Sonic7 designer also penned the Enzo

[cordycord]

Okay, not really, but this has got to be the car that Stuart Mills had in mind when he created the Sonic 7:

http://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/07/geneva-2008-japanese-ambition-the-k07-spyder/

It's even called the "K07". So Ken Okuyama had a hand in designing such icons as the 996, NSX, Enzo, and the Maserati Quattroporte. Eh, didn't like the Quattro that much. Otherwise, it's nice to see that the general style has carried over to the Sonic7, while the $150,000 price tag has not!

[mkim1]

No wonder it looks so much better than some of the other exo cars! : )

[cheapracer]

No wonder it looks so much better than some of the other exo cars! : )

Would that be because it's not an Exo car?

[Karlo]

I think the term Exo Car has been evolving a bit, as more people place more and more body panels on their cars.

[cordycord]

I actually think that MEV has improved on the design. The original seems to sit a bit taller, while the Sonic looks wide and menacing.

Regarding "exo", it really doesn't matter to me whether the frame is on the inside or the outside--the design aesthetic must stand on its own.

[Karlo]

I actually think that MEV has improved on the design. The original seems to sit a bit taller, while the Sonic looks wide and menacing.

Regarding "exo", it really doesn't matter to me whether the frame is on the inside or the outside--the design aesthetic must stand on its own.

Dittos

[Chadillac]

I like the shifter. My new favorite thing is when you can see the cables attach to the shifter. Especially the ones on the Spyker C8. Those are a piece of art.

The car looks good too. Probably a little expensive for my taste though. I think exocars should all be about going as fast as possible while spending the least amount of money.

[Karlo]

The common theme on all of these cars is FWD setup as RWD setup.

[cordycord]

I like the shifter. My new favorite thing is when you can see the cables attach to the shifter. Especially the ones on the Spyker C8. Those are a piece of art.

The car looks good too. Probably a little expensive for my taste though. I think exocars should all be about going as fast as possible while spending the least amount of money.

Ding ding ding!!! Give that man a prize! I love the way the Sonic looks, the layout, but the price put me over the top. Chad, I totally agree regarding the shifter mechanism. I'm considering a way to show the cables and get the shifter as close to the steering wheel as is practical. Carbon will be involved. :)

BTW Chad, the SL-R is the car that brought me to this site and the one that really got me excited about building a kit car. Prior to that I had the obscene notion of designing the thing from the ground up. Maybe that will be car #2...

[Chadillac]

Well you'll definately have to post some pictures for how your shifter turns out. I'm also going to try and have as much of the shifter as visible as possible. Another great thing about these exocars is how much you can see everything working. I'm going to love being able to see the suspension, brakes and shifter all working while I'm driving.

[cordycord]

I certainly will post pictures, as long as it doesn't end up looking like my 3 year old has been playing with play-doh. Chad, have you figured out the work-around for the backward shift pattern when running the cables opposite of their original design?

[Chadillac]

I certainly will post pictures, as long as it doesn't end up looking like my 3 year old has been playing with play-doh. Chad, have you figured out the work-around for the backward shift pattern when running the cables opposite of their original design?

The plan is to purchase a shifter from Hybrid Racing. They should be done with their final testing here pretty soon. Best aftermarket shifter for Honda engines hands down in my opinion.

I'm going to flip the shifter 180 degress so the cables are pointing straight back to the engine. Cut a hole in the firewall. Then I'll have to make custom brackets for the cables to attach to the front of the transmission instead of wrapping them around and attaching them from the rear. IMO, this will be the cleanest set up.

[cordycord]

My plan was to have the cables running forward through the firewall as well, 180 degrees from the original. The brackets will stay original at the transmission. However, this means that the standard shift pattern will actually be backwards (180 degrees). On the Sonic7, they use a Ford Mondeo (Contour) shifter in place of the Focus shifter. This apparently puts the pattern back to normal, although I've seen on one Rocket build that the right bracket is crucial to getting the shifter to work correctly.

[cheapracer]

I think the term Exo Car has been evolving a bit, as more people place more and more body panels on their cars.


I will never agree with that, the frame or a substantial chunk of it belongs on the outside to qualify in my mind and that of dictionaries.....

"An exoskeleton is an external skeleton that supports and protects an animal's body, in contrast to the internal endoskeleton of, for example, a human."

I like the Sonic a lot by the way, I think it's where the Locost/7 style should have progressed to many years ago and I can see it selling like hotcakes.

If you Guys can wait until I get back to China I will post pictures of the cable gearbox shift mechanisms available there (as well as cables), available for about the same price as a bowl of rice.

[cheapracer]

Floating around either here or on the net is sketches of the KO7 in front, rear and plan veiw - does anyone know where please, I forgot!