The Exocet is now available from Flyin' Miata!
 

We haven't been this excited about a new product for a while. Seriously, a few of the FM staff are looking at their own Miatas in a different light right now.

Flyin' Miata Exocet

The Exocet first appeared a few years ago in the UK. It's basically a space frame that takes the "rollerskate" from an NA or NB Miata, bolting directly on to the front and rear subframes. You simply lift the Miata body off the drivetrain and suspension and drop the space frame on top. Voila, you've lost about 800 lbs of weight while keeping the Miata's excellent handling. There are about 450 of them terrorizing UK roads and racetracks, as well as a handful in the US.

Exomotive, the US importer, decided to take a second look at the frame and have come up with a new design that is dramatically stiffer than the original while also incorporating improved safety. This new design is being produced in Atlanta, Georgia. We've been talking to them over the course of development, and the first of the US-built customer frames will be our shop car.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1376424166

We'll be selling kits, pallet donors and turn-key cars. So you can take apart a Miata and build your own, order everything you'll need in one big package or simply drop by FM and pick up your new car.

Naturally, we're going to develop some Exocet-specific parts to make the build even more successful. Once we've built our test car we'll have a better idea of what that might be, but we've got some ideas already. We'll also be able to help with setup of your own Exocet so you extract the maximum performance out of the critter.

Prices start at $5999 plus shipping.

Have any questions? Check out our FAQ. Feel free to ask more here, it's a work in progress. The big ones? Yes, an LS3 will fit. And yes, an FM turbo kit will fit just fine. Even our silicone intake tubing slips right in. The Exomotive demo car runs an FM II.

Here's some on-track video we put together of the Exomotive car when it visited our Summer Camp last week. This particular car is missing all the bodywork and sports the optional rear wing mount. We had to use a 480 hp V8 Miata as a camera platform.

Keith, I'm interested in a write-up of the construction, additional parts requirements, and requirements for road legality. Also, all-in price (given a road-worthy stock miata as a parts car) for as basic a home-build as possible. This might make a good motorcycle alternative.

We'll document the construction of our own car, of course. The frame should be on the way here soon.

Requirements for road legality vary by state. Read this. Your DMV is also a good source of information - really. The biggest thing that's missing right now is a windshield and wiper solution. Exomotive claims they've never been asked for one, but I suspect that's because the majority of existing builds are still titled as Miatas. Check with your state on that one.

"As basic as possible" means you're going to reuse things like seats, wheels/tires and semi-consumables like the radiator. I'm also going to assume you keep your existing suspension. Start with a Base kit ($5999) and add shipping ($500-1000 depending on your location). Lights will run about $200 depending on how you do it. Fuel and brake lines have to be bent up, as it's difficult to re-bend the factory ones. Paint for the frame (rattle can or brushed POR-15) plus replenishment of various spilled fluids, etc. I'd say that you could get one on the road for $7250-$7500 or so, assuming middle of the road shipping costs and assuming a net zero cost for the Miata. This is based on what I know now and from investigating the Exomotive car, I'll know more once I've built ours.

I've added some of these answers to our FAQ, thanks.

BTW: build video.

Well done.

From the little research that I did when I was considering building a spaceframe car several years ago, some people use simple liquid spray bottles and run a hose from the bottle in the cockpit to a windshield washer squirter placed in the hood. Squeeze bottle, squirt windshield. Total cost ~ $10. For a winshield wiper, drill a hole through the bottom of the windshield, connect a knob to an unnecessarily short winshield wiper. As you turn the knob from the inside, the wiper wipes the glass on the outside...

Of course I'd never use either of those, they would be there merely for road legality's sake - and likely removed after titling... Primary windshield protection would be head mounted. With those comments about windshield nuances, I know you're doing your diligence.

What's missing isn't a windshield wiper solution, it's a windshield AND wiper solution. There's no off-the-shelf option for glass at the moment. I know how I'd do a DIY windshield, and I know Exomotive is working on something. But at the moment, it's DIY only.

Wipers are fairly easy, you can get devices as you describe for boats. The Lucas system is an excellent option for a more permanent installation as it's designed for easy modification for various vehicles from Mini to Rolls Royce.

I've been involved in home-built cars for about 8 years now :)

That is bad azz.

Serious want.

Might have to say screw the wife getting the next car, sell the bike, couple organs I don't need, and do this instead.

This is everyone's "When I crash my miata or it becomes a rust bucket" dream... myself included

I wanna do it NOW.

