First Drive: Rossion Q1 is a supercar for the slightly rich , from Autoblog
Aug 27, 2009 | 12:45 PM
#1
Thread Starter
| Teamspeed Pro
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 31,554
From: Zoo York
First Drive: Rossion Q1 is a supercar for the slightly rich , from Autoblog 
"How fast can you take it?" I ask Craig Spuhler, Rossion's technical engineer and my passenger at this particular moment in time. "About 75 mph with an 85 mph exit speed." I was behind the wheel of a Rossion Q1 winding my way up a 270-degree decreasing radius on-ramp that shoots straight onto Florida's I-95. As Spuhler has put more miles on Rossions than anyone else alive, and I'd been in the car all of 15 minutes, I decided that 65 mph was a nice, sane, journalist-safe speed. Even in fourth gear there was enough twin-turbo'd torque to get me to 80 mph by the end of the ramp. Truth is, I could've done the deed at 75 mph in third, if not much, much faster.
Full story -- >> First Drive: Rossion Q1 is a supercar for the slightly rich — Autoblog
Aug 27, 2009 | 01:31 PM
#4
Teamspeed Rookie
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 10
From: Cal
My Rossion experiences.
But first to start-
I have had the Noble M400 for a while now and have been tremendously impressed with the car in many ways. I am always drawn to more track cars, purpose built for speed, specially those with lighter weight. So the Noble is a perfect car for me. Tossable and easily tuned for more power. We are still modifying the Noble each week to see what else we can get out of it. It is at the tuning shop now. Present specifications are 525whp and 500 pounds of torque with 2300 pounds. It scoots.
I bought the Noble in Connecticut where it was being worked on at Farnbacher (a dealer of our's). We had it shipped to Tallahassee to be worked on at Freedom Autosports to make it track ready. I flew out and picked it up and drove it up to Tail of the Dragon for it's shake down. The car loved the mountain roads. Reminded me of my Lotus at Tail of the Dragon.
When I heard that Dean and Ian were working on a new car called a Rossion, I was intrigued. I met Dean at Sebring. They were displaying a Rossion there and my company was providing the video recorders for SPEED World Challenge. I saw the car and decided I wanted one. We arranged to have one built for us. I selected the Orange with a metallic gray stripe. Black leather with orange stitching. And a wing on the back. The only other option was the full bluetooth, SAT NAV system. Basically the car was fully loaded.
I flew into Miami to get the car and after some last minute drama at the factory, was on the road. First stop was Birmingham Alabama and the Barber track. I took it easy on the track as I was still breaking it in. Never pushing the throttle more than 50%, but even with that, the car kept pace in the advanced racing group that day. I did only a short stint and then back on the road, to Tail of the Dragon again. It is getting to be a habit of mine.
We had a great time at Deal's Gap. Arriving right before dusk, we managed a full run on the road without ever seeing another car. The car handled brilliantly and as we were now around 1000 miles, I was able to give it more throttle and get on the boost. Stock, the car is 450hp, so it is very fast.
After Tail of the Dragon, I took the car up to Chicago and did the entire Route 66 back to SoCal. This was a good test of the car in many ways. Two people with luggage driving 4000 miles. Some rain. Some very hot days in the desert. Very different road surfaces. And of course the oddest thing that kept happening, was the car became the show. We would stop to see some Americana... and they would come out to see the car. It made some interesting conversations along the way.
After some tweaking to the car's SAT NAV system, I have grown to like it (I hated it when I could not set anything while the car was moving..how dumb). The interior is quite nice and the ride is very comfortable. I find myself switching back and forth a little with the Noble and the Rossion as to what car to drive. But we have settled on developing the Noble into mostly a track car that can be streeted, and the Rossion into a street car that can be tracked.
So that is my quick write up on the Rossion.
But first to start-
I have had the Noble M400 for a while now and have been tremendously impressed with the car in many ways. I am always drawn to more track cars, purpose built for speed, specially those with lighter weight. So the Noble is a perfect car for me. Tossable and easily tuned for more power. We are still modifying the Noble each week to see what else we can get out of it. It is at the tuning shop now. Present specifications are 525whp and 500 pounds of torque with 2300 pounds. It scoots.
I bought the Noble in Connecticut where it was being worked on at Farnbacher (a dealer of our's). We had it shipped to Tallahassee to be worked on at Freedom Autosports to make it track ready. I flew out and picked it up and drove it up to Tail of the Dragon for it's shake down. The car loved the mountain roads. Reminded me of my Lotus at Tail of the Dragon.
When I heard that Dean and Ian were working on a new car called a Rossion, I was intrigued. I met Dean at Sebring. They were displaying a Rossion there and my company was providing the video recorders for SPEED World Challenge. I saw the car and decided I wanted one. We arranged to have one built for us. I selected the Orange with a metallic gray stripe. Black leather with orange stitching. And a wing on the back. The only other option was the full bluetooth, SAT NAV system. Basically the car was fully loaded.
I flew into Miami to get the car and after some last minute drama at the factory, was on the road. First stop was Birmingham Alabama and the Barber track. I took it easy on the track as I was still breaking it in. Never pushing the throttle more than 50%, but even with that, the car kept pace in the advanced racing group that day. I did only a short stint and then back on the road, to Tail of the Dragon again. It is getting to be a habit of mine.
We had a great time at Deal's Gap. Arriving right before dusk, we managed a full run on the road without ever seeing another car. The car handled brilliantly and as we were now around 1000 miles, I was able to give it more throttle and get on the boost. Stock, the car is 450hp, so it is very fast.
After Tail of the Dragon, I took the car up to Chicago and did the entire Route 66 back to SoCal. This was a good test of the car in many ways. Two people with luggage driving 4000 miles. Some rain. Some very hot days in the desert. Very different road surfaces. And of course the oddest thing that kept happening, was the car became the show. We would stop to see some Americana... and they would come out to see the car. It made some interesting conversations along the way.
After some tweaking to the car's SAT NAV system, I have grown to like it (I hated it when I could not set anything while the car was moving..how dumb). The interior is quite nice and the ride is very comfortable. I find myself switching back and forth a little with the Noble and the Rossion as to what car to drive. But we have settled on developing the Noble into mostly a track car that can be streeted, and the Rossion into a street car that can be tracked.
So that is my quick write up on the Rossion.
Aug 27, 2009 | 02:00 PM
#6
Teamspeed Rookie
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 10
From: Cal
I am having a Seven clone being built for me now in the UK. I was hoping to have it in time for SEMA.
