Customization anyone????

[timmy318]

I just would like to know if & what people are planing on doing with their 818's.... I myself am planing on designing a retractable hard-top if at all possible on this car without destroying the looks and a e-adjustable spoiler.

[Silvertop]

I just would like to know if & what people are planing on doing with their 818's.... I myself am planing on designing a retractable hard-top if at all possible on this car without destroying the looks and a e-adjustable spoiler.

Don't forget the passenger ejection seat..............

[longislandwrx]

Don't forget the passenger ejection seat..............

powered by NOS! of course.

[longislandwrx]

Seriously though, I'll probably be going the race route so most likely will only add a rear spoiler and a larger front lip/canards if needed.

[timmy318]

I like the ideas!!!!

[Niburu]

slammed and hellaflush

someones gonna do it

won't be me, but someone will do it

[longislandwrx]

followed by custom bald tires.

[JRL]

Just curious here - What "Race Class" you are planing on running ?

[Rasmus]

I just would like to know if & what people are planing on doing with their 818's.... I myself am planing on designing a retractable hard-top if at all possible on this car without destroying the looks and a e-adjustable spoiler.
Hydraulic scissor doors, air bags on all fours, on board air jacks, and two 12 inch subs up front in the trunk.

[305mouse]

Air jacks would be a nice idea. I want a clean lightweight interior that doesn't look like it's bare bones. Only gauge being a tach with a speedo HUD and a carputer.

[longislandwrx]

Just curious here - What "Race Class" you are planing on running ?


mostly just non competitive track days here, although running solo, i'm pretty sure you could run the 818 in the XP class.


as far as club racing, im not sure what class the 818 might be able to run/be competitive.

[BipDBo]

I plan to just make it into a somewhat practical (although very quick) daily driver. I would like to start with a coupe body, but would like to make to skin of the roof removable, leaving the tube frame roof structure exposed for sunny days. If at all possible, I'd assemble a 12 volt AC package that could be essentially unplugged and removed without opening up the refrigerant piping in order to reduce weight for a track day. The removable AC system is likely a pipe dream, but climate control is a must for me. I would also install a very simple radio that could be easily removed. I may look into places like the door panels where I could add polystyrene foam (just like NASCAR) for added crush protection. I would likely splurge for good racing seats and harnesses, at least for the driver side. I've never driven with a harness, but I don't imagine objecting to it for daily driving. A small trunk would be nice. I don't really care about many creature comfort items. A simple bare bones interior and monofilm windows are fine by me.

[longislandwrx]

Strapped into a race bucket in Florida with a 5pt prepare for a sweaty back, all the time.

a window mounted swamp cooler may be a better bet than your removable a/c system

[Xusia]

You mean something like this: https://encrypted-tbn3.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT1uR4wacpkXwc-q61dyQRph9S5cWh3sSBH_Z-KnnzCgp6SaTWk

[longislandwrx]

You mean something like this: https://encrypted-tbn3.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT1uR4wacpkXwc-q61dyQRph9S5cWh3sSBH_Z-KnnzCgp6SaTWk

yeah old school, and easily removable.

[BipDBo]

Strapped into a race bucket in Florida with a 5pt prepare for a sweaty back, all the time.

a window mounted swamp cooler may be a better bet than your removable a/c system


That's a good point. Have you ever seen a racing bucket that has holes drilled all over the shell to ventilate it? I've never seen it, but don't see why it wouldn't work. Perhaps that would be too expensive to manufacture?

As for a removable AC system, I figure it could work one of two ways:
* I could make it electrically driven, and install the entire system in the front of the car. The problem is that I would need a compressor that turns on 12 volts. I don't know of any such compressors. The Prius compressor runs off of 200 volts. If I found one, I would also need a much more robust alternator to run it.
* I could use to stock compressor and somehow arrange the condenser coil and the evaporator and fan in the rear of the car in such a way that it all could be removed at once without breaking the reprigerant piping. Otherwise, the coils could be in front with the compressor in the rear, and the entire assembly with the piping could be lowered together. This sounds even less likely that the electric compressor option.
I'm sure I'll find that installing a simple AC system will come with enough challenges without trying to make it removable. I might try a smaller compressor, though. I would think that a compressor from a WRX might be a bit oversized.

