Day one of (Transformer) Stratos ownership...

Hi all, I'm the new owner of B694KRX - Elliott's car. Bought last week and picked up this week. I have nothing but first impressions, which I thought were worth recording while they're fresh in my mind - they're mainly in contrast to my other fun car, also mid-engined and NA 3.0 litre:

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I picked up the Stratos today, and drove it back from North London to Cambridge. I drove about 300 miles in the NSX at the weekend, so that's still fresh in my mind. Some initial thoughts:

Steering: first thing I noticed - it's much faster in the Stratos, and I had to untrain myself from the amount of steering input needed for the NSX (EPS model). In the Stratos, a little goes a long way. I will need to get it checked out, because there's a little (of what I think is) bump steer. I can imagine that on a wet bumpy B-road it would be as easy as wrangling a slippery eel.

Acceleration: don't properly know, I didn't boot it at all. Engine seems very willing - it's dynoed at 240bhp - and there's a very obvious lack of weight (about 950kg, I think). So it feels subjectively quick for moderate throttle input.

Ride: far less composed than the NSX. And at low speed on potholed roads it's the exact opposite of the NSX.

Comfort: !!!!! there is none. Seats are thin racing types, and there's a 5-point harness which has a strap so wide that the one that runs between your legs is constantly annoying. Offset and quite narrowly spaced pedals mean a bit of precision footwork is needed. Plus on this car there's a jerry-rigged accelerator connection that adds a lever very close to the clutch, which without a good aim gives you gas with each clutch press.

The windows are unique in that when lowered there's some weird aerodynamic effect where you just get increased wind noise without any actual air entering the cabin. The coolant pipes run through the middle spine of the car and even in today's moderate heat, the in-cabin temp increased and got warm. Not unpleasantly hot, but on a really hot Summer's day...

Rear visibility is an issue. The louvres for the rear window are quite thick, and it's easy to lose sight of a distant-but-closing car completely. Need to add better door mirrors, too. It's a world apart from the all-round clarity of the NSX's canopy

It's a total cacophony inside. The combination of kit construction, complete lack of sound deadening and driver's proximity to the engine and rear tyres creates a non-stop racket. Add the noise of a slightly warped brake disk, and noise egress from the open windows and when I eventually stopped at the car storage space and switched off, I thought I'd gone deaf. The chances of my OH wanting a trip in this car really are zilch (she tolerates the NSX).

Driving: it definitely felt like an event to drive the Stratos. At no point did I feel relaxed - although it is still very new to me. I suppose it is the opposite of the NSX where the reviews all said that this was a car your Mum could get in and drive.

I will be doing a driver instruction day in the Stratos. ASAP!

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Sadly, my local storage promise didn't work out, so it's temporarily stored at a proper long-term car storage facility. Not sure if I will be able to get to an event before the end of the season. But there is some fibreglass work to be done, so I may get it shuttled around in the Winter (recommendations of a good bodyshop close to Cambridge would be nice!)

I will get to some events next year for sure. Hope to meet a lot of forumites.

Yep!,
That all sounds fairly normal.

SO......

Having said its not this and thats different and noisy and it will keep the O/H out....

Are you Glad you bought it....:D

Glad? GLAD????!!!! Why, of course! It's a scratch I've wanted to itch for a very long time. I saw a Transformer (red one) at the Sandown kit car show in the late '80s, ordered the brochure, but never had the time/skills/etc to build one.

Now, I've got one and started to drive it - it's like my old X1/9^2 and the over-riding impression of the first 60 miles or so in the Stratos is that it's an adrenalin machine. Demanding and insistent and more than a little bit edgy. It's a bit like the automotive equivalent of Bjork.

I guess you guys already knew that? ;) But I've been rather pampered by softer sportscars in the meantime.

So I think I need to become a lot better driver. That means track days and some proper instruction. Have been recommended Javelin.

There is a strange addiction to driving a Stratos even though it is noisy and quite handful especially on uneven bobbly roads, there are no driver aids to speak of barring the odd servo and LSD.

You just want to get in it and drive, the look on the faces of other drivers is a site to behold. WHAT IS THAT CAR!!!!!!

David

Sounds like a Grumpy Bates floor mounted accelerator pedal. I've put an ali sheet shield between the clutch pedal and the lever. Basically with normal shoes you get any two pedals at one time. Getting just one can be tricky! If you want to swap back to the original Hawk setup, there's one of their accelerator pedals on the Bay of e here: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Lancia-Str...item5d43cde56c

You'll soon get used to it!!!!

:D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ChrisCar6

If you want to swap back to the original Hawk setup, there's one of their accelerator pedals on the Bay

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And I've got the missing bush for the other end.
'Looks like Mark's rocker switches have been breeding too?!

Thanks for the heads-up on the accelerator pedal and bush. This - or adding that sheet of metal to keep the accelerator linkage out of the way of the clutch - is one of the things that Keith (Elliott's mechanic who I will continue to use) thought was worth changing sooner rather than later.

I'll Google for photos/diagrams of the standard Hawk set-up.

Meanwhile, I'll put the brothel-creepers away and dig out my '80s dancing shoes for driving. :)

There is a good reason why that spare pendant accelerator pedal exists.
For the pendant throttle pedal, providing enough cable movement and also having a good cable routing is quite an engineering challenge on the RHD Hawk.
A floor mounted pedal is usually the alternative/solution.

I noticed the Lotus Elise has a clever mechanism for its RHD pendant throttle pedal/cable arrangement. I'm sure a version of it could be used on Stratos replicas. I'm pretty sure it could be geared up or down too.

i'm going back to the pendant style with a little trickery for the cable. Im planning on a bit of the space over the centre spine to become clutch foot space.

Good idea John.

Here's a photo of the Elise mechanism, and it has a nice feel to it too:
Elise Throttle pedal

I read the original Transformer build manual last night. It's a bit short on detail, but it seems to suggest that the planned route for the accelerator cable was upwards and around the top of the door aperture and then into the engine bay. Seems bizarre to me, but have any of you guys got/seen that?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by strat24v

Im planning on a bit of the space over the centre spine to become clutch foot space.

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I like that idea, too. Although I presume that the original purpose for the Stratos didn't include long periods cruising in the same gear! ;)

That was the original plan. IIRC the Beta twink that was the commonest engine had the throttle on the offside, so wasn't as tortuous as getting it to come up under the Alfa throttle body on the other side. Hence the modification to a floor hung pedal that the cable can run up the spine.
That Elise setup is something that I would look at when starting from scratch.

I still use he original pedal and routing over the door and cage... all be it longer now and modified with both the pedal cable holes and the cable bracket extended to increase the movement at the pedal end.
The trick with this set up is to use a good cable, I introduced a few people to the benefits of featherlight cables from my earlier bike days, as they are super smooth and can be made to measure. http://www.venhill.co.uk

Downside of this set up is the very basic design of cable through the hole in the pedal approach, this often leads to worn and broken cables at the pedal end unless you keep an eye on them. It's simple but very basic.
Anything under the dash once the car is built is a pain though. Hmmm a removable floor and a four post lift anyone?

Here's another that converts a vertical arc (pedal) to a horizontal arc. 'Floor mounted this time.
308 throttle