The standard chassis has the usual lightweight dimensions that have made the Caterham such a legend in its 50+ years.

The SV chassis gives both greater luggage and interior space due to the bigger size of the car. A bigger fuel tank is also included in the SV. Thismakes the Caterham Seven Roadsport a great tourer and can fit tall drivers of over 6ft 2in in height. The SV chassis also benefits from even greater stability with it being wider than the standard chassis.

As of January 2007 Caterham returned to using Ford engines. Two versions of the 1.6 litre Ford Sigma the 125bhp version and the 150bhp version. Each of these units have been tuned specially by Caterham and give better performance and economy than the k series engine.

Caterham Seven Roadsport Specification

Chassis – Laser cut, robot welded tubing with powdercoating

Bodywork – Aluminium bodywork with composite or optional carbon fibre nosecone and wings

Donor Car – N/A

Engine options – Ford Sigma 1.6 litre in 125 or 150 bhp

Suspension – Front adjustable double wishbones with anti roll bar. Rear De dion axle located by lower A-frame and upper radius arms

Steering – Rack and pinion 1.93 turns to lock

Brakes – Twin circuit split front/rear with low level warning system. Discs front and rear

Kit Price – Complete Roadsport 125 kit £16,695 inc VAT (complete kits start from £12,995 inc VAT)

Budget to build – everything is in the kit!

Adrenaline Murtaya

The Murtaya was launched in 2006 as the flagship modal for Adrenaline. The Murtaya is has a butch aggressive body shape which i really like.

Peeling back the panels of the car is a fibreglass chassis which is very rigid which it needs to be when you consider the donor car which is the Subaru Impreza turbo!  Using the power plants and gubbins from the Impreza means the Murtaya is a massive power house which give blistering performance in a straight line and throughout the corners as well, giving huge grip which is helped by the 4 wheel drive again from the Impreza.

When i’ve been looking at this car at the shows i’ve been impressed when talking to the guys at the stand. They’re very knowledgeable and are happy to answer any questions you have. I remember one of the chaps, cant remember if he was the owner used to do work with landrover for the army making Landrover drive very deep underwater in the sea. How cool is that.

Unfortunately its not all good news with the Murtaya, when viewing the car at the shows i’ve been disappointed at the quality of the car used on the stand (the orange one) when the window was fully up i could easily fit my hand through a gap, i know kit cars don’t usually go out in rain but i would like to think that the Murtaya could be used as an every day car if you really wanted and used in all weather just like the GTM Libra but this would indicate that you cant.

It is also REALLY hard to get in and out of the car the door sill is stupidly high, forget getting the missus in the passenger seat this is one for the blokes who want a mean machine. Getting down and looking down the side of the car where the panel should look smooth it not. It was horrible, and left me disappointed, leaving me to come to the conclusion i would rather have a GTM Libra. Next time you’re at a show have a look and see what you think. If Adrenaline/Murtaya read this  or anyone who has built this car please leave a comment and prove me wrong (and send me some pics to upload showing the quality of the finish of the car etc to upload) 

I’m really sorry to end on a bit of a duff note about the Murtaya, as i really like the style  of the car and what it can do.

If you have built a Murtaya leave a comment below and tell us about it, how long did it take you to build, what was hard, what was easy. What made you buy the kit and approx budget. If you want your Murtaya to be featured then e-mail me pics and information about your car and build. It doesn’t matter if its finished or not, we want to hear from you!

Specs

Chassis – Fibreglass monocoque centre tub, front engine and suspension cradle.

