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Time on the front page
jacko - 8/2/24 at 12:56 PM

Hi all years ago when a topic came on the front page it would be down to the bottom and off within a day or so .
Now it seems to be on the front page for a month or longer
What is going on is the kitcat world collapsing?
Graham

nick205 - 8/2/24 at 03:10 PM

I'd hazard a guess...

1. Folks have less disposable for such things as kit cars.
2. Intake of younger people into the world of kit cars is less.
3. LCB is down to a core of members sharing kit car other general knowledge

I've not been to a kit car show in years, but get the impression (from LCB posts) they're not what they were.

gremlin1234 - 8/2/24 at 05:58 PM

since it seems impossible to subscribe as a new member
and
several site crashes,.. & loosing members because of the various glitches in the account recovery procedure...
we unfortunately have a vastly diminished active membership.

coyoteboy - 8/2/24 at 11:32 PM

Mmm kitkats

People are struggling to pay the bills. Website falls over monthly. Facebook and similar are hoovering up the bulk of short attention span newbies.

Will take a miracle to turn it around.

Mr Whippy - 9/2/24 at 08:10 AM

Kit cars are not what they use to be. Indeed the whole premise of this site was based round a car claimed you could build for £250, a figure that was truly laughable in hindsight. The SVA & IVA did not help at all driving up the cost of getting on the road and put a lot of people off including me. There's also a lot of good competition with no shortage of reasonably priced fancy sports cars available, with loads of features not found on most kit cars. Which you don't have to spend months if not years putting together in your garage just to drive it.

I think kit cars only now appeal to the budding engineer who loves to tinker and the driver who wants a more engaging experience from driving (probably why EV versions are all but non-existent).

I'm still here because your a bunch of hands on engineering types that have a lot of helpful knowledge

coyoteboy - 9/2/24 at 08:58 AM

quote:
Originally posted by Mr Whippyi think kit cars only now appeal to the budding engineer who loves to tinker and the driver who wants a more engaging experience from driving (probably why EV versions are all but non-existent).


I don't think it was ever any different, I never met anyone who wanted a kit car that wasn't an engineer or tinkered. No one wanted it because it was cheap motoring. But you're right, in that that's the audience, but even in universities the number and of engineering students that pick a more practical course is not increasing, and engineering in the UK has a poor level of respect. When I moved to the other side of the North Sea mh wage tripled for the same job. If people don't see engineering as interesting and fun as well as economically viable, a car where you have to put effort and skills in to get a low power two seater out (because kids are all about the numbers, not the handling) is a nonstarter and then add on the fact that the world now sees (and has forced down their throat) IC cars as dinosaur relics that need to be phased out, its stuffed.

[Edited on 9/2/2024 by coyoteboy]

Mr Whippy - 9/2/24 at 11:21 AM

The lack of the kit car market to offer a sensible budget EV builder package will probably be the death of it. It should be no harder to set up than your average RC car. Requirements of the IVA also seem excessive for EV’s and need a more balanced review. I saw a great little EV sports car on youtube. Battery just a brick that went into the tunnel (safest place possible), sensible power and range, plus I’m sure they said it only weighed about 600kg! Sadly, it’s very low volume so would cost a fortune. But that’s the kind of EV package that needs to be available for car builders.

coyoteboy - 9/2/24 at 01:27 PM

I think the EV difficulties are fairly huge if trying to get through government safety needs. IF you don't start with an existing pack design, you hit alllll sorts of safety evidence requirements. You can't even ship batteries over 100Wh without special testing/regs, you can't build a pack that is thermal-runaway safe with DIY skills currently as you'd have to test/prove it. The voltage is a minor point compared to what happens when you put a bomb at the centre of your tunnel - it might deflect the venting and fire downward for 30 seconds until the chassis melts, but you probably won't be able to get out due to it venting to where your legs are.

And what's a decent range? The reason I went with a V8 instead of an EV was a) Motor weight alone for comparable power/weigh was nearing 200kg. b) Battery weight was another 300kg to get 100 mile range, and for me a car like this is for cruising around the north of scotland, not hopping from city charger to city charger. OF course if you're happy with a 100hp/ton and a 100 mile range, it's fairly easy. There are EV motor control units available. But then there's less of the interest - it's just plug and play. Both that in there, wire that to that, press the throttle. For me the fun is in the design and build.

[Edited on 9/2/2024 by coyoteboy]

coyoteboy - 10/2/24 at 07:58 PM

I was digging further into parts sources for thus idea and really it relies on something like a tesla rear drive unit at about 2.2k plus the electronics and a battery. I actually think I'd take the rear drive and.turn in 90, feed two smaller diffs front and rear and go AWD from a single motor.