Concept Work-in-progress
 

First things first, I made these drawing for the sole purpose of trying to decide how I want to make my 8 look. I don't like hardly any kit for the 8, and I'm not one for the "clean" a.k.a. stock look. It may be too aggressive for some, but I welcome any opinions, harsh or supportive, it doesn't matter.


So, I started out with a tracing of an S2 RX8 somewhat unbeknownst to me. I didn't really pay attention, I just needed something with the overall shape and detail of an 8. I don't have the best of skill or tools, so please forgive the unclean appearance of the sketches. Should be 6 pics of various fender vent designs and 2 or 3 relatively unmodified to show what I started with.

Edit: I know I put these up on Facebook already, but not every either has Facebook or is a member of the group on there.

And the rest of the pic's

Those huge wheels just look out-of-proportion....

The wheels or the fenders? The wheels are stock, that I know of, and I didn't take too much care in drawing them. And in all but one its just the outline of the whole tire, too. Fenders, on the other hand, are larger for a more aggressive appearance similar to the JGTC/Super GT race cars. I love those things..

Seriously. 200 views and only one comment from the entire bunch? And that was from a moderator. Yeesh, I didn't think I was that bad...

I'm guessing with your title, we where hoping for more than just pencil
on paper. It's your car, so take the design you like best and go with it.

Was expecting solidworks or the like

go on fiverr.com and ask someone to make these sketches into 3d renders, or get someone to make some sketches for you. $5

It looks like it has a lot of DTM touring car influence, which I like. It would just be very costly to bring these concepts into reality. Kudos for trying it!

Your car, your money. Do you. I like the stock look so................

Hmm.. I will look into getting it made into a 3d render, I hadn't really tho't about that. Like I said, I don't have the best of skill or any real tools besides a pink eraser and a mechanical pencil. Makin the best of what I've got =/

I know it's my car and I should build it how I want, but I also want to know what other people think about some of the styles I'm going for. I don't care if I absolutely love a style, if a vast majority of people with the same car think it just makes the car look absolutely horrendous, I want to know. I don't want to be that guy rollin' around lookin' like a douche, but thinking he's hot shit.

The truth is the drawings just dont show enough detail from one angle. you cant get a good idea without multiple angles. Side, front, 3/4 for example. Without that its very hard to visualize. Personally they all look very much the same to me.

Yeah... Except those are purebred race cars with tube-frames and completely unique body dimensions. Not just some production car with giant fenders and "stock" wheels/tires that magically fit those giant fenders.

Sorry, but your drawings make no sense. Especially using the size of a stock wheel in reference to the fenders.

Yeah dude, they all look pretty similar to me as well. I was completely confused as we what I was looking for until you explained.. and then I was confused because I couldn't really see any difference in the sketches.

These particular sketches were only made for fender vent designs. The majority of them are identical up until the vent. If you didn't notice the vents, I don't know what to say about that..

I did lower the hood line by an inch or two and raised the top of the fender by about an inch. I didn't do an amazing amount to the fenders, they're not that "huge".

Like I said, I'm only assuming the wheels are stock, I honestly don't know and as far as I can remember the original artist, who added them to a side shot of a stock S2 8, didn't say anything about a different size. I could easily be wrong, they could be 19's or 20's for all I know.

Anyway, again, thanks for the critiques. Like I said, I'm working on the 3/4 angle, I'll see if I can't get that done before the weekend.

Ok, I'm back with a 3/4's angle or close to it. For starters, please don't complain about the fact its pencil and paper. That's just what I can afford, and prefer.

First pic is what I started with. Looks like an S1 to me, tho I'm not the best judge of things. What I changed on it is the height of the hood and fenders, I lowered the vehicle what I'm guessing to be close to 2 inches, and I made a custom bumper with lip. Now that I'm "done" drawing it, I can already see things I need to fix. The intent is to have a similar hood/top of the fenders shape as Corvette.

