Serious hankering to build (GBS Zero)
Discussion
Afternoon all,
I currently have a serious desire to build a GBS Zero.
Its been a couple of years since I have treated myself to something, having spent the past couple of years spending next to everything on a house move.
Im now fortunate enough to have a double garage and fancy using it to house a project / weekend toy.
I miss the fun hot-hatch days I had of yester year - I did consider purchasing the likes of a Clio 182 / EP3 Type-R, but that would be the easy answer and I quite fancy a medium to long term project.
Intended use for the car initially is to occupy any free time, once built I plan to use it for summer days / evenings out, with the occasional trackday funds permitting.
My little boy is of the age where he is beginning to show an interest in things, so it could be a good opportunity for him to expirience the build too.
In terms of competance, I've never built anything before, however I carry out all the maintenance on my own cars, built an engine or two here and there and done the odd BMW engine replacement, so do feel I can twirl the spanners to a relative degree of competance.
My best friend has done a fair bit more custom stuff than I have (putting engines in cars they dont belong in!), has done a fair bit of welding and is a dab hand with electrics (standalone ECUs.etc). I'm assuming he will be happy to help after a brief discussion!
My vague plan at the moment is to go for something new - I have seen the GBS Zero kit, sourcing a used engine (Duratec / K20) and using MaxxECU management.
In terms of budget, I dont have a total figure in mind, but my thoughts are that the car needs to be completed to a good standard, without skimping / buying bargain basement low quality parts. The spend will be peacemeal as the build progresses so wont be a lump sum.
I've never driven, or even been a passenger in a kit car similar to the Caterham, so I dont really know what to expect.
My desire is to have a car as close to a raw driving expirience as possible, hence wanting to go down this route.
How do cars like the Zero handle?
I'm not expecting it to be mind bending, but would expect it to handle at least as good as the hot hatches I used to drive, with some RWD fun.
A good friend of mine has a Caterham that he uses for track days - think hes running the 1.6 sigma engine, he really rates them and finds them ideal for trackdays having come from a fairly well setup Evo.
Has anyone built a Zero? Would be keen to hear about others expiriences.
If all goes to plan, I would be aiming to start the build around April of 2025.
I currently have a serious desire to build a GBS Zero.
Its been a couple of years since I have treated myself to something, having spent the past couple of years spending next to everything on a house move.
Im now fortunate enough to have a double garage and fancy using it to house a project / weekend toy.
I miss the fun hot-hatch days I had of yester year - I did consider purchasing the likes of a Clio 182 / EP3 Type-R, but that would be the easy answer and I quite fancy a medium to long term project.
Intended use for the car initially is to occupy any free time, once built I plan to use it for summer days / evenings out, with the occasional trackday funds permitting.
My little boy is of the age where he is beginning to show an interest in things, so it could be a good opportunity for him to expirience the build too.
In terms of competance, I've never built anything before, however I carry out all the maintenance on my own cars, built an engine or two here and there and done the odd BMW engine replacement, so do feel I can twirl the spanners to a relative degree of competance.
My best friend has done a fair bit more custom stuff than I have (putting engines in cars they dont belong in!), has done a fair bit of welding and is a dab hand with electrics (standalone ECUs.etc). I'm assuming he will be happy to help after a brief discussion!
My vague plan at the moment is to go for something new - I have seen the GBS Zero kit, sourcing a used engine (Duratec / K20) and using MaxxECU management.
In terms of budget, I dont have a total figure in mind, but my thoughts are that the car needs to be completed to a good standard, without skimping / buying bargain basement low quality parts. The spend will be peacemeal as the build progresses so wont be a lump sum.
I've never driven, or even been a passenger in a kit car similar to the Caterham, so I dont really know what to expect.
My desire is to have a car as close to a raw driving expirience as possible, hence wanting to go down this route.
How do cars like the Zero handle?
I'm not expecting it to be mind bending, but would expect it to handle at least as good as the hot hatches I used to drive, with some RWD fun.
