stations.
Not sure why there is any push for electric vehicles. I don't think the tech is quite there, its a hassle to use as a DD, not any charging stations, huge initial cost, on and on.
If I want a lightweight, over priced, expensive "look at me, Im a great liberal" electric car, I could buy a Tesla for about 100k.
Or I can buy a nice older boxster for every day of the week with that money.
Or a few older boxsters, a 1956 replica and a 550 replica.

Turbo diesel efficient? Compared to what, exactly? Not electric, that's for sure...
20-40% max efficiency is the lack thereof.

[The Radium King]

different thread, but from a macro-environmental view, hydrocarbons make electricity, than you have the conversion losses, transmission losses, net present value of building/operating/replacing the new infrastructure required to fuel electric vehicles, disposal issues around batteries vs an iron lump of an engine, etc. a direct comparison of the efficiencies of internal combustion vs electric power isn't that fair. and don't get me started on dams ...

and back to ... kit car made out of boxster running gear!

[evomind]

Originally Posted by particlewave

Turbo diesel efficient? Compared to what, exactly? Not electric, that's for sure...
20-40% max efficiency is the lack thereof.

Electric.
Just make sure you factor in the initial costs.
If electric is so cheap, easy to use, convenient, provides good driving range, etc, etc, I think we would see a lot more commercial vehicles using them instead of a handful of tree huggers.

Heck, I had a jetta tdi that I would see 50mpg if I kept it at 60 mph on a flat highway. A tank of fuel would provide close to 500 miles of travel. The car cost less than 24k brand new. That's pretty cheap operating costs if you ask me.

And btw....you can get abt 300k miles out of a well maintained TD, with those electric cars, what do you think the replacement costs of the batteries is once they give out in significantly less miles?
Electric just isn't there yet. Right now its nothing more than a "feel good" choice that is politically charged. Ha, again, no pun intended!

[evomind]

Originally Posted by The Radium King

different thread, but from a macro-environmental view, hydrocarbons make electricity, than you have the conversion losses, transmission losses, net present value of building/operating/replacing the new infrastructure required to fuel electric vehicles, disposal issues around batteries vs an iron lump of an engine, etc. a direct comparison of the efficiencies of internal combustion vs electric power isn't that fair. and don't get me started on dams ...

and back to ... kit car made out of boxster running gear!

Its a good idea!
think the kit car market took a really bad beating with the crash. No pun intended.
Id love to see some of those Porsche replicas use Boxster parts instead of crummy, no power VW stuff.

[particlewave]

Originally Posted by evomind

Electric.
Just make sure you factor in the initial costs.
If electric is so cheap, easy to use, convenient, provides good driving range, etc, etc, I think we would see a lot more commercial vehicles using them instead of a handful of tree huggers.

Heck, I had a jetta tdi that I would see 50mpg if I kept it at 60 mph on a flat highway. A tank of fuel would provide close to 500 miles of travel. The car cost less than 24k brand new. That's pretty cheap operating costs if you ask me.

Economy and efficiency are two different things
I'm talking about use of energy and losses from an engineering standpoint, not your wallet.

[evomind]

Originally Posted by particlewave

Economy and efficiency are two different things
I'm talking about use of energy and losses from an engineering standpoint, not your wallet.

Im all for the use of nuclear power, but again the tree huggers have a problem with that.

My back ground is accounting. To me efficiency is how much for how much, very simply put.

[particlewave]

Originally Posted by evomind

If electric is so cheap, easy to use, convenient, provides good driving range, etc, etc, I think we would see a lot more commercial vehicles using them instead of a handful of tree huggers.

No offense to you personally, but saying things like this is counter productive.
There is a reason that so much money and research is being invested into furthering the tech. Tree huggers? You should hug one for providing that oxygen you're breathing.
We all should. This is, after all, our home...Our children's home.
And I'm out...one cannot change the mind of another, but simply open a window and hope they uncover their eyes and see the light.

Best wishes!

[evomind]

Originally Posted by particlewave

No offense to you personally, but saying things like this is counter productive.
There is a reason that so much money and research is being invested into furthering the tech. Tree huggers? You should hug one for providing that oxygen you're breathing.
We all should. This is, after all, our home...Our children's home.
And I'm out...one cannot change the mind of another, but simply open a window and hope they uncover their eyes and see the light.

Best wishes!

A big reason a lot of the R and D money has swirled down the toilet is as I said before, its a very politically charged goal.
Im not saying it will never work, Im saying right now today its poor from a cost efficiency stand point. That's all.

May I ask how many electric vehicles you currently own?

[particlewave]

Yes you may...2.5

I don't want to turn this into a back-and-forth about electric vehicles on TRK's thread, so I'll just edit this one. I've been involved with several projects since 1999, and we are currently building one at the university engineering department, so I'm very aware of the economics and engineering difficulties. There's a way to go yet, but the tech is getting there...we are going to have to quit selfishly burning things at some point.

[evomind]

Originally Posted by particlewave

No offense to you personally, but saying things like this is counter productive. There is a reason that so much money and research is being invested into furthering the tech. Tree huggers? You should hug one for providing that oxygen you're breathing.
We all should. This is, after all, our home...Our children's home.
And I'm out...one cannot change the mind of another, but simply open a window and hope they uncover their eyes and see the light.

Best wishes!

How about this part?
"If electric is so cheap, easy to use, convenient, provides good driving range, etc, etc, I think we would see a lot more commercial vehicles using them."

[woodsman]

Thanks for those links Radiumking- I see where your coming from! Good to know I can get a 904 fiberglass body, although he says he makes only one 962 and one 904 per year.

[The Radium King]

it would be an epic build - the frame vendor I linked to already has experience tying in to Porsche running gear, and the 904 body doesn't look that difficult to graft on. the devil is in the (many) details in something like this, however.

these guys to a g12 body:

DARE UK - Products - G12

and these guys do an xk13 body:

SCF XJ13

[Muskie]

Originally Posted by evomind

A big reason a lot of the R and D money has swirled down the toilet is as I said before, its a very politically charged goal.
Im not saying it will never work, Im saying right now today its poor from a cost efficiency stand point. That's all.

May I ask how many electric vehicles you currently own?

Here, Here. Let the market dictate winners and losers, not the government. They've proven over and over to be not very good at it.

Taxpayers lose $139 million on Fisker Automotive loan | The Daily Caller

[woodsman]

I prefer the 904 and 962.