Sirius
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| posted on 16/11/05 at 01:57 PM |
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Any advice for prospective buyer?
Hi Folks 
I have been watching and reading for a couple of months now, and am looking into buying a kit in the first half of next year. I’m going to the Exeter
show this weekend to have a look about.
I plan to use the car for a combination of trackdays, weekend drives and likely a trip to Europe (Le Mans, Nurburgring, etc). My plans and ideas are
more along a lightweight no frills line than a touring/luxury - carpets and heaters etc.
There are two cars that currently have most of my interest which are the:-
Spire GTR – BEC
Luego Velocity XT – Toyota 4A-GE
My reservations regarding the Spire is lack of storage space for overnight trips, build complexity, and finally support during the build given that
this and its predecessors the MK GTR and GT1 are very thin on the ground.
The advantages I see are that it looks fantastic, it is really unusual (which I like in cars) and potentially allows me to have a much greater hand in
the build where I can use my own ideas.
For the Velocity I don’t really have any major reservations, the advantages I see are lower cost than the GTR, a proven build and good support from
the company and community.
Does anyone have any useful comments for someone looking at their first build? I plan to have a good look at both cars in the ‘flesh’ over the weekend
but would appreciate some input.
Cheers
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britishtrident
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| posted on 16/11/05 at 02:15 PM |
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A BEC might not be the best choice for long distance trips, with a car engine at least the drive line is fairly "production" and hence
proven reliability.
Bike engines just aren't design for fitting in cars so the transmision is always going to be Heath-Robinson, but BEC engine cars have truly
explosive performance even compared to the very best car engined cars. If you just wanted turely explosive performance only for track days and local
blasts a BEC would fit the bill.
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DarrenW
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| posted on 16/11/05 at 02:22 PM |
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Welcome to the nuthouse.
Best thing you can take to the show is an open mind and a woman to keep hold of the credit card! Or is it an open woman and a mind to keep the
card????
Iam very impressed with my car. Build is great. Can accept a huge range of engines. Customer service has been great. No major disasters to report -
all in all the pleasurable build experience that some can only dream of.
The new 9R Works is very much a lightweight performance orientated development, primarily designed with bike engines in mind. Well worth a look at
that.
Take your time. Choose wisely and enjoy. Once you have shortlisted then visit the manufacturers - i can assure this is time well spent.
Choose wrongly on spur of the moment and you will not enjoy.
The other thing i found is that you can never get a true idea what the finished car will cost. i found Mac#1 to be the only company that listed all of
the parts that they can sell in easy to understand logical stages. You only have to add donor bits and engine (and of course a few fancies if you so
desire). the downside this openness make Mac#1 sound more expensive than the competitors but weigh them all up carefully and you find they arent,
bonus is you get a far better car than most as well.
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jimgiblett
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| posted on 16/11/05 at 02:49 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by britishtrident
A BEC might not be the best choice for long distance trips, with a car engine at least the drive line is fairly "production" and hence
proven reliability.
Bike engines just aren't design for fitting in cars so the transmision is always going to be Heath-Robinson
That's a sweeping statement !
A chain driven car might not be ideal for long distances due to the wear on the chain and sprockets and for touring I would say a prop version more
suitable. Other than this the only thing that might make a bike engine less appealing to some for long distances is the noise. A properly built BEC
will be capable of more mileage per year than most do in their kit cars.
On the trips I've made it is the car engined cousins which are requiring all the attention. This is Japanese manufacturing technology at its
best.
With over 3,000 miles of continental trips in mine and plenty of long journeys reliability is no more an issue than any tuned engine. A friend of
mine did over 12k of hard driving in his s/h fireblade engined car and when the gearbox finally gave up he dropped another engine in for £500.
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scotty g
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| posted on 16/11/05 at 05:53 PM |
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For touring Europe i would go with a car engine as well, those sorts of distances i would want lots of torque for easier driving. A BEC tends to be a
bit of a screamer, after a few hundred miles your ears would be bleeding!
But for track days you need to swap everything i just said. BEC deffinately more fun.
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Sirius
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| posted on 17/11/05 at 12:41 PM |
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Thanks for the replys
Unfortunately the other half can't make it to the show this weekend so I will be roaming without the leash as it were. 
With my choices I guess as with everything compromises will have to be made - I am sure that a car engine will be plenty of fun on track and good for
long runs. The reliability issues of a BEC on long runs do concern me - more research needed.
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Jon Ison
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| posted on 17/11/05 at 08:18 PM |
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blag a ride in a CEC and a BEC then make your mind up, Ive run BEC's for years now including Le Man two up with all the camping gear, personally
i wouldn't have anything else but then a ardent CEC fan would say the same about CEC's, try em both........
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