Bodyword – Fibreglass  bodywork. Supplied in a premier gelcoat finish which requires painting

Donor car – Subaru Impreza

Engine Options – any Impreza, there are lots to pick from

Steering – PAS

Kit Price – comprehensive Kits £11,500 + VAT

Budget Build Cost – Home built from around £16,500

PR: wait…  I: wait…  L: wait…  LD: wait…  I: wait… wait…  Rank: wait…  Traffic: wait…  Price: wait…  C: wait…

]]> http://www.whatkitcar.com/2009/10/21/adrenaline-murtaya-kit-cars/feed/ 0 http://www.whatkitcar.com/2008/10/10/a-degree-in-kit-cars-at-staffordshire-university/ http://www.whatkitcar.com/2008/10/10/a-degree-in-kit-cars-at-staffordshire-university/#comments Fri, 10 Oct 2008 16:52:28 +0000 admin http://www.whatkitcar.com/2008/10/10/a-degree-in-kit-cars-at-staffordshire-university/ Foundation course in kitcars

A degree in building a kit car is not something i would ususally notice and actively search for except this was different. Its different because i used to go to Staffordshire university. So while doing some searches on google around staffordshire i noticed a title that grabbed my attention – Kit car technology. Since this wasnt an option when i went to stafford uni i realised that they must have started a new course on kit cars!

The course is aimed to get you into the automotive industry specifically kit cars. Its great that a university has noticed how much growth the kit car industry is getting and acted upon this.

The degree takes 2 years to complete during which time you learn basic skills and obviuosly take part in a kit car build. Areas covered are Mechanics, Logistics, Vehicle Preparation and Management in the first year then you can choose to take another year you have the choice of Advanced Vehicle Dynamics, Aerodynamics or Engine Design

What to do after the course

The award opens up opportunities within all sectors of the automotive indudtry. Progression onto the top-up honours degree is also an option. By studying further at university you could achieve a BSc(Hons) in Automotive Technology.

Want more information?

For more information about Kit Car Technology (H337) please contact:

The Recruitment Centre
Faculty of Computing, Engineering and Technology
Staffordshire University
Beaconside
Stafford
Staffordshire
ST18 0AD
t:+44 (0)1785 353370
f:+44 (0)1785 353552
e:fcet@staffs.ac.uk

GTM is a british sports car manufacturer launched in 1967 and have a great reputation in the industry. I personally think the GTM Libra is one of the best kit cars you can get and can certainly be used as an every day car. Owners of the GTM libra and spider report getting 40+MPG from there cars. Even the entry 1.4 k series engine is really fast, however most people opt for the 1.8 litre k-series engine that is also used in some of the Lotus Elises and of course MG.

Speaking of Lotus, when Lotus were developing the Elise they visited the GTM factory and there are many similar aspects to each car. from design and looks to chasis and engine choice, it quite remarkable really.

The lastest news from the GTM camp is that in 2007 they joined Potenza sports cars who also own Westfield sports cars. GTM will soon be launching 2 new cars being the 40TR and Ballista.

Visit GTM Sports cars for more information on Cars they are offering

Obviously everyone who drives a kit car needs to have insurance. The main players in kit car insurance are Adrian Flux and Footman James, although if you buy a copy of kit car magazine there are loads of adverts from companies who will insure your kit car. I recently was thinking of buying a Phantom Vortex GTR, a beautiful car with stunning looks and use it as my everyday car.

Of course i knew the insurance would be expensive but it was slightly cheaper than some production cars i’ve been looking at. However thats not what i find funny. I rang up Adrian Flux and got a quote from them, which was reasonable to be fair. But i wanted to make sure i had the best deal possible so i talked to Footman James at Stoneleigh kit car show.

Footman James asked me all the usual questions that you have to answer when getting car insurance of any kind, then at the end said “i’m sorry we can’t insure you”, “oh……why’s that” i asked. It turns out that they wont insure people under 25 years of age on a car over 2L i knew that may be the case from the website but i found it funny that i could get insured on a GTM libre using the 1.8 k series engine which in actual fact would be faster than the Phantom which has a 2.7L engine, also that i couldn’t get insured on through Footman James, but Adrian Flux were willing to insure me.

So in conclusion the age old thing of shopping around comes into play. I think most people who own kit cars will tend to stay with the same kit car insurance company year after year. Maybe Footman James need to lower this age to encourage younger drivers to insure there cars through them, from which they should retain custom throughout the year.

