sounds like this guy took a formula SAE race car and put a 1000cc engine in it w/ stock carbs & a higher gear ratio.

what's that?....

a formula SAE car is considered a mini indy lite, the over 100 universities build them & compete in detrtoit each year. it is part of the student contests held by the society of automotive engineers. now they are starting this same competition in england and australia as "formula student" the contest is mostly a design contest and the designs must be proven... so the students(mostly seniors in mechanichal engineering) race them in various events... skidpad, acceleration, autocross, and endurance. the courses they run on are a cross between karts & formula-1 road race tracks, very tight and windy.
the cars are designed with a motorcycle engine of 610cc's or less and a restrictor of 20mm. they are required to have full independent suspension, open wheel, open cockpit, etc... the students design and integrate all the parts themselves. most have a limited slip differential, fuel injection, other cool stuff that the engineers come up with. adjustable sway bars, brake bias, blah blah blah....

acceleration, lateral g holding force, and braking is up in the class of formula-1, and these only weigh 500 lbs on average, some are heavier.

these are literally go-carts on steroids

.....and its been going on for over 10 years

HOW do I know all this?

i'm part of the U of WA formula SAE race team this year, driver training, ergonomics & aestetics groups... they are a real blast to drive. last year our team took 5th place overall. this year, 1st is not out of reach, but the competition is tough.

 

dual-sporter... Yes, that pretty much describes the concept of the vehicle that I tryed my best to describe. It seems that this guy took it one step further, by turning it into a production automobile, and therefore making it available to the public. I was very impressed with the performance of this car, it could really move.

 

i've heard a rumor that there was a place in Tx producing them as well.
the contest we are in we must produce the prototype for under $30k... retail parts prices, & labor included.... to make the field more competititive between schools that are budget restricted. (obviously the school gets some deals & make it for less).... real production cost would be around $15-20K/car.... add profit to that.
ours is around $25k this year.
we have to do fundraisers on top of all the work, so we can afford it & our trip to detroit. overall i think it costs around $30k just to get to one race. the only one our car will officially ever run in. wealthier scools go to the other races as well.
occasionally some of the schools that compete in it take the cars to SCCA autocrosses, where they are run in a modified bracket against modified ferraris & porsches....only to smoke them...

getting these things under 500 lbs is a trick sometimes, go over it & you loose design points.
one year our team entered a car at over 700 lbs, it lost bad. since then they've been 499 & under, we trim fat anywhere we can.

even restricted, these cars run 0-60 in less than 5 seconds. because of liability issues they are very restricted so they produce around 80 hp max. on the courses we run, our top speed is around 65 mph, but we know they are capable of much more.... but its a good thing they are restricted, these are built by students, not professional framebuilders, some are plain scary.

if you want to see more about them...look on the SAE website at www.SAE.org under student contests & stuff.

 

dual-sporter... That sounds like a great project. It must be hard to dedicate time to studies while your working on this, cause if it was me, I know that my mind would be completely consumed by it.
Thanks for the web site, I will definately have a look, and good luck in the race.

 

i've spent a few 18-20 hour days on it this week machining parts, redesigning, etc. now its finals week, the quarter is over, and we're on to spring break, the car is scheduled to be done saturday (all parts on & started)and it has a long ways to go. after that, it goes to heat treat & powdercoat. after spring break it goes together for real. the competition is in may, we only get 5 weeks to test it... if all goes well.

 

I do a little vintage autocross.....It gets quite interesting.

How about a '76 triumph spitfire with a stock bore 1500cc engine, kent cam, dual weber sidedraft carbs, mallory dual point ignition, Borla dual exhaust w/header, oil cooler, roller rockers, locked rear end. How much power do you think this 1600 pound car produces? How fast will it go? You think it's faster than a mustang off the line? Hmmmm