Speed UTV

Lord of the Dunes said:
I went to the SSSS today, only stayed for 3 hrs. I talked to Todd Romano for a few minutes, specifically about the relationship between Hisun, Speed and how the vehicles move down the production line. He said Speed is leasing floor space from Hisun in their plant in TX and the workers are a mix of Hisun and Speed personnel. The Hisun folks are mostly assembly workers and the Speed guys are mostly there for QC.

I measured the width of the roof to ensure it fit between the cabinets in the trailer - it's 48" wide, so plenty of room.

As far as quality of the cars go, the 2 pics that are getting wide distribution appear to be the only 2 flawed welds that I saw out of all of the cars there. I admit that neither weld looks great, but probably won't be the norm on the production cars. However, if my SxS was delivered to me with either one of those welds, I'd either fix it myself or take it to my fabricator. The way I look at it is a weld is easy to fix and touch up the paint. The major advantages of these are the engineering incorporated in the drivetrain, suspension and chassis. As long as the engine doesn't blow up or catch fire, or the shocks don't need to be upgraded, etc. - you get the idea. In the big scheme of what these represent - zooming in on a weld is like picking fly sh1t out of the pepper.

What I did notice is what Sand Shark mentioned - door plastics were flimsy and ill fitting, as well as the plastic tailgate. The carbon fiber tailgates on the race cars were much stiffer, sturdier.

If I noticed the door plastics issue, I'm sure they know all about it. These are some of the tweaks they were talking about between pre-production and production vehicles.  

I tend to ignore chrome, graphics, flash and concentrate on the basics - design, strength, power, etc. and from that standpoint, I'm very impressed!
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How delusional do you have to be to be ok with re welding on a brand new car because it was manufactured poorly?  Complete insanity! 

 
12 hours ago, CampfiresNbrews said:

Speaking of the guys from team Polaris, they were there at the unveiling and didn’t look to happy. Check out their faces at the :59:45 mark. 
 

Also at the 23 min mark he clearly Says they’re NOT  PERFECT YET. 

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Spent a good amount of time talking to a Polaris engineer at the show talking about the Polaris engineering facility/test facility and what the entire process is from design to production.  Polaris is very much like an auto manufacture.  They have a huge R&D facility (600 acres).  They can make changes pretty quickly and get them out for testing the same day or with in days.   

They seem not to be too concerned with the Speed UTV as they have their new vehicles waiting to be released.  Said the only reason they have not been announced was due to supply issues.  They want to announce and have them ready to hit the dealer floors.  The also seem to think Robby is much longer off from getting to full production due to supply issues  and them knowing how the design to production process works. 

I think Robby will try his hardest to get at least the first 250 cars out before the end of the year, but it will be tough.  Who knows how long the CARB certification will take and what other things will pop up.  

 
JBL said:
Was there Friday for the big unveil but didnt get to see it up close till after 8PM after we checked out the Show with 2/3 the Vendors from previous years.  Guys at CanAm and Polaris tents didnt give me a time of day when I rolled up wearing a Speed ball cap LMAO.  Am I a cool aid drinker for this Speed car? No, but I bought it cause aint no way in hell I would buy a RZR.  CanAm never fixed their issues despite all the complaints from owners. So I figured Speed was the way to go.

It was great to finally see the Unicorn many of you laughed at in person.  It does exist and though it may not be here till last few weeks of the duning season so be it.  Robby is not even worried about fixing the little things that need to be fixed.  Hell I sat in the 4 seat prototype 3 weeks before the show and thought to myself damn what I get myself into.  These were "Pre-Production" units and many folks fail to recognize that and still hate.  But when these hit the dirt/dunes it will be a game changer. 

Some are jabbing at cost going up, well what you expect,  What hasnt gone up?  I tried buying an X3 in 2019 for show price at 25k.  Dealers laughed at me in 2020 and now even 2021 for that price!  So glad Im locked in at early prices for sure and just have to ride dirbikes a few months longer.  Dont hate if you have not seen this in person, It is solid compared to the competition and I hope they see this and step up their quality.  Then lets see they crying when they are now 40k and up.   
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What no text saying you were there on Friday??  We were there on Friday.  

If you see your Speed car by the end of dune season, I will be very happy for you. Be plenty of time to hit the high desert to put it through the paces. 

 
The car looked great. I liked seeing the lift point accessory on all 4 corners. The stereo was LOUD. I am excited!

Tailgate strength and opening/closing could be improved.

Door floppiness and opening/closing could be improved.

95% of the welds looked great. Some areas need improvement.

Other than that, looked great to me!

I definitely want the suede seats and steering wheel if that is an option for LE's.

