Exomotive Exocet (Miata chassis)

[Sideways&Smiling]

With all the talk of the Miata here, I figured it's worth having a thread about the Exocet. It almost seems like a total waste of time building S2000s, FT86s, etc. for the track when a complete Exocet can be built for not very much money unless you really want to compete with a specific car based on class rules.

Otherwise........ why not just track something much lighter and more affordable and daily drive something else?

http://exomotive.com/exocet/


https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/...=0&output=html

Anybody out there have one of these or have driven one? Seems like one of the best options for the money for a track vehicle short of an Ariel Atom...

[rice_classic]

F20C


That is all.

[serialk11r]

I kind of don't understand the point here. Why not just strip down a Miata for less money? Then you wouldn't have to trailer the car to the track, and your aerodynamics would not suck ass. Welding a roll cage in seems like it should give plenty of stiffness. I don't see why you would need a car that's got a certain power to weight ratio with an LS1.

[dem00n]

I'm not a big fan of track only cars, they're awesome and definitely give you a different experience, but...they're track only.

[Mobius357]

Looks like an atom beaten with the ugly stick. If speed/dollar is your biggest concern, why not just skip 4 wheels and get a bike?

[f0rge]

For $6500-8000 above and beyond the donor Miata with 100 hours worth of labor I could have 2 stupid fast Miatas that are still streetable.

Hell if you got a cheap donor with a blown engine you could do an LSx swap for less than this fugly thing would cost.

[Nevermore]

The MEVX5 option they have doesn't look too bad in it's coupe form.

[rice_classic]

"why not just get a bike?" Because Death


A lot of people have track only cars. A track only car is a great idea because you don't have to ruin your daily driver so this can handle track duty. You don't have your commuter car put at risk etc. What if you break and axle or tie rod at the track.. makes it hard to drive home eh?

Something like the Excocet allows your track toy to be light enough that you could tow it to the track with any car with a simple dolly. Hell, even an FRS could tow a 1500lb car behind it. I've seen a Spec Miata get towed to the track behind a regular Miata.

The other benefit is that you don't have to license and insure it which makes it cheaper to own as well.

Finally this concept allows you to get the weight down... way down. We all know that lighter is better and if you're playing with a reliable 120hp car, the best way to make that same 120hp more fun is to remove 600lbs from it! Heck, with a little love to the BP4W (bump in compression, cam, tune, I/H/E), you could easily be making 140-150 at the wheels. Now you have a track toy with cheap/reliable 10:1 power ratio that will hardly have to slow down for the corners. You can run cheap stock brakes and smaller/skinnier tires (which are cheaper too).

Goddamn, this just sounds exciting.

[Grimlock]

There's no reason why you couldn't run an Exocet on the street. I really like the idea of the Excocet. It's like a FM Westfield or a Locost, but with the fabrication side already done (at the expense of weight).

[soundman98]

i know a guy that's been through 3 different miata's.. first was stock, he sold that for an lsx converted miata, which was sold due to the poor weight distribution of the conversion. he last bought a turbo miata that he's been happy with ever since(most of the lsx power without the weight difference)...

[Sideways&Smiling]

Originally Posted by dem00n

I'm not a big fan of track only cars, they're awesome and definitely give you a different experience, but...they're track only.

Eh... while everyone wants to be the badass (in their own heads) with the highly modified car they track AND daily drive, it's just not smart or practical. Sure, you can do it with some cars..... but why? Full throttle, balls-to-the-wall time attacking and driving on the street are two totally different things... and it's a huge pain in the ass heavily modding a car you HAVE to have ready to take you to work every day tomorrow. It's much easier when you can take your time.

Look at all the drift guys. Most of them daily drive trucks so that they can tow their racecars/beater missiles to the track. It's the same idea here with the Exocet.... it's far lighter than just about any production car you can get for a reasonable amount of money. That means it's going to be better on track in just about every way. Better braking, better corning, longer lasting brakes, longer lasting tires, a greater sense of speed, etc.... basically MORE FUN and MORE COMPETITIVE. For most people, trying to track and daily drive the same car leads to big compromises, whether its in comfort on the street or competitiveness on the track.

