MikeRJ
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| posted on 3/4/06 at 01:39 PM |
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RH Lightweight in PPC
For those that don't get Practical Performance Car regularly...
My copy of PPC plunked through the letterbox a couple of days ago and I was looking forward to reading the review of the Duratec engined Lighweight
that RH loaned the magazine.
Unfortunately:
1) The article was written by someone who clearly hated the concept of open topped cars.
2) They drove it to Paris and then smashed the sump on some debris and got taken home on an RAC recovery truck.
So an article covering 3-4 sides had literaly a small paragraph about the actual car, and the rest of it was the author whinging about the cold
weather, how gay his mate looked in bike leathers and about their adventures with the gendarmes in Paris. Really disappointing and not at all up to
PPC's usual quality.
Anyway, from the few words mentioned about the car they seemed to like it and thought it felt quite solid.
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jimgiblett
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| posted on 3/4/06 at 02:17 PM |
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I read the article an felt a bit disappointed about the content. Did have a laugh though.
The last few articles have been a bit "Top Gear for old cars" style rather than proper "how to" detail that they started off
with.
Maybe they are trying to access a different market?
-Jim
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Jubal
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| posted on 3/4/06 at 03:32 PM |
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Couldn't agree more. A pal at work is lusting after one at the moment (because it's so cheap) and as I have the same irrational hatred of
RH as everyone else I was hoping the article might give a bit more detail about the concept.
I have to say I'm not sure what the advantages of a monocoque are in these type of car. The RH website is short on differentiators. Anyone know?
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MikeRJ
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| posted on 3/4/06 at 05:34 PM |
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Cheapness and ease of building at home without a welder, i.e. only tin snips and a riveter needed! It is also quite light, certainly much lighter
than the usual stainless steel efforts they make. Longevity is what would worry me the most, how long before the rivets start to loosen, or the alloy
works hardens and starts cracking.
My fears may be totaly unfounded in which case the kit is a bargain, and it has to be one of the better looking 7 replicas that RH have come up with.
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mandbsheldon
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| posted on 3/4/06 at 05:42 PM |
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An SVA inspector told me how he had failed one because of flexing. It had to be re-enforced all over the place. How much weight do you actually save.
He really diss-liked the concept.
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TPG
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| posted on 3/4/06 at 06:04 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by MikeRJ
Cheapness and ease of building at home without a welder, i.e. only tin snips and a riveter needed! It is also quite light, certainly much lighter
than the usual stainless steel efforts they make. Longevity is what would worry me the most, how long before the rivets start to loosen, or the alloy
works hardens and starts cracking.
This is very much my point of view.Cheap and cheerful.May be try an adhesive to back up the rivets.Think
Elise/Vx220 construction.From what I know of robin hoods,people spend a large amount of money to get good results.Things are cheap for a reason,you
get what you pay for etc etc.
..Which was nice..
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JonBowden
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| posted on 3/4/06 at 06:32 PM |
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Personally, I wouldn't consider making such a car with out using adhesive as well as rivits.
However, I like the idea a lot.
Jon
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