What has been your experiance of getting insurance from these and other insurance companies? Are there anyothers you would recommend? As always leave a comment at the bottom with any questions, answers or comments.

Oh yes, Kit car insurance companies insure production cars as well, so give them a call as it may work out cheaper??

Buying a kit car is a fun business. When first purchasing a kit car with my dad for some summer fun a few years back. We had loads of fun visiting the different kit cars shows, getting involved and asking questions and talking to different kit car manufacturers and owners club, but before we even got to that stage we had a few things to sort out.

To buy new or built? That is the question

I’m sure everyone who is thinking about buying a kit car thinks the same thing as me and my dad. The original plan was to buy the car in kit form and build it in a farther, son project. Although this would have been brilliant building a car together and learning vast knowledge about how cars are put together (for me anyway) this just wasn’t practical and as it turns out not very cost effective.

The problem of buying a new kit car in kit form

I don’t know about you, but if you’re anything like me and most people on the planet you will have limited spare time, and lack of time is a kit car killer. How many stories/people have you talked to that have a part built kit car in the garage? A LOT! Talking to people who have built kit cars in the past it took them hundreds of hours and years to complete, and adding finishing touches and improvements is an on going project. Besides the time factor, how much have you budgeted for buying and developing a kit car? Buying a new kit car is very expensive, although it may not seem like it when you’re buying the kit car in stages all the finishing touches and hours put in equal a lot of money!

Oh yea, and there’s the small matter of the SVA test!

Why you should buy a pre built kit car

Now i’m not saying don’t buy a new kit car, many kit car builders take great plesure from building a kit car from scratch. But this is why me and my dad bought a pre built kit car.

Time – As mentioned before it takes a long time to build a kit car. Time that we just didn’t have, especially with me being at university at the time it just wasn’t an option.

Cost – it was far more cost effective to buy a prebuilt car and make adjustments later on as we wanted, this way there was no SVA to pass and we could start driving the car straight away!

Do your research first i guess is the point of this post and be practicle about how much time and budget you can put into your car. if you buy a kit and part build it then sell it, you will lose out on a lot of money and not even have the driving pleasure of a kit car.

Show us your kit car

Have a kit car? We want to hear from you, even if it’s part built! send pictures of your car to martin@whatkitcar.com

It’s a stunning looking car isnt it?

The Phantom Vortex Kit car took around 5 years to develop, the plan was to initially sell the car in kit form due to financials or lack of, it’s expensive producing a car! However turnkey cars could be bought from Phantom for £50,000, yes thats not a typo 50k! however it’s estimated you could build one for around 20k. I think this is where Phantom went wrong, although the car is a knockout in the looks department who’s going to shell out 50k for a car that does 0-60 in around 6 to 7 seconds? I don’t know about you but i would much rather put that sort of money into a nice Aston Martin.

Under The Bonnet

So what is used to propel the car? A Rover

A rover may sound slightly unusual but Phantom took the Engine, gearbox and some other bits from a Rover 827. The reason being the engine being a reliable 2.7 litre Honda V6. If Phantom were to go to full production they would need to find an alternative power plant with more grunt in it to justify the 50k price tag. I believe that you can fit a 3 litre Duratec engine if desired which sounds more like it.

Phantom Vortex Interior

The interior of the Phantom again with most kit cars depends on the person building it. The image above is taken from the owners car which is also featured at the top of the page. It’s simple and looks good however i think the top dashboard with the dials could look better.

Where are Phantom Now

Well the website’s not up are running which is never a good sign however look at Virago Kit Cars

Looks familar doesn’t it? Phantom have sold the rights to Virago to produce a similar body but i can’t tell the difference. Virago are currently looking for dealers to sell the car and investors to take the car forward.

Got a kit car?

If you’ve got a kit car then send it in to be featured on www.whatkitcar.com Send me an e-mail martin@whatkitcar.com with pictures of your car and any detials of the car you want. You could even end up with your own build page! If that sounds good then send me an e-mail now!

