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4 seat speed UTV

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SkyDirtWaterguy

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I’m holding out for this....
IMG_6197.jpg
 

Flying_Lavey

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It is a standard CVT, you can just shift on the fly. In the RZR, Can Am, Rhino etc. all have high and low range gear, I am sure you are familiar with that. Traditionally, you had to come to a stop to change gears. Shifting between Lo and Hi on the fly kills the transmission.

In a Rhino and Kawasaki there is a wet clutch. The RZRs and Can Ams use the belt itself as the clutch. The Speed will use the belt as the clutch as well.

The Speed car has 3 gears, Lo , Hi and Overdrive, and you can shift between them on the fly. It still has the CVT that is used as the clutch to get going, and will vary the drive ratio throughout your selected gear.

It is not like an automatic trans in a car where you would just stick in Overdrive and let the CVT do the work. You will need to start in LO or HI, and click through the gears either once or twice to get into overdrive. The shifter is sequential so you shift through P-R-N-L-H-OD just by pulling or pushing the shifter. In order to up or downshift you will have to lift off the throttle while underway.
Gotcha. Thank you for the explanation. I hadn't heard it before. Although I am not the most up to date on the Speed products.

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LargeOrangeFont

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This is where I am actually a little glad the car is this late because they are out there testing it in 90+ degree temps. Gives me a little more confidence there won’t be any cooling issues.

I was always a little worried they’d test in Nov-December and I’d get the car in March and then it couldn’t handle the heat.
 

JayBreww

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This is where I am actually a little glad the car is this late because they are out there testing it in 90+ degree temps. Gives me a little more confidence there won’t be any cooling issues.

I was always a little worried they’d test in Nov-December and I’d get the car in March and then it couldn’t handle the heat.

The radiators yuge with enough fans to cause a tornado. I’d hope it doesn’t overheat.


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LargeOrangeFont

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Actually the longer they have it (testing and working it ) the better off everyone is

Yes!

They showed the Speed tires with 1500 miles on them, they are about done. Got reasonable life out of them.

The 4 seater looks like it rides and handles amazing based on the footage they released tonight.
 
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Singleton

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Looked over the car Tuesday when we were at Morgan Motorsport (it was in the shop, due to Monday testing), while we were executing repairs to 2 vehicles in our AZ Peace Trail group (group had to retire from trail the next day). Also saw it testing Monday outside Parker around 5pm. Looked great, pics are on GoPro and I will try to remember to post.
 

Taboma

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This is where I am actually a little glad the car is this late because they are out there testing it in 90+ degree temps. Gives me a little more confidence there won’t be any cooling issues.

I was always a little worried they’d test in Nov-December and I’d get the car in March and then it couldn’t handle the heat.

When the radiator is mounted in that location, does it depend on the airflow through the cab, or is it shrouded underneath to direct the airflow up between the cab and bed ?
I suppose I'm wondering how windshields and or rear window dust screens might alter or restrict that airflow.
I realize the advantage of not having the piping routed under the floor or not having the source for hot air in front, plus less chance of getting hit, but one big con I've read is the fan noise.
 

LargeOrangeFont

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When the radiator is mounted in that location, does it depend on the airflow through the cab, or is it shrouded underneath to direct the airflow up between the cab and bed ?
I suppose I'm wondering how windshields and or rear window dust screens might alter or restrict that airflow.
I realize the advantage of not having the piping routed under the floor or not having the source for hot air in front, plus less chance of getting hit, but one big con I've read is the fan noise.

They went over exactly that last night. What they said is if you are gonna do 70 MPH+ for extended long runs in 90 degree weather the car is gonna run 210F with a windshield. Without the windsheild they got a 20 degree drop in coolant temps on that same high speed run.

It will run like that and not hurt it, but it may pull a little timing and not make max power. At lower speeds in the heat they claim it’s fine with a windshield.

Fans may be noisy for the passengers closest to them, we will have to see. Headsets would mitigate that, but there will be a few things that are different with the rear mounted cooling package for sure.
 

