Upcoming Kit Car Showdown?

[EricScottZehnder]

I remember hearing that Factory Five was taking the 818 to some kind of showdown in maybe a month or so. I was wondering if anyone had the details.

On a side note, I've been following the newly redesigned, US-built Exocet which looks to be quite the challenger to the 818! I do really enjoy the candor of the Exomotive guys, though, as they believe that competition is good for all kit car makers as it forces them to up their game. Nobody says you can't have multiple kit cars from multiple makers! I'm really looking forward to seeing these and perhaps the Superlite Nemesis and Catfish on the same track! I do suspect the 818R will kick some ***, though. ;)

[Evan78]

I think you're referring to this post by Dave Smith (http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?10251-Road-amp-Track-eval-of-the-818R&p=101174&viewfull=1#post101174):


Thats a GREAT idea (guessing the weight at the Open House!)... We could do a contest and the winner gets something really cool and maybe we could donate all the money to the One Fund or the CF Foundation.

btw: the guys reminded me that the street car won't have the full fire suppression system that's in the 818R (and didn't weigh that). One of the toughest things is knowing how potent this little racer is and NOT going all nuts with race plans right away and focusing on quality of production launch and all the things that are so vital. We'll have to rely on Presley and Stuke for the track press!

We are going to try and do a few things to the blue 818R before the GRM Magazine Ultimate Track Car Challenge and see how it stacks up to the really fast comp cars out there.

Dave

[Evan78]

He mentioned it elsewhere (http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?10005-Colors&p=99157&viewfull=1#post99157) too.


The month of May is slated for the carbon options (like the rear diffuser, front splitter, side skirts, carbon hood-maybe). I know we have a trip to the wind tunnel on the board to optimize the rear diffuser, balance the front/rear downforce. The track/performance testing got us pretty close, but we do need to go to the tunnel to make sure the cars aero parts are balanced right. Plus we are going to take the car all David-vs.-Goliath to the GRM Ultimate Track Challenge in July so we want to keep the R&D race effort going.

I was pretty hard on the guys last week and I'm probably not the most popular guy at work right now, but this car has to be perfect and I have a simple clear vision and don't want anything but perfection. The truth is that the guys are doing exceptional work and more than ANY time in the history of the company, we have a GREAT team, everyone is working well together and it seems that we've got such expertise and depth in so many areas. Having Colby back in tool-making is a miracle as there is no-one better than him and he's training the younger welders and doing such exceptional work. Same with Nate and the molding/shaping crew. Engineering is rocking with Dan, Jim, Jesper, and Frankie... all doing their best work. The production crew in Chassis Assembly and Packaging are hitting it hard and the tech guys are getting plugged into the car and we should be at full throttle shortly.

I gotta get some family stuff done. Hope you guys all treat your wives, girls, mothers like the queens that they are tomorrow. We can go back to being slackers on Monday, but tomorrow its all for Mom!

Wayne, give my best to Hayden. I hope you could read thru my text that I was kidding you. You are a great driver, a racers-racer, and I hold you in high regard. I look forward to our next kart race (maybe SEMA 13) and a shot at payback brother!

[Wayne Presley]

The UTCC has all sorts of cars, past few years a Riley has been the fastest.

http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/events/UTCC13/

[EricScottZehnder]

Interesting. Thanks a lot!

[jkrueger]

Who is going to be the driver? That will make a big difference.

JC

[Wayne Presley]

As far as I know it will be John George. He has more time at VIR than I do and is a great driver. He only has one speed, wide open!

[blueafro]

RCR's new Cadillac LMP replica will be there too. They are very different types of cars, and I'm not suggesting to compare them based on their lap times. I'm simply looking forward to reading GRM and seeing how each of them fare.