Group Buy Carbon Targa Brace

[liftnot]

The final design of our prepreg(dry carbon) rear engine brace for the targa folks is done.
A couple things worth mentioning:
1) there will be no middle brace needed like the oem brace as the triangle shape in carbon provided enough support from our design and analysis. There will be more support towards the top of the triangle to keep it stiff. Similar to a carbon bike main frame design.
2) the oem engine cover is over 15 lbs. the oem bar is 7 lbs. All top end heavy that is not helping the CoG, thus our new bar is not designed to be used with any engine cover and if you are concerned about UV attacking the engine bay, you should have your engine hatch tinted very dark.

It is possible that we can share the tooling for this bar from our straight bar tooling for the coupe to save some cost.
Tooling will be made in billet alum. just like our straight bar tooling so the surface finish of the part will be perfect. You can see the straight bar thread for reference.

Now we need your help to make this happen. We need a min. of 20 folks to seriously want this part to sign up so we can get a quote. Otherwise, the tooling cost is not cheap and we want to continue to develop more parts for this community of this great car. So help us to help you.
Any questions/comments post here or PM.

 

[MaxGeek]

I'd only be in if it worked with the engine/targa cover. If the design fits under the engine cover those that want to lose the engine cover can still do so. A design that doesn't fit under the engine cover is limited to only those who want to run without the engine cover. I personally wouldn't run the car without any type of engine cover. Another member had a small pebble get picked up by a belt while tracking their car. It destroyed the rear glass and partition glass.

 

[liftnot]

Ok, If we have enough people willing to sign up, yes, we will add the tabs on the brace so you can use your oem engine cover.
As for now, there is no interest but we'll wait and see.

Vendor just informed us of a worldwide carbon shortage. He has enough material on hand to last him until August. so the window of opportunity is somewhat limited. Covid has affect many areas that we did not expect until now.

 

[-m-]

Happen to know if the design works with a CTSC?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[liftnot]

this is for the NA targa folks. CTSC will need a different design. Unless we get some interests, it may not happen.

 

[hlakhani]

Would be interested in a CTSC version!

 

[liftnot]

We r working on a quote for the NA guys first. Pending on the interests, we may or may not work on a CTSC version as the 1.6/1.9L SC will need different tooling = higher $$ but the economy of scale is not there to justify. We need to recuperate from the coupe straight bar, if the 2nd GB goes well, it will help.

 

[MaxGeek]

Do you have a render of what the targa bar would look like? I think in that past you said it could be like a bike frame.

 

[liftnot]

Still doodling with the design. a basic triangle without the middle oem style reinforcement which will be moved towards the top two mounting hole area. the bottom will retain the gussets but more smooth like a typical carbon bike frame. Design must consult with the tooling folks to see the best way to achieve what we after. So far, you are the only interest, as much as we like to offer this product, it may not happen:frown:.....I think more folks are into form over function. This will be a trick looking piece that can carry load being "dry" carbon.

 

[liftnot]

So far we are not getting enough love for the NA targa brace. the math, the shape is done and we need to put it in SW so the tooling can be estimated. But, we only have a few people want it so as for now, this may not happen. You can see the rendering of the straight bar and visualize a triangle shape with 3 supports on the inside of the triangle to negate the X-brace in the middle so it looks like a carbon bike frame with smooth shape. We have a few interests for a SC brace but that means one for the Comptech 1.6L which is different than the big Whipple huffer. the required tooling will be different to make this happen.

It is too bad. Prepreg carbon is such a great material to make parts from compare to the old days using metal/alloy and we have great vendors to work with but not enough interests to pursue further.

 

[hlakhani]

this is definitely sad to hear, but completely understandable. I suspect this will be (literally) one of those many unobtainable parts that people will regret not signing up for in the future. Have you considered socializing this on the NSX FB groups? Those are extremely active and you may get more interest...

 

[Matt'sNSX]

D'oh!!

I have to agree with Hlakhani, this IS sad to hear and I think others will regret this as well. Again, you can certainly count me in if you anything changes. Either way, I'll be buying your prepreg front & rear bumpers this fall as part of the next winter project!

Matt

 

[liftnot]

this is definitely sad to hear, but completely understandable. I suspect this will be (literally) one of those many unobtainable parts that people will regret not signing up for in the future. Have you considered socializing this on the NSX FB groups? Those are extremely active and you may get more interest...

I have to agree with Hlakhani, this IS sad to hear and I think others will regret this as well. Again, you can certainly count me in if you anything changes. Either way, I'll be buying your prepreg front & rear bumpers this fall as part of the next winter project!

Matt

It is quite sad:frown:. We invested a lot in vendor, tooling, design, analysis, engineering...etc....for the simple reason that this is one of the best sports car ever made and deserve real upgrades using better raw materials instead of just mods.
Gordon Murray likes it for reasons only a few of us care. It takes a lot more effort (compare to metal parts), to make a functional carbon part as it is not isotropic. it is much more sexy to talk HP and boost instead of power to weight ratio.

Thx, just posted there. We had a short presence on FB but it was hard to track and posts get lost in a hurry as more bling takes over. Also it is harder to have meaningful discussions there. We rather entertain folks who have passed the bling stage(like us) who are more knowledgeable knowing what they are buying. Most people don't care about physics but we do, there are so many items on this great analog car that can be lighter, stronger, better thus faster.

We are only asking people so sign up without committing any money so its worth our time to get an accurate tooling, unit qty. cost from the vendor. World wide prepreg shortage is coming so we ordered another batch of 20 of the straight bar....we'll see if they can be sold to fund the targa bar project, if not....oh well, we tried.

We are a bit on the stubborn side of things so we will keep design/making stuff using newer, more advanced material instead of cutting and welding and bending metals except.......magnesium.

FYI Matt, folks who bought the bumper beams said they had to "reacquaint" how to drive their car as the weight is very far from the CG so the car "become smaller and quicker to turn" from the weight loss. we are redesigning the bumpers so it will be easier to make and be part of the actuator mount:wink:

 

[nguyentoogood]

Wow great looking product, very interested!