Please, be honest, let me know what you think of it! I don't want to be babied, just please try and be constructive.

Is it really that bad of a thing that I drew it up in pencil on paper? Isn't that what they used to do, in "the old days"? I can go back over it to make it darker if its difficult to see the drawing or parts of it on some browsers/devices.

The drawings are ok. It's the design that's ugly!

Just keep drawing man. Even with no reply. Its cool your putting them on here for the world to see, but you must understand not everyone is going to like what you personally like. Keep making sketches and eventually they will blow some of these guys out of the water hopefully.

Thanks for the support Trick, its nice to see people encouraging other people for a change.




I'm not too worried about the negative comments too much, I just wish they'd say why they don't like the design rather than just saying they don't like it. I understand tho, sometimes I can't quite say why I don't like something, I just know I don't like it.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...4e4daf5d93.jpg


https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...cd4f855262.jpg


https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...8ba4a51724.jpg

First pic should be, if uploaded correctly, a pic of the stock center dash/console. Next is a quick sketch there of, just to show my minimal skill and give reference. Third is my concept of what I want to change my dash to.

Raised the vents an inch roughly, putting my Tab 4 8.0 in just below the vents, some toggle switches just below the tablet, and then cupholders where the ash tray is (to eliminate then behind the shifter).

Awesome progress.

I've got a lot of work ahead of me, but this is my first major project. I need to get some speakers for my ipod while I take apart my air and radio controls

Do you have any experience doing custom fabrication?

None! Diving into this head first, I plan to mess up a bit til I get it right. More than likely doing the face in fiberglass, looking into some different types options on how to get data to the tablet like maybe a Bluetooth USB hub for the various connectors.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...f5908850e6.jpg

Is this the general idea you're going for?

Eh... kinda. Except the air controls will be integrated into the tablet interface and I'm hoping to have cupholders there instead. Dunno how that part will turn out tho

How are you planning on integrating the air controls into the interface?

I've been looking over the wiring diagrams for the 8, looking for the A/C and radio (really just signal to the speakers), and I plan on making some one-off connectors-to-USB cables and then hooking those into a Bluetooth USB hub which the tablet will obviously be connected to via Bluetooth. Then I'll be making my own app to be have a GUI that does radio/music, maps, and A/C.

Sounds very complicated for a project you have no experience with but I wish you well. Good luck!

I suppose saying I have no experience is a bit misleading. I have no experience specifically in this area, however I was taught how to solder and the basics of electronics as part of my Marine Corps training, and I have done some programming in high school as well as some html on my own time recently so I'm not completely foreign to coding. I'm perfectly willing to take my time to do it right, as I intend to make a living off of cars soon after I'm done with the Marines

That's going to be an awful pain unless you can work up your own app. It's also going to be unreasonably expensive.

I thought I replied to this thread the other day, but I guess not. I don't particularly care for the body styling drawings of yesteryear, but the center mod is interesting.

Some comments/general pessimism:

The Galaxy tab is trash for that price, go for the 2013 Nexus 7. There's no way you're going to get cupholders in that area, there's just not enough vertical space under the console to create a cupholder, and you're not going to get enough vertical space above the ash tray area to build up a cupholder.

Aftermarket ignition pushbuttons are always a pain for MT cars, one guy here did it years ago but he ran into some major issues with the clutch interlock and the immobilizer allong the way.

You're going to have to pick up a Metra dash kit somewhere along the way as it's the only way to interface between the console controls and the on-board equipment without using the OEM radio. It should allow you to hook up simple buttons (or more likely a dev board) to replace the stock dials and buttons.

