ninjacoco

{ does a double take }

Ohai, that helmet looks familiar.

Signed,
Probably the slowest person to drive one yet

The rear-view camera was neat, but it came loose on one of my runs. Needs moar duct tape.

924RACR

Enjoyed reading your review on Jalop... somewhat more successful than when my wife first took my DSR out. Amusingly enough, she has now expressed interest in returning to the cockpit, now that I've sorted countless bugs out (and she has a lot more experience)...

ninjacoco

Yessssss! Hope she does it.

(And thanks!)

Cory M

Here's the Jalopnik review, by a rookie racer who has only done lemons events:

http://blackflag.jalopnik.com/i-drov...rea-1744264890

"Either way, I felt as if the 185 hp in NP-class trim was more than enough for me to play with without feeling like I was in over my head—while still preventing it from being a slow turd."

This sentence kind of turned me off. Maybe I'm weird, but I want something that is challenging and engaging to drive. It shouldn't be that easy, I want there to be a steep learning curve. I don't want someone who has only driven 944's and Civics with 130whp in Lemons "races" to come back saying how easy the car is to drive. That makes me think it would get boring after a while. I'm sure making the car easy to drive was a big priority for NASA, and it's a smart move to attract newer drivers. The inexperienced Jalop reviewer was also probably no where near the limits of the car. But considering it was her first experience with a purpose built racecar, it didn't sound that thrilling..

Plavan

I hear you, but any car is boring if you drive it slow enough.... There will be a steep learning curve, setup is going to be part of that curve, and with already ~12 cars sold on the West Coast (23 nationally), it looks to be a great Spec series.


Here is another review-
http://www.turnology.com/features/ca...et-spec-racer/

ProCoach

True dat!

Gary R.

Exactly, my 190HP 911 was very easy to drive slowly, not so much if you actually wanted to be competitive.... I think any good low powered car will be the same.

Cory M

Most cars will probably be less "engaging" than ripping your blue 911 on skinny tires, with no aero, around WSIR!

Are you selling the 818?

Interested to see how these cars do in the 25 Hours of Thill.

Plavan

Haha- Very true. I need a break from totally scaring the $;@& out of myself.

Yep- the 818R is for sale. Perfect DE/track car/racer. I have it detuned to 283/rwhp (car is ~2000 pounds). It's crazy fun. You can also flip a switch to 400RWHP- I have not done that yet! It was doing 1:28's at WS with me having to lift of the straights due to boost creep with 283rhp tune (ecu cut throttle- but now that's fixed). 1:53's BW CW 13 with 25 heatcycled R7's It's a steal at $25k. I really do not need 3 racecars....

Plavan

Some new tease videos-

ProCoach

Is that the transaxle from an FE?

Plavan

I'm not sure about FM. It is a Sadev SL75 LW Sequential 6-speed. It has a cool provision in the front to hold the engine oil (For drysump system) instead of needing a drysump oil tank. You only use clutch to start off- no clutch shifting at its finest.

ProCoach

FE=Formula Enterprises, another Elan project from a few years ago.

I forgot about the Sadev unit being spec-ed. That's a great gearbox. Used in CN class and VdeV sports racers. Good news!

http://www.motoiq.com/MagazineArticl...Prototype.aspx

ninjacoco

Ha, that was my write-up.

So, I certainly didn't get bored with it--totally different experience from anything I'd tried, and definitely engaging to me. That thing was ridiculous amounts of fun. That said, I do think it's a more accessible vehicle than it looks or sounds like--and that's what I was going for with that line.

I have no doubt that I was way below the capabilities of the car, too--and prefaced the write-up as I did for a reason. New track, not my car, don't be that guy.

I can't stand it when I see journos write something up like they're the fastest fartknocker in the world when they barely limped around (or worse--crashed) during a drive. I hate that, so I don't do that. So yeah--my review came with ample disclaimers, but it seemed like a potentially significant enough car that we should have a more detailed look at it, anyway.

I know that there were more experienced folk at the event--Motor Trend sent Pobst, Road & Track sent Baruth, and Gearhart from Turnology was pretty quick--so definitely keep an eye out for their pieces. That MotoIQ piece goes into all kinds of technical detail about the actual build, too. Plus, I think there's two? in the 25 Hour this weekend, so it'll be interesting to see how it does.

24Chromium

This thing looks awesome. Exactly the kind of car I'd like to race next. And the price is almost too good to be true! However... I HATE NASA in Nor Cal. Worst experiences I've ever had at a race track. Period. That stops my from wanting one. I'll continue racing a Porsche because I love the club (and PCA club racing) and I love the atmosphere over the weekend. Low-key, low-stress, friendly, relatively sane heads-up driving, and pretty much guaranteed to go home with a smile on my face. That's priceless.