New to Kits, advice...

[Sea-Doo]

Hi All,

I have always wanted a kit and have decided to look at getting one for this year.

I have never bee keen on the Locost homebuilt type chassis' but don't have a full understanding of the hierarchy of other offerings.

There seems to be a fair few Tiger's around competitively priced, this one has caught my eye in the sort of budget I am looking at:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Tiger-Kit-Car-Supercat-...

I would be using it for back-lane blasts and track days mostly.

Note, Cosmetics aren't a problem, I would treat it as a project anyway.

Any thought's or advice appreciated.

[Equus]

I'd say that that particular Tiger is over-priced by about £4K.

One problem with that particular model is that it uses donor Sierra semi-trailing arm rear suspension (you can tell by the buldges in the front of the rear wheelarches, which are there to clear the suspension arms), which is pretty crude and has a high unsprung weight for this type of car.

The interior on that example looks pretty shonky, too - if they can't be bothered to pop-rivet the transmission tunnel top in place, trim the dashboard neatly, use the right length mounting bolts for the roll cage to stop them protruding half a mile into the cockpit, or to fit a boss and shroud on the steering wheel, then what's it going to be like under the bonnet?

[GinG15]

this car mainly attracts the "typical" unskilled kitcar buyer by its looks.

watching closely the car has lots of unsorted things to do.

i would rate this car to 4-5kpound....max-max!!!

[spyder dryver]

I too think it's overpriced but not by as much as the previous posters. Kit car asking prices do seem to be on the up.
The Tiger will be pretty nippy off-the-mark with it's ST170 motor and throttle bodies. That in itself will impress anyone who is not used to it.
They all feel like they're going faster than they really are, don't they. It's got sticky rubber and at road speeds it will feel nimble enough too.
The lacklustre chassis will only really show up on the "B" roads and on track. Just where you are wanting to drive it.
A test drive on smooth roads will flatter to deceive. I suspect he'll get upwards of 6k for it.
I've never been a fan of the Supercat. They look too long in profile because of the Sierra back end.
If I had 7.5K to spend I'd be looking elsewhere.

[MKnight702]

Hmm, I think it is overpriced, not £4k overpriced but still over what I would pay.

Things to consider,

Bad.
1) The wrap covering the race damaged body
2) The "aesthetically challenging" rear diffuser
3) No front plate.
4) The Zetec engine is quite heavy and not worth tuning over 200bhp
5) No wet weather gear
6) No side repeaters

Good
1) Properly registered (this is vital)
2)Full cage
3) The Zetec engine is pretty bullet proof and cheapish to tune (see above)
4) Engine bay relatively tidy
5) Trackday tyres (but wear quickly, especially on track and rubbish in the wet)
6) Fun on a budget

OP, if you go and see it, look at the build quality more than anything. The Tiger kit is a reasonable proposition, but with kit cars it is the build that makes or breaks a car. Has the builder gone the extra mile to tidy the engine bay wiring, have they done the same behind the dash? Are brackets nicely made or bodged? Is the wiring well done, or have they used copious numbers of scotch blocks? Etc etc.

[GinG15]

makes no sense to drive even 20miles to view this car.....as its totally overpriced......

i would just go there only if i would have the feeling that the seller would massively reduce the rpice as he "must" sell the car (needs the money).

or you play the game if you are living really close to him-......go there, put 3.5k on the table and say "take it or leave it"...and see what happens.

by the way: just 1k more to the tiger-advert price would buy this one:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/KIT-CAR/274196144255?ha...

practially a new car...and even this might be a bit overpriced, when not comparing to others

Edited by GinG15 on Wednesday 15th January 23:20