When I was out at The Mitty in 2012 at Road Atlanta, Exomotive had one out and I took a look at it and did a bunch of talking about it. If I was not going to build a locost 7 then I would probably have one of these in my garage within the next year.

Everyone is a strong word, it's certainly not mine, fuck me it's ugly. I'd rather do something like say a GBS Zero, still uses MX5/Miata components and is lighter.

Sure it's a harder build, but it also doesn't look like ass.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1376481722

EDIT: Glad to read they've improved the spaceframe, from what I've read/seen the first incarnation wasn't brilliant.

get the aero kit; problem solved.

Don't see how, it's still fucking ugly.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1376483328

looks better than my red miata. I agree it's probably the least sexy kit car out there, but it's also cheap as hell.

needs moar ALLOFIT

I don't get the "copy Atom with the open sides" look. When you're that low, other cars kick up all sorts of crap. I don't want to have to wash my pants every time I go for a drive.

Thin sheet metal (like a locost) doesn't add much weight, and it keeps the thing from being so open. Less airflow means you can drive it in the fall without freezing.

its still a considerable amount of weight, and more importantly: cost

I agree though: I'd wanna drive one of these to a meet and not look like I just got up from under it

Like it or not, the exposed exoskeleton is a look. If you want a side panel, go ahead and rivet one on. The racers in the UK do that for debris protection.
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1376493394
http://www.photoshelter.com/gal-kimg...yVlo/s/870/580

Those exposed sides do maximize elbow room while allowing for a high sill. That's good for safety, I'd much rather be t-boned in an Exocet than in a Seven replica.

I haven't seen one in person with the full body yet, but without it you're drawn by the pure functionality of it all. I don't think anyone who was at our Summer Camp noticed if the car was ugly, but they were lining up to sit in it. And everyone who took it on track came back laughing like a loon.

The level of detail in the new frame is excellent. Exomotive has worked over every aspect of the design, from slots and tabs in the laser-cut tubes to improve consistency when the frame is welded up to having custom dies made so the bends are well under required minimum deformation specs. The torsional rigidity of the new Sport chassis is something like 4 times that of the original. We have FEA numbers, but we're not quoting anything until actual testing has been done. And of course, it has real roll protection now.

A few more pics for you.
Overlay of a Miata and an Exocet frame.
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1376493394

Race version with wings. I believe the final rear wing position is higher than in this rendering.
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1376493394

Sport with wings - the correct final location.
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1376493394


Sport without wings.
http://flyinmiata.com/exocet/images/FM02.JPG

Agreed. Just not one I happen to buy into. I'm more about practical driver than once a month track car, so I would sacrifice that look (and some lightness) for a smooth body line.

That said, I'd still like to have some form of kit like this. But I'm pretty sure it's never gonna happen.

There is a body under development. We'll see what it looks like. Some people will hate it, because that's what people do. At least the non-styling of the current setup is honest about being aesthetically challenged :)

This is the vehicular equivalent of a naked bike.

I have loved this kit for a while for many reasons, mainly the cost, finished weight, and ease of build. I think it will do well and I don't personally really care much how it looks as long as it doesn't make me cringe looking at it, which it doesn't. Function to me is weighted so heavily with me on this car, that it would be hard to turn it down for form.

~$2500 to do the bodywork and paint on the miata...
Take that off the cost of the exocet, plus say another $1000 for whatever is on the miata that I'd take off & sell (hard top, roll bar, uhhh...) before scraping the shell. Hmmm....

how hard is it to make one of these things street legal?

How do these kits work with something like an 8.8 rear end that deletes the PPF?

Depends on what point it is still a 'miata' if you reuse most of the car except the body panels, in your state's eyes.

Or how much of a bitch it is to register/title a kit car or homebuilt in your state. Keith gave a link above that gives some good info.

Braineack, that's going to vary by state. I suspect that almost all of the existing builds are simply registered as Miatas.

But if you want to be fully legal, check the laws for your area. Basically, you'll need to prove ownership of the major parts (no stolen cars involved) and have basic safety equipment like lights. You may or may not need a windshield and wipers, this varies by state and also by inspector. It's no different than a Factory Five Roadster that uses a Mustang donor.

If you delete the PPF, you'll need to find some way to mount the rear of the trans and the front of the diff - just like you would in a Miata. A transmission crossmember would be very easy to do, and usually the diff mounts are attached to the subframe.