Bpracing1127

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Sandcars have radiators in the rear like that. Is it loud when the fans come on yes but you only really hear it at low speeds and only in the back seat. Goes completely away with headsets
 

Taboma

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They went over exactly that last night. What they said is if you are gonna do 70 MPH+ for extended long runs in 90 degree weather the car is gonna run 210F with a windshield. Without the windsheild they got a 20 degree drop in coolant temps on that same high speed run.

It will run like that and not hurt it, but it may pull a little timing and not make max power. At lower speeds in the heat they claim it’s fine with a windshield.

Fans may be noisy for the passengers closest to them, we will have to see. Headsets would mitigate that, but there will be a few things that are different with the rear mounted cooling package for sure.

I'd imagine that what you're running in, hard pack vs soft sand as an example, would also factor in. With the radiator behind the rear seat, if the car is sitting idling or going slow, do the rear passengers feel the heat ? I understand Robbie's a racer, so like with many "Race" bred cars, passenger comfort takes a lower priority --- Shelby Cobra as one example comes to mind 🥵
When we first got the Wildcat XX, we immediately noticed greater rider discomfort from extreme cab heat and being buried in dust silt, even if we were out alone.
I'd read where a couple of Wildcat XX owners relocated the radiator to mitigate cab temps. That seemed a bit extreme so ---- we opted for sealing up holes first.
The dash sealing & tunnel and behind the seat insulating we did to ours pretty much eliminated that whole " Oh look, the heaters on all the time" effect we experienced early on. Between that, plugging the large holes in the floor and the rear window dust screen, which reduced the crazy cab backflow silt issue, it's a 100% better and improved ride experience.
Being our 3rd SxS, it's the only one that sucked in and covered you with silt from the rear window even with no windshield. The other two only did that with a full windshield and no rear window or dust screen.
 

LargeOrangeFont

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I'd imagine that what you're running in, hard pack vs soft sand as an example, would also factor in. With the radiator behind the rear seat, if the car is sitting idling or going slow, do the rear passengers feel the heat ? I understand Robbie's a racer, so like with many "Race" bred cars, passenger comfort takes a lower priority --- Shelby Cobra as one example comes to mind 🥵
When we first got the Wildcat XX, we immediately noticed greater rider discomfort from extreme cab heat and being buried in dust silt, even if we were out alone.
I'd read where a couple of Wildcat XX owners relocated the radiator to mitigate cab temps. That seemed a bit extreme so ---- we opted for sealing up holes first.
The dash sealing & tunnel and behind the seat insulating we did to ours pretty much eliminated that whole " Oh look, the heaters on all the time" effect we experienced early on. Between that, plugging the large holes in the floor and the rear window dust screen, which reduced the crazy cab backflow silt issue, it's a 100% better and improved ride experience.
Being our 3rd SxS, it's the only one that sucked in and covered you with silt from the rear window even with no windshield. The other two only did that with a full windshield and no rear window or dust screen.

I think the rear seat heat will be less than the typical Turbo RZR or Can Am where the Turbo is sitting directly behind your back. While sitting idle the fans should kick on and draw air through the cooling system to at least mitigate some of the heat.

In the 2 seater there is 18 inches between the seat back and rear firewall. I see heat as a non issue there.
 

Taboma

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I think the rear seat heat will be less than the typical Turbo RZR or Can Am where the Turbo is sitting directly behind your back. While sitting idle the fans should kick on and draw air through the cooling system to at least mitigate some of the heat.

In the 2 seater there is 18 inches between the seat back and rear firewall. I see heat as a non issue there.

Can you use that 18" for storage ? I do like that bed mounted spare tire and wrap around storage bins I saw in a pic. 👍
 

LargeOrangeFont

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Can you use that 18" for storage ? I do like that bed mounted spare tire and wrap around storage bins I saw in a pic. 👍

That is exactly what that space is intended for. You can install an optional extended capacity fuel tank in that area. And I believe there is a small door in one side of the car to aid loading and unloading of gear in that space.
 

RiverDave

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Wish I woulda checked it out at Morgan when it was here.
 

LargeOrangeFont

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Well we got what some of you wanted tonight! Pictures of Robby’s garage where he is building these things...

CAD48A2B-1DCF-4371-980A-59DC93E5C6CB.jpeg

Tooling that will be building the chassis.

