NEWS
Thursday, May 10, 2012
New wiki announced for Superlite SLC builders
The Superlite SLC is easy to assemble, and comes with a comprehensive build manual. But sometimes it’s helpful to just have well, more help.
Hence the new Superlite SLC Builders wiki.
Like the Wikipedia everyone uses, this wiki is accessible, and a source of community-validated information. And like Wikipedia, it depends on the contributions of everyone to make it as helpful as possible.
Check it out, and begin to contribute!
You can start learning and sharing at: http://superliteslcbuilders.wikispot.org/Front_Page
Thursday, April 26, 2012
New Lap Record at Autobahn
The season opener for the factory SLC race car was at Autobahn this past weekend, begun with a 3-hour enduro to prove the changes for 2012. This year we began with the same successful foundation that carried the SLC to a National Championship last year, and added in a bit more power courtesy of a new engine program with Thomson Automotive (http://www.thomsonautomotive.com/) . We also threw in a couple of aero tweaks.
Apparently those changes paid off as regular driver Ryan Ellis shattered the existing ES class lap record for the Full Course by over 9 seconds.
While the next- fastest car — a well-prepped BMW from Fall Line Motorsports– was running two seconds under the lap record, Ryan ran a lap that was 7 seconds faster than that.
The fast lap was set near the end of the race on full tanks, worn tires, and a cold track. So we think there is more there still to be gained when we come back.
We probably can’t keep up the record of capturing a lap record at every track we visit forever, but so far, that’s been the history for the factory Superlite SLC.
For those who haven’t been paying attention, the #01 SLC runs a stock chassis (save for a no-cost 2″ offset option), a stock body, and stock suspension pickup points. Even the engine is a relatively mild LS3, with several customer street cars running much more power.
And we race what we sell, and sell what we race, so you can be sure your SLC has the same record-setting DNA.
Our next race is at Summit Point Raceway in West Virginia, on June 16-17. Come out and take a look at the car in action. We think you’ll be impressed.
For the video fans, here’s a link to a video we shot during Saturday’s race: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSmJA2zaN5c&feature=relmfu
Monday, April 2, 2012
Wanna see the 01 car in action?
The reigning NASA Super Unlimited National Champion Superlite SLC will make its 2012 race debut starting April 20 at Autobahn (in Joliet, IL), running both the regular NASA race schedule of Saturday and Sunday races, and a 3-hour enduro on Friday to help shake out some of the cobwebs from the winter.
Everyone is welcome to come by and get a close-up look at the car in the pits. This is a great opportunity for our Chicago-area friends to see what we’ve done to the car in the off-season, and judge whether or not it will be even more competitive in 2012!
Autobahn Country Club is the host of the event, which will be run on the 2.7 mile South Course.
Come by and visit- you may even see a lap record being set!
Friday, March 30, 2012
Superlite SLC gets built on Stacey David’s Gearz! program on SPEED TV
Stacey David’s Gearz! program is building a Superlite SLC from the ground up. According to Stacey, the SLC is a real contender in the supercar ranks, comparing it to Lamborghini and Ferrari.
Make up your own mind- but watch the video below (and others on the web) and see the car come alive during this season.
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Just the ticket?
If you’ve always wanted a great-looking car without the bloat that come standard in production cars nowadays, or if you’ve yearned for a mid-engined, affordable performance car with all the creature comforts of a real production car, the new Superlite GTA may be just the ticket.
Shown in a rendering below, the car is based on a production car safety cell, so the builder retains the interior, windshield, doors, dash, electric windows and OEM seals, integrated OEM HVAC, etc.- really everything that makes a production car a daily driver.
Add in a powerful, easily modified mid-mounted engine for easily over 400 HP, and a remarkably low weight, and you have a stunning car that is fast on the road, yet still comfortable enough to use as a daily driver.
Better still, it uses the proven billet suspension system that Superlite Cars has developed over the years, to insure that the new mid-engined coupe handles as well as it looks.
Performance should be better than a current 911.
For about a quarter of the price.
The kit is targeted at $19,995, with everything you need to build the car except the donor car ($1500-4000) and paint.
Check back here and on the Superlite facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Superlite-Cars/ for more details as the car goes through its development cycle. We’ll tell you when the lines open.
It’ll be an E-ticket ride!
Friday, January 6, 2012
First look at the new Superlite LeMans
Superlite Cars will soon begin to accept orders for the new Superlite LeMans, an open-air interpretation of the stunning Superlite SLC. The LeMans has the same chassis, suspension, engine and braking options as the National Championship-winning Superlite SLC, but with an open top, and specific exterior and interior detailing. More details will be announced as they are able to be made public, but for now, here is a rendering that should make the direction clear.
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Superlite SLC now available for track day rentals
If you’re the kind of buyer who wants to “try before you buy”, or just want to experience the same DNA that helped Superlite Cars SLC to win the 2011 NASA Super Unlimited class National Championship, check out Pit Row Sports and their rental program for the new Superlite SLC they have.
