Being new to the kit car scene I seem to find that everyone gives different stories,
as to which kit is best , lightest, fastest, whos won what class this and that, what I need is some real truths from you.
I want a bike powered 7 but everyone has a different truth lets get a disccusion going on, and please lets not fall out over this just some good banter and then maybe I can decide amongst you what is right for me. by the way I am buying so if any for sale contact me cheers guys john

You will always be limited by the 7 body as a true race wining design. That said I would rather take a 7 on the track as it is a lot easier to repair than an enclosed body car. I might get flack for this but I think the best chassis is the Cateringvan, but not convinced by their engine options. Forget about playing "7 Trump Cards" and get to meet a few owners as every car is different.

I'm sitting here thinking that the lightest/fastest could be a big-budget homebuilt: Series 1-sized chassis tigged mostly of 18-gauge, bespoke ally uprights, CF bodywork, go for broke on brakes, wheels, gearbox, etc. No kit producer could afford to build one like that.

I left the engine blank on purpose. Megabusa? Renesis?

???
Rescued attachment going fast.jpg

If you are looking for a 7 style car I would seriously consider a Striker from RAW.

here

They have won practically every kit car title going over the years. This year the Hayabusa engined Striker is doing very well in the 750mc RGB. IIRC the lap record at Brands is held by the Hayabusa Striker and by quite a margin over the fastest of the CEC Cateringvans.

Also if at a later date you want to go full bodied then you can convert to a Phoenix

My 2p

Cheers

Jim

The Styker has no competition in RGB, the Class C is where all the action is.

I though that Tiger had the world record 0-60 in a twin bike engined car. Caterham i believe have the worlds fastest production road car, in the Superlight. At 200bhp this has got to be beatable with a home build.

Also worth bearing in mind is that although not full bodied a 7 isn't as bad in the wind as you might think. Take a Superlight Caterham at 200bhp and a motorsport Exige at 220bhp with rear wing, and the Caterham is 12+mph faster down the straight at Coombe and about 4 seconds a lap quicker.

Darren

And remember, all that extra glass fibre adds weight.

Adam

P.S. Darren, how much extra does a locost weight with yours and Marks Lotus 11 'challenger' bodywork?

Keep half an eye on the Sylva Mojo!

Light chassis, mid engine and with quite a race pedigree behind it

Anyone else read the review in Which Kit Car?

Indeed a lot of the action in the RGB is in class C which was won by Martin Brooks last year in a Phoenix (ie derivative of the Sylva Striker Chassis) and I think is being led by Tim Gray in a Phoenix this year.

Comparing an Exige to a Cateringvan insn’t really relevant as they are completely different beasts. And the comparison is no more valid than Caterham R500evo vs. Radical SR3.

There are loads of pros and cons regarding full bodywork and each to their own, my point was more about the ability to change your body if you want. On a Phoenix full bodywork adds approx 20-25kg over a similar spec Striker. My Phoenix weighs 449kgs - which is only 5 times what I weigh

Indeed the Tiger Z100WR holds the 0-60 record and quite a beast it is too. As twin engines are not permitted in RGB there is no race data available and I don’t know how it would do against a top spec RGB racer. The Cateringvan Superlight R500 is car engined (and well over £30k) and not what John was asking about.

In summary it comes down to personal taste and depth of pockets (I'm lacking in at least one of the two).

This is getting a bit technical now, look what I,m saying is im looking for a 7 body,
so I know Im new to this but Im not silly, so Im thinking Ive got a bussa engine, now I ring up all these different kit companies and they all say we won this were lighter then them blah blah blah who really knows this is the catogories Im looking at. Dax, MK Indy, Westfields, Striker, stuart taylor, Quantum, tigers there the mainm ones that spring to mind.
Any others? What sort of acceloration can you expect with a blade or R1 and bussa to 100 can you expect in these, seriosly. If I get one Im up for having it tested against another kit as a standing start. Obviously the engines will have to be fo simarlar spec. Any one else?