AZ test went well they said and they put 700 miles on the car and did a full engine tear down and reassembly during the test. The test went so well, they left the car in Anaheim because it needed minimal prep. They are playing with crankcase and oil breather/catch can setups. They are taking the car to San Felipe to pre run the 250 next week.

One problem they are still working out is some steering chatter/feedback on gravel at around 11 and 1 o‘clock. They are playing with steering components to address this.
 
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BingerFang

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So much time and energy going into every single detail of these cars makes it so much more fascinating. Robby is a legend.
 

DLC

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oh come on that’s totally photoshop! Just start crying the blues now.....

lol

thats Good News! I guess he can walk and chew gum at the same time...




Well we got what some of you wanted tonight! Pictures of Robby’s garage where he is building these things...

View attachment 990414
Tooling that will be building the chassis.

AZ test went well they said and they put 700 miles on the car and did a full engine tear down and reassembly during the test. The test went so well, they left the car in Anaheim because it needed minimal prep. They are playing with crankcase and oil breather/catch can setups. They are taking the car to San Felipe to pre run the 250 next week.

One problem they are still working out is some steering chatter/feedback on gravel at around 11 and 1 o‘clock. They are playing with steering components to address this.
 

SKIDMARC

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Good to see they are making progress. But still seems like a long time before production gets going. But the product looks good! Nice car.
 

riverroyal

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Good to see they are making progress. But still seems like a long time before production gets going. But the product looks good! Nice car.
Thats a warehouse full of production line equipment not set up. Set up alone is 6 months to get a line up to full speed. (See what i did there)
Case of beer says no way by Thanksgiving.
Thats not me being a dick, so dont start saying i have nothing but negative things to say.
They missed the mark by a solid year.
Im sure its covid...

Seriously though. Run down the remaining effort to get one in your garage. Then factor material shortages which are staggering for steel. Then labor shortages.
Not a nay-sayer, you guys just need to figure its a xmas gift.
The sooner the better. Ive said it before im a buyer once proven
 

riverroyal

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Im gonna be flamed by 10am
Just drove 6 hours to havasu after my second cv shot. Not in the greatest mood.
2nd one is a bit of a headache o_O
 

LargeOrangeFont

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Thats a warehouse full of production line equipment not set up. Set up alone is 6 months to get a line up to full speed. (See what i did there)
Case of beer says no way by Thanksgiving.
Thats not me being a dick, so dont start saying i have nothing but negative things to say.
They missed the mark by a solid year.
Im sure its covid...

Seriously though. Run down the remaining effort to get one in your garage. Then factor material shortages which are staggering for steel. Then labor shortages.
Not a nay-sayer, you guys just need to figure its a xmas gift.
The sooner the better. Ive said it before im a buyer once proven

I’ll take you up on that. Before Thanksgiving ‘21 the first cars will have been delivered, easy.
 
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dirtslinger2

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Todd Romano
We have kicked off the production of 10 full assembly line builds. 100 percent production cars with production bodies. Same cars the customers will be receiving. These cars are a month away. Mid May we will see these cars. We will have one more test session with these cars. Testing is more to confirm the assembly process, and how the cars production plastics look and feel. This is about 2-3 weeks of final validation. . By June we will kick off production parts ordering and start manufacturing cars. From the kick off of production cars to the day the customer sees the first car will be 60-90 days. This puts us at end of July beginning of August cars should be hitting the streets. This is the current time line we are on, and have not seen anything that would slow this process down. We are working to speed it up and get cars sooner, but this where we are today, and since testing went so well, we were able to push go on the 10 production cars. Call me anytime. I hope this shares some insight on where we are and what is still in front of us.
 

HB2Havasu

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Todd Romano
We have kicked off the production of 10 full assembly line builds. 100 percent production cars with production bodies. Same cars the customers will be receiving. These cars are a month away. Mid May we will see these cars. We will have one more test session with these cars. Testing is more to confirm the assembly process, and how the cars production plastics look and feel. This is about 2-3 weeks of final validation. . By June we will kick off production parts ordering and start manufacturing cars. From the kick off of production cars to the day the customer sees the first car will be 60-90 days. This puts us at end of July beginning of August cars should be hitting the streets. This is the current time line we are on, and have not seen anything that would slow this process down. We are working to speed it up and get cars sooner, but this where we are today, and since testing went so well, we were able to push go on the 10 production cars. Call me anytime. I hope this shares some insight on where we are and what is still in front of us.

