To save time, the California company came to an arrangement with Michigan engineer David Piontek, who was making a stark little motorcycle-engined roadster he called the Sportech. However, the tzero differs considerably from the Sportech. An electronic control unit adds another 70 pounds. Using a control technique called field weakening, Cocconi has tuned the motor's power curve to crest at 6000 rpm, and to stay crested all the way to the 12,000-rpm redline. The 180 lb.
Traction control is an essential part of the package to prevent wild wheelspin.
There is no clutch or torque converter, however, and the modified Honda transaxle contains only a single forward gear ratio, plus reverse. Drop any preconceptions involving golf carts. So is buckling into the four-point safety harness. Flicking switches brings the dashboard alive like the command console of a starship. The array of 28 tiny lights above the steering wheel hub has to do with battery condition.