Hi all,

thinking of building a Locost with a bike engine.

Question is do I sell my car and fund the locost and use it for every day as a normal car.......or is that a no go?

Thanks

personaly a 7 is a 2nd fun car that has to be sold when the wife tells you shes having kids

Personally i wouldnt.

You dont know how long its going to take u to build it and if its a crappy day a car without a roof isnt the nicest..

Most people would not be happy using a locost on an every day basis - never mind a bike engined one which is really best suited to track days with occasional on road use.

Even car engined one with weather gear would be hard to live with as an only car.

Cheers

Mark

take a look at this website

www.mycaterham.com

Angus and tessa have used there seven for everything.

I have a bike engined car. It is lovely. It is a great road car despite what the car engined car brigade say. Thats road and not motorway.

No, don't have one as your only car. Even with screens and a hood it would be miserable on cold wet mornings. It would probably be a handful in the snow too.

That said, bike engines with their lower torque than car engines should be better on slipery surfaces.

Thanks for the replies guys......so what if I build a car engined one and somehow put a hood on it?

What would the difference be with having a cabrio with soft roof?

Apols if the questions are a bit stupid....just trying to make the best choice.

I'd imagine even a locost with full weather gear (roof, doors, windscreen etc) wouldn't be the best in bad weather.

I've owned lots of cabrio's over the last few years, from MX5 to Elise and Smart Roadster. Every one of them leaked in the rain eventually, and they're all production cars engineered by Mazda and Mercedes. The Lotus was pitiful in the wet, and I can only imagine a locost would be worse.

Try a winter of having rain pool in the drivers seat and then freeze overnight - that's the sort of thing you'll be looking at!

I use mine most days but only work less than 2 miles from home. I have a tin top to use as well. I wouldnt be happy to have the ZR as my only car. I use it out of choice rather than necessity.

Just as a thought, if you keep your day to day car, if either of them breaks you'll have a spare vehicle to go and get replacement bits.
2 cars are definately better than one (though factor in insurance and tax).

P.S. My series 2 elise never leaks at least not from the roof :-) )

[Edited on 14/9/06 by clockwork]

Most 7's are noisy, vibrating, harsh and tiring to drive...
...that's what makes them fun!

As said above, great fun to drive to work on a nice sunny day, but not when it's freezing cold, wet and you've got a stinking cold. You also have security worries when you have to park it out of sight in a less-than-nice area.

They can also be 'exciting' to drive in wet conditions, so probably downright dangerous on ice.

I consider mine to be a toy car - thus it doesn't matter if it's heaving down with rain (like it was last night) as I can get into my tin-top. It also doesn't matter if the engine can't be bothered to start - which would be a crisis if I needed it to go to work.

David

quote:

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Originally posted by StevieB
I'd imagine even a locost with full weather gear (roof, doors, windscreen etc) wouldn't be the best in bad weather.

I've owned lots of cabrio's over the last few years, from MX5 to Elise and Smart Roadster. Every one of them leaked in the rain eventually, and they're all production cars engineered by Mazda and Mercedes. The Lotus was pitiful in the wet, and I can only imagine a locost would be worse.

Try a winter of having rain pool in the drivers seat and then freeze overnight - that's the sort of thing you'll be looking at!

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Having driven home in the rain for an hour last night, I can say it's a lively eperiance at best! Never thought I'd get wheel spin at 55-60 in 6th! It's also really difficult to see where you're going with out a window. Oh, and se7en's aren't known for good lighting either.

quote:

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Originally posted by smart51
It would probably be a handful in the snow too.

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lol ok guys i get the picture

i'll reconsider the option of the locost being my only car

if you were young free and single (and a hard bastard to boot!) you could probably manage it!

Not for me though, im getting old

erm I am young and single as in not married although with someone.......now for the hard bastard bit you'll have to ask my friends I wouldn't want to start flattering myself LOL

it's not so much being hard as stubbonly eccentric

The best analogy I can think of is:

Imagine owning a superbike with no fairing - Ducati Monster or similar - HUGE amount of fun in the open countryside in dry weather, but would be a total PITA in the rain (and scary too) and you'd be terrified to park it anywhere where you can't see it.

David