kcburnzz wrote:
<snip> . . . it did however give pause as to how good my build will be as compared to one of these cars, with respect to handling and durability.
My question is for those of you who have driven the licensed 7 and a locost and how did they stack up? Obviously you cannot pit a Cat CSR with a motorsport engine against a pinto powered book chassis, but with respect to fit and finish of the typical locost build for track day / street use vs similarly outfitted Cat or Birk.
Your thread title is: "
Locost vs factory 7s on the track"
I didn't answer this question earlier because : 1) I've never driven an "official" licensed 7; 2) nor, owned a race car and spent hours driving on a track; or 3) seen a lot of track day Locosts in person. So, I didn't feel qualified to compare and contrast the things you've asked about. However, the answers have strayed far enough from the original questions now that I can't do much harm now by adding my own 2 cents worth.
I hope they'll be seen in the positive light intended.
From your time on these forums, I think you'll agree that a small number of the amateur men building Locosts here can produce work equal to that of a Caterham type organization. It's not all of us, though. The answer to your question really depends on your personal commitment, I think. If you have ultimately committed yourself to producing a Locost the equal of a commercial car, I believe you can. It might be 2 years after your build is complete and you have developed the daylights out of your Locost. Or, it might be through your second design after you have made all your mistakes on your first Locost and figured out what it really takes to make the performer of your dreams through your second design.
I think it all starts in your head. But it takes things like commitment, sticking to things, making mistakes and figuring out how to overcome them, clearly defining your goal(s) and having a realistic, but flexible plan to achieve them.
Personally, my view for my own Locost efforts are that the fit, finish and performance of my $10,000-$15,000 Locost will be vastly superior to the $70,000 Caterham I'll never, ever own. Best of luck to you with your own efforts.
Cheers,