to clarify what I said...
I don't believe many people can properly drive a high hp GTM. I know I can't. I've got some OK racing experience (not lately
though) and I can attest that the GTM is a ferociously fast car. The thought of driving at VIR at race pace in my LS7 powered car makes me cry like a baby. Toooo Fast! Seriously, you guys have no idea, the thing is a monster! as an aside, on the track a well sorted out spec racer with 250 hp will flat out spank my 427 FE powered car. Performance is a great subject and I think the weight, chassis rigidity, layout and body dynamics of the 818 promise to deliver better performance yes... BUT top speed better than a GTM? no. Overall acceleration? no, but damn close based on math I've seen.
The performance envelope of the 818 will be MUCH better for the average to advanced driver is my point, the cornering, braking, car control, even acceleration (there is a limit to acceleration) will be far above what the world expects and what anyone has a right to expect from a $10k build-it-yourself kit... I think of the car like the ariel atom rather than a Mosler or Saleen S7.
2. Models. Back from SEMA so I'll shoot off the other models sure. I go to Cali for the last day of filming Car Warriors this Friday and I'll see if Mad Dog can shoot the other models for you guys in the next few days, or at least some quick shots of each in the real world for a better comparo.
3. "Used car salesman"? I believe my record should earn me a pass from such comments. Every single thing I've said on the 818 has been accurate and part of a deliberate and planned development path. Some days I read this section of the forum and wonder why we are taking this path when we already know how to do this. Involving the community was part fun, part community (I have this crazy thingy about this forum charter and community) and part savvy business (better design ideas than in the FFR bubble). In the end I know the project will benefit from this even though its not always real fun.
To make things easier for you guys I will re-state the three things I said so that I don't disappoint:
1. The car will be a slowpoke on the track. Miatas will crowd its mirrors and corner workers will call for the crash truck thinking the car is broken as it struggles to get out of it's own way... OR it will weigh 1800 lbs and have a stiff chassis a perfect weight balance in an optimized mid-engine layout, and is being engineered by a company that has developed some of the worlds best component cars and has raced in our own racing series for over 10 years and has decided that this car will be it's most significant step forward... so I think it'll be fast.
2. The car will be an ugly catfish with toyota lines and we'll ignore the entire community and leave stunning designs on the drawing board so that we can secretly design our own car no matter what it looks like and no matter how poorly it sells... OR when you see the first production model you will do a Micheal Jackson Pepsi commercial (HoF) and you'll be willing to punch your mom right in the nose to get the chance to crawl behind the wheel and drop the hammer, sliding sideways out of the parking lot with tires spinning and engine screaming... one of those.
3. We'll start selling deposits and promising the world everything under the sun, promising delivery in mere weeks of an untested, uninvented car, that fails to launch years after it was promised, while we ignore everything we've learned in the last 15 years and using used car salesmen tactics to get people excited about a corvette, while selling em a Yugo (thats that "other company" actually!).. OR we might do our homework, we might use the latest CAD software and flow analysis and modeling, we might build a prototype or several, maybe benchmark other great designs and incorporate the feedback of knowledgeable customers, we could trust a small and diverse but competent crew of customers and builders in a well planned beta program, enlist the support of our best suppliers, and launch the car in a way that will make the auto world stop and say, "shoot, those FFR guys are friggin AWESOME!"... one of those.