Alibre Design and MecSoft provide 3D CAD/CAM products that are friendly enough to use on prototyping and one-off work while detailed enough to support production mold design. Comparing to SolidWorks or AutoCAD, Alibre is impressive in its feature set and ease of use. With the upcoming version, 12, Alibre and the plug in analysis and CAM pieces are tested on Microsoft Windows 7, which is a real win for us.

A short word on photos/videos here on the blog; for competitive reasons we have been heads down and even a little secretive. That will all change shortly. The Progressive Automotive X Prize puts forward a phenomenal effort giving new-thought vehicles a public pedestal and forum for showing the world that 100 MPG, safe, affordable passenger vehicles are available now. It’s our end of the bargain to produce something worth that public attention, something that lives up to all of our expectations for an automotive revolution. We will be posting media here and on the Progressive Automotive X Prize main site.

   Skunk2 Racing has been building racing components and participating in motorsport since 1995. We’ve been reaching out to them for suspension parts, and they have agreed that it’s about time green motorsport be used to test the next generation of sustainable transportation. Skunk2 (formerly Skunkworks Racing) creates medium to high end racing parts for many production cars- they can help with everything from adding some handling confidence to your Hybrid to adding another 300 horse power to your racing engine.

  Skunk2 Civic Si shown left. Many of these racing components are also compatible with the Honda Civic Hybrid.

Skunk2 has sponsored 5% of WIKISPEED's materials expense.

Sponsors:  The amount of dollars saved as a discount or received as sponsorship funds directly relates to the size of your logo the race vehicle will wear.  e.g.  With a total materials cost of $87,000.00 for the race car, $8,700.00 worth of discounted parts, or funds earns 10% of the logo surface of the car (top, sides, front and rear of car).

Donations: Donations make a significant impact in reducing our time to market and improving our products. Donations may be sent via PayPal to wikispeedfinancial@gmail.com.

Exposure: Why is sponsoring WIKISPEED a good investment? Here are publications reporting on the Automotive X Prize:

◦       Rolling Stone                                      1,400,000   (subscribers)

◦       The New York Times                          1,438,585   (circulation)

◦       Wired Magazine                                  700,000    (subscribers)

◦       Los Angeles Times                              1,304,104  (circulation)

◦       Green Patriot Radio                           28,000         (audience)

◦       CNN.com                                            182,000,000 (hits in a day)

◦       Many More

WIKISPEED gives sponsors maximum exposure for minimum advertising cost. (All circulation/subscription/hits data provided by Neilsen Media Research or the publication themselves)

Rendered example, Avanade sponsoring with $80,000.00 (final vehicle skin TBD, hard points current with prototype):

And with Rolling Stone reporting on the race, we can't rule out the chance your CEO might get their picture on the cover:

 

One VP of Marketing said “But, we don’t make cars?” A co-worker replied “Does Accenture make Golf Clubs?”

We have officially entered the Progressive Automotive X Prize, and have re-prioritized our development to achieving the 100 mpg, 100 mph, 200 mile range while emitting less than 200 grams of c02 per kilometer. Skunk2 has partnered with us by providing race tested and race quality suspension components and support.

The Progressive Automotive X PRIZE is bringing attention and resources to environmentally sustainable personal transportation. The winner of this venture is the environment, when a minimum of 10,000 100MPGe commuting vehicles, based on a race proven and race winning design, are brought to market to replace old-thought vehicles. Never before have small companies and thought leaders been enabled to produce road legal environmentally sound vehicles as they are now.

The X-prize is being covered by CNN, Popular Mechanics, Popular Science, Wired, AutoBlog, Consumer Reports, Engineering TV, Edmunds, AOL, and many more. This coverage means the world market can review the bleeding edge of environmentally sustainable personal transportation, all of which are intended for commercial sale.

I’m impressed.
The S2000 CR is the most precise handling track ready car I have yet driven. The steering feel is smooth and tight; throttle and brake response are like a concert quality musical instrument. The engine power delivery is sporty down low, easily spinning the tires if you would like, and screams like a Ferrari F40 the last 3000 RPM. As I understand it the project leader for the CR is the same man behind the legendary NSX-R (2002-2005), and the S2000 CR feels like it has the same level of focus and intent. I can’t stress enough how smoothly and rapidly the car responds and communicates.

