Building A Leaf

[Duncan]

So we picked up a LEAF the other day, and I thought it needed a build thread.

This is the starting point:

Stage 1 will be the usual; bigger exhaust, pod filter, and some basic stuff like a good synthetic oil and an aluminium radiator

Stage 2 might look into a high lift cam, racing plugs, or a bolt on turbo, and if I go stage 3 it might include stroking the crank and an e85 conversion

[FineLine]

You shot who in the what !!!!

[paulR32gtr]

Hehe nice one. I always have crazy ideas like this - take a new, fairly pedestrian vehicle and turn it into something nuts.

[Roy]

Dont they run KERS

[XRATED]

I had exactly the same idea...

Electric is still just to expensive to get going fast.... power to $ is still a bit too high.

... my electric dream involves a retrofit.

I can't wait to see how it comes along.

Cheers

justin

[Victory]

Upgrade jobs list:

• engine transplant from a Tesla Roadster
  
• upgraded batteries from a Tesla Roadster
  
• fiddle with the software to tune the sucker for out and out performance
  

Isn't this going a bit toooooooooooo green - when the rest of us are making the great sacrafice and converting to E85 to save the planet

[NYTSKY]

Cool. Did you know there is an update coming out in the 2013 spec ones?

[34GeeTeeTee]

Upgrade jobs list:

• engine transplant from a Tesla Roadster
  
• upgraded batteries from a Tesla Roadster
  
• fiddle with the software to tune the sucker for out and out performance
  

Isn't this going a bit toooooooooooo green - when the rest of us are making the great sacrafice and converting to E85 to save the planet

Yesssss this is what we do it for

Wow, certainly a different build thread hehe

[XRATED]

I was fortunate enought to have the oppurtunity to drive a pre-release tesla in the US, owned by a former employer. the 'speed controller' or governing conrolls were set more aggressivly than a production model.

It would have to be the fastest point to point car I have ever seen or driven... The initial take up was fenominal.

The power delivery was far to agressive for general consumption, but once you mastered the unique throttle application it was a blast.

Silent burnouts were odd though.

Electric cars are going to out perform anything we drive/modify currently... especially in stop/start style driving. That's assuming you can get the power down.

Batteries, motors and controll set ups are still just way too expensive for the performance they deliver. plus they still weight alot and even with a decent battery pack a perfomance set up will only achieve 300km before a re-charge at best. The last time I looked at a performance retrofitt, just the basic's are around 35k for the propulsion and batteries.

Goood luck with the leaf... I'm pretty keen to see how it comes together.

Cheers

Justin

[alex182]

Silent burnouts were odd though.

haha i can imagine.

this'll definitely be a cool build to keep an eye on

[Duncan]

how f**king rude. start a build thread and then ignore it!

well we have not found any way to do anything about the motor's output, and probably won't while it is under warranty. I would hate to think about the cost of replacement.

we've been running the car daily for about 3 months now and it has been excellent. great hooning through traffic, and no-one ever suspects the ninja leaf is about to zoom past them.

cost wise, we charge it every 2-3 days @about $2. So about $5pw compared to $100pw petrol for the stagea. It will still take about 1000 years to recover the higher purchase price

range wise has been interesting. Obviously no issue in day to day use. The speed you travel at makes a huge difference though, it literally uses twice the juice at 110 as it does at 70 (this is probably also true for a petrol car but we just don't notice). I have twice had to drop back to about 70 on freeways to get the range back.

[Duncan]

we took it to the SAU texi a few weeks back. I finished 4th (some courses in the stagea) and Kel finished 7th (all leaf). So it certainly gets up and goes fine.

it handled like a fat hatchback though, need to do something about that.....so we have a set of blitz ZZR springs and shocks on the way. Also looking into some custom swaybars because I think that is the big thing it is missing.

here is one of the runs, all of them are up on youtube if you like tyre squeal without engine noise.

Roy, yes it does run KERS and the braking appears adequate....so no 8 piston brembo setups required.

other than a little ricing it up a little, the only other sensible thing to do for now is put some lighter and larger wheels on it. It takes GTR size and offsets, does anyone have a suggestion of a forged wheel that will look good on a fat black hatch?

[NYTSKY]

Would putting different wheels on it kill the range a bit?

[SimonR32]

I'll just chuck this here...

[Adzmax]

Impressive. Imagine the cost of replacing those batteries after 10 years!

[XRATED]

Roy, yes it does run KERS and the braking appears adequate....so no 8 piston brembo setups required.

other than a little ricing it up a little, the only other sensible thing to do for now is put some lighter and larger wheels on it. It takes GTR size and offsets, does anyone have a suggestion of a forged wheel that will look good on a fat black hatch?

10spoke, carbon fiber Wed's.... and an over fender style blister kit.

[Duncan]

excellent video Simon....we are a long way off that yet but I have no doubt we will all end up there (except for dirty old race cars) soon enough. As battery prices come down it will totally change the costs.

re the wheels, my theory is something light and with larger spokes will have less unsprung weight than the stocker cast wheels, so it may not be a downgrade on range. And it really does need a bit more grip.

And let's face it....who on this forum has ever decided not to do a mod because it would result in 1% less from a tank of fuel

[SimonR32]

excellent video Simon....we are a long way off that yet but I have no doubt we will all end up there (except for dirty old race cars) soon enough. As battery prices come down it will totally change the costs.

I was shocked (pardon the pun) by that video... I always assumed we would end up all going down that path but honestly didn't see something like that possible even in the next 10 years. Obviously cost is the inhibiting factor at the moment but you would almost put your money on them dropping massively over the next 10 years, after all how much did a 42" Plamsa cost a decade ago?

[Ryno]

I was shocked (pardon the pun) by that video... I always assumed we would end up all going down that path but honestly didn't see something like that possible even in the next 10 years. Obviously cost is the inhibiting factor at the moment but you would almost put your money on them dropping massively over the next 10 years, after all how much did a 42" Plamsa cost a decade ago?

Exactly right... Anyone who has dabbled in Radio Controlled vehicles will back that up. In the last 5 years alone the radio controlled vehicle dynamic has completely changed. Electric motors deliver much more power than a petrol/nitro of equivalent weight. Modern Lipo batteries and brushless motors offer awesome performance, and the price of each in the last 5 years has plummeted.

For me the biggest hurdle that the electric vehicle faces is not the range, but the time to charge. As if you need to conduct a long drive that will require a recharge on the way, the electric car is not an option. I can't see an electric car refuelling in 5 minutes (like we can with petrol) unless you swapped out the battery packs. And that isn't really viable.

[Duncan]

It's pretty simple really, you just need a mind shift. We all remember to recharge our phones and don't worry about 5min charges while we are out and about. When you park the car you just need to consider if it needs charging before it's next use.

Having said that, I can't see myself living without a petrol car as well for lots of other uses including backup.

Some cars have been looking at quick battery swaps including one of the Renaults, but I think it is a long shot considering the infrastructure, the cost of each pack, and the fact that how you treat the battery makes a big difference to it's life....we all know how a hire car is treated vs your own car.....