Dave Smith and Tim Suddard are brilliant!
Now either agreed or prove me wrong!
-------ok don’t prove me wrong. I just think this process is amazing! I can’t believe a company would do this and then they would show the deep wisdom to ask Grassroots folks.
This is truly a gift!........but if it doesn’t have rollup windows then I will pout like a Danka after a bad day at the track!!! HAHAHAHA
TCL1999 wrote: In reply to MattPerez: What's an IGS file extension? What program does it use? Solidworks? I couldn't open it...
Its a cad file. Universal extension but of no use to you in a drawing format. I went ahead and created a jpeg and ai(adobe illustrator) file of it but now scale is up to you. The iges file was drawn to scale. hopefully they are of some use, at least for rough layout. In the top left view the major height was nearly 29"
http://filebox.vt.edu/users/maperez/SubaruGlass.AI
In reply to MattPerez:
Cool! Thanks!
I keep trying to use the Subaru windshield and hatch glass and I keep coming up with a Renault Clio. Then I try to make that more of a roadster and I come up with an Abarth Porsche 356. It is both harder and more fun than I thought to come up with something both original and "pretty".
Tim Suddard wrote: Hasbro, please read the rules. All submissions need to be in .pdf or .jpg form. We need to be able to email entrants to all the judges, who are spread around the country. If you draw it, just get someone to scan and email it for you.
Yes, they are .jpg.
Kreb, you are on to something... Keep the base car light and simple and then add options. Heck, even my Sunbeam Tiger has an optional hard top.
Sultan, you are absolutely correct, Dave Smith and I are the two smartest guys in the world. Kidding! But I have known Dave for at least 15 years and Factory Five is actually based in the town where I grew up. He is a true car guy and grew up with the same Triumphs and MGs that I grew up with and likes these types of cars.
As for prices of parts for cars, Factory Five is looking down the road. Yeah, sure the Subaru pieces are a little hard to get and not that cheap. But look three to five years down road and this stuff should get dirt cheap and easy to find, as more of these cars get wrecked!
I'm going to cut a few off today on my way to work, hopefully that will help. .
Leach wrote: I'm going to cut a few off today on my way to work, hopefully that will help. .
Took me a minute, but when I got it, that was funny as hell. This is a serious contest though. No weinerdogs and no joking about creating donor cars from your fellow commuters' rides. 
This is an excellent experiment, very much like the thread we had a few months ago asking what kit car can be based on a Miata skeleton, which was a tough thing to come up with.
Now, if you compare this idea with the Cobra- there's a little issue of being an Icon to battle with. That one is really killer in terms of a project, as the shape is the most popular kit car of all time, as the shape of one of the coolest cars of all time.
One thing that really sets the FF kit apart from this one- Ford into a Cobra. That seems really obvious, doesn't it?
Ok, now we are asking Subaru into WHAT?
IMHO, there are a lot of really incredible designs that one can copy to make a great mid-engined car- Lola T70, Ford GT40, Ferrari- well- a lot, Porsche- a lot, Alfa 33's, etc. Some of them were really decent road cars, as well. But will using Subaru parts in them detract from the Icon status enough to not want it? So the challenge for the mid-engine super car look will be to capture the essesne of what made the car so very cool, but allow the design to use good modern parts from a car that very unrelated to that.
On a different thread- the Group B mid-engined cars. When someone posted the Renault- that gets the ideas really flowing. Renault, Ford, MG, etc- all very cool cars that has a very strong underground appreciation in this country. Do you copy one of those and drop in a Subaru engine? You end up with a similar condundrum.
But, you can always bail on the obvious. Base the idea on a Subaru 360.
Make a Group B car out of that. Then you get the Iconic era of B's, AND it's still a Subaru wearing Subaru clothing.
This will be fun to follow.
alfadriver wrote: But, you can always bail on the obvious. Base the idea on a Subaru 360.
Just submit that picture. I'd buy it if I could fit in it.
MattPerez wrote: Since I know we can have multiple entries im sure that front end will make it into one of my designs:) That was the result of just free sketching in solidworks with no pics to work off of.
Matt - if you don't mind me asking, got any tips for this? I've got probably 10,000 hours on the software and have been using it since release '99. I can do mechanism design in SW like a mad man. I've also done a fair bit of nurb surfaces when there is something else constraining me (for instance, I've designed a lot of injection molded pieces to mate with complex surface geometry on cars, but even then, scans of the car typically defined the surface geometry). What I haven't done is free-form stuff like you posted. Got any suggestions on how to get started with that?
Are we allowed to say "nurb" out loud?
alfadriver wrote: This is an excellent experiment, very much like the thread we had a few months ago asking what kit car can be based on a Miata skeleton, which was a tough thing to come up with.
Are you aware of the MEV Exocet - an MX-5 (Miata) based exo kit? A few have made it out to the States - flickr gallery here
There are a fresh batch of templates available; many of the requests for specified locations are in place on this latest batch. Driver position, radiator placement, and a driveline block are called out in these latest versions.
Please enter through the front door, as the download link has changed.
Enjoy!
(If you're knee deep in a design using the earlier templates, don't worry. You can use any, some, or all of the templates provided for your entry.)
IMHO, there are a lot of really incredible designs that one can copy to make a great mid-engined car- Lola T70, Ford GT40, Ferrari- well- a lot, Porsche- a lot, Alfa 33's, etc. Some of them were really decent road cars, as well. But will using Subaru parts in them detract from the Icon status enough to not want it? So the challenge for the mid-engine super car look will be to capture the essesne of what made the car so very cool, but allow the design to use good modern parts from a car that very unrelated to that.
