A little bit of inspiration:

http://media.putfile.com/Caterham-V8

That thing is FAST.. good driver too!

And a few others:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7224576045775096549&q=locost&pl=true

Zipping through Belgium...
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-67942011966954...8&q=caterham&pl=true
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=359306127998480326&q=caterham&pl=true


http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-45198751330346...1&q=caterham&pl=true


http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-82247292453824...0&q=caterham&pl=true

Keith Tanner's Locost in an autox:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2673438145254570563&q=caterham&pl=true

awesome, can't wait to see how your car turns out

That looked like an airstrip in England for sure! Boy that thing is vicious. I thought the driver could have been smoother but hey look at what he was having to control.

man their cone configuration is highly confusing, I used to autoX at an old airstrip and the track layout was much more simple.


Damn those things just sound awesome!!

picked up one of these yesterday evening to help me with some of the work that needs to be done on the car..

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?BV_SessionID=...TOOL&pid=00918419000

Its an upright 60 gallon Craftsman air compressor, belt drive & twin cylinder. I opted for the oiled compressor, as I feel that the oiled design will last a lot longer. The belt drive will be nice and quiet too.

I bought it at full price.. went online and found that its on sale for $100 off! So, I'll go get that back tonight. 8)

And for a build-related update.. I welded sections of 2x2x.25" box steel with 1/2" through-hole to the tops of the uprights. This serves as the upper heim mount, keeping the upper heim captive, as I know they will have a lot of forces acting on them in that position. I'll get some photos of the rear suspension tonight, as it is finally starting to look like a suspension!

So, I have the rear uprights done (aside from the brake caliper brackets... Thats what I needed the compressor for). I needed air for the plasma cutter to make some brackets.. I've been without an air compressor for a couple weeks now since my roommate's compressor nearly burned my garage down a few weeks ago.

Next up will be fabbing the upper rear A-arms. Then, I can move on to the front suspension. Once the suspension is done, that will be a real milestone in the car's build.

For the front suspension, I will be doing an exotic cantilever inboard coilover suspension setup, similar to this:



Or this:



Should provide a very clean look for the car.

quote:

Originally posted by Nissan-Okie:
That looked like an airstrip in England for sure! Boy that thing is vicious. I thought the driver could have been smoother but hey look at what he was having to control.

That Caterham V8 video is of a prototype V8 bike engined caterham. Pretty sweet, and probably making upwards of 400hp.

quote:

Should provide a very clean look for the car.

Speaking of clean lines, what are you going to do for head lights?

I'll probably use some very small 55w projection beams, mounted in or around the front suspension. I'll probably combine them with the blinkers in a common location. Possibly on either side of the nose cone or something.

The one thing I really dont like about the original lotus design is the big goofy headlights. I dont think I'll be doing a lot of night driving in this thing, but just in case, I'll have some adequate lights on it.

Don't you have to have headlights and tail-lights to be street legal?

I dont think you have to have headlights unless you drive at night but I could be full of it.

yeah, you have to have headlights. I'll be putting some on there, but they will be small ones. Might find some motorcycle lights to use.

130watt pencil beams

The cantelever set-up is a great way to go. It transmits some of the upward wheel movement into downward force which provides a smooth, bump-cancelling effect. An anti-sway bar may be beneficial in front as well.
The cantelever will also allow for great adjustability by altering the levers/linkage rods. You don't have to get the ideal spring because you can compensate with the lever ratios. The right set-up will give you the effect of a progressive spring/damping rate. It will also allow you to run short, stiff coilovers because of the leverage. This keeps the setup light and compact.
Simply put, "Cool, man!".

quote:

The one thing I really dont like about the original lotus design is the big goofy headlights.

Yeah, thats what I was thinking. Have you looked at Laser Stars ?