[Editor’s Note: This article originally ran in the August 2016 issue of Grassroots Motorsports.]
The Exomotive Exocet is the second coming of the Lotus Seven. Surprised? So were we, at least when we first wrote it down on paper. Those are big shoes to fill, but the Exocet’s simple construction, low cost, and common drivetrain make it so.
Why You Want One
An Exocet might look like a pile of tubes, but… well, it is. Thanks to a design that’s somewhere between an old-school sand rail and a one-off track machine, Exocets are tube-frame kit cars that are startlingly fast.
Their party trick? These kits come ready to accept all of the running gear from an NA- or NB-chassis Miata, so owning your own 1400-pound track machine is only a few nuts and bolts away. This also means that most of the zillions of aftermarket parts for a Miata will also fit an Exocet, further opening up the builder’s options. Want coil-overs? Done. Stiffer anti-roll bars? Just order them. A Chevy V8? It’s a bolt-in kit.
Because modifying an Exocet is so easy, most of them are built to be much more than just an 800-pound-lighter Miata. As Flyin’ Miata’s own Keith Tanner said, “The U.S. guys are all looking to push the performance envelope–every one is built with suspension modifications at the very least. Power upgrades aren’t universal, but they’re pretty common.”
We sampled three different approaches to an amped-up Exocet at the Classic Motorsports Mitty at Road Atlanta.
Exomotive Exocet Race Turbo XP-4
Turbochargers are the most popular way to turn a Miata’s knobs to 11, so this Exocet sported the larger 1.8 engine with a Flyin’ Miata FMII turbo kit. The Exomotive team was quick to point out that even when making 310 horsepower, the donor car’s original drivetrain had been completely reliable.
The foundation is the Exocet Race chassis, which adds a few more roll cage tubes and steel floors. Thanks to these added safety features, this chassis is also heavier than the Sport kit that formed the basis of the other two cars we tested.
How’s this one drive? It greeted us like an old friend.
Think turbocharged Miata, but lighter, more taut, more responsive, and way more fun. This car required light, precise inputs, and rewarded us with fun, clean autocross runs. We’re also big fans of the Race chassis’ extra safety equipment, both for form and function.
This Exocet had been together for the longest amount of time among our test subjects, and it showed. Time on track had allowed the Exomotive team to sort and tweak this Exocet into a true joy to drive. We really couldn’t find anything to dislike about this car. Plus, it’s by far the least expensive to build.
Exomotive Exocet Sport V8 XP-5
We were given a warning before getting into this Exocet: “The power delivery isn’t as linear as it should be, so good luck.”
Apparently the car had just been finished, and the ECU still needed a little bit of fine-tuning. We weren’t too worried, though: We were there to drive a 525-horsepower go kart, not complain about ECU tuning.
Drive it, we did. Gone was the Miata-like feel of the turbocharged Exocet, replaced with that hammer-striking-metal sensation that muscle cars exist to provide. On our tight autocross course, this Exocet was a drifty, smoky handful, and we were really just along for the ride. Smiling, of course.
Does a 1700-pound autocross car need this much power? Probably not-we actually turned slower times than we managed in the well-sorted turbo car. In our opinion, the value here lies in the car’s wow factor, and in its ability to emit giant clouds of tire smoke in any gear and at any speed. V8s are fun, and this is about as close as you can get to riding one like a jockey.
Flyin’ Miata XXXocet
We’d driven a nutty Exocet: turbocharged to 310 horsepower. We’d driven an insane Exocet: propelled by a giant V8. It was time to drive what we expected would be either the best or the worst idea yet: an Exocet with the supercharged LSA V8 from a Chevy Camaro ZL1.
We started with one question: Why? The car’s owner loves going fast, and loves long motorcycle rides, but life got in the way and made riding no longer feasible. So he and his son asked Flyin’ Miata to build a proper replacement for a fast motorcycle. After a few brainstorming sessions, this missile was the end result.
How’s it drive? It makes so much power that we aren’t even sure we ever floored it. We mostly remember fear, tire smoke, and that awesome whine that a supercharged V8 emits under load. Shifting? Why bother-there’s an infinite amount of torque in every gear, so we stayed in second the entire time.
Though all of this was good fun, we can’t help but think that a lot of the Exocet’s original design intent was lost. Exocets are inexpensive, nimble track cars that are a joy to drive. If that’s the definition, then the XXXocet wasn’t really an Exocet. That didn’t stop us from taking another lap.