DF kit car Goblin

[Erik the Awful]

They said it's pretty balanced.

That's what I would say, too, if I were trying to sell a frame for 10 grand.

 

[Pinger]

I bet that thing is a handful on track. Short wheelbase and rear engine can get away from you quick.

Too right! I spun (my 72'' wheelbase) smart 450 degrees in the blink of an eye - uphill on snow with TC turned off. They'll catch you out on a trailing throttle also.

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[Pinger]

I've often wondered why people/companies don't repurpose the fwd drivetrains out of all the cars that eventually become crap piles. This DFGoblin is exactly that. I'd love to have something like this.

One big difficulty is getting a decent quality of gearchange with a manual box. The shift mechanism has to go under or around the drivetrain and it's hard to get right.
Smart had designated drivetrain (not purloined from FWD) and avoided that by being sequential shift automated manual. Nudge the lever for shifts and the shifting and clutch control was taken care of electrically. The efficiency of a manual box with only two pedals in the footwell. A pity BMW gave SMGs a bad rep.

 

[0xDEADBEEF]

They said it's pretty balanced. The ecotec blocks are aluminum with steel sleeves. I think using a cobalt SS supercharged 5 speed setup would be right at the edge, but theres a video on youtube where a guy turbo and intercooled one and it was making over 400hp. Was running 130+ mph in the quarter mile.

It should handle really well, but it will take above average skill to drive it at the limit. I'm sure it's a ton of fun.

I've been thinking my next track toy is going to be a kit car of some sort.

 

[AdamDFKC]

Hey guys, Adam from DF Kit Car here. Thought I'd drop in to answer questions if you guys have any.

I also wanted to share a video of a Goblin at a recent hill climb. Justin ended up getting fastest time of the day on his last run (the run in this video). He's got wings front an rear to get the most out of it as he can. He's only running low 400whp for this event running 17 PSI but he says it has made over 600 when he cranks the boost up. That's overkill for a tight hill climb though.

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That's what I would say, too, if I were trying to sell a frame for 10 grand.

I don't think I could sell a frame for $10,000. That's why the kit comes with a whole lot more. When we first started we wanted to sell the whole kit for $5k. Back then it was just me and my dad building a car of our own and other guys were interested in a kit.

We decided to go for it as a business but as we built out the kit the way we wanted people to receive it, the price did go up. This included front control arms, chromoly rod ends, CNC machined aluminum uprights, QA1 adjustable front coilovers, brakes, pre-formed and flared brake lines, brake hoses, brake master cylinder relocation kit, fuel tank with fuel line material, fuel filler neck hardware, radiator with full cooling system and the list went on. We ended up at a price of closer to $7k.

Over the years it has increased in price due to improvements to the kit (we supply even more than we did when we started) and material costs going up but we still believe it is a reasonable price.

 

[Supercharged111]

Would have truck loads of over steer like the early Porches did.

That depends, does the drivetrain sit in front of or behind the axle centerline?

Understeer is when you hit the wall with your front end.
Oversteer is when you hit the wall with your rear end.
Horsepower is how hard you hit the wall.
Torque is how far you move the wall.

Oversteer is when the passenger is scared, understeer is when the driver is scared.

 

[Moparmat2000]

Too right! I spun (my 72'' wheelbase) smart 450 degrees in the blink of an eye - uphill on snow with TC turned off. They'll catch you out on a trailing throttle also.

You must be registered for see images attach

Ever see one of these with a rear mounted Kawasaki Hyabusa engine in it? Several on youtube. If I drove a 'busa swapped smart car, you wouldent be able to scrape the grin off my face.

 

[Pinger]

Ever see one of these with a rear mounted Kawasaki Hyabusa engine in it? Several on youtube. If I drove a 'busa swapped smart car, you wouldent be able to scrape the grin off my face.

A mate of mine has one with a Honda Blackbird engine. I've been in it - it's rapid!

 

[Moparmat2000]

Hey guys, Adam from DF Kit Car here. Thought I'd drop in to answer questions if you guys have any.

I also wanted to share a video of a Goblin at a recent hill climb. Justin ended up getting fastest time of the day on his last run (the run in this video). He's got wings front an rear to get the most out of it as he can. He's only running low 400whp for this event running 17 PSI but he says it has made over 600 when he cranks the boost up. That's overkill for a tight hill climb though.

xc_hide_links_from_guests_guests_error_hide_media

I don't think I could sell a frame for $10,000. That's why the kit comes with a whole lot more. When we first started we wanted to sell the whole kit for $5k. Back then it was just me and my dad building a car of our own and other guys were interested in a kit.

We decided to go for it as a business but as we built out the kit the way we wanted people to receive it, the price did go up. This included front control arms, chromoly rod ends, CNC machined aluminum uprights, QA1 adjustable front coilovers, brakes, pre-formed and flared brake lines, brake hoses, brake master cylinder relocation kit, fuel tank with fuel line material, fuel filler neck hardware, radiator with full cooling system and the list went on. We ended up at a price of closer to $7k.

Over the years it has increased in price due to improvements to the kit (we supply even more than we did when we started) and material costs going up but we still believe it is a reasonable price.

Thank you for providing more information. I have a 2008 chevy HHR wagon 2.2L NA 5 speed. I am considering this as a donor for most of this as a future project. My friend runs a salvage yard and has Hollander interchange manuals. On my next days off work I plan to go through his books and see just how much of the HHRs mechanicals will directly interchange with a cobalt. The HHR design was built off the cobalt platform. It uses a 5 lug bolt pattern like the cobalt SS. So far besides the engine and transaxle, I know the lower control arms, hubs, , brakes, and struts interchange with a cobalt. I will soon know about the rest

 

[AdamDFKC]

Thank you for providing more information. I have a 2008 chevy HHR wagon 2.2L NA 5 speed. I am considering this as a donor for most of this as a future project. My friend runs a salvage yard and has Hollander interchange manuals. On my next days off work I plan to go through his books and see just how much of the HHRs mechanicals will directly interchange with a cobalt. The HHR design was built off the cobalt platform. It uses a 5 lug bolt pattern like the cobalt SS. So far besides the engine and transaxle, I know the lower control arms, hubs, , brakes, and struts interchange with a cobalt.

There are a few differences but I do not have a list or guide specifically for that. One of our guys went the HHR route and explained the process on his build log: http://dfkitcar.com/forum/index.php?threads/jim-mcdonald-extended-track-09-hhr-ss-tc-automatic.1347/

You'll see in the build log that the reason he chose the HHR was that he wanted a turbo donor but he needed an automatic because he is paraplegic (the turbo Cobalt wasn't available with an automatic). He ended up using an HHR SS and a base Cobalt.