All the seven derivitives are around the same weight, what makes one lighter than the other is the parts you use. Bike engine, magnesium wheels, carbon fibre bodywork, ACB10s, one seat, no roll cage/bar, de dion rear suspension and alloy uprights and hubs on a Stuart Taylor may give 400kg overall dry weight and 0-60 3.5secs, but the same car with steel wheels, live axle, road biased tyres, glass fibre bofywork, two seats and a pinto engine will probably weigh 500kg and have a 0-60 of 6.5 secs.

Do you get what I am saying, the type of Seven type car doesn't matter, there will prabably be a max of 10kg between the heaviest and lightest locost chassis (ie. Stuart Taylor, Luego, Mk Indy), and the bigger chassis (Luego Viento, Dax Rush) will be slightly heavier again (maybe 20kg above the lightest locost chassis).

So it all depends how much money you put in really. I have a budget of £3500 for a race car (not road legal). It has a bike engine, single glass fibre seat and no lights etc. but none of the really expensive stuff like split rims and CF bofy panels. It will probably weigh about 450kg.

If you go to a kit car company they will probably have a huge list of weight saving options.

Hope this helps

Adam

Cheers Adam that does clear a few things up, so there really is that small a difference then, Which kit would you go for if it was for the road, is it merely a personal thing or does it come down to some handle better then others some are more comfortable etc, or is it a money thing, it seems to me that westfields and Dax rush's are more expensive, leaving caterthams out of it of course. Im really after performance for bucks. I do seem to like MK's and tigers with 15's or 17's wheels not to keen on the looks of Stuarts but maybe Ive just seen a few of the many that are out there.
Cheers John. If you know some for sale call 01795 664512

I think once you get into the nitty gritty of performance figures of these machines, needing a stopwatch to split them is sad. They all do 0-takeyourbreathaway in very small numbers.
I personally have a stuart taylor locoblade which still manages to shock me after 12 months and 7000 miles.
All i can suggest is to go out in as many different powered cars as you can and compare to the total package you want (performane vs price)

Help I dont want to be sad but I also dont want to take the first person/factory word for it otherwise I would be driving around in Robin Hood (no offence) with a ford pinto and a pancake on it, "yeah mate does 0-60 in sub four seconds"
Seriously though I want to get it right first time and to test drive a load before I buy is not only time consuming (like theres not exacly one on every other street corner for sale) but also a bit time wasting for the chap selling. How many times have you heard "Yeah very nice mate but I've got anther one to look at"
So like I say just getting as much info first
cheers John

I think sad was perhaps the wrong choice of word, amybe insignifficant would be better.
John Where abouts in the country are you ?

Hi Brooky (I think ive done a bummer by putting my name and not a cool nick name in the first place ) by the way how do I change that?
Any way yes sorry got a bit of track there a bit like my driving, there I go again.
Anyway, yes, Im from Kent, got there in the end
cheers John or maybe ferocious locost, there thats a good one

Mk Indy is very popular, so if you want ease of build buy one of those, there are loads of people on this forum to help you. It is also not very expensive.

Adam

Thankyou Adam I have with blade engine and its king excellent

jimgiblett, how does your top speed compare to a similar setup striker?

Caterhams definatly have the best chassis/suspension. You can get one with pretty much any engine you want if you put it in your self so I wouldn't discount them for that. A tad expensive tho.

Hey John, I'm in Folkestone and i plan on going up to Brands in September for the "Total Kitcar Live" event. All the kits at one venue (there is a list on the Total Kitcar website), you can talk to them all and if you contact them in advance you can book a test ride in the lot. Nice!!
I am yet to make a definate decision but the GTS is at the top of my list as its a great chassis that uses a de-dion rear end its also the most local based in Faversham. Cheers. Scotty G.

Just thought id point out, that this is a year old thread and john hasnt been online in over a month!

Ooops, how stupid do i feel? Well, no more than usual actually.
Note to self: check date of posts!!!!!!