A good friend of mine has a Caterham that he uses for track days - think hes running the 1.6 sigma engine, he really rates them and finds them ideal for trackdays having come from a fairly well setup Evo.
Has anyone built a Zero? Would be keen to hear about others expiriences.
If all goes to plan, I would be aiming to start the build around April of 2025.
Edited by AlexGSi2000 on Sunday 18th August 16:46
Hi and welcome to kit car building and ownership.
GBS, MK, Westfield are very good places to start. They all have accessibility to good customer and manufacturer support. Also they do comprehensive kits which is a big aid for the 1st project.
My advise is to go to an open day or do a factory visit. If they dont have time to welcome or invest in your interest, they will not be very helpful during the build. Join the relevant club. I joined the Westfield club (I don't live in the UK) to gain access to the technical information and build diarys. Even though I don't have a Westfield the information has been invaluable.
Expect the build to take a couple of years unless you can throw a lot of time at it. The 1.6 sigma engine is ideal for a lightweight car. It is light and reliable so enhancing the driving dynamics. Like most I was gready and went for the 1.6 ecoboost turbo motor. On one of my initial runs the turbo intake hose came off, so I drove the next 30minutes of country roads normally aspirated. It made for a very enjoyable drive with good power delivery.
Enjoy the journey.
GBS, MK, Westfield are very good places to start. They all have accessibility to good customer and manufacturer support. Also they do comprehensive kits which is a big aid for the 1st project.
My advise is to go to an open day or do a factory visit. If they dont have time to welcome or invest in your interest, they will not be very helpful during the build. Join the relevant club. I joined the Westfield club (I don't live in the UK) to gain access to the technical information and build diarys. Even though I don't have a Westfield the information has been invaluable.
Expect the build to take a couple of years unless you can throw a lot of time at it. The 1.6 sigma engine is ideal for a lightweight car. It is light and reliable so enhancing the driving dynamics. Like most I was gready and went for the 1.6 ecoboost turbo motor. On one of my initial runs the turbo intake hose came off, so I drove the next 30minutes of country roads normally aspirated. It made for a very enjoyable drive with good power delivery.
Enjoy the journey.
GBS have a cars and coffee evening planned for Friday 30th August, it would be a good opportunity to meet other owners and also the owner of the business. We visited last month and were really impressed with the set up. You will probably be able to get a tour of the factory and ask any questions you have.
Thanks Kev & Mike,
I've booked in at GBS for a visit in March next year - gives me a chance to get the first bit of the funding together.
Currently mulling over engines and building a rough estimate of drivetrain choices.
Ideally I would like something no less than 200Bhp, so have ruled out the Zetecs.
Looks like the Duratec 2.5 may be a likely contender, but quite like the idea of the Honda K20, loved the engine when I had my Civic a few years back and think a high redline would give the car a bit more character.
I've booked in at GBS for a visit in March next year - gives me a chance to get the first bit of the funding together.
Currently mulling over engines and building a rough estimate of drivetrain choices.
Ideally I would like something no less than 200Bhp, so have ruled out the Zetecs.
Looks like the Duratec 2.5 may be a likely contender, but quite like the idea of the Honda K20, loved the engine when I had my Civic a few years back and think a high redline would give the car a bit more character.
AlexGSi2000 said:
Thanks Kev & Mike,
I've booked in at GBS for a visit in March next year - gives me a chance to get the first bit of the funding together.
Currently mulling over engines and building a rough estimate of drivetrain choices.
Ideally I would like something no less than 200Bhp, so have ruled out the Zetecs.
Looks like the Duratec 2.5 may be a likely contender, but quite like the idea of the Honda K20, loved the engine when I had my Civic a few years back and think a high redline would give the car a bit more character.
If you haven't been out in a 7 or similar I would say that they feel about twice as powerful (or more) than a "proper" car. Purely down to weight. I've booked in at GBS for a visit in March next year - gives me a chance to get the first bit of the funding together.
Currently mulling over engines and building a rough estimate of drivetrain choices.