As I said earlier, you're going to need to be able to develop an app or app suite that has the ability to:

• Control the HVAC
• Control the radio
• Do all of this via USB

In addition to that you'll need to create/purchase the associated hardware, being:

• An SDR (software defined radio)
• A digital potentiometer for the temperature dial
• A second digital pot for the fan speed
• A 6 channel USB DAC (7-8 channel if you want subs)
• 25w to 50w Amps for each speaker (even if you plan on using an external amp)
• Another digital pot (or DAC I guess) to control the volume on the amps
• A board to translate commands from the app via USB to I2C/SPI/PWMs and communicate the status of the SDR and others back to the app via USB

And I don't know how the HVAC mode buttons (center set of buttons) work, but its safe to assume it will either take 4 transistors or another digital pot.

Moving the vents shouldn't be an issue, there's nothing really that gets in the way of that. But yeah, the cup holders wont fit. There's really allot of room back there without the radio in place, so as long as the amps are near the back (or outside of the space completely) there won't be too much overcrowding (which can be a real problem when SDRs are involved).

So yeah, it's not too difficult if you take it one piece at at time and are ok with your center console being torn up for a few months, but it's going to be a pain to say the least.

Hey, thanks for the input, I really appreciate it. Lets me know what I'm really getting into.

Ok, so to address some of the stuff you mentioned...

Firstly, I do plan on making my own app. At the moment I have run into a slight block on that, as my computer doesn't have an Intel chip and apparently my version of Android requires it for the emulator. Probably just going to drop it back to a previous version and tweek it to work with 4.4.2.

The ash tray will be deleted, as I don't smoke nor ever will, but I agree that its highly doubtful that I'll actually get a cupholder in there. If I can fit the bottle version of NOS in there, I'll be happy. Cans and maybe small bottles and I'll be happy.

I would be going with the Nexus, as I have one, but when I redid my contract with AT&T I received a Tab 4 for "free", and my wife took the Nexus. =/

I'm personally wanting to stay away from the Metra kit, just because it ONLY interfaces with the radio. The only part that I need from the radio is the signal output to the speakers. Which brings me to a question, why do I need individual amps for each speaker? If I can make connectors/steal them off the Metra, what is keeping the tablet from simply pushing the signal to them like normal? I'm confused, but thats probably because I don't have that much experience with audio components either.

I2C/SPI/PWMs <--- what is this?
A 6 channel USB DAC <--- and this?

I do plan on it taking a while for the whole thing, but where I'm at I'm not getting any good radio stations and my A/C is currently not cold. I can either have hot air blowing at me from my A/C or just open the window. 110+ temps don't really feel that bad when its coming from outside, but from the vents sucks =/ And the buttons/eventual toggles will probably be much much later, I'm not in a hurry to get those done its just something I want in the eventual future. If I get those done in the next 2-3 years I'll be happy with it.

Ok, so I did a VERY quick knock up of the concept. It's a bitch to keep the tablet up with duct tape in the desert heat.
The vents are a little higher than I think I'd like, but we'll see about that when the time comes.

It's quite clear that I CAN fit two NOS bottles in the bottom at the moment. Idk how that will do after I start molding the pretty parts to make it look stockish.

I think there will be plenty of room behind the face of the whole thing for any necessary hardware I'll need to make this work.

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...6453d0796a.jpg

That was sarcasm.

You really think I didn't notice? I work with sarcastic fucks all day. I really don't expect anyone to approve of my designs at this point simply because I draw them on paper(albeit not well) and they're a bit radical departure from the norm.

If you don't like it and post about it saying so all day long, great for you! If you actually post something that's helpful, I'll be greatful.

Anyways, I'm going to print out some of the electrical schematics for the 8 here in a little bit. This way I have a physical copy and can figure out what I need in my connectors.

Also, the previous sketches are just ideas that I was tossing out there to see what people like and to get an idea of what I actually like. My frame is currently damaged and I don't have the time or money to fix it, so I'm not working on body stuff right now.

I don't understand why the senior members of most any car groups enjoy putting down creativity. Is it a shit idea or looks terrible? Say so. Being a sarcastic prick doesn't help anyone but you feel better about yourself. We're all adults here..