As for daily use, I was again impressed. There was less road noise than the Maserati GT or the Aston Martin V8 Vantage cruising at 35mph or 100mph. The alcantara/suede finish to most surfaces (back of sunroof visors, glove compartment slots, etc) was classy and rich to the touch. The yellow stitching on the interior, while looking toy-like in many pictures, is of similar quality to the Aston Martin and resonates “track-focused” when you slide into the cockpit.

It may sound like I believe this car has no flaws, and compared to what is currently offered on the market the S2000 CR is almost perfect. You can check out all the cars in the market, even the "For VIPs" models up for grabs in huge irish car hire services, and you won't find any that has a better handle than this. What it really does need, however, is to weigh less. It is already hundreds of pounds less than any road going Porsche, the 350z, and the afore mentioned Aston and Maserati, but a “light weight package” with fixed back carbon bucket seats, a single titanium exhaust, and titanium/carbon sub-frames would take this car to another level yet again. On the engine side, it certainly could keep up with 60 more ft-lbs of torque from idle and 160 more peak hp. Also, when driving it, the feeling would be vastly improved if the engine could rev another 1500 RPMs. But these modifications would make it cost 3 to 4 times as much, and I can’t fault Honda for delivering a vehicle so impossibly well engineered for only $33,985.00 (Current dealer price with all options).
But, as I mentioned, it could be better. And that’s where WIKISPEED comes in. Driving a car as precise as the S2000 CR encourages me to engineer an even more precise car- and we are still gunning for a $17k price tag. I might pick up a S2000 CR as a driving feel target, however.

Through the fall we’ve been evaluating different suspension mount configurations. The suspension itself has been finalized in CAD, and we’ve built a wooden mock up suspension mount. To keep R&D costs low, each mounting fixture is built from lumber which can be discarded or re-used as we’ve worked through forming a physical model, evaluating each configuration for safety, rigidity, fatigue resistance, and cost of manufacture. For each configuration, we have not allowed ourselves to deviate at ALL from the highest performing suspension layout, but have only experimented with the way the suspension mounts connect with the frame. A wheel costs just as much whether it’s at the corners of the car or well underneath the engine; when we are building a car than can keep up with a Ferrari Enzo for under $17k, we can’t afford to not take free advantage of the physical superiority of correctly placing each part.

The Aston Martin V8 Vantage convertible is a heavy block of machine. The engine was anemic up until high revs (very unexpected from a V8), and then it coped with its weight about as well as a 1995 Honda Passport V6. It has plenty of style, people noticed when I drove by, and I felt special sitting behind the wheel. However, I did not feel like I was in an entirely different class of machine than the station wagons and coupes I shared the rode with. I couldn’t effortlessly pass them- passing still required a downshift and waiting a few seconds on the gas to build up speed. I couldn’t easily out-corner most of them, the Aston turns willingly but a Honda Civic turns in faster and sharper. The Aston had a heavy clutch, making changing gear an event or even a chore. Despite this, it was several levels more taught and responsive than the Maserati GT, and the interior was on a similar level. While the Maserati has a styling tone of high-born Champaign decadence (with many ivory whites and styling flourishes), the Aston is sewn like a high-end football and feels like a “Sportsman’s” car; I could imagine a soiled polo shirt and an expensive handmade rifle or a soccer ball in the trunk. Most of the interior is leather clad with thick contrasted stitching, prompting my wife to say she wouldn’t wan t a car like this for fear she would spill a drink in it and cause $10k of damage. I drove the V8 vantage back to back with a 2006 Civic which easily outpaced the Aston up until about 80mph, at which time the Aston’s V8 is able to better bully its way passed the wind resistance.