Yeah, if you're able to unbolt the 8.8 diff/rear subframe crap, you should be able to bolt it onto this exocet as-is, I would assume.

Also, if you have the Race Kit chassis, I would think a piece of plexiglass across the front would be simple to do and work as a windshield for titling.

Usually a windshield has to be safety glass with the appropriate markings - plexiglass is definitely not kosher. Luckily, flat glass is pretty cheap. The safety glass for my Locost windshield cost me about $30. And Exomotive already has some designs for a glass windshield on the caged cars, although I don't think it's past the CAD stage yet.

Are the fenders aluminum or fiberglass? Needs some 15x10 275's.

Fiberglass.

Its open wheeled, why limit yourself to 15" wheels?




I guess my question regarding the 8.8 was if this tube frame required the ppf as a structure or if you can remove it and be good to go that way?

The PPF is not required as a structure, no. The current frame was designed with the expectation that LSx engines were going to get installed.

Will a stock body skin fit over top of one of these?
The frame is shipped fully welded?
I am sure it's in the works, but when can we expect a Configurator like you have for the Westfield?

A stock body should fit over the chassis - check the overlay I posted on the previous page. All the hard points are the same, so it should just be a matter of bracketry.

Of course, you can't just lift the body off a Miata. It's a unibody. But if you recreated it in carbon fiber, this might be a good shortcut to a spaceframe Miata. I'm not sure how much weight you'd save by that point versus a stripped Miata.

The frame is shipped fully welded and powdercoat is an option. Since there aren't many options at this point - just the three basic kits plus powdercoating and wing mounts - we hadn't really considered a configurator. Once we've got a few more options, we'll probably put one together.

Items we're looking at are mostly completion packs, such as a kit of all the pieces you need to easily assemble a fuel system instead of bending your own lines. Exactly what's required will become more clear as we build our own. We're also looking at turn-keys and rollers. In a roller, we'd drop the frame on to a Miata rollerskate and ship it to you. All the heavy lifting would be done and you'd have to do all the finishing work such as running brake lines, wiring, etc. We're still looking at the numbers to see if that makes sense financially.

Can you compare and contrast this with a Locost and the Westfield?

Whats the difference in firewall width? Perhaps one could cut off the entire miata front windshield area from the firewall and weld it to the chassis?

On a side note in ur first pic i see you have a vmaxx with the helpers on the bottom. Whats the difference between top and bottom location for the vmaxx helper springs?

Again, see the overlay I posted earlier. I can't see that working out, but if you really really want to try I won't try to stop you :)

Helpers on top, helpers on the bottom, doesn't really matter.

Compare the Sevens to an Exocet. You mean, besides the fact that a Locost starts with a dream and not a whole lot else, whereas an Exocet starts with pretty much all the parts you need to put it together? Even a Westie is a more involved build than the Exocet should be, although I'll have a much better idea of that once ours is built.

Ignoring the obvious fact that you need to design, weld and build the Locost - the driving experience is different. On a Locost (Westfield, Caterham, any Seven clone), you sit pretty much on the back wheel with a long nose in front of you. So you're driving off the back wheels. This is why they're so easy to drive sideways The Exocet feels like a Miata, pivoting around the gearshift. This is why they're so easy to drive fast right out of the box. The Exocet feels a bit more manic because of it. Not that a Seven is terribly inert. I'll be taking my Locost on track tomorrow to refresh myself. I do remember it being harder work physically, but that's going to vary from car to car.

There's more room in an Exocet chassis for your feet, and your arms and elbows are inside the cage while they hang out in the breeze in the Seven. The Exocet chassis is also stiffer, I believe. Brakes, well, that's up to implementation. The Exocet we drove had our four wheel Little Big Brake Kit and it hauled down really well. It had better brakes than the Westfield but they're probably pretty similar to my Locost in terms of effectiveness. Apples to apples, the Exocet is a couple of hundred pounds heavier.

When it comes to modification, the Exocet is just a Miata so it's super-easy. Even an FM II is a bolt-on. The Locost will require continuing design/weld/build on your part for everything from exhaust to shocks. Westfield upgrades are a mixed bag - some stuff is bolt-on, some is DIY.

In terms of raw speed, it's a pretty close match. Our turbo Westfield has lapped in the 1:00.xx range on our track. The turbo Exocet that was at the Summer Camp ran a 1:01.9 fresh out of the box, and there's more to come there.

Think an Exocet would be faster than an EVO X on a tight twisty bumpy back road?

