Iranian of the Day

design to life

Great conversation. Designing and sketching  a car is easy, but brining it to life is difficult taks and making sure the design elements have a functional purpose is key. for us functionality is first priority. So can a car be disigned that is different? definitly. Do the design elements maximize the true purpose of the car? This is why the Volarra GT has some industry accepted design features.

To Kaveh Nouraee

A)  I was not the one who said “This is a rip off of McLaren F1!” someone else did.

B)  In the world of innovation, Originality is almost everything.  Here I was referencing to the body style, and not the engine, suspension etc.  Yes, true car makers borrow mechanical systems from each other often.

C) What makes something so special and deserve true admiration needs to be unique in its own class, which no one has thought of it before.  That’s what gets the big WOW.

D) The VolarraGT designer’s explanation was sufficient enough for me.

Similarity? So what?

Every car on the road owes its existence to cars that preceded them.

To say this is a McLaren "rip-off" is extreme. The McLaren itself has a BMW engine. And that's because they couldn't get the engines from Honda. The suspension design was influenced by the suspension of the Honda/Acura NSX, the Porsche 928S and the Jaguar XL16. The McLaren's AC system was inspired by the NSX as well.

The McLaren's chief engineer, Gordon Murray, stated that other cars, especially the NSX, influenced the creation of the F1.

Comparisons to other cars

it's great to talk cars with folks here and we've recieved an ovewheling response  so far.  Several design elements are standard and proven functional elements and exist in many high performance cars as designed in the wind tunnel. The roof air scoop is a functional element in race cars for the simple fact that the engine needs to be cooled and needs fresh air.  You will see this in many racing circuits. the F1's air scoop is recessed into the roof, The volarra GT's air scoop is similar to race cars in le mans races. take a look at the pagoni zonda //www.pagani-automobili.de/zonda-cinque/pagani-zonda-cinque-08.jpg 

The side diffusers are also functional elements - it lets air beneath the car escape and thus reduces lift. Taka a look at the Dodge viper. it has a similar side diffuser and hood scoop. //damox.com/cars/thumbs/Dodge/2003_dodge_viper.jpg 

Remember the shape of a car is like the shape of an airplane wing. it causes lift at high speed. As a result performance cars use side diffusers to channel this air out. take a look at this ferrari concept and you see the same functional element
//www.digi-help.com/auto/images/ferrari-599-gtb-1.jpg

However unlike other low volume cars that cost $1 Million dollars and sit in a museum, The volarra GT costs $58K and is affordable and servicable by anyone. This is a car you can actually drive and enjoy every weekend of the year. Ask yourself what other car can you buy for this price?

You still have not explained the very similarity !!

Dear VolarraGT designers, you still have not explained the very similarity between your design and the McLaren F1, when it comes to the roof air-intake and the side door diffusers?  Those two major concepts are what bring about the question of copy-cat.  As for the rest of the car, yes vaguely one can say it has the back end of the Corvette and front end of this and that, yet those two major concepts (Air-intake and Diffusers) are unmistakably the same.

Any explanation there?  Regardless, I wish you good luck and I hope you make it in the market.

Ghaffar A. Namjou

Comparisions to other exotics

The price of the Volarra GT is $58K. Compare that to Koenigsegg which costs over $1Million and you begin to see the competitive adavantage.  The Volarra GT is as light, as fast and as exclusive as the others however it can be serviced and maintained anywhere and is inexpensive to operate; without needing to ship the car to sweeden or Russia or England for example to service. Other exotics sit there as museum pieces, with owners afraid to drive them.  Since the car is a  "hand crafted component car" and as such does not have to meet the very expensive DOT approval process that other car companies have to - even though the roll cage and chassis is 100% steel - far stronger than today's alluminum passanger cars.  This is how many component car makers can pass on the savings to you. As such it is legal, and registered in every state as a "handcrafted car". this simply means the engine and transmission are installed seperately from the car after it's sold. Please contact us for specific questions. Thanks

Sorry to say!

Congrats to its makers for the effort. 

 Today also the competition is pretty high since the Swedish company Koenigsegg and Russians with Marussia is also in the battle for the same market. Just to name some new makers.

I do not know its price but from design perspective this car does not stand a chance next to the big ones like Ferrari also smaller ones like Koenigsegg are more aesthetic. That said I wish you good luck in the future.

Thank you

Thank you VolarraGT for responding to some of the questions raised here. Much appreciated and best of wishes in your endeavor.

