This blog post is a continuation of a previous blog post that covered phase one of the Epic TORQ story. Here's a short cut if you haven't read it. The first blog post has a lot of great photos! so check it out!

If you did read the first post, you might remember that we left you at the part where the Epic team had validated the concept by building a prototype. At that point it was time to step it up a notch, do a few redesigns and begin work on the production version of the TORQ.

It was time to re-evaluate the chassis and leverage the knowledge that the Epic team had learned from the prototype. To optimize the redesign Epic turned to Palatov Motorsports to perfect the chassis and suspension. Working with the first concept car, Palatov calculated the ideal weight balance, adjusting everything from battery to cockpit positioning to get the perfect distribution. Palatov also dramatically refined the suspension, steering, motor mounts and just about every other weld, bend and moving part on the chassis to make it race-worthy. This created a solid base for the visual design to follow.

It also became obvious that the three wheeled design was a win from a performance stand point while testing out the prototype "We're building a 2 seat sports coupe so there was no reason to need the rear to be wide for extra passenger seating or a big trunk etc. Being front wheel drive front wheel steering, the rear just needed 1 wheel. Less drag = faster car." Mike Stewart (Epic) remarked

Ideation:
Next Epic reached out to Design By Eleven of Long Beach California. Jason Hill at Design By Eleven worked directly with Chris Anthony and Reed Schmidt. Jason has worked with top auto manufactures such as Porsche and Mercedes-Benz and first met Anthony during the early days of Aptera. Epic had a vision of keeping the design sparse which would expose pieces of the frame and keep the panel parts to a minimum to reduce cost and weight.

"It took us about 3.5 months to work on the TORQ and that included defining the beginning concepts, creating the general direction based off the original TORQ design (concept vehicle) and finish by creating the digital model" said Jason.

Refinement:
After hundreds of iterations, Epic brought their favorite design to Motive ( Nathan Armstrong ) to refine further and make manufacturer-able. The lines, shape and form were refined using the keen design skills of Armstrong’s on-staff designer Scott Murdoch.

"Developing a body to do the chassis justice was a challenge, but with the help of Jason Hill at Eleven and the team at Motive I believe we have accomplished the task. As the vehicle was designed with more motorcycle influence, the overlaps and exposed areas of the body made the engineering more interesting and will offer a unique design flavour." Nathan remarked.

"From a design or styling point of view 3 wheeled vehicles can be challenging to get the visual proportions correct. We're all so used to seeing typical 4 wheeled vehicles on the road so when designing a three wheeler you need to be sure you're not creating anything awkward looking with too much visual weight or visa versa in certain areas around the rear wheel. It's a game of adding and subtracting surfaces." said Darren McKeage, A Motive designer who assisted with the project.

Engineering:
The next step was for the Epic Team to take a 3D model and transform it into something that was able to be manufactured on a budget. This meant evaluating attachment strategies, panel thickness, bumper and roll-over safety. It was at this stage that the second phase of the design process really got exciting for the Epic team. To see the level of detail and thought put into the design was awesome and motivating. Every little detail was thought out by Motive, cataloged, and called out. Jake (Epic) worked hand in hand with the Motive team to make sure every part was created correctly and in the right order.

Rolling Chassis:
Jake (Epic) and Magnum Off-Road worked together to take the Palatov designed chassis from 3D model to real life. Along the way they created all the requisite jigs in order to replicate the design in the future. This rolling chassis also sported the new suspension and sexy suspension bell-cranks.

"We gained a new level of respect for the performance and handling characteristics that the three wheel platform provides. For us (Magnum Offroad), the biggest milestone of the build to date was the delivery of TORQ 1 to Epic, and the tight tolerances that we were able to achieve in the construction of a vehicle that contains over 176 tubes all assembled by hand." Said Daniel Rosenzweig, owner of Magnum Off Road.

Design challenges aside, Mike Stewart (Epic) remarked "We are building a 2 seat sports coupe there was no reason to need the rear to be wide for extra passenger seating or a big trunk etc. Being front wheel drive front wheel steering, the rear just needed 1 wheel. Less drag = faster car."

So how does the story end? Well it doesn't yet. Epic and it's partners are working hard to put the finishing touches on the production model.

When you will get to see one of these beasts? All bets are on Mid 2012 and the team is working harder than ever to make that time frame a reality.

Stay tuned!