Pit Row Sports brings the car to the track, prepared and ready to go with fresh tires and brakes. You just have to buckle in, and experience the drive of a lifetime, in the same car that recently saw an indicated 194 MPH on the high banks of Daytona International Speedway earlier this month.
Yeah, it’s fast.
With a powerful LS7 pushing 535 HP through the big Hoosier slicks, getting to speed won’t be a problem.
If you think you are up to the challenge, see Pit Row Sports’ or its Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/MAJDUDE for all the details, including contact information.
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Superlite SLC hits the high banks at Daytona
Customer Bruce Naude from Pit Row Sports ran his street/track Superlite SLC at Daytona International Speedway during a Porsche club event this past weekend.
Bruce’s car has a stock LS7 with a Porsche gearbox, and is a true street car with street tires and air conditioning, DOT-legal lights and windshield, etc.
However, the amenities in his SLC didn’t seem to hurt the speed on the car, which Bruce reported as an indicated 194 MPH on the steeply banked track that normally hosts the thundering NASCAR Sprint Cup cars.
Bruce reported that the car was stable, had good brakes, good feedback and was easy to drive.
194 MPH in the car’s first real outing at speed is really quite remarkable, and a testament to the superb aerodynamics and suspension design, both of which combine to produce a stable high speed car that is notable for its ease in which such speeds are attained.
Monday, November 28th, 2011
Superlite Cars Announces SLC supercar build to appear on Stacey David’s Gearz!
TV show on Speed
After searching for the most advanced component car in the market to build for the wildly
popular TV show Gearz!, well-known TV host Stacey David selected the Superlite SLC from
Superlite Cars, based in Clinton Township, MI, according to Fran Hall, of Superlite Cars.
The car will be built in a series of episodes of Gearz!, shot in HD, to be aired during the 2012
season on Speed TV, the leading motorsports media outlet.
“Building a modern component car on Gearz! will showcase the incredible technology in
the Superlite SLC,” said Hall. “And being able to watch Stacey and his team build an SLC will
definitely be entertaining!,” he added.
The Superlite SLC has a unique semi-monocoque aluminum chassis that is stiffer than any other
similar component car on the market, and when combined with bespoke CNC-machined billet
suspension makes for great handling, as proven this year when the SLC won the 2011 National
Championship in NASA’s top class, Super Unlimited.
The Superlite SLC that will be built on the show will include a powerful 7.0 liter engine from
the General Motors plant in Wixom, MI that hand-assembles each LS7 engine- most of them
destined for the iconic Corvette Z06. The actual engine that will be slipped into the SLC on
Gearz! was assembled by David while under the supervision of GM engine builders, a special
process that is available for new Corvette Z06 owners as well.
“With the massive amount of power and torque that is available from the LS7 engine, the
Gearz! Superlite SLC will be a formidable track weapon– or a really engaging street car,”
remarked Hall.
More details will be available later, as the show comes closer to air time.
About the Superlite SLC and Superlite Cars: The Superlite SLC was designed to evoke the halcyon
era of the IMSA GTP and FIA Group C race cars that thundered around tracks in America
and internationally. But unlike those race-only cars, the SLC is also street legal, and even
includes such amenities as air conditioning, electric tilt and telescope steering column and
available traction control. The car is available in kit form directly from Superlite Cars in Clinton
Township, MI, in metro Detroit as a street-legal car, a track-only version, or as a full-on race
car, depending on customer requirements. Turn-key cars are available from experienced
builders, and more information about the SLC and other Superlite cars can be found at Superlitecars.com, or by phone at (586) 329-1573.
About Stacey David and Gearz!: Stacey David is a renowned builder, designer and automotive-programming host and producer. Stacey David’s Gearsz! is produced by Rattletrap Productions, Stacey David’s production company in Nashville, Tennessee. Stacey David’s Gearz! is a 30-minute program that combines quality do-it-yourself automotive projects with the history and amazing “stories behind the stories” that have created our car, truck and motorcycle crazed culture. Five successful seasons of Gearz! episodes are synicated on SPEED (www.speedtv.com) with a consistent airing time of 9:00 AM ET on Saturday and loads of reruns. SPEED is the nations first and foremost cable television network dedicated to motorsports and the passion for everything automotive. Now available in over 78 million households in North America, SPEED is among the fastest-growing sports cable networks in the country. For more information, please visit www.staceydavid.com
Monday November 1, 2011
“Never Give Up”
The #01 Superlite SLC from Team Superlite Cars had a new sponsor for the 13-hour enduro this past weekend- Louis Chevrolet Swiss Watches. Their corporate motto is “Never Give Up” and we had that emblazoned on the car during the race, along with their logos on the wing end plates, on the sides of the car, and on the race hauler.
It was remarkably apropos, as that really was the theme for our first enduro race.