Im assuming they are going to start building cars by hand until they get their production line qualified to keep people from jumping ship? If you have cage weldment fixtures just sitting in storage without being rigged and no robots in sight you’re probably a little further out than a month, lol.

I hope they get it together. Would love to see one tearing up the dunes this fall 😀
 
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LargeOrangeFont

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Im assuming they are going to start building cars by hand until they get their production line qualified to keep people from jumping ship? If you have cage weldment fixtures just sitting in storage without being rigged and no robots in sight your probably a little further out than a month, lol.

I hope they get it together. Would love to see one tearing up the dunes this fall 😀

None will be build by hand. Production line is being qualified in parallel to testing. That was started months ago.
 

Done-it-again

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Thats a warehouse full of production line equipment not set up. Set up alone is 6 months to get a line up to full speed. (See what i did there)
Case of beer says no way by Thanksgiving.
Thats not me being a dick, so dont start saying i have nothing but negative things to say.
They missed the mark by a solid year.
Im sure its covid...

Seriously though. Run down the remaining effort to get one in your garage. Then factor material shortages which are staggering for steel. Then labor shortages.
Not a nay-sayer, you guys just need to figure its a xmas gift.
The sooner the better. Ive said it before im a buyer once proven

Would have to agree. Modifications still being made prior to production, still working with belt mfg, assembly line not set up. The covid delays in the material supply chain when ready. It’s huge.

It’s a bitchen car and when done it will be setup 100x better than all the others. Just don’t seeing it happening this year. Hope I’m wrong.
 

Bpracing1127

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One thing to factor in, price of steel has gone up 50-70% since a year ago. There will be zero profit in the first 100-500 cars. I don’t think he want to take that loss. So a delay for steel prices to come down is in his best interest kinda.
 

AzMandella

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One thing to factor in, price of steel has gone up 50-70% since a year ago. There will be zero profit in the first 100-500 cars. I don’t think he want to take that loss. So a delay for steel prices to come down is in his best interest kinda.
50 to 70% Hah . Closer to 100%
 

v6toy4x

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I am a N. CA guy and we rock crawl, so I am not necessarily a big SxS guy, but they do look like a whole lot of fun! Anybody want to loan me one of these for a couple weeks when you get it??????? I also never had a very high opinion of RG primarily from his days in nascar.

However I have been hooked on his series on the development of this car and have a whole new perspective and opinion of RG. The man has ambition, motivation, vision and a large work ethic, that or he gets "SPEED ENERGY" on an IV drip every day! Seeing the development proccess from a transparent boots on the ground view is truly interesting and I find myself eagerly anticipating each new episode. This car does appear to have true racing inspired technology and production design given the price point and intended customer base.

So to all of you who have put your money down, I wish this project great success!
To those skeptics, I can see a perspective there, when you ask how can an individual compete against large longstanding corporations and their bankrolls?

David and Goliath, I am definitely staying tuned!

"GOOD LUCK RG!"----that would have been near impossible for me to say 10 or 15 years ago!

Carry on!
 

LargeOrangeFont

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One thing to factor in, price of steel has gone up 50-70% since a year ago. There will be zero profit in the first 100-500 cars. I don’t think he want to take that loss. So a delay for steel prices to come down is in his best interest kinda.

They just created 12,000 units in committed sales.
 

riverroyal

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I’ll take you up on that. Before Thanksgiving ‘21 the first cars will have been delivered, easy.
my post is based on the picture of assembly line equipment. If it already placed, wired and running then the case of beer will be reduced to one beer
 

ONE-A-DAY

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So the thoughts are that this fall in the dunes we should start seeing them all wadded up in the dunes? All of these Robby Gordon starter kit owners thinking talent comes with the monthly payment, should be interesting. Snow Cat guy is gonna make bank.
 

