Smyth
Performance G3F
What
you're looking at here is the proposed final design - and the partially
constructed prototype - of an all-new kit car developed by Smyth Performance.
The car's name is the G3F.
The
car is based on the company's motto of "Go Green but Go Fast". I
assume they mean; have a fast, fuel efficient car. Not; get a fuel efficient
car quickly'. Anyway, the company was created by Factory Five Racing's
co-founder, Mark Smith. Factory Five Racing produce the GTM, a car which is in
no way green. But this new offering should tick both the fuel efficient box,
and hopefully the fun-to-drive box.
The
car is based on the VW Jetta/Golf platform, and the transformation begins with
the cutting away of 1000 lbs (450 kgs) of the original car, replacing the
bodywork with a sleek two-door coupe skin formed from fiberglass. The
drivetrain of the vehicle is also borrowed from the VW donor car, meaning that
there's everything from a frugal TDI engine on offer, right up to the potent
engine from the VR6 - that one doesn't really tick the green box though.
The
engine's position gets moved from the front to the middle, and it becomes a RWD
car. Much of the safety structure of the VW gets incorporated into the G3F's
design, although to beef it up there are additional steel tubes and framework.
It's
cheap too. The cost of the donor car is roughly US$ 5,000 - depending on what
model you go for, and the kit costs US$ 10,000. In total it's estimated the final
kit will take 100 hours to build from start to finish.
