Australia builds a sub 4 second supercar

[fpv_gtho]

A Victorian automotive designer from Warragul hopes to succeed where many have failed in being the first to bring an Australian designed and developed supercar to reality. Dubbed the Joss Supercar, this mid-engined two-seater capable of sub-4 second 100km/h passes will make its debut at this month's Melbourne motor show.

The car is the dream-child of Mathew Thomas, a 33-year-old graduate from RMIT's Automotive Design course, who currently works in the design department of Ford Australia.

Mr Thomas' credentials in the supercar arena come from work he has undertaken for the Stewart F1 team, Aston Martin, Bentley and Jaguar.

Much of this work has been translated into the aerodynamic design of the Joss Supercar, which uses a composite body over a space frame chassis to keep the weight of the car to an absolute minimum.

Driving the rear wheels is a 350kW 6.6-litre all-aluminium V8 mounted longitudinally behind the two-seat cabin that, in the production car, will drive through a Porsche six-speed transmission.

In its first testing at Melbourne's Calder Raceway last week, the car managed a 0-100km/h time of just 3.7 seconds and covered a standing 400m run in 11.9 seconds with a terminal speed of 203km/h.

This was, however, using a smaller 6.1-litre version of the engine and a five-speed gearbox without the limited slip diff that the production car will feature. The production car -- which is expected to hit the streets in 12-18 months time -- will also be about 40kg lighter.
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it may be a far cry from the likes of the SLR, Enzo and even the 360 and Gallardo, but i think its still something to be proud of. everyones guessing at what make engine's going to be used, based on his current job i'd say he'd use a ford engine, but its all alluminium alloy which sounds like an LS1 so im stumped.

[hsvman]

whats it called? is it going to be at the ford stand at melboure motor show im goin i really wanna see this thing :D is it gonna be a full production car or just limited number?

[fpv_gtho]

its called the Joss supercar. Although he works for Ford, i dont think anything is holding him to have the Joss on the Ford stand. more than likely he'll have a couple of square metres of space to himself next to ford or between ford and holden. as far as i know its just being regarded as an Australian attempt at a sub 4 second supercar.

[Falcon500]

Could be an SVO engine their all alloy and can come up to and even inexcess of 600 cubic inches so they could easily make smaller.
Itll be interesting to see if this ones lives as ive mentioned before we have had the chimera and the bolwell nagari and athe Gvang steam engined car just to name a small handfull.

[fpv_gtho]

well its 12-18 months off small scale production so i think its going to be a serious attempt. well its 6.6L and only 350kw so it could either be a pretty old style engine or something not highly strung, like i think an XR8 makes better hp per litre than that

[fpv_gtho]

this is probably the only pic available of the Joss Supercar. i think the designer is holding out till the show for the proper reveal

[HoldenHFV6]

If any of you guys come to the motor show, I have been offered to work at the holden stand on the last sunday and monday of the show. Come and see me and get some pics.

[fpv_gtho]

have a look at my location and you'll see my dilemma!

im not having a dig at holden in particular here, but i guess then that you'll be one of the only blokes there whos got a clue about the cars on the stand. my experience has been that for the whole space taken up by a manufacturer, they'd have say 3 or so experts and fill up the gaps with salesmen

[HoldenHFV6]

funny you should say that. We have been asked to make "idiot sheets" of all the cars that are going to be there. We have "training" for it tomorrow. Should be a laugh.

[fpv_gtho]

well i think it'll be worth a laugh, i think i'd fall asleep if i was subjected to something like that

[crisis]

funny you should say that. We have been asked to make "idiot sheets" of all the cars that are going to be there. We have "training" for it tomorrow. Should be a laugh.
Who gets to train the monkeys?

[fpv_gtho]

thats not a bad question actually, i'd more than likely expect someone trained in teaching the new salespeople would take the task

[aussie italian]

im an aussie myself and the guy lives in melbourne and he wants to beat the mighty mclaren f1, carrera gt and enzo, which i read in a car mag which had interviewed him.
his car was shown at a motor shot about 2yrs ago. I rekon its alrite the guy has copied like every best supercars and put it all together and it still isnt that great in performance.

[fpv_gtho]

It would help if it was a proper production car, of course a prototype isnt going to stand much of a chance against the "established" supercar makers

[clutch-monkey]

did it only achieve a top speed of 203 km/h because it was just testing?
i wonder how much it will cost, if its around $200k AUD that would be awesome

[fpv_gtho]

Matthew Thomas is aiming for about a 320km/h gearing limited top speed and for it to cost about $500K

[SlickHolden]

It's just haperd by not haveing a big brand name that's all. It will go fine when it's ready to run;)
www.joss.com.au.
http://www.joss.com.au/jpg/g_calderteam.jpg http://www.joss.com.au/jpg/g_engine.jpg http://www.joss.com.au/jpg/g_joss-gregbartley2.jpg

[clutch-monkey]

Matthew Thomas is aiming for about a 320km/h gearing limited top speed and for it to cost about $500K
too expensive! given how stripped it is, i expected i to be sort of $200k

[fpv_gtho]

The prototype going around is pretty bare bones, i saw it at SMS last year and there as like a 2cm gap around the rear tailights and you could see right into the engine. All part of getting it down to 850kg i suppose, but not exactly the best thing to see before handing over 500K big ones

[clutch-monkey]

thats why i thought 200K would be a fair price, for 200k more yuppies would buy it to be different to their porsche owning freinds (plus the bragging rights about its performance)

[fpv_gtho]

200K though is what you pay for a basic 911 or a Boxster S, and this thing wouldve had 480kw/tonne, thats compared to 375kw/tonne for the Enzo and i think about 250kw/tonne from the F50.