LargeOrangeFont

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I am a N. CA guy and we rock crawl, so I am not necessarily a big SxS guy, but they do look like a whole lot of fun! Anybody want to loan me one of these for a couple weeks when you get it??????? I also never had a very high opinion of RG primarily from his days in nascar.

However I have been hooked on his series on the development of this car and have a whole new perspective and opinion of RG. The man has ambition, motivation, vision and a large work ethic, that or he gets "SPEED ENERGY" on an IV drip every day! Seeing the development proccess from a transparent boots on the ground view is truly interesting and I find myself eagerly anticipating each new episode. This car does appear to have true racing inspired technology and production design given the price point and intended customer base.

So to all of you who have put your money down, I wish this project great success!
To those skeptics, I can see a perspective there, when you ask how can an individual compete against large longstanding corporations and their bankrolls?

David and Goliath, I am definitely staying tuned!

"GOOD LUCK RG!"----that would have been near impossible for me to say 10 or 15 years ago!

Carry on!

He does not have the scale yet, but the agility and their organization’s agility and ability to fail fast are differentiators compared to Can Am, Polaris, etc.

If Polaris, Can Am, etc. were to do all of this and design a car from the ground up, they would be half as far 18 months in.
 

LargeOrangeFont

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my post is based on the picture of assembly line equipment. If it already placed, wired and running then the case of beer will be reduced to one beer

They are in the final stages of dialing in the robot welding, etc. Parts are already being made, jigs finalized, welding is being dialed in

You are gonna owe me a beer.
 

LargeOrangeFont

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So the thoughts are that this fall in the dunes we should start seeing them all wadded up in the dunes? All of these Robby Gordon starter kit owners thinking talent comes with the monthly payment, should be interesting. Snow Cat guy is gonna make bank.

Yuuuup. These will just crash worse lol.
 
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2Driver

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So the thoughts are that this fall in the dunes we should start seeing them all wadded up in the dunes? All of these Robby Gordon starter kit owners thinking talent comes with the monthly payment, should be interesting. Snow Cat guy is gonna make bank.

LOL Robby Gordon starter kit, classic right there.

What are the chances of people getting parts for their broken Speed cars the first 6 months.
 

RiverDave

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Thats a warehouse full of production line equipment not set up. Set up alone is 6 months to get a line up to full speed. (See what i did there)
Case of beer says no way by Thanksgiving.
Thats not me being a dick, so dont start saying i have nothing but negative things to say.
They missed the mark by a solid year.
Im sure its covid...

Seriously though. Run down the remaining effort to get one in your garage. Then factor material shortages which are staggering for steel. Then labor shortages.
Not a nay-sayer, you guys just need to figure its a xmas gift.
The sooner the better. Ive said it before im a buyer once proven

I will take that bet as well
 

LargeOrangeFont

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LOL Robby Gordon starter kit, classic right there.

What are the chances of people getting parts for their broken Speed cars the first 6 months.

Probably not very likely realistically. This is a very real concern.

So be gentle, it’s not a rental.
 

DWC

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They are in the final stages of dialing in the robot welding, etc. Parts are already being made, jigs finalized, welding is being dialed in

You are gonna owe me a beer.
I’ll bring the cold ones on the first ride. I wanna drive it though @LargeOrangeFont. I wouldn’t get in that thing with you driving unless one of your kids is in the back.
 

riverroyal

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Heres my logic. If those machines in the picture are sitting like shown in the picture...
3 months for millrights to set them. 1 month over lap for electricians. They will be 3 to 4 months with conduit, wire and testing. Thats puts us at 6 months.
Then production. 2 months to work out bugs in automation.
Now at 8 months. Shipping, permits, insurance ratings, add another 2 months
Bam. Merry xmas.

Unless the machines are set with power already.

Beer for RR soon. Or not
 

HCP3

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Can I help out with the beer consumption when the bets are settled? 😋🍻

I am not in the market, but I wish RG well in this endeavor.
 

1tonfun

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It's a pic but how do we know when that was taken, it could have been taken months ago. I would hope that the production lines are ready to go and the materials for the chassis have already been ordered since they were supposed to start production in late Jan/early February. If that's not the case, I'm afraid we are in for a long wait.
 
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