New Member in Houston Texas

[philso]

Hi

I am working towards ordering either a Sport 250 kit or a Mega S2000 kit around the end of the year. I have been researching the various 7 kits available here in the US over the last year. A member of the local Lotus owners club very graciously allowed me to take one of his Caterhams on several fairly long drives. So far, I have read through several of the Sport 250 and Mega S2000 build logs and liked that they all proceeded relatively smoothly and they contained a lot of useful tips. It was also encouraging to see that issues with parts were addressed relatively promptly though I am in the US. The US sales agent seems to be very knowledgeable and helpful.

My sons have both moved away for college so I no longer have to spend countless evenings and weekends at swim practices and swim meets though I still spend several months a year mentoring middle school and high school robotics teams.

My main challenge now is to sort through many years of accumulated stuff in my garage and store what I want to keep more efficiently and dispose of the rest to make room to work on the kit.

In my day job, I am currently working as an Electrical Engineer doing R&D work on instruments used in the oil and gas industry. Previously, I had worked for many years in R&D on motor controllers for AC motors (up to 1200 hp).

[Ian Kinder (Bagpuss) - Joint Peak District AO]

Welcome @philso Did you work for Ross Hill Controls by any chance? I'm ex Hill Graham Controls the former UK partner to Ross Hill. I'm also biased towards the Mega S2000. There's a least two in the USA on here @kimptos and @Davemk1

Though they're probably not too close for a test drive!

 

[Geoffrey Carter (Buttercup)]

 

 

[Steve (sdh2903)]

I assume the f20c engines are a little more abundant in the states than over here? Big advantage if so as they are getting rare/expensive over here. That was what swayed me to the ecoboost option. The sport 250 is essentially a mega s2000 with torque  oh and an ugly engine bay.

You have an advantage in that the ford bits are much much cheaper in the states however I suppose the exchange rate at present is making things more attractive anyways. I wonder if buying a 250 in the states you would get the engine kit sent over from the UK or shipped direct as they all come from the states?

[Andy Banks]

glad to have you onboard.

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

Welcome! Ignore those torque comments regarding S2000's, torque be fixed, ugly can't    oh, and just to remind everyone that it's got an inside out washing machine under the bonnet, it makes funny whoosy sounds! 

Seriously though, they're both damn fine cars, with very different characters, so literally something to appeal to everyone.

[BugMan]

Welcome cousin from across the water, been through a few of the same thoughts as yourself, but for me the availability of the VTEC and there support was something I could not come to terms with here, might be worth checking if you can get hold of one state-side first, and then factor in the cost difference between that and a new crate Ecoboost.

I went for the "kit-in-a-box" approach, for me it was a no brainer, but it probably depends on what you are going to do with the car.

BugMan 

[Kit Car Electronics]

Welcome! Just to suggest an alternative- the 310HP 2.3 Mustang Ecoboost crate engine is available too...

https://performanceparts.ford.com/part/M-6007-23T

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

If I was ordering a Mustang engine for $8000 I think I might go for one with rather more cylinders!

[Steve (sdh2903)]

that mustang engine is a straight swap for the 2.0 aswell. My contact at powertorque was trying to convince me one would be a good idea.....

 

..........And wooshy noises are the future

[Alan Cutler (Adge) - Dorset AO]

 from a novice 250 builder. Have fun choosing, and enjoy your build. Please keep us posted.

That 2.3 Ecoboost sounds an intriguing proposition!!

[Steve (sdh2903)]

Better price here complete with the controls pack for $6500 for a brand new 310hp turbo engine with everything to make it run 

http://www.fordracingbyspeedshopdirect.com/mobile/product.aspx?ProductCode=m-6007-23tk&404;http://www.fordracingbyspeedshopdirect.com:80/2_3L_MUSTANG_ECOBOOST_ENGINE_AND_CONTROL_PACK_KIT_p/m-6007-23tk.htm=

[Kit Car Electronics]

34 minutes ago, sdh2903 said:

Better price here complete with the controls pack for $6500 for a brand new 310hp turbo engine with everything to make it run 

http://www.fordracingbyspeedshopdirect.com/mobile/product.aspx?ProductCode=m-6007-23tk&404;http://www.fordracingbyspeedshopdirect.com:80/2_3L_MUSTANG_ECOBOOST_ENGINE_AND_CONTROL_PACK_KIT_p/m-6007-23tk.htm=

Somebody please do this!

[Steve (sdh2903)]

You buy it. I'll fit it. 

[Mole]

Hi and welcome. I lived in Tyler east Texas for a couple of years around 2006 and had a zetec engines Westfield and regularly went on teach at Cresson just south of Dallas or Texas world speedway at college station. I had fantastic fun on track.. plus general driving around. I did look at putting a flying miata car together as they were getting massive power from those units..have fun and have some BBQ for me!