Rush SR - new single seater track car

Neat! I like the look of this one, and they just include the damn price rather than being coy. I appreciate that. 

Out of my price-range, but not crazy me-thinks: $28,995.00



https://rushautoworks.com/car_post/rush-sr/

Interesting.  Can't figure how they do it for only $30K

Yeah, that has my full attention. Looks amazing for the price actually. 

Purple Frog (Forum Supporter) said:

Interesting.  Can't figure how they do it for only $30K

So looking at their website- couple things come to mind...

First- the chassis looks to be a fairly simple space frame.   By that, I mean it's not filled with lots of complicated bends and whatnot.  And it's also separate from a Lotus/Locost design by using what appears to be larger tubing, and less of it.  Simplifying the most labor intensive part is the most important part.  Combine that with modern CAM to cut the frame parts- making the most labor intensive part welding it together.

Second- there's a picture in the RCE magazine that makes me very much think F-SAE.  And that was intended to make a formula car on a budget.  So if these guys are rooted in FSAE, then they probably have studied the time it took to make a space frame in series. 

It's designed to be a medium-production item, hundreds per year rather than dozens. The factory is in Houston, Texas and they are in full production.

There are a lot of passenger-car parts in the suspension, mostly to reduce cost of both parts and development, and to improve durability.

The body is made in 20 pieces to reduce the cost of each, and to make it so that a frame is the only part of the car that cannot be shipped by USPS, UPS, or FedEx.

It has a 1000cc engine and a 6-speed sequential - if those sound familiar, it's because that's a minimally modified motorcycle powerplant.

Total weight is just north of 900# depending on options. It fits into the  NASA ST1 class - and while it was meant for racing schools and single make series, during development it was found to set laptimes that were faster than most cars in that class. 

If GRM wants to drive the car or do a feature on it, you can contact RAW and travel to Speedsportz in Houston to drive it whenever you think it's safe.

That's a lot of track car for not much more $$ than the typical side by side UTV...

Very interesting!

Yeah, that's pretty stunning. A poor-mans Radical. I wonder what they're using for the differential. They don't mention a chain, and that's good.

I did not need to see this. Lately I have been looking at more and more cycle engine builds. This looks like a lot of fun if I could fit in one.

Holy E36 M3. Yes.

So... new spec racing series? That looks like a riot. It’s the perfect size for smaller club tracks like Waterford Hills.

Is there anything else out there that even comes close in terms of turn key performance/$$$?

In reply to Kreb (Forum Supporter) :

Plate-and-ramp-type limited slip, chain driven.

In reply to BlueInGreen - Jon (Forum Supporter) :

A KZ shifter kart, but that will lose to a haybale in a crash. It should be faster than an F500 at Waterford Hills.

In reply to Papabear :

It will accommodate drivers up to 6'5" if your legs are long.

In reply to chaparral :

Are you on the design team?  A satisfied customer?

In reply to mikeatrpi :

Affiliated. I'm the industry advisor for an FSAE team that shares resources with Rush. Our students built several of their body molds; in return they helped us build our wing and undertray molds on their equipment.

I drove the SR-1 prototype. It was a lot more forgiving than a racing kart!

I know the answer is no but this would be a riot if it was street legal. 

In reply to chaparral :

not so much tall as wide. But my Exocet has a 17" Kirkey seat and I fit well in that. I signed up for more information. I don't get out to Texas much to go look at one. Is it hard to get into? From the pictures it does not look like you can just step in.

Wow, and at 900 lbs it wouldn't need much of a tow vehicle.  I'm not in the market for something like this but it has my attention for when I am.

In reply to Papabear :

The sides are low, so you can walk into the seat and then plunk yourself in from there.

Prototype car used a Tillett B6; production cars have that as an option  with Rush's own seats standard. It depends on just how wide you are - I fit and I'm 18" wide across the hips - but only 14" wide at the waist.

Is there one in a garage at Speedsportz? I feel like I've seen one poking out of one of the back garages. I'm generally there 2-3 days a week on bikes or helping with kart stuff. 

In reply to mazdeuce - Seth :

Yes, the prototype is mostly kept there - it's where a lot of the testing was done.

From the video it seemed pretty forgiving over the kerbs. The car being on treaded tires should help with the running costs, albeit at the cost of lap times.

On the VIR video the driver seems to be struggling with the down shifts in some places??

Looks very fun to drive.

Tom1200 said:

From the video it seemed pretty forgiving over the kerbs. The car being on treaded tires should help with the running costs, albeit at the cost of lap times.

On the VIR video the driver seems to be struggling with the down shifts in some places??

Looks very fun to drive.

I believe it has a sequential dog-leg style motorcycle gearbox.  Using those on a motorcycle you generally don't need to use the clutch on upshifts, or at least not fully disengage the clutch; a very light touch would typically give a quick and smooth shift. 

Downshifts do require you to completely disengage the clutch to get the desired gear to engage, and given that this box is hooked up to paddle shifters I'd guess that they've set up a motor on the shift lever....  so I imagine the timing between your foot on the clutch and the paddle shifter takes some getting used to, add braking and rev matching with the other foot and I'm sure it all feels a little odd if you only ever drive standard syncro gearboxes.

In reply to MrFancypants :

I ran a D-sports Racer for 3 years, once I left the pits I never used the clutch again. I went up and down through the box by simply matching revs. Note I road raced motor cycles (two stroke GP bike) and did the same thing on the bike. Mostly I was curious as it seemed the driver fumbled a couple of down shifts.

Regardless the car looks fun. 

chaparral said:

In reply to BlueInGreen - Jon (Forum Supporter) :

A KZ shifter kart, but that will lose to a haybale in a crash. It should be faster than an F500 at Waterford Hills.

A KZ without ballast, assuming 45hp and 190lbs is 475hp/ton. That's just nuckin' futz! 
 

This Rush car looks like a hoot and a half, slotting in between a TAG and shifter kart for hp/weight but with suspension. Or slotting in between an Exocet and an Ariel Atom.