Westfield are one of the best known names throughout the kitcar world. Westfield Kit cars are still british owned and family. run. Westfield cars can be purchased as:

Factory built or turnkey – hand built by Westfield team to your bespoke needs, you get a finished car ready to drive away.

Complete kit – No donor car needed, Westfield provide all the parts needed for you to construct your new westfield kitcar

Modular – Sections of the car are purchased during diffrent stages of car build.

Westfield have 3 main categories of kitcar the SE the XTR and the XI

The Westfield SE is the Lotus 7 type kitcar and looks fantasic. Westfields SE is one of the best made kits you can get out there. Modals of the SE kitcar are.

The Westfield Sport S – This is the top of the range Westfield which has everything on it. The chassis is 15% lighter than the standard sport version, depending on what engine you pick can produce 250bhp! This car will blast past pretty much anything on the road.

The Westfield sport, Aero race, Aerosport, Megabusa (high revving bike engine which is personally my favourite Westfield) SEiGHT

The Westfield XTR

The Westfield XTR is very similar to the Radical kitcar in shape and has blistering performance! The Westfield XTR comes in 2 forms the XTR2 and the XTR4

Send us your Westfield Pictures and Car Builds! – At www.whatkitcar.com we want to see your kit car e-mail pictures and or build details to martin@whatkitcar.com and see your kitcar on this website!

This will be the 18th year of the Delting Kit car show which is held at the Kent country showground. Last year 36 manufacturers and 45 trade stands showed up plus the big club areas and private built kits. So expect around 600 kit cars and replica cars

Delting Kit Car Show will be taking place on Saturday and Sunday 12th and 13th April 2008 at 10am – 5pm daily.

This year West field will be there displaying their new car in stlye with a slalom event to really show off the new car.

The Delting Kit car and replica car show 2008 takes place at The Kent County Showground, Detling near Maidstone, ME14 3JF on Saturday and Sunday April 12th and 13th from 10 am – 5 pm both days. Entry £9 Adults, £2 children 12 years and under. Kit Car Drivers with their cars enter free!

Stoneleigh Kit Car Show 2008

Stoneleigh kit car show is one of my favourite shows of the year and one i have already booked my tickets to go. This years show will be over Sunday and Monday 4th and 5th May 2008 at the national agricultural centre, Stoneleigh, Warks, and is one of the biggest kit car shows of the year and will see all the be manufacturers there. Last year Caterham had a really good slalom course where for a small fee you could be driven very fast around a small track. Details have yet to be confirmed but expect to pay around £10 per adult and £2 for children. If you come in a kit car the driver gets in for free as usual at kit car shows.

Newark Kit and replica Car Show 2008

Like Stoneleigh Newark is one of the biggest kit car shows of the year. and will take place over Saturday 21st and Sunday 22nd June at Newark & Notts showground. At the A46/A17 Junction on the A1, 2 miles north of Newark – on – Trent. Post code NG24 2NY.

Day Admission: Adults £10, Children (5–15) £3, Toddlers FREE

Stafford Kit and replica car show 2008

Stafford kit car show will be the last of the year and will take place saturday and Sunday 13th and 14th September. I usually go to Stafford kit car show as i went to Uni is Stafford and the kit car show was just up the road. That was a few years ago now but i still like to go to it except last year Stafford kit car show was cancelled! Gutted, however this year will be different as Den Tanner od Kit Car Magazine is taking charge of stafford kit car show. I think in the past there has been complaints about the cost of stand space which put a lot of people off attending however this price has been reduced alot to encourage more people to participate. Kit Car magazine will be giving away thousands of free tickets in various ways which i dont know about yet but will publish as soon as know.

As Kit car magazine is backing this show it will be slightly different and special to other Kit car shows. You will have your own chance to ask and kit car related questions to the kit car magazine editorial team. More details will follow in the kit car Magazine.