Volarra GT details

These are all very informed and excellent questions. The Volarra GT prototype is fully built and available to see in real life. If you're in the area please contact us for a visit. The Volarra GT is a hand made "component car". This means it is registered as a "hand crafted car" in your state or anywhere in the world - it's entirely street legal, registered, and meets 50 state smog emissions. Since we are not a big car manufacterur, but a small speciality car maker similar to such makes as the Ariel Atom, Noble, or many other hand made  exotics, we sell the fully built and  complete car minus the engine and transmission. The engine and transmission is installed at our approved service centers for our clients. This is a mid-engine car as are most exotics. The engine is designed to be serviceable anywhere and by anyone. This is why it uses the highly acclaimed Corvette Z06 engine. Not only is this engine highly rated, but it can be serviced at any service center and parts will be available for the next 60 years. The transmission is the highly rated porsche 6 speed transmission. All other parts on this car use parts widely available. the custom chassis and body can also be serviced anywhere by most shops. Because the Volarra GT is categorized as a handcrafted car in all states, it does not have to meet the typical DOT requirements that passanger cars have to - even though it's chassis and roll cage is entirely made of steel, which is far stronger than current cars made of alluminum.  This is a handmade exotic car for the rest of us - custom tailored in every way to how the client wants it. please contact us for more details. We are currenlty accepting orders and delivery is 4-5 months for now. Investment opportunities are welcome.

OK....comments from a non-newbie

This car has a great deal of potential, and my hat's off to these two gentlemen for their achievements.

But, that being said, this raises a ton of questions.

Could the timing of this be any worse from a marketing standpoint?

The current economic climate dictates moving away from acquiring symbols of "conspicuous consumption".

An "exclusive", "low-volume", "exotic" supercar with a starting price at $58K?

Where will this be built in order to keep the MSRP at that point? It has a Chevrolet engine (exotic?) and a Porsche transmission.

How is this going to be marketed?

If you expect to start production in 2010 (which is almost here), you have to have a way to sell them. Where is the dealer network? And if a dealer sells them, they're going to have to have mechanics who can service them. And they're going to have to have spare parts, because this doesn't look like anything you can fix in your driveway by picking up some parts at Pep Boys. Who is going to cover the costs of training mechanics and the unique tools required to service these cars? You can't have a GM dealer do the engine work and a Porsche dealer do the tranny work.

What about the DOT?

Has this car passed DOT requirements for sale and operation in the U.S.?

I wish everyone involved nothing but success, but I have a feeling that there is a lot more optimism than realism here.

Oh, and the fresh air intake scoop on the roof is more effective than side mounted intakes. Ask anyone with a Ferrari or a Lamborghini, which are notorious for overheating.

Good Job Guys, keep it going

Good Job Guys, keep it going :)

A question...

Why the air intake scoop is on the roof? It makes no sense, it will most certainly cause drag hence not very aerodynamic, also it looks bit tacky to be honest and it doesn’t do this car justice.  It would've been better if the air intake scoops were incorporated in to the rear fenders in front of the rear wheels. Use photo shop erase the intake off the roof than you'll see how HOTTER it will look.

More power to them!

What's wrong with setting your sights high? Call it immitation, but, after all, isn't that what the Japs have been doing with just about every Lexus, Infinity, Accura...looking more and more like Benz, BMW, LR, Audi?

I'd try one if I lived in Cali, but, up here, I'm good with my old Rover!

Remember DeLorean DMC-12?

I hope you have a better luck with this one than John DeLorean did with his. Best wishes.

DeLorean DMC-12 Story:

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=_i-XBgwEKZM

Bravo!

Congratulations to these two talented Iranians for their beautiful work. As someone who has re-built many Automobile and Motorcycle engines and powertrains, I can tell they must have spent so much time and effort to bring this amazing work to reality...

I would love to test drive one to feel the power and the suspension's handling .... :-)

Best of luck,

Nice

Tone it down javid jahanshah. Friendly reminder to be positive. here is the mclaren F1 I don't see the resemblence

//www.supercars.dk/cars/mclaren/F1-5.gif

//www.phys.uu.nl/~huizinga/photo/MCLaren%20F1%20Rear.jpg

 I think the car is very unique and has a lot of character.  Javid J. certainly is very negative publisher. recognize the effort of these individuals in bringing a concept to reality. Great job and I hope to see one on the road soon.

Wow, I'm so proud to be Iranian!!!

I love the car, what a beautiful design? You guys did a great job, and keep up with it.  The design is very young and attractive and its nothing like McLaren very different, from many ways nothing like Corvett either.  It has its own design............. bravo I can honestly say that from the price perspective too it's going to do fantastic !!!!

I'll spread the word to all my friends as well...

Hmm

Very nice car but I have to agree with ChalouRoad that it's awfully similar to the McLaren F1. No?

AND it's unfortunate that all the positive comments so far come from users who registered less than an hour ago. Deceptive self-promotion is not going to get you more customers.

Great Accomplishment, congradulations

It's not everday you see our young people bring a car from concept to reality. this is great accomplishment. I am very impressed, and it's a great looking car. good luck, I will spread the word. I know my son is going to want one.

This is Awsome I want one!!!

beatufil car. This is the mid engine corvette that GM should have built. 0-60 in 3.2 seconds and $58,000 wow, this is a great accomplishment, being a car fanatic I know that this will be very successful. My friends would  love a car like this.

This is a rip off of McLaren

This is a rip off of McLaren F1!