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Cool, now we are talking. Couple of thoughts. 1 - we are using the 335i engine. And it is one of 3 engine systems we have fitted for the rally fighter. So I ag

• vaksel 17y ago
  1-Didn't know, the site pretty much just states the 335d's engine. 2-Are you sure it'll be road legal? Pretty sure the ride height alone would disqualify it. And if it fails to be road legal, then its pretty much is a weekend toy by definition. Sure car companies aren't making cars for the market, but how much of that is that they don't know a market exists, and how much of it is that they see that the demand is met by dirt bikes, ATVs, Dune Buggies. Also I think car companies do cater somewhat to this market with specific models/trims. General blogs is something you shouldn't put too much emphasis on. I mean take that Jeff Jarvis guy...he thinks: "its first model is a muscle car", which obviously its not. You need to hit up some offroader forums to get some true feedback. Moving to Arizona couldn't hurt either. I mean if you look at it, you have a bunch of guys in Boston, trying to build the perfect desert racer for someone in Arizona(are there many deserts in Massachusetts?), for all you know whomever you are consulting on what people in Arizona want is pulling your chain: "Oh yeah, we'd LOVE a pink hybrid to offroad in, we love the environment and mother earth".
  • jrogers 17y ago
    @vaksel Correction, I was distinguishing the 335 from the X6, we are using the 335d. As for why not the 335i, The carbon footprint is worse than the 335d given that it is 30% less fuel efficient. We are focused on changing the impact of vehicles and this is a good way to start. If we were going to go for a gas system, we are prepared to offer the LS series engines. More hp by 430 vs 300. I hear you on the "Performance, Reliability, Price...choose 2" That has been true in the past, but we do not think that applies when you compare our product+experience to others product. LM is "Design, Performance, Buildability, Price...choose 3 (green is a given)". Our customers want great looking and great performance, and don't want to be keyed in the parking lot for driving something whose mpg is measured in gpm vice mpg. If someone wants to race and get more than the 425lb-ft from the 335d, then they have the room to swap to an LS7 and to crank it up. As for road legal, you are thinking of passenger car specs, this vehicle would classify as a mixed use vehicle in which case many of the FMVSS specs to which you are referring would not be applicable. Hope that helps. As for buggies and dirtbikes occupying the market...I guess I am just not going to be able to convince you and should not try. But here goes. ATVs and Bikes are a TOTALLY different experience which require a much more fit rider and mindset. Buggies are not anywhere near as capable as "trucks" made for this landscape (to be precise, we are talking about 25mph max vs 70mph avg.) Then there is the subject of Pre-running. Much of it today is done either in sand-rail/types or in sup'd up F-150/types. Most races (i.e. Reno to Vegas) are pre-run in a column of cars where you are simply eating dust the entire day. So sandrails are miserable, go ask John Marking of Fox Racing. As for sup'd up F-150 types after spending in excess of 150K you will have 10 inches of wheel travel and a 7000lb vehicle that needs a 700+ hp engine to move it, and it becomes a veritable space race of mass and power. The whole point is that no company has ever seen the profit in making cars for this size market, but LM makes cars with a much lower break-even volume allowing us to access a much smaller niche. Even if you are right and the market is not as large as we would want, we will have invested less than $2MM in the build program, so we can afford to scrap it and move on to the next ...compare this to Fisker or Tesla (other startup car co.'s) that have each raised in excess of $200MM and only have 1 model competing in very VERY busy marget segments. As for MA, you are at Y-Combinator and should understand this. Just because we are starting in MA doesn't mean that we are finishing here. We are in a small startup Ops Center. We have 2 letters of intent on properties in Phoenix and are already working on our MA model. When we started we had no idea that the community would like the performance off-road desert racing segment, so we couldn't predict where would be best to go...so we dove in and got started. Hindsight is 20-20, but I prefer to get going. After all, this is unlike any start-up in any typical venture type market, so some of the nimble ideas do not apply as well. We are building a car company in an intensely difficult time and are taking risks where we feel appropriate and necessary and taking them large. Where we do not need to take risk, we are intensely conservative. I also hope that this helps. Again, I am so stoked that you care enough to dig and to answer. I really think that our community could use your insight...hope you will join www.local-motors.com