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Saw the Revenge at Detroit
Hello all
I was able to attend the Detroit auto show yesterday. I drove up from Chicago to visit Fran Hall at RCR and to see the Revenge GTM-R at the auto show.
When I arrived at the booth I surmised the model behind the ropes was actually Emily. I introduced myself and she graciously invited me and my wife behind the ropes for a personal tour and closer look.
First off let me say that Emily is one of us. She is not only knowledgeable about her product she is a car person like us. She has been racing cars herself for the last eight years. She has put her own labor into the revenge and described time she spent with 600 grit in hand as the crunch was on to get the car ready for the show. That the car is not 100% a finished product is not something I ever held against them. Heck I know of some of the OEMs who have not gotten concept or preproduction cars 100% sorted before their showing. The Ford GT concept comes to mind for one.
What I can say is that what they have produced is the best looking most cosmetically polished example of a car from this genre. No offense is intended here but this was even better then Gary Chenny's. It is not a matter of a simple application of some carbon fiber but a collection of integrated touches that really separates this from anything else I have seen, be it Ultima, Noble, GTM or even a K1 attack.
The pictures I have posted give some of the details. First, the separated hood really works aesthetically. The automated opening is nice, very smooth and very linear. I personally would not spend the money or weight but that is my personal bias against anything that does not make the car faster around a track. The use of carbon fiber under the hood, particularly on the ac housing, looked great as did the detailing around the rear tail lights. I don't care if the dash looked like a Solstice's, it looked better then a Ferrari's in person. The gauges are not Nordiskog, they are Dakota Digital. Made to order. They have some cool interactive features such as interactive warnings telling you that you need gas and thanking you after you address the issue. I was not allowed to sit in the car as it was sold, but the seats looked nice though a bit on the heavy side.I was told that they are American made and custom upholstered. There is a Master Shift set up installed. I questioned if it really worked well as I had heard about problems in this application from several sources, but Emily assured me she had driven the car and it worked great, for what it is worth.
In the rear the exhaust was custom bent (by Revenge's owner) and was masterfully done I must say. The trans is a Mendeola SDR5. Emily said it was custom made for Revenge. I did not press on what that meant. It may be they have their own gear ratios (I hope so as the SDR5's ratio is less then ideal otherwise). I know it does not mean they are getting exclusive access to SDR5's as I saw one at RCR a few hours earlier. The engine bay was unfinished. There will be carbon fiber wheel wells and panels to finish the engine bay in a more OEM fashion. The air box looked great but was not yet hooked up to the rear quarter window vents. Those vents were nicely integrated and Emily indicated that they had a venturi effect on the incoming air. I was not told what testing was done to confirm this. I doubt they extend far enough from the body to escape the boundary layer of fast moving air. So it is unlikely to positively charge the air box but it is still a great place to draw cool air using the vacuum of the engine. I spoke of the tail lights and they looked fantastic. Great detail added there. It is little touches like that you see in higher end concept cars.
I did spend a lot of time looking at the suspension. I have included some pictures. The control arms are not Air Ride arms as I had expected. They are custom tubular arms, though unfortunately they are not adjustable. I suspect they were necessary to clear the air ride suspension.
I asked about the center tunnel. Here is where I was told something unexpected. Emily said they did not cut the tunnel because the chassis as a whole is their own design. They primarily use FFR just for the body shell. She said that she did not know details of the engineering that went into the design but that chassis was designed with proper triangulation for Revenge. Clearly this is a crucial point but it is up to a prospective buyer to explore this. I certainly would want to see a picture of that before I put down $145 large.
Overall my impression is that Revenge is a company that can customize cars. Not unlike Unique Performance or shops like that, but they are not a performance oriented company. The air ride suspension is totally out of place on this car. That is for lowriders and trucks. Literally!!!. The shocks and spring rates are all wrong for performance. I don't believe they are even adjustable. It would be a disaster on a track. The wheels as I said before are boat anchors that are literally about twice as heavy as a Vette wheel. This will never have the performance of a ZO6 much less a ZR1. Emily said that one could get different wheels of course but I really think that Revenge is doing them selves a disservice by compromising performance to this extent. If they want adjustable ride height they can get it without resorting to an air bag. KW produces world class suspension components and offers remote adjustable (hydraulic) ride height capabilities.
So I accept the Revenge GTM-R for what it is. A very stylish looking car. It will likely compete with an Aston or Mazzer on the track but not with a focused sports car. It is clearly not the kind of vehicle that is desired by most of the people on this forum. That said nothing would be better for the GTM then if they were able to sell any cars at that price point. I believe what people here need is for an upper point to be established then you can value your cars in relation to that.
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