[Xusia]

Here's a crud load that run on 12 volts: http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=emergency+air+compressor&tag=googhydr-20&index=automotive&hvadid=4280696595&hvpos=1t3&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=1746928395512346574&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=e&ref=pd_sl_5ovutvhql0_e

[BipDBo]

Here's a crud load that run on 12 volts: http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=emergency+air+compressor&tag=googhydr-20&index=automotive&hvadid=4280696595&hvpos=1t3&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=1746928395512346574&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=e&ref=pd_sl_5ovutvhql0_e

Those are all air compresors. This would need a refrigerant compressor. At 12V, it would to pull around 50 amps continuously to pump out 6000 Btu/hr of cold air. It seems doable, but despite a bit of searching, I haven't found anything like it.

[PhyrraM]

The old Calloway Twin Turbo Corvette (C4 based) had an electric compressor mounted in the rear of the car.

It's a start for reseach anyways.....

[Xusia]

Granted. You just said compressor - sorry. In that case, couldn't you use a unit designed to be driven by a belt and just use electric motor to drive it instead?

Also, isn't 6000 BTUs way overkill for a car? I've seen home AC units rated at that. Even if only intended for a single room, that's many times the interior volume of any car, let alone a small one like the 818. Seems to me like 1000 - 2000 BTUs would be plenty for such a small space.

[BipDBo]

Granted. You just said compressor - sorry. In that case, couldn't you use a unit designed to be driven by a belt and just use electric motor to drive it instead?

Also, isn't 6000 BTUs way overkill for a car? I've seen home AC units rated at that. Even if only intended for a single room, that's many times the interior volume of any car, let alone a small one like the 818. Seems to me like 1000 - 2000 BTUs would be plenty for such a small space.

I'm an HVAC engineer, so I should know how many BTUs it would take, but I just threw a guess at it. I googled "car AC capacity BTU/hr" and found someone claiming that their Acura RL AC was rated at 14,000 BTU/hr. It sounded a bit high, but knowing that car has twice the seats and about twice the glass, I just threw in that guess. Cars have a lot of glass, a dense internal load and really not much for insulation. 8,000 BTU/hr is the capacity of a small window unit.

Since you asked the question, I did a very crude pencil calc, and factoring in 2 people, a little bit of electronics, 30 cfm of outside air and the solar load through the glass, I account for around 5,500 Btu/hr. It looks like I may have overshot, but not by a huge margin. If I were to actually engineer such a system this, I'd run a much more precise calculation.

[longislandwrx]

That's a good point. Have you ever seen a racing bucket that has holes drilled all over the shell to ventilate it? I've never seen it, but don't see why it wouldn't work. Perhaps that would be too expensive to manufacture?


as soon as you add padding, which I assume you'll want, this being your daily driver and all, just drilling holes probably wont be enough to keep your back cool.

perhaps adding fans like the Escalade has would be an option

http://www.championseatheaters.com/content/about.html

scroll down.

http://www.seatcomfortkit.com/servlet/the-88/%231-Automotive-Seat-Cooling/Detail

[bromikl]

What about those solid state cooling circuits? I believe they run on 12v.

[Xusia]

Here's another thought: What about a using an appropriately sized Peltier cooler? I have no idea of the electrical requirements, but the cooler itself has no moving parts (obviously the required fan would), but that seems pretty simple...

[Rarytas]

followed by custom bald tires.

Yes.

& I REALLY hope the car comes with an optional hard top :( as for customization, rear GT wing mounted the the frame.

[longislandwrx]

Here's another thought: What about a using an appropriately sized Peltier cooler? I have no idea of the electrical requirements, but the cooler itself has no moving parts (obviously the required fan would), but that seems pretty simple...

peltier plates dont work very well in open environments, the heat coming off the hot side would probably heat up the cabin more than it would cool it considering efficiency.

a few of these put together right might cool off the air considerably but would require quite a lot of amps, airflow, heatsinks and a fan to do the job.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Awesome-400W-Thermoelectric-Peltier-Cooler-12-VDC-TEC-/310158610445?_trksid=p3284.m263&_trkparms=algo%3DSIC%26its%3DI%26itu%3DUCI%252BIA% 252BUA%252BFICS%252BUFI%26otn%3D21%26pmod%3D310148 594011%26ps%3D54

