The GRM Factory Five 818 Build

Did someone actually DRIVE it home? That would be ballsy on such a new build. If so, where is the event report?

jstein77 wrote: Awesome!!!!!! Any chance that you will bring it to the state champs in Sebring this weekend? I'll be there on Sunday.

As far as I know, I don't think the 818 will be there. I wouldn't mind driving it to Sebring, but we were just there this past weekend running ChumpCar. If this changes, i'll be sure to let you know.

NOHOME wrote: Did someone actually DRIVE it home? That would be ballsy on such a new build. If so, where is the event report?

The car was towed home. They thought about driving it then decided that the smarter move was to do local test drives and some sorting before attempting a trip of that nature.

P.S. just got a chance to drive the 818, it was a lot of fun! Very neat car.

Come on, drive it! I built a car from scratch, started it up, pulled it out of the garage and drove it from New Hampshire to California and back. It was April and 34 degrees when I left. No top, no heater. Just go for it.

Hope you dressed warm!

Putting some finishing touches on the front end:

Interior finishing:

Studs for the rear "hood"

We painted the stock wheels black, for now.

Caption this photo!

Darren Vannoy wrote: Caption this photo!

You shut your mouth when you are talking to me!

Go ahead pull my finger

"No, it's Hello Kitties on the front, pink hearts in back."

So what's next for the project? Going to do some shakedown runs before you wrap it?

I also recall Bill mentioning that you were doing a video on the clutch issue. Is that still coming?

So what's it weigh and hows it run? Any insturmented comparisons to popular alternatives planed (start with that elise behind it)

The next step is designing a wrap and applying it, after that I'll be autocrossing it. Part one will be in GRM soon–make sure you don't miss it.

After completing the build, we weighed it:

Then it's test drive time. But first, we needed some gas:

And away we go:

We have the car back in Florida and all is well. Many thanks to Wayne for helping us out on the build. We all had our fun test driving it last week, and now the car resides in our showroom. Up next, the car will be getting a vinyl wrap and hitting the track for some baseline tests. I will keep the thread up to date as we do things with the car.

Caption this photo!

jstein77 wrote: So what's next for the project? Going to do some shakedown runs before you wrap it? I also recall Bill mentioning that you were doing a video on the clutch issue. Is that still coming?

Yes that video will be coming in the Youtube series.

nocones wrote: So what's it weigh and hows it run? Any insturmented comparisons to popular alternatives planed (start with that elise behind it)

I just posted the weight photos for you in the final build update. As far as how it runs, the thing is nutty fast! Quite a hoot to drive on the street. I enjoyed it. I'm not sure what editorial has planned for comparison tests as of yet.

Any finished interior pics? Everything seems to be in various states of repair.

Looks pretty good on the road and the weight isn't bad for something with Doors, windshield, lights and such.

I am not impressed with the weight. I would have thought a tube frame fiberglass body would be less than the 1900# mark in the picture. My 914 with suby ej20TT weighs less than this and it has an all steel body.

It certainly looks better on the road than it does in other pictures I have seen of the body.

jpnovak wrote: I am not impressed with the weight.

Likewise. Wasn't the original Elise about 1550? I had a Mini that tipped the scales at about 1400 (although it did have a stripped interior). Plus, even more pointedly, isn't that 1920 about the weight of the old FF Cobra with the carbon body (no longer being offered)?

I too am totally disappointed by the final weight. Donor build with a bare bones interior, no heater or ac, and no gas and still above 1900 lbs. I was finally starting to warm up to the looks but after seeing it in the yahoo video it really looks like a kit car. At least they did hit the mark with the performance.

Caption this photo!

'What in the hell is that smell? Did you have fish tacos for lunch?'

The weight is pretty high, my Mustang shouldn't be that much more, with a full cage and iron heads.

Keep in mind they likely would be under 1900 if they swapped in some lightweight seats and ditched the sliders.

Warren v wrote: Keep in mind they likely would be under 1900 if they swapped in some lightweight seats and ditched the sliders.

But even then, where did the other 3-400 lbs come from? What's a typical Exocet (see your avatar ) weigh, like 1500 lbs?

XP-3 was 1515 with all the turbo stuff, two wings, and a full tank of gas. She's probably a little lighter now that she traded her wings for a passenger seat. That said, it's much easier when you don't have doors, a windshield, or even a real body. You can't compare them directly. The 818 is more car, and the Exocet is more 4-wheeled motorcycle.

Man how did the FF818 end up as the pariah of the GRM world.

Comparisons to the exocet are wierd since the 818 has a windshield, doors, front radiator, brakes/hubs/uprights designed for a 1500lb higher gross weight, and a wider chassis adding weight. The OEM wheels are probably nearly 40lbs heavier than aftermarket and as warren pointed out the seats/sliders could weigh less. I would guess <1850 could be achieved for a more performance oriented build.

Still look at it as removing nearly 1300lbs from a WRX (3200lb-1920lb) and the performance seems like it would be strong.

Most Lotus 7 clones end up in the 1400-1600lb range and Emod autos cars have to weigh 1800 so its performance is still going to be there.

1918 lbs seems high to me too. Was the 818 target for the track car?

My self built Lister inspired Speedster has a 104.5 inch wheelbase, is 80 inches wide at the rear tires. Uses the drivetrain (mildly hopped up LS6, shortened torque tube, transaxle, brakes, 325 rear tires on 19 inch wheels, 295 front tires on 18 inch wheels, differential, suspension-with cradles from a C5 Corvette. Custom headers and 2 fuel tanks. On the road wet it weighs 1980lbs. It has 54% rear weight.

Nocones makes a good point.

While I was hoping for a lowesr curb-weight, it still weighs more than half of a ton less than the car that donated the drive-train.

Not a bad deal IMO.