[clutch-monkey]

true, its just not as well integrated as those brands though, like its a lot more crude.
i suppose if an NSX still sells for 245K tho....
its sort of like ferrari making you pay more for a stripped out 360CS than a normal 360 which has more equipment/luxuries

[fpv_gtho]

Ferrari do that though, but they can get away with it :p

At the end of the day though, would you pay $600K for a Murcielago or $2M for an Enzo? Same situation really

[2ndclasscitizen]

the engine is a custom COME Enginnering design, also used in the custom magna that was at the 'nats

[fpv_gtho]

Is that the 6.8L OHV V8 he wanted to stick in it then

[2ndclasscitizen]

yep i think he wants a 6.5 or 6.8 for the final production

[Colty]

I think the Joss Supercar was at the Sydney Motorshow last year. Yes, it was blue :p

[fpv_gtho]

They had it hidden up near the CCR, the part where the last few years theyve had bikes in there

[Blue Supra]

ill take 3 thanks:p

sounds like a winner. hopefully it takes off. id love to see an Aussie success story come out of it.

[fpv_gtho]

Unfortunately not much has been said since the inital idea was released and the concept circled the nations motorshows, so its hard to know how MT's going with it.

[SlickHolden]

The rich might go for one if they get the donk on song. Guess when people buy supercars they want that hot sound as much as the speed and fast look. The Mclaren Mercedes sounds like a chopper:)

[fpv_gtho]

Alot of people are too snobbish to realise what theyre actually buying. They'll get attracted to things like Magnetti Marelli, DOHC, VVT, AWD, Selespeed, V12 etc. Not V8 OHV

[SlickHolden]

It's really low tech but still good. But you wonder why he didnt atleast try to go for a OHC V8 or V12? What about a Flat 6 Turbo even?

[clutch-monkey]

well didn't ford basically use a pick-up truck engine in the GT?
i suppose as an emerging supercar people expect to have some high-tech fancy powerplant

[Colty]

well didn't ford basically use a pick-up truck engine in the GT?

Why, coz it has a long stroke?

[SlickHolden]

It's a big of truck and Stang and Ford Oz in that donk:D.

But yes when you pay out $300,000+ you would atleast expect a OHC Engine:)
But he might cover the donk with fast times and great supercar handling?

[clutch-monkey]

But he might cover the donk with fast times and great supercar handling?
and an awesome sound(fingers crossed)

[SlickHolden]

Might sound like a beauty:D

[2ndclasscitizen]

it does it was on the car show on ch 9 a while ago and it sounds great, and the guy building it says it going to have some revolutionary type of suspension.

[fpv_gtho]

I doubt revolutionary, the norm for supercars is now the same pushrod activated suspension on F1 cars, but road cars can get away with sitting them inline with the axle, you havent got the room for that in an F1 car so they have to be inline with the engine and driver.

As for the BOSS, its not really anything, but more truck based cause of the block. Bottom end may as well be carryover from the F250, F150, Explorer and Expedition whilst the top end may as well be off a Mustang Cobra.

I caught a glimpse though of the exhaust for the JOSS whilst it was at SMS and it looked kinda complicated, but kinda more something that belonged on an X-Trail with how the mufflers fitted in under the body.

[lewi]

Any latest news? I just picked up an old MOTOR mag and remembered this car. The lastest news is from 2006 and that the Joss will be in the new XBOX 360 Game PGR-3...

Sounds like the dream is still alive, funds pending.

[fpv_gtho]

I havent heard a drop of info since it first came out unfortunately. I'd assume that funds have been the stumbling block. Theres not really the market for it here, in the US theres probably people wanting a few more creature comforts, and in the UK the markets flooded with products that are at least equal.

[Taipan]

I recently read he had negotiated funding to start building cars, so it looks good for Matthew Thomas and his dream. I must add that this is not the only attempt to produce an Aussie supercar, don't forget the Redback Spyder, certainly a word class car. I'd also mention Kraftwerkz, and Aussie company that produces arguably the worlds best 917 replica, and a car that would put most other 'supercars' to shame.

I've read this thread with interest as it's enlightening to read some of the comments on component selection. I'm currently involved in yet another project to produce an Aussie supercar, and we have firsthand experience in the pitfalls and possibilities of engine and driveline selection. Personally I think the selection of the COME engine is a pretty handy option, and despite it's humble origins.