[rjh2pd]

I plan to just make it into a somewhat practical (although very quick) daily driver. I would like to start with a coupe body, but would like to make to skin of the roof removable, leaving the tube frame roof structure exposed for sunny days. If at all possible, I'd assemble a 12 volt AC package that could be essentially unplugged and removed without opening up the refrigerant piping in order to reduce weight for a track day. The removable AC system is likely a pipe dream, but climate control is a must for me. I would also install a very simple radio that could be easily removed. I may look into places like the door panels where I could add polystyrene foam (just like NASCAR) for added crush protection. I would likely splurge for good racing seats and harnesses, at least for the driver side. I've never driven with a harness, but I don't imagine objecting to it for daily driving. A small trunk would be nice. I don't really care about many creature comfort items. A simple bare bones interior and monofilm windows are fine by me.
This is exactly what i want, but ill install a full non-removable ac since i wont be tracking it too much and it'll be light enough as it is for me.
What about drilling decent sized holes in the seats and just adding essentially computer fans. (think its been posted on here). You could also install close-able rally scoops. I think one on the floor pan in the middle by your feet and one behind your head either on the roof or where the back glass would be facing backwards for better air flow. This would be for the coupe of course.

[Xusia]

peltier plates dont work very well in open environments, the heat coming off the hot side would probably heat up the cabin more than it would cool it considering efficiency.

LOL - obviously you don't stick the whole unit in the cabin and call it a day! Just like with any AC unit, the hot side is either outside or vented to the outside, and the cool side is either inside or vented to the inside.

As I said, I don't know about the electrical requirements. BipDBo wanted a removable AC unit, so I threw out an idea he might not have thought of. If it doesn't work for whatever reason, that's fine...

[BipDBo]

LOL - obviously you don't stick the whole unit in the cabin and call it a day! Just like with any AC unit, the hot side is either outside or vented to the outside, and the cool side is either inside or vented to the inside.

As I said, I don't know about the electrical requirements. BipDBo wanted a removable AC unit, so I threw out an idea he might not have thought of. If it doesn't work for whatever reason, that's fine...

The Peltier plate is not a bad idea to throw out there. I had the same thought myself. It would be very simple and cheap. The problem with them is that they are incredibly inefficient. It's a small space so load would be low, but even so, I think that the amp draw would be much more than you could reasonably get from an alternator, and would significantly affect mpgs.

[JRL]

Good grief - if you want to be cool install an air conditioner. Do you really think you will notice a drop of in performance? No need to reinvent the wheel.

[Xusia]

That's my plan! But to each his own... :)

[BipDBo]

Good grief - if you want to be cool install an air conditioner. Do you really think you will notice a drop of in performance? No need to reinvent the wheel.

I definately plan to install AC. I live in Florida, so AC is a must for me, as well as a water tight roof. I was just brainstorming a way that it could be done so that it is easily removable. It's something that should, theoretically be reasonably easy to do but I have so far not seen the components to make it happen. Ford is coming out with a start stop option with claims that the AC will work while the engine is off. Perhaps that will add some parts to the bin that would do the trick.

[riptide motorsport]

I'm just gooing to build it the way it comes.

[RM1SepEx]

I'm just gooing to build it the way it comes.

yup... just want a mean toy for the street and part time autox use

long term I may play with some stuff, customize interior, perhaps make a targa top out of aluminum etc...

I PREFER more basic transportation. I'm working to delete the PS seals etc on my rack, cleaning up my aluminum suspension pieces etc...

This will be an excelent kit as delivered with minimal customization, that's the whole ideas behind a quick to build, no paint kit

[longislandwrx]

LOL - obviously you don't stick the whole unit in the cabin and call it a day! Just like with any AC unit, the hot side is either outside or vented to the outside, and the cool side is either inside or vented to the inside.


I wasnt implying that you'd just throw the unit into the cabin and call it done. I mean in a large unsealed uninsulated space even with several high output peltiers you'd have a tough time making it work well.

Peltiers shine in small insulated airtight areas. Thats all. I would love to see someone pull this off though.

[Nelff]

Look at Street Rod A/C units. There are many ways to put A/C in just about anything.