Vehicle Protector

Keith Tanner Age: Location: Grand Junction, Colorado

Occupation: Build time: Money sunk: $10,253

Tanner is the crafty ringer of the four. Not only did he have years of experience working on Miatas, but he also offset the cost of his project by writing a how-to similar to Champion’s Locost book. Tanner’s is titled

How to Build a Cheap Sports Car.

This book is useful for Locost builders in the U.S. because it focuses on the Miata as the donor vehicle, a car that is readily available. However, there’s no section on frame building because Tanner purchased suspension pieces and a completed frame for about $3000.

Nevertheless, there are a lot of details covered in his 191-page book, such as how to assemble the steering system, the brakes, and the powertrain. Basically, it details everything

except building the frame, and it’s an instructive read.

Tanner’s car felt terrific. He knew where spending the extra dough would pay off, such as purchasing a high-quality pedal assembly for $350 rather than fabricating his own. The car weighed 1279 pounds, and with a 175-hp modified Miata engine, it squirted to 60 mph in 4.7 seconds — only 0.1 second slower than the $39,645 Caterham SV we tested in February 2004.

The fit and finish wasn’t nearly up to Caterham standards, but Tanner’s car was every bit as fun to drive. During the skidpad test — it pulled 0.98 g — we soon learned that it’s also a painless drift machine, and we lapped the circle continually with the tail hanging out. Simply put, this one had that go-kart feel with predictable responses and quick reflexes. The brakes were also fantastic, stopping the car from 70 mph in 141 feet.

We wondered if the tight feeling of Tanner’s car was due in part to the professionally built chassis. Welding steel is not that difficult, but fabricating a frame that’s dimensionally accurate and stiff takes some skill.

Tanner’s car shows, mostly, that you get what you pay for. Winterhalter’s handiwork amounted to an impressive $2500 sports car, but we’d spend more dough to get something more like Tanner’s car. True, Tanner’s cost four times as much, but the end result was four times as appealing.

It also becomes clear that the books by Champion and Tanner are required reading, but you’re going to need more help. Wiring can be tricky, as most of today’s desirable donor cars — and three of the cars featured here — have fuel injection. You’ll need to figure out how to get the factory system to work or use an aftermarket system. It’s doable but hard, and not as easy as old-fashioned carburetors.

Builders will also need to check their states’ laws for home-builts as the regulations vary. There are significant hurdles, but as Winterhalter pointed out, this hobby is as much about the process as it is about the product. For the money, the result can’t be beat.

VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 2-passenger, 0-door roadster

PRICE AS TESTED: $10,253

ENGINE TYPE: DOHC 16-valve inline-4, aluminum block and head, port fuel injection

Displacement: 100 cu in, 1639cc

Power ( C/D est): Torque ( C/D est): TRANSMISSION: DIMENSIONS: Wheelbase: 92.0 in

Length: 128.0 in

Width: 65.5 in

Height: 42.5 in

Curb weight: C/D TEST RESULTS: Zero to 60 mph: 4.7 sec

Zero to 100 mph: 14.8 sec

Street start, 5-60 mph: 5.5 sec

Standing -mile: 13.8 sec @ 97 mph

Braking, 70-0 mph: 141 ft

Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.98 g

Article source: http://www.caranddriver.com/features/06q3/the_homemades-feature/keith_tanner_27s_locost_sports_car_page_4

Four wins out of five. Autoblog UK buttonholed Sebastian Vettel after his victory in Spain.

Congratulations, Sebastian. Niki Lauda says that was the best race of your career. Is that how you see it too?

Sebastian Vettel: It was definitely a great race, and it was fun. We had to withstand so much pressure over such a long time because we weren’t strong enough in the final sector. We let Lewis get up close and use the rear wing, which didn’t make things easier.

Even so, you still controlled the situation. Were you confident that it would be enough?

Sebastian Vettel: It’s hard to say. It’s difficult to judge what the tyres are going to do and how things will develop over the next five laps. I was hoping that Lewis would also have problems with his tyres, and it looked that way towards the end. So over the last two or three laps, I was able to open up a bit of a gap onto the straight. But as I said, we were just not fast enough in the last sector. All in all, we were missing something in the last two stints. Not many people anticipated it yesterday, but today’s race turned out to be very close.

Do you feel drained after such a mentally demanding race?

Sebastian Vettel: Yes, it’s certainly tougher than when you’re in the lead and in control. But you also get that extra buzz, which is what motor racing is all about. It’s fun. It really was a great race today.

Do emotions run higher after something like that?

Sebastian Vettel: At the moment where all the pressure comes off, that’s an unbeatable feeling. You know then that all the effort you’ve put into the race has been worthwhile. I don’t think you need to analyse the feeling much more than that – it’s the greatest thing that can happen to a driver.

Source: http://uk.autoblog.com/2011/05/22/exclusive-interview-with-sebastian-vettel-the-greatest-thing-th/