Someone in CA figure out if you can buy a CA-registered miata, transform it into an Exocet, and keep registering and smogging it as a miata and "oh that's just a body kit".

Yeah, that's what I was thinking as far as NY. Registering a kit car in NYS is damn near impossible, because everything has to meet current standards. By keeping it a Miata, it would be easy to register and insure.

In California, you could also register it under an SB100. Yes, that requires planning :)

I suspect that a very high percentage of them are still registered as Miatas.

As for faster than a rally-bred Evo down a bumpy road - that's a pretty high bar to set.

I am having trouble finding a reason why I shouldn't turn my 94 with an FM2 into an Exocet and I'm anxious to see what FM comes up with for this setup. The pricing and already boatloads of aftermarket parts that can bolt right on make this a home run in my book. I just need to decide if I want to built a sport or full race cage.

If the intake system including the airbox, and the exhaust system between the head and the catalytic converter, can all remain stock (or use CARB-approved alternates), then I would imagine there is good possibility.

In CA, it is extremely common to see VW-based dune buggies running around. So long as they retain the factory pan, they typically retain the original title. I would argue that the Miata's front and rear subframes and PPF, collectively, are equivalent. (Is the VIN stamped anywhere on any of these? That would be a telling detail.)

VIN is only stamped in the firewall, the rest is riveted plates and a stupid amount of stickers. But I have limited experience with US market ones (I don't have any US subframes to double check).

Keep the top part of the FW in there somewhere?

The only places I've seen the VIN on a Miata are the firewall, the plate near the steering wheel, the oil pan, and the transmission. I suspect the CA DMV is going to take a dim view of the idea that it's still a Miata just because you've still got the motor and tranny out of one.

--Ian

Exhaust system, no problem. Intake - I'm not sure if it can remain unmodified. I'll check that when we're building ours. I think it can remain, though. So you could build one with CARB-approved stuff.

Someone is going to have to talk to their DMV about the amount of rebuilding allowed before a car becomes a different car. And it'll change by state.

This car could be registered as a 1957 Lotus Seven as it resembles it closely enough. At least in Texas, it has to be inspected by an ASE Certified Master Mechanic for general road worthiness and safety, but after that it never has to be inspected again. In Texas, having it a 1957 would allow you to not have to worry about the parking brake since it is before 1960.

Current map of who has adopted:
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1377522680

Yeah but has nothing in common with it. Its like registering a Fiero as a Ferrari because u got a bodykit on it.

It all depends on the state laws. If the state says that's okay, you go with it. "1957 Lotus Seven" means "not a 32 Ford" as far as home-built cars go.

"Custom Vehicle is defined as a vehicle at least 25 years old and of a model year after 1948; or manufactured to resemble a vehicle that is at least 25 years old and of a model year after 1948; and that has been altered from the manufacturer’s original design or has a body constructed from materials not original to the vehicle.

Street Rod is defined as a vehicle that was manufactured before 1949; or after 1948 to resemble a vehicle manufactured before 1949; and that has been altered from the manufacturer’s original design, or has a body constructed from materials not original to the vehicle."

So yes, you probably could register the Fiero as a Ferrari (at least 25 years old), but it says on the title that it is a replica. The Exocet closely resembles a Lotus 7 enough that you could argue that it is a replica. The look of the car from a single angle are all that it takes, at least in Texas, to get it registered as a replica with this new act.

Pretty much. The more I look into this, the easier it looks to register the Exocet under the SEMA bill.

I love this map. I'm not even in a "colored" state. I go to my DMV and just tell them what I have and they issue a plate. They don't even look at the car. My V8 car was an out of state car. I go in and point out that it is going to be eight cylinders instead of four and that I'm going to paint it silver in a couple of months. "OK, no problem, here's your title."

1999 Miata, 8 cylinder engine, gasoline, silver. Done.

F*ck retitling after a V8 swap.

Keith, any chance you guys have the weight of the Sport chassis?

This or a Catfish. Tough choices.

Not retitled, this was my initial title.

Yeah I figured as much. but why mention V8 regardless?

Thread drift, so sorry.

Weight of a Sport chassis should be right around 180-190 lbs with powdercoat. We'll put ours on the scales to get a confirmation.

The Catfish is a very cool car. There's a big difference in price, of course, and the more complex Catfish will likely take a bit longer to build. Looks great as well. But they're both really exciting options.

Thread drift ahoy.

Please tell me you guys can get a MEV X5 coupe and that it doesnt suck. There is VERY little info online about it.