What I noticed most about the Aston engine was how slow it was to increase or decrease revs. All the mass of the drive train being swirled around takes time to rev up or rev down, making me feel like I’m shifting or applying the accelerator in slow motion. Driving the Civic after words felt like a caffeine induced shifting blitz by comparison, where the engine could easily keep up with my inputs. It’s true pressing the Aston start button lets out a low growl that is very appealing, but any touch of the gas and the growl is gone. That is to say, the engine isn’t really this growling, raging beast like a Ferrari F40, but in fact is a pedestrian tuned engine with an exhaust that at exactly idle, and only exactly idle, behaves like a tuned trumpet.

(Note: picture is same model and configuration but not actual car we drove)

I recently received an invitation to an Aston Martin Ride and Drive event, to audition their V8 Vantage Roadster. Having never bought an Aston Martin I'm not sure how I got on the list. 3500 pound + GT cars, V8 or not, are not my taste. However, every automotive review raves about the styling, and I'd like to see how the WIKISPEED feel, fit and finish measure up. I won't be able to place hand stitched glove leather in a $17k car, but from my understanding the Aston isn't hand stitched either.

I did have the pleasure of piloting a Maserati GT convertible around Oahu, but found it clumsy and uncommunicative. Although the interior was impeccable, far outdoing most of the fine furniture or lavish lounges I've come across. Think softened C5 base model corvette with a $40,000 interior upgrade. It would make a better high end restaurant booth than a "driving experience."

I'm expecting the Aston to have much improved handling over the Maserati GT, but still several notches more numb then the communication I'd need at the track. Also, unlike the Maserati, I'm hoping the traction control isn't so invasive; I wasn't able to spin the Italian's tires even when I backed them up onto the sand beach.

The Aston Martin event takes place at the end of August, and I'll post relevant findings here.

The engine runs, the headlights and turns signals work, the dashboard works (speedometer, tachometer, fuel gauge, warning lights, etc), the AC and heater works (although the AC is not charged currently) and now the interior has been mounted to a prototype frame created from 1.5" 8020 aluminum profiles. The dashboard was surprisingly heavy, more than 50 pounds, largely due to a steel tube running the width of the dash that serves as a mounting point for the airbags. I thought the HVAC system under the dash would count for a lot of weight, but it is expertly engineered at less than 5 pounds. The AC compressor attached to the engine is likely heavier, but I'm not as worried about that since the weight is highly centralized.

Phase 2 consists of constructing the firsts prototype's frame. I’ve been working with http://www.8020.net to source materials. Their aluminum profiles far exceed the strength and rigidity requirements for prototyping. I can start with light duty, highly adjustable fasteners to make design changes in the workshop until I have a spec ready for road testing, and then apply medium and heavy duty fixed fasteners. On paper, their products are strong enough to use in production. After the prototyping phase I’ll evaluate if they really do qualify.

I ordered $400 worth of light duty aluminum profiles and fasteners to make an adjustable skeleton frame in the workshop. In the next month there will be a lot more measuring and adjusting, fabricating brackets, fitting reinforcements, and gradually replacing the light duty profiles with structurally sound profiles. It’s a very organic process.

The 2006 civic EX front clip is running and shifting gears, just like it should.

I bought the Honda Service Manual from Helm: (http://www.helminc.com/helm/product2.asp?class%5F2=AHM&mk=Honda&yr=2006&md=Civic&dt=Shop%2FService+Information&module=&from=result&Style=helm&Sku=61SNA03&itemtype=N&mscsid=2SG81S0Q81M09KAXST9C00WVT38M0G06, $75)
The service manual often referred me to codes on the HDS (Honda Diagnostic System: (Software, $840 per year) using the HIM (Honda Interface Module ($796) which I have been trying to avoid buying. However, I found the manual also includes trouble shooting procedures using just a voltmeter, and everything in the clip is up to speck. Right now the ABS and SRS MILs (Malfunction Indicator Lights) are on since there are no side airbags connected to the floor harness SRS side sensors and no rear ABS sensors connected to the floor harness, but all other codes are normal.
This brings phase 1 to a close, which involved setting up the first running prototype power train.

More info on HDS and HIM can be found on the Helm site: http://www.helminc.com/helm/honda_diagnostic_tools.asp?Style=&mscsid=2SG81S0Q81M09KAXST9C00WVT38M0G06