Buying guide, is there one?

[jumbo]

Hi all,
Fairly new to the forum, had various kit cars before but more Lotus 7 variety, now seriously looking for a Rocket preferably if not an Atom, is there such a thing as buying guides for them please?

Thanks for any advice in advance.

[kiwicanfly]

I only know the Rocket so here is my in depth guide -

Buy one.

[carlyd]

There isn't a buying guide at all. There also isn't a building guide or a guide for sourcing and buying parts to build your rocket, you are on your own.
This forum is the best source for info and the community is extremely helpful so if you have a question or problem, someone here has already faced and overcome it.

My advice is drive one, and take money with you... because you will be buying it! 

I remember buying my Kit from Road Track Race just before the closed (Now ESC), Paul Holmes (the owner) took me out for a test drive in a ST170 Rocket. He drove like a nutcase and I was shaking so mcuh that I couldn't get my bank card out of my wallet, Paul had to take it out for me 

[casesensitive]

Go to a show, or go to the vendors (ESC / MEV / Storm etc), look at a few, and try and get a passenger ride in one.
I was taken out by Paul in a lowly MR2-engined 130hp demo Race-Rocket, and I've never felt anything like it, more like a rollercoaster than a car.
I pootled around their workshop and saw about a dozen Rockets and Exocets in various stages of undress; I was able to walk over to a brand new blank chassis, stand where the floor ought to be and pick it up with relative ease.
The Mevabusa bike-engined one outside nearly swung me at the end, but I'm glad I went with an ST170-powered Rocket (now 'Classic Rocket'), as I could barely manage that.
If I had more skill, the smaller size and weight of the Exo/Mevabusa might have been my first choice.

Unless you're buying already-built, forget whatever you think it'll cost, it's going to be more, initial outlay is manageable, but total spend... eek, I gave up counting years ago.

In terms of average difficulty, in the MEV world it probably goes something like this:

1. Anything already IVA'd
   
2. Anything mostly built
3. Exocet kit
4. Focus-engined Rocket or Sonic Kit
5. Honda or other exotic power plant-ed Rocket/Sonic
6. Any MEV with a bike engine

Of course, you could make any MEV harder by putting in exotic materials, have a rough testing regime (ask sammy or Kiwi) or moving the things (fuel tank, rads, gear selector) to places other haven't.
Ask kiwicanfly about the Rocket-in-a-box complete kit...

[stevew]

Jun 13, 2019 10:05:11 GMT casesensitive said:

2. Focus-engined Rocket or Sonic Kit (if you can find the latter)
3. 
   

Sonics can easily be found at Equilibrium Kit Cars, the current manufacturer.

Cheers
Steve

[timm]

Hi, I am selling my 'partly assembled' kit and have just posted it for sale on this site - let me know if yo want more detail (my contact number and email address are in my ad) Cheers, Tim

[wishful4444]

Good day Jumbo

I don't own a Rocket I have a Sonic. The person I bought the car from also owned an Atom. He said the quality of the Atom was considerably better than the Sonic but the enjoyment from the Sonic was as good as the Atom. The difference in price is considerable.

Value for money the Sonic wins hands down.

When I was looking for a sports car I wanted the 'biggest bang for my buck'. I looked at all the usual eg Caterham, Westfield, Dax
, etc then I saw a Sonic and that was it! Mine has a Ford Focus ST170 engine 0-60 under 5.0 seconds. It's exactly what I wanted, a big bang and small bucks.