Part of the front hood opens giving you access to the top of the bulkhead and power steering servo area.

 
I read the post's and have come up to my own three point conclusion

First conclusion: If this is the best they can present at the big unveil, It's going to be a while until we see a car that is available to the public. Also the dealers are looking at some of these short comings and thinking how much space in my shop is going to be dedicated to Speed warranty issues. I see dealers jumping ship before deposit holders

Second conclusion:  When it is done it will raise the bar for the others. The other manufactures I am sure have plans on the board to step up, No need to do so until they have to and will out produce Speed 200 to 1 when they have to. Also none of the deposit holders are going to be jumping ship anytime soon. 

Third @SandyTaco will be riding bitch to the next two Vets ceremonies.

 
Lord of the Dunes said:
I went to the SSSS today, only stayed for 3 hrs. I talked to Todd Romano for a few minutes, specifically about the relationship between Hisun, Speed and how the vehicles move down the production line. He said Speed is leasing floor space from Hisun in their plant in TX and the workers are a mix of Hisun and Speed personnel. The Hisun folks are mostly assembly workers and the Speed guys are mostly there for QC.

I measured the width of the roof to ensure it fit between the cabinets in the trailer - it's 48" wide, so plenty of room.

As far as quality of the cars go, the 2 pics that are getting wide distribution appear to be the only 2 flawed welds that I saw out of all of the cars there. I admit that neither weld looks great, but probably won't be the norm on the production cars. However, if my SxS was delivered to me with either one of those welds, I'd either fix it myself or take it to my fabricator. The way I look at it is a weld is easy to fix and touch up the paint. The major advantages of these are the engineering incorporated in the drivetrain, suspension and chassis. As long as the engine doesn't blow up or catch fire, or the shocks don't need to be upgraded, etc. - you get the idea. In the big scheme of what these represent - zooming in on a weld is like picking fly sh1t out of the pepper.

What I did notice is what Sand Shark mentioned - door plastics were flimsy and ill fitting, as well as the plastic tailgate. The carbon fiber tailgates on the race cars were much stiffer, sturdier.

If I noticed the door plastics issue, I'm sure they know all about it. These are some of the tweaks they were talking about between pre-production and production vehicles.  

I tend to ignore chrome, graphics, flash and concentrate on the basics - design, strength, power, etc. and from that standpoint, I'm very impressed!
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So is everything manufactured in China, including the frame, and then shipped to the Texas facility for assembly only?   

 
I saw the speed cars and was pretty impressed.  There are some issues,  but that has to be expected getting something like this to market.  I talked with an Arctic cat employee that said allot of the there guys went over to Hisun. 

My guess is , they will build this car and prove it,  then the company will be bought by someone with deeper pockets and some of the tech will be utilized and some will retro to existing parts.   Just a guess, but I bet RG and TR will come out quite comfortable.

 
This thread continues to win at failing.  I'll say on thing here: watch the unveiling live-stream (you can just skip around to where you can see that RG or Todd are talking).  RG made it very, VERY, VEEERRRRYYY clear that these are pre-production cars that are not up to his standard and there will be many improvements/changes being made still.  All the haters are going to jump on that statement about more delays etc... but I'd rather have delays than a sub-par product.  We're living in unprecedented times.  Has anybody else started an powersports/automotive company and manufacturing process during Covid?  Do people NOT realize that even the "big 3" are shutting down assembly lines as we speak? 

-TJ

 
Sand Shark said:
So is everything manufactured in China, including the frame, and then shipped to the Texas facility for assembly only?   
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No, the frame and arms are welded there in TX. I don't know where the other parts come from, like the plastics or aluminum parts. Some of them might come from China, like everyone else.

 
So I spent a good couple hours picking through the speed cars on Saturday at ssss. Conner was great to put me in seats, go over the details of the engine, the trans and 4wd working parts. I got in the back seats of a few of them and I like the design, the drivers seats I actually had to move forward some and those that know me I am pretty good sized man. the fitment of the doors were a lil off and some things were not perfect but Overall I was impressed.

Most people don't look at it this way RG started a business to be the best, devoted his time money and life to this project or his vision. It takes time to get everything right. Then you got f%cking covid bullshit and mfg. delays. People don't want to work and all of us crying that we want our cars. Being a business owner I get it. Big hope and dreams. He will deliver, it will be bad ass. if not sell it and move on. I am happy to wait. I did not get a firm date but I have an anticipation time frame and I can live with that.  Plus I have my other car being completed soon for sand season and my others cars to drive. 

 
tjZ06 said:
This thread continues to win at failing.  I'll say on thing here: watch the unveiling live-stream (you can just skip around to where you can see that RG or Todd are talking).  RG made it very, VERY, VEEERRRRYYY clear that these are pre-production cars that are not up to his standard and there will be many improvements/changes being made still.  All the haters are going to jump on that statement about more delays etc... but I'd rather have delays than a sub-par product.  We're living in unprecedented times.  Has anybody else started an powersports/automotive company and manufacturing process during Covid?  Do people NOT realize that even the "big 3" are shutting down assembly lines as we speak? 

