Before long I hope to bring you more information about my new mid-engine, tubular frame vehicle.

My objectives with this project are:

• Light weight so as to yield high power-to-weight ratio with a smaller, less, expensive and simpler engine. With conventional approaches to performance, you can maintain a good power-to-weight ratio by just putting in a more powerful engine. This will maintain straight-line performance, however, there is no way to compensate for weight when it comes to lateral performance (i.e., handling). Plus, weight added by the bigger engine requires additional chassis stiffness which also adds weight, thus requiring an even BIGGER engine...and the weight spirals upward.
• Inexpensive, easy-to-find donor car, with good aftermarket and performance parts availability. This objective is met by using the 1st generation Toyota MR2. It is already a mid-engine, simplifying the design task greatly, and its engine has great power potential (300 hp) without a lot of internal modification.
• The MR2 block is used as the basis for the Toyota Atlantic racing series cars, albeit in a much higher state of tune. Any donor should be readily available in the salvage yards. We initially considered the Mitsubishi Eclipse drivetrain for it's strength, but availability was lacking. We were then persuaded to look at Honda because of aftermarket support, but the donors were WAY too expensive.
• During our search and trips to the salvage auctions, we kept seeing MR2s sell for very reasonable prices. There are a fair number of them on the road, but their styling reduces their desirability. The mid-engine configuration is a bonus because it is one of the objectives for our car, and it means some of the cars that are wrecked the worst (therefore are the cheapest) are hit in the front, with little or no damage to the drive train.
• Mid-engine layout to minimize polar moment of inertia, simplify exhaust routing, eliminate driveshaft complication and weight, reduce over-hood sightline height, and move the hot parts to the rear of the car.
• Engine cradle that is easily separated from the main chassis tub to facilitate easy maintenance, tuning, and modification, unlike "fixed" mid-engine configurations.
• Tubular chassis that is simple in design to keep weight down, yet much stronger than a typical unitized chassis/body construction. The unibody chassis has proven to be a big limiting factor with the cars we have modified and built in the past.
• Advanced driver/vehicle interface. Alternative steering systems (other than steering wheel) are under consideration. Instrumentation, navigation, audio controls, on-the-fly engine tuning, and communications will be integrated through a dockable PC, and will be reconfigurable to suit the driver. These systems will actually be simpler, less expensive, and lighter than conventional control and instrumentation, with far superior ergonomics.

That's all for now. I hope to make some serious progress on the project in 2003. Meantime explore these links for information on similar projects:

Velo Rossa builder Steve Graber has done some serious fabrication on his mid-engine car:

http://www.grabercars.com/

Long time Speedster builder Steve Lawing of Specialty Auto in Knoxville, TN, is working on this Subaru-powered, mid-engine Speedster replica.

http://www.specialtyauto.com/speedster_shop.htm