Does Your Corvette Weigh too Much? Put it on the Exovette Diet
For some of us, the pursuit of quicker track times leads to things like ripping out carpet and spare tires trying to get as much weight out of the car as possible. The guys at Exomotive have a slightly more extreme philosophy when it comes to weight reduction.
When a Corvette is just too heavy
Have you ever been driving your C5 Corvette at a race track and thought to yourself, “man this 3200-lb sports car feels like driving a tanker truck around the track.” Probably not, but if are an adamant follower of the old Colin Chapman philosophy of “Simplify then add lightness.” then the company Exomotive has you covered!
Images courtesy of Exomotive
History of Exomotive
Exomotive started life in 2011 as the US importer of the Exocet kit car. It was a small tube frame car like the ExoVette but based on a Mazda Miata that you could build yourself for cheap with basic hand tools. The kits were originally sold only in Europe by MEV, but after Exomotive owner Kevin Patrick fell in love with the idea and ordered one of his own, he realized there was a large demand in the states for those kit cars. Two years after opening their door, Exomotive stopped importing chassis and started making their own in house.
>>Join the conversation about the Exovette right here in the Corvette Forum!
From four cylinders to eight
The idea for the ExoVette is a clear evolution of the Exocet chassis. Right from the beginning of the Exocet's life, people were swapping in GM LS engines. It was a logical choice. Small, extremely light chassis and a big V8 power has been a winning combo for a long time. At this point, people started asking “if you’re going to build what is basically a stripped down Corvette, why not just start with a Corvette?”
>>Join the conversation about the Exovette right here in the Corvette Forum!
Better than home built
Some people even started taking things into their own hands. The most famous are Cleetus Mcfarland's Frankenstein creation Leroy, and the Roadkill Vette Kart. Both of these cars employ the same mentality as the ExoVette, remove everything that doesn’t make the car go, stop, and turn, and add some tubes for safety and drive. The Exomotive kit does offer things that those two homemade examples do not, though. Things like safety, and not having to own a welder or tubing bender.
Image courtesy of Oppositelock
>>Join the conversation about the Exovette right here in the Corvette Forum!
Add lightness, and more!
Not many specs are available on the ExoVette yet, but one thing we know for sure is that it is going to be light. Around 2100 lbs light! That's about 1000 lbs lighter than a normal C5. the Exovette also appears to change up the suspension, ditching the fiberglass leaf springs in favor of some trick cantilever actuated coil overs.
Image courtesy of Oppositelock
>>Join the conversation about the Exovette right here in the Corvette Forum!
Affordable track toy
The ExoVette is still in pre-production. As is expected with a project like this, it takes a lot of R&D to make it work properly. Exomotive is also working hard to make sure the kit will be easy and affordable to build. Starting with the C5 chassis already drops pricing of the completed car as C5 Corvettes are getting quite affordable these days. So what do you think? Are you going to put your car on a diet?
Image courtesy of Oppositelock
>>Join the conversation about the Exovette right here in the Corvette Forum!
For help with service of your car, check out the how to section of CorvetteForum.com.