We didn’t get a qualifying time in for the race, so we were forced to start dead last. But we never gave up.
Our car had a fuel pickup problem that would have stopped lesser teams from running, but we never gave up.
We had a crash in practice, when a driver backed the car into a wall coming into the pits a little too hot in the wet. But we straightened the wing supports, and duct taped the smashed bodywork. And we never gave up.
And when we broke an oil cooler and had to go behind the wall to fix it, coming back to the race after losing many laps, we never gave up.
When the car began to sputter from fuel starvation, even though we had plenty in the tank, and when we had so little power that we were being passed on the straights by Miatas, we pitted for more fuel. Many times. And never gave up.
When the fancy new airjack system broke in the pits and we couldn’t get the car up to change tires, we grabbed some jacks from another pit and changed the tires with those. And, we never gave up.
And when the exhaust broke in the last stint and filled the cockpit with carbon monoxide and the driver couldn’t breathe…yeah, he never gave up either, finishing the race in third overall, a mere 100 seconds from the lead.
Never Give up. It’s not just a slogan, it’s a way of life for Team Superlite Cars.
September 11, 2011
Superlite SLC wins 2011 NASA National Championship in Super Unlimited
Many people watched the movie Apollo 13 even though they already knew the denouement. They enjoyed the movie because it was a pretty good story. And so, most people now know that the Superlite Coupe won the 2011 NASA Super Unlimited National Championship with Ryan Ellis at the wheel on Saturday, 9/10/11. But there is more to that than just the dry recitation of facts.
Well, maybe the facts aren’t so dry after all; consider some of them:
In all the races the SLC has entered this year, it sat on the pole 11 times – every time the car got to qualify, it sat on pole.
Ryan drove the car to a first place finish in every race it finished (some of the early races were marred by various new-car problems like plumbing, electrical and engine issues).
The car only ran 4 race weekends- including the National Championships weekend- yet still managed to completely dominate the field in every race it entered, including most importantly, the National Championship race. We had our share of new-car teething issues, but it is very unusual for a new car to be so fast right out of the box. It’s almost unheard of for a new car to have both the pace and the reliability to win the National Championship.
The Superlite Coupe went to two tracks this year in NASA, and shattered the lap records at both tracks. How often does a new car unload from the trailer and go immediately to breaking lap records at every track it sees? We still hold these records, incidentally.
The SLC was fast in all conditions, usually taking the weekends fastest lap time in the dry, but was equally fast in the rain. On Thursday, Ryan drove the SLC in the rain to a pole position for that days qualifying race that was 6 seconds faster than the rest of the field, and took the fastest lap time of the day, across all classes, including a TTR Radical and even the open wheel Formula Mazdas. In a series where qualifying can be won or lost by tenths– or less– this was massive, and a portent of what might be to come. The car was so good in the rain that Ryan asked everyone to do a little rain dance for the Championship race. For those who understand the dynamics of fast, high-powered mid-engined cars, this is surprising, and more than a little unusual, and speaks volumes about the confidence Ryan has in the handling ability of the SLC in wet and dry conditions. The takeaway is that the SLC is benign at the limit in all conditions, which is essential to fully exploit the potential of the car.
The Superlite Coupe didn’t achieve the records it has by just throwing a big HP number on the wall. In fact, we gave up several hundred horsepower to some of our competitors, and won instead on superb driving, and a car with unmatched handling. Ryan was able to put the car anywhere on the track he needed to, which is especially important when working traffic. This year we competed against Porsches with 700+ HP, a 1200 HP Mustang, several stockcars with ex-NASCAR SB2 engines with around 800 HP, and a Lister-Corvette with a reputed 850 HP. We ran the SLC with 525 HP to the wheels, which was around 600 HP at the crank. Next year Fran promises to find more power, which should bring us to parity with more of the rest of the field.
The Superlite Coupe didn’t arise from a modern factory in Zuffenhausen surrounded by hundreds of man-years of race car design and development resources, or in some hallowed ground in Maranello that has spawned decades of successful race cars, or even from a company devoted to making pure racing cars, but from a small shop just outside of Detroit led by a person with a vision to produce insanely great cars that are actually attainable, and a few craftsman that helped to achieve it. The significance of this is hard to overstate: the SLC, in its first months of racing, conquered very mature race cars from Porsche, Ferrari and others that had massively more time and resources devoted to their development. It’s a classic David and Goliath story, with a local Detroit twist.
The factory-built SLC that won the National Championship race so convincingly (it had lapped almost the entire Super Unlimited field, some of them a couple of times) shares almost everything with the standard SLC kit that anyone can buy. And the race-specific parts are readily available, and on the shelf, for those customers who want to buy a clone of the 01 car. This is in distinct contrast to some other manufacturers that don’t actually race what they sell, despite appearances.
If you want a race car that is the fastest in the nation, or just a street car for extreme motoring, give us a call. Every Superlite SLC has the same race-winning DNA.
And that’s a fact.