Besides, I think there are people out there who have registered Exocets as kit cars and drove them on the street. Does anyone daily drive it? Probably not, but that would be pointless anyway. Of course, it would be fun to take it out on the street occasionally...

I don't know. Maybe that's just me. If I had GTR/911/etc. money available for a car, I wouldn't daily drive a GTR or 911, I'd buy an Ariel Atom that would rape them on the track and spend the left over cash on a practical, fun daily driver like the FR-S.

EDIT: Nice avatar pic BTW. Are you a fan of Cynic by any chance? Love me some prog metal!

[Sideways&Smiling]

Originally Posted by Mobius357

Looks like an atom beaten with the ugly stick. If speed/dollar is your biggest concern, why not just skip 4 wheels and get a bike?

Honestly, who cares what it looks like? It's a track weapon..... it's meant to be light and go fast, not prance around on the street looking cool....

Don't get me wrong. It would be cool to check out a CBR600RR, but it's also much more dangerous and a totally different experience...

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaWoo82zNUA"]Ariel Atom - Top Gear - Series 5 - BBC - YouTube[/ame]

[dem00n]

Originally Posted by Sideways&Smiling

Eh... while everyone wants to be the badass (in their own heads) with the highly modified car they track AND daily drive, it's just not smart or practical. Sure, you can do it with some cars..... but why? Full throttle, balls-to-the-wall time attacking and driving on the street are two totally different things... and it's a huge pain in the ass heavily modding a car you HAVE to have ready to take you to work every day tomorrow. It's much easier when you can take your time.

Look at all the drift guys. Most of them daily drive trucks so that they can tow their racecars/beater missiles to the track. It's the same idea here with the Exocet.... it's far lighter than just about any production car you can get for a reasonable amount of money. That means it's going to be better on track in just about every way. Better braking, better corning, longer lasting brakes, longer lasting tires, a greater sense of speed, etc.... basically MORE FUN and MORE COMPETITIVE. For most people, trying to track and daily drive the same car leads to big compromises, whether its in comfort on the street or competitiveness on the track.

Besides, I think there are people out there who have registered Exocets as kit cars and drove them on the street. Does anyone daily drive it? Probably not, but that would be pointless anyway. Of course, it would be fun to take it out on the street occasionally...

I don't know. Maybe that's just me. If I had GTR/911/etc. money available for a car, I wouldn't daily drive a GTR or 911, I'd buy an Ariel Atom that would rape them on the track and spend the left over cash on a practical, fun daily driver like the FR-S.

I hold a different view of others, i find if you can't/won't daily your car, then it doesn't hold much hope of being in my garage. If i can't enjoy it on the street and track, then i wouldn't buy it.

It just says something, when driving a car on a track, then driving it home.

A track car you drive home is for the crazies anyways....

If i could own a bunch of cars, of course i'd have some racecars, but i'd also enjoy taking my "normal" cars to the track.

[Sideways&Smiling]

Originally Posted by soundman98

i know a guy that's been through 3 different miata's.. first was stock, he sold that for an lsx converted miata, which was sold due to the poor weight distribution of the conversion. he last bought a turbo miata that he's been happy with ever since(most of the lsx power without the weight difference)...

I unfortunately have no experience with LSX anything... always wanted to try out an LSX 240sx or Miata, but never have... HOWEVER, I feel like I wouldn't like it. I'm a big fan of high strung 4 cyl motors where the torque builds slowly and allows you to maintain traction. I love time attack cars like Silvias running SR20VETs, Evos, supercharged/turbo'd S2000s, FD RX7s, the K20A Ariel Atom, etc.... Torque is cool for drag racing (which bores me) and drifting.... but for actual racing, I'd rather have high power cars with less torque. I think an Exocet with the stock NB Miata motor and a Flyin Miata turbo kit would be more than enough to be very fast and balanced...