Ideally I would like something no less than 200Bhp, so have ruled out the Zetecs.
Looks like the Duratec 2.5 may be a likely contender, but quite like the idea of the Honda K20, loved the engine when I had my Civic a few years back and think a high redline would give the car a bit more character.
They'll be in the region of 600kgs so acceleration, braking, turn in etc is so much more immediate than anything else you will have driven.
Even a clio 182 is about 1100kgs (165bhp/tonne)
200bhp @ 600kgs is ~330bhp/tonne
Because they're light they can be a bit of a handful but they're incredibly rewarding to drive
You won't go far wrong with a GBS, recently finished my build off after 3 years so I've got a couple of pointers...
I went with the ultimate build as they call it, basically I bought sections in stages as and when I could afford it. You could probably do all the stages in one lump but I know they build quite a few bits to order so it would take time.
Competence wise it sounds like you're pretty handy with a spanner so shouldn't be an issue, all I would say is take your time with it and do it properly as there are some fiddly bits that need a bit more attention/thinking about. They now have a build manual too which does help quite a bit, I'd mostly finished mine when they released it but it did answer a few questions I'd come across during the build.
I was in the same boat as you regarding never having driven anything like it before, its definitely raw! You'll easily get your kicks from it as its basically a road going go-kart and it gets plenty of attention. Handling is spot on, I've done my own set-up using alignment strings so it's not perfect (will get a laser alignment reading at some point) but it's quite neutral. It needed shims for the rear toe as before it was quite twitchy but the factory told me that I'll need them so was aware already. Haven't really pushed it on track yet but I bet it would easily outperform the Clio 182 track car I had previously.
Mines the 2.5 Duratec they do with reportedly 200bhp, I was the same as you thinking I could really do with something more revvy but thought I'd see what it's like. Now I've driven it it's not something I'm too bothered about now, it revs so quick as the balancer shaft is removed and it has a lightened flywheel. With the ITBs as well it doesn't half sing further up the revs. There's plenty of tuning options out there for the Duratec too so if 200bhp isn't enough the 2.5 will take a fair bit more.
The kicker for me getting a Zero was the overall look of it, I think they look slightly better than the other kits out there in terms of its proportions but that's obviously subjective.
Have a chat with the factory and some owners at one of their cars and coffee events if you can, you'll get a good idea about what you want to do then.
I went with the ultimate build as they call it, basically I bought sections in stages as and when I could afford it. You could probably do all the stages in one lump but I know they build quite a few bits to order so it would take time.
Competence wise it sounds like you're pretty handy with a spanner so shouldn't be an issue, all I would say is take your time with it and do it properly as there are some fiddly bits that need a bit more attention/thinking about. They now have a build manual too which does help quite a bit, I'd mostly finished mine when they released it but it did answer a few questions I'd come across during the build.
I was in the same boat as you regarding never having driven anything like it before, its definitely raw! You'll easily get your kicks from it as its basically a road going go-kart and it gets plenty of attention. Handling is spot on, I've done my own set-up using alignment strings so it's not perfect (will get a laser alignment reading at some point) but it's quite neutral. It needed shims for the rear toe as before it was quite twitchy but the factory told me that I'll need them so was aware already. Haven't really pushed it on track yet but I bet it would easily outperform the Clio 182 track car I had previously.
Mines the 2.5 Duratec they do with reportedly 200bhp, I was the same as you thinking I could really do with something more revvy but thought I'd see what it's like. Now I've driven it it's not something I'm too bothered about now, it revs so quick as the balancer shaft is removed and it has a lightened flywheel. With the ITBs as well it doesn't half sing further up the revs. There's plenty of tuning options out there for the Duratec too so if 200bhp isn't enough the 2.5 will take a fair bit more.
The kicker for me getting a Zero was the overall look of it, I think they look slightly better than the other kits out there in terms of its proportions but that's obviously subjective.
Have a chat with the factory and some owners at one of their cars and coffee events if you can, you'll get a good idea about what you want to do then.
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