I have always been of the opinion that a Project car should be a reliable, daily driver that gives you a mixture of fun and practicality, along with the reliability of a regular car. After all, with our strenuous and exacting lifestyles, it's difficult to take time out to build a complicated project car, and eventually, maintaining the car, and taking it out for a drive becomes a mandatory task, rather than a pleasurable event. I am not of the opinion that a Project car has to be expensive but own and expensive to maintain. The Car should be a source of joy and not a liability.
A prime example is the Engine swap I executed a few months ago on THE CRIO! And what a JOY she turned out to be. The practicality, reliability and dependability of a Honda, with the fun and cost of driving a go-kart with abundant amounts of power.
She has given me a lot of insight into how rewarding it can be to own a relatively small car, with copious amounts of power. You don't really need a 400 bhp monster to have fun, do you?
Project Car 1:
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/modifi...injectors.html
Life has taken a 360 degree turn last year. I became the father of a beautiful baby girl and I have been pretty busy getting around! The GT TSI is soldiering on and so is the Crio. We are looking at a larger car for the family (Maybe an Octavia RS or a GLC) and that's going to be in my garage, while the Crio will be going to my parents.
Which leaves me with the bandwidth for ONE MORE THING (Steve Jobs style)
I have been fantasizing about doing something about the 1.2 litre Honda L12B engine lying in my garage since the Crio swap. As much as I'd like to retain the original engine for legal reasons, I know it's going to rot and lose power and eventually be of no use, since we may never sell the Crio to someone else.
Now, here's the
older plan:
I plan to buy a USED Manual, non power steering Nano in working condition, Here's what I'd do with it.
1. Throw out the 600 cc engine and puny gearbox.
2. Throw out the rear seats.
3. Fit a roll-cage and upgrade the braking system at all wheels.
4. Retain basic electronics, including the air-conditioning.
5. Retain the basic structure, but strengthen it at strategic points.
6. Fit the L12B engine and supercharge it. It would work with a standalone engine management system.
Here are the problems with the above plan:
1. It may not be Honda reliable, since it would have too many aftermarket parts and a standalone is really tough to tune in an iVtec. Air-conditioning would again, require a lot of tuning for it to work well (problems with ivtec and ac idling)
2. The gearbox would be a pain to fit as accommodating the L12B and the gearbox in the small rear of the Nano would be a problem.
3. The complications of making the whole package function as a rear-wheel drive go kart would be many, as the drivetrain would require special modification to do a rear-wheel drive conversion.
I got busy with life, and hence stalled the project due to the many challenges listed above, when suddenly, I got a brainwave. I saw an e2o plus on the road, and my mind started doing cartwheels overtime!
The world is changing, and so should we!
Kodak, Nokia, HMV, all used to be behemoths in their prime, but they didn't move with the times, and they are where they are now!
Spending time and money on an Internal Combustion driven project car was yesterday's dream!
LET'S GO ELECTRIC!
Advantages of having an Electric Project car:
1. Oodles of torque from the word GO.
2. No drivetrain losses
3. No worries of mating expensive drivetrain components with each other and even more expensive electrical trickery to make them run in harmony.
4. No dependence on human wizardry to tune the above.
5. Small carbon footprint. NO EMISSIONS.
6. Lesser turnaround time.
What we need:
1. Roll-cage for the structure
2. Bigger brakes (for sure)
3. Strong Electric motors for all 4 wheels along with the ECU to run them.
4. BATTERIES that would make the range of this car around 200 km(this will be the most expensive component of all)
5. Stronger suspension to take the load of the above.
Please note, guys! I am NOT an expert! I am a BIG DREAMER!
I have envisioned this project and I see it materializing only if I receive technical advice and inputs from your side.
Suggestions and criticism are welcome!
Let's MAKE THIS HAPPEN!!!!!!!!!
PS: As a side-note, let's also think of names for this baby!