Tbuilder
Active Member
At this point in time there are well over 100 miles on the car and here are a few of my conclusions;
On the plus side:
>This thing is a blast to drive, not very practical but a lot of fun.
>It is very comfortable to sit in, drives and handles very well, steering is quick and sensitive but precise and predictable.
>Very smooth and no vibrations even up to 70 mph which is about as fast as I want to drive it.
>The engine runs unbelievably well. It starts as soon as the starter engages the ring gear and idles smoothly. While this is no hot rod that little engine pulls the car along quite briskly. It accelerates well and I have revved the engine to over 5500 rpm with no misfiring. The straight through exhaust system gives the engine a real nice sound.
>The five speed overdrive transmission shifts smoothly but spends most of its time in third gear, it will sail along a lot faster than I want to go in fourth and overdrive is out of the question except perhaps to save fuel at cruise speed, but it doesn’t burn much fuel anyway. The engine works best when the revs are kept up, it does not like to be lugged down, typical for small engines.
Negatives:
>The ride leaves a lot to be desired as one would expect with a transverse leaf spring suspension, it is not too bad but a quick bump pitches the car up and down, no doubt also due to the short wheelbase.
>The cab is a lot more breezy than I thought it would be with the roof in place especially in a cross wind.
>Getting in and out through the one door is a real PITA especially with two people in the car. It is a shame the body kit was only available with the one door. I thought hard about cutting out the other side but decided against it thinking it was going to take too long. I might still do it now that I know what an inconvenience it is, but that is going to mean painting it again.
On the plus side:
>This thing is a blast to drive, not very practical but a lot of fun.
>It is very comfortable to sit in, drives and handles very well, steering is quick and sensitive but precise and predictable.
>Very smooth and no vibrations even up to 70 mph which is about as fast as I want to drive it.
>The engine runs unbelievably well. It starts as soon as the starter engages the ring gear and idles smoothly. While this is no hot rod that little engine pulls the car along quite briskly. It accelerates well and I have revved the engine to over 5500 rpm with no misfiring. The straight through exhaust system gives the engine a real nice sound.
>The five speed overdrive transmission shifts smoothly but spends most of its time in third gear, it will sail along a lot faster than I want to go in fourth and overdrive is out of the question except perhaps to save fuel at cruise speed, but it doesn’t burn much fuel anyway. The engine works best when the revs are kept up, it does not like to be lugged down, typical for small engines.
Negatives:
>The ride leaves a lot to be desired as one would expect with a transverse leaf spring suspension, it is not too bad but a quick bump pitches the car up and down, no doubt also due to the short wheelbase.
>The cab is a lot more breezy than I thought it would be with the roof in place especially in a cross wind.
>Getting in and out through the one door is a real PITA especially with two people in the car. It is a shame the body kit was only available with the one door. I thought hard about cutting out the other side but decided against it thinking it was going to take too long. I might still do it now that I know what an inconvenience it is, but that is going to mean painting it again.
