I've been following this guy's progress for over two years now. He has designed and built a Hayabusa-powered AWD car weighing under 1,000 lbs. It has been fascinating to read about the design and development of it from simple scribbles on paper to finally starting and driving it. He finally started it up and drove it a little yesterday. If you haven't seen it, check it out here:

http://www.dpcars.net/

 

huh, i think that guy lives close to me. oh the car is cool who knows if anything will ever come of it. he's been at it a while. I hope it does.

 

$125k is pretty steep.

Ariel atom, supercharged Elise instead for half the price?

Still have enough left over for an RS4 or a lightly used Cayenne Turbo to haul it to the track!

I think people with enough money to "burn" on this item would spend a little more for a Noble or a bunch more for a Ferrari 430...

 

The $125K version will not be Hayabusa-powered. Instead, it will be powered by a 2800cc 375 bhp V8 derived from two Hayabusa heads. 2.2 lbs per horsepower.

 

Noble M12 GTO-3R
Vehicle type: mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 2-passenger, 2-door coupe
Price as tested: $76,400 (base price*: $76,400)
Engine type: twin-turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 24-valve V-6, aluminum block and heads, port fuel injection
Displacement 181 cu in, 2967cc
Power (SAE net) 360 bhp @ 6200 rpm
Torque (SAE net) 358 lb-ft @ 3500 rpm

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Transmission 6-speed manual
Wheelbase 96.0 in
Length/width/height 161.0/74.2/45.0 in
Curb weight 2457 lb

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zero to 60 mph 3.3 sec
Zero to 100 mph 8.1 sec
Zero to 150 mph 26.6 sec
Street start, 5

 

And you can take a passenger. And you can drive it places besides the track.

I'd rather have a Noble and an RS4 than a $125k track car....

I wonder how this will go as a business venture. But maybe that's not the point? I'd also rather go on a Hawaiian vacation than climb Everest... to each their own, I guess.

 

As a project it's very cool. From what I know of auto engineering it I'm not sure it will be a very good track car. It will be very interesting to read the designer's take on it after he gets a chance to really ring it out.

 

Another local guy:
http://www.motoczysz.com/

Pretty amazing. They are going to try and run moto-GP with this beast. Very cool tech. Counter rotating cranks on a semi-V4. The engine is about as wide as a rear motorcycle tire.

 

Pretty cool, but I would think 375hp in a 900lb cart is a bit overkill? I would think it'd move just fine with as little as 200hp.