-TJ
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The Speed guys were answering questions and overall it was good to see what a production car will look like.   Like I said the front bulkhead is much more impressive in person and the frame support up front. 

People are harping on the imperfections because all they have heard from RG for over a year is this will be the best, my welds will be better and my standards are high.  Then you see a pre-production model with questionable stuff on it.  That opens the flood gates for people to comment.  Even more so after his rant about canceling people and lashing out in comments on social media.   Once the social medical trolls/people knew he was bothered that was just a signal for them to ramp it up.   

My take away from seeing them is they have a long ways to go before they will actually hit the green light to roll the production line for customer cars.   

 
Sand Shark said:
The Speed guys were answering questions and overall it was good to see what a production car will look like.   Like I said the front bulkhead is much more impressive in person and the frame support up front. 

People are harping on the imperfections because all they have heard from RG for over a year is this will be the best, my welds will be better and my standards are high.  Then you see a pre-production model with questionable stuff on it.  That opens the flood gates for people to comment.  Even more so after his rant about canceling people and lashing out in comments on social media.   Once the social medical trolls/people knew he was bothered that was just a signal for them to ramp it up.   

My take away from seeing them is they have a long ways to go before they will actually hit the green light to roll the production line for customer cars.   
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Why do you say "a long way"? The doors and tailgate need thicker plastics and need to be aligned better - I chalk up the alignment to rushing these out the door for the show. 

The "weld seen around the world" isn't going to happen again. Also, even though it might be ugly, I'm positive it's not going to break, it's not even in a structural area. 

What else do you feel needs improvement? Those 2 issues are very minor and could be resolved in a couple of days.

 
I saw this post on FB, this guy was a skeptic, up until he saw the vehicles in person.

[SIZE=.8125rem]Todd Fasching[/SIZE]



[SIZE=.9375rem]I have been one of the biggest doubters and skeptic since they called the first production rollout and didn't make their deadline. I am not a fan of Robby at all, but this car is a game changer for the UTV market space. Whatever design people think is a weak point on this car... the weakest link will be the driver's experience along with the fact that this is an offroad vehicle no matter what terrain or who is driving it's going to eventually break. So go buy one if you want or don't. There are plenty that already have and plenty that will order them now. I look forward to seeing these cars out in the desert under load with thousands of different driving styles behind the wheel.[/SIZE]
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Lord of the Dunes said:
Why do you say "a long way"? The doors and tailgate need thicker plastics and need to be aligned better - I chalk up the alignment to rushing these out the door for the show. 

The "weld seen around the world" isn't going to happen again. Also, even though it might be ugly, I'm positive it's not going to break, it's not even in a structural area. 

What else do you feel needs improvement? Those 2 issues are very minor and could be resolved in a couple of days.
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Those are just the things we saw.  I am sure RG is going over everything with a fine tooth comb and there have been other improvements in the works or being done.  

There were also some missing pieces on some of the cars.  That seems to be a sign they do not have all the parts yet to start production.  Let alone they still have to stock pile all the parts.  

He still has to produce 7 more pre-production cars and test them.  Not to mention get CARB certification and pass the federal testing

 
Sand Shark said:
Those are just the things we saw.  I am sure RG is going over everything with a fine tooth comb and there have been other improvements in the works or being done.  

There were also some missing pieces on some of the cars.  That seems to be a sign they do not have all the parts yet to start production.  Let alone they still have to stock pile all the parts.  

He still has to produce 7 more pre-production cars and test them.  Not to mention get CARB certification and pass the federal testing
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I agree with all of the facts you stated - missing parts, 7 more pre-prod. units, etc. I'm just a little more optimistic about those issues. I don't think they have to happen sequentially, they can all happen simultaneously. Like they don't have to build all 10 pre-prod. cars to test the first 3 or 4, they can drive what they have and add to the fleet as they get built. In the meantime, while testing, parts will be built and shipped. Same with CARB and EPA testing, if they haven't been finished yet, then it's still ongoing, while everything else is going on.

I think we're getting pretty close. Maybe the first few cars will be delivered by the end of Dec., maybe Jan. Who knows. I do know worrying or praying won't make any difference.

One of the old sayings that I think is actually true: a watched pot never boils.  :lol:

 
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