The Cobra crowd's not going to go for this. All credit due, I suspect that only one in ten is interested in a turbo 4-banger. This project is much more in line with what you've been seeing in the UK - Performance enthusiasts looking for supercar perfiormance at an economy car price, who are willing to sacrifice creature comforts for it. Your average buyer won't be mentally referencing a 60s icon. He'll be referencing Radicals, Nobles, Late-model Lotus and the like. I think that the timing is perfect.
In reply to kreb:
Well count me in that 10% then. I have been following FFR and their "not Cobra" kits for a long time. I've always wanted one, just can't afford it. I'm big into muscle cars of the 60's and I also have a soft spot for the WRX and Subarus in general. Maybe I'm an oddball, who knows. I think if you offer cheap speed, you're going to attract people and gain a fan base.
By the way, anyone look at the new templates? The rear track changed width. Just thought I'd point that out.
I keep coming back to something along the lines of a mid engine RS200 with an elise-style Targa top, or a targa top Darrian T90 (look it up, picture a Porsche 911 GT1 boinked a RS200 and this was the result)
In reply to Tom Heath: Thanks for these - much better. One question: what is outlined area at the rear? Looks a little long for transmission, pic of SDR V-Storm (which also uses Subaru boxer) attached. Even if not, this only dictates the maximum overhang over the width of the tranmission casing: would it be safe to say only the central 300mm needs to extend this far back?
Cooluser23 wrote:dyintorace wrote: I wonder if FF could be convinced to include a token rear seat configuration. A much cheaper, much better looking Lotus Evora with Subie power would be fantastic!That would be nice as well, but not sure if it would fit in with the wheelbase requirements.
Maybe FFR could be convinced to change the wheelbase requirements! 
seansverige wrote: In reply to Tom Heath: Thanks for these - much better. One question: what is outlined area at the rear?
I don't have that answer, but I'm working on it. I assume it's a transaxle and associated components, but don't quote me on it.
...and you're very welcome, but Dave Smith at F5 deserves the credit.
Sean/Guys,
There was an error on the track numbers of the overhead template and the drawings were changed/updated yesterday. Sorry for the glitch.
The profile shot has shaded area for the mid-engine subie mil and transmission.
While there are areas of the chassis that are fairly open to change, Jim in R&D, who is tasked with the project lead is very set on the wheelbase as being optimal for performance and balance of the car. He may have other reasons, but at least for now this is quite rigid.
Thanks for all the great posts.
Dave Smith President Factory Five Racing, Inc.
Hey guys,
I'm getting errors on the first two and the last PDF files. Is it just me?
Looking at what does load on the driver placement my design does work with those dimensions (or very close to it) so far, so not a huge issue, but put off people who have yet to enter..
kreb wrote:IMHO, there are a lot of really incredible designs that one can copy to make a great mid-engined car- Lola T70, Ford GT40, Ferrari- well- a lot, Porsche- a lot, Alfa 33's, etc. Some of them were really decent road cars, as well. But will using Subaru parts in them detract from the Icon status enough to not want it? So the challenge for the mid-engine super car look will be to capture the essesne of what made the car so very cool, but allow the design to use good modern parts from a car that very unrelated to that.The Cobra crowd's not going to go for this. All credit due, I suspect that only one in ten is interested in a turbo 4-banger. This project is much more in line with what you've been seeing in the UK - Performance enthusiasts looking for supercar perfiormance at an economy car price, who are willing to sacrifice creature comforts for it. Your average buyer won't be mentally referencing a 60s icon. He'll be referencing Radicals, Nobles, Late-model Lotus and the like. I think that the timing is perfect.
that, I agree with 100%.
But what can be taken from the cobra and all of their kits is that you can sell a lot of an icon.
So for this, there are two choices: 1) make an iconic shape that will appeal to the inner youth, or whatever it is that people get ticked when they see a cobra. 2) make a shape that is very modern and useful that is mid-engined.
I've been following kit cars for a long time- got magazines back in the 80's, and were aware of many of the cars available in the 70's. 2 has been tried many a times, and with marginal success- the only car that is independant, realistically, is the Bradly GT.
But- that does not include any of the Lotus kits from the late 50's to the late 60's- so if the car is good enough, and the kit easy enough, Lotus did illustrate that you can make a good car, put in basic drivetrains (Ford), and sell pretty well.
Anyway, it soulds like what people want is a modern Lotus they can make by themselves. A better looking, and still home buldable on a budget Radical/Noble... Who can make a mid engined car that is both good looking AND simple? (AKA a 7 that is very much up to date)
Still- you can see that there's a portion of even this crowd that has appeal to a Group B car- where the iconic shape is part of it....
(it's interesting to read the conversations of designers who are designing for themselves.... pretty cool)
I hope we get a chance to see all of the designs, or at least some "finalists", not just the winning one.
A thought, would FF accept a few different winners? Build the same chassis for a hot hatch, for a roadster, for a coupe? Maybe three bodies for the same car? That may turn out to be too much production costs because you only amortize your capital costs over 1/3rd of the whole number.
I personally would love to see something fresh. The box flare thread is up to 35 pages. Obviously, flares = happiness for all. Someone please pen a design with the simplicity of a 3rd gen MR2, but with voluptuous flares.
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