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Posted by: DesertSportsman
For a mini sand car powered with a Hayabusa, check out kingsandcars.com. Brian King builds one of the best/strongest mini's out there, period!
Posted by: scrambler123
one of those would be crazy mine with just a 160hp vw type 4 was fast enough lol
Posted by: DuneMe
Jeff:
I don't know if I've seen one of the Sonic Cars before (trying to remember what Justin's buddie's car was?)
Better get ordering. . . these things can take a while to get done!
Posted by: DuneMe
Sandcars are always late but, I'm sure there are builders out there that make it on time. Just one of those things that as long as you know the rules going into it you won't be disappointed. If you are planning a trip around something I'ld make sure you add a month or two to whatever they quote you.
Other rides:
SickSandTravel - rode in this one - One of Crackerjacks friends - what a rush!
Sandbullet - Nice looking cars - no firsthand experience
TomPro Design - Some of the best cars out there - long travel - King Shocks - Reverse Box and huge turbo! /a>
Need a few more bonus checks. . . hope to have one for St. A's next year but, we'll see. If I do, you are going to have to meet up with us out there.
Posted by: DuneMe
Check out Tom Pro's New Billet A-Arms - Very Nice! Click on the red flame rail on the right of the linked page.
Posted by: DuneMe
Jeff:
Did you get a car?
Posted by: DuneMe
Sorry to hear about your luck with the car.
I'm off to St. Anthony next week. Hope everything runs good!
Jeffroe. . . any moves on your end?
Posted by: DuneMe
Quote
Originally posted by: yellowrider250ex
try http://www.sinistersandsports.com/
He's just completing his first two-seat Hayabusa build. Pretty sure it doesn't have a turbo but, could be wrong.
I think he'll have a great product but, I'ld like to see him get a few more builds of this set-up under his belt first.
Jeffroe: Are you still looking for a turbo busa buggy?
Posted by: DuneMe
Brian. . . easier if you just stop by. I'm just past Waterman off Bond in the Tributary Pointe Development.
Look's like you get on Glamis Dunes too
I didn't buy new but, I'ld deal with Tom Pro if I was looking at a new one. Can't say I've talked to him a whole lot and I guess that's a good thing (not many issues.)
My Car is a few years old. Tom's continued to make a few changes / improvements but, I couldn't beat the deal I got on the car. I'ld have paid at least 30% to 50% more to get the same car new with all the extras this one has. Probably wouldn't have been able to get the engine package I've got but, the Turbo sure is fun. Climbing hills is AWESOME!
I think the downside of the smaller rails is the whoops. But, I've heard of big cars having issues if not set-up right.
Posted by: JEFFROE
thinking about buying a new sonic buggy? turbo busa motor,18" travel, chrome moly frame, never owned a buggy befor (got my first ride and now i have to have one) but i want to make sure the company/machine is a good one?
Posted by: JEFFROE
james at sonic said 6-8 weeks? but thats was the salesman talking, i guess i should talk to his shop manager instead?
Posted by: JEFFROE
i just need to move alittle closer is all.
Posted by: DaBeechMan
i had tompro "start" to build me a rail until he started screwing me over and then i saw some of his craftsmanship. I would not recommend TomPro or Sonic imo. Im building my own car now with a TP chassis. His billet arms look just like tatum arms, just like the rest of the stuff he sells BR>
Stay away from both of them. Ill write more about it in a month or so after i finish my car. Im doing our own turbo kit that will make a reliable 350rwhp and can be turned up to 450 (although obviously the car cant handle that)
Posted by: DStroyer
Hey Jeff,
Dont you worry, Im with you buddy. Ive been researching this agressively since I had my first ride. Sonic sand cars look great. You sure you want the turbo on there. LOL ( stupid question I know) It is amazing that a simple tubo on this motor with 8 lbs. of boost, give you 260 - 280 rwhp. (just enough) I wish I had info about Sonic for you, but I have none, other than what you have already read about. Good luck!!
Gary
Posted by: DSengineer
Quote
Originally posted by: spechead
Where can I find a Hayabusa 1300 motor? I need to replace the one that was thrown together by Sonic Sand Cars...
ebay
Posted by: yellowrider250ex
try http://www.sinistersandsports.com/
Posted by: Lefty31
Hey Jeff,
As far as sandcars go check out Jacksonsandcars.com
I've rode in a couple o' their cars and they're really nice.
They're located here in my hometown as well and they have all kinds of options as far as motor and such goes.
I guess it may be out o' your way but if you could manage it would be well worth it.
He's got a used one built for sale atm with a V6 turbo charged for 28k? (not for sure on the price) and i rode in that ride and MAN was it a blast.
Best o' luck and hope you find a good one
Posted by: minirailrider
<Edited by ATV connection moderator>
Posted by: kawgomoo
sonic sand cars is a one man show, the chassis are built out of house. james acts as an assembler. the cars are copies of "short" sand cars... though the a-arms are a little different. the big drawback to sonic's cars is the lack of a rear differential. i guess no big deal in the sand... but basically they handle like giant go karts. drakart is another company you may consider in your search. they use the quaife style unit to add reverse and give it a diff improving handling. ive seen some crafty people using subaru 3rd members to give there motorcycle powered buggies a rear diff.
i would try and buy from a more reputable company, one that actually builds the cars they claim to build. makes service a bitch when no one really knows whats going on.... that just being my 2 cents.
oh yeah, if you think reverse is no big deal try backing a 1000lbs car off a trailer, completely by yourself. getting over the tire wells should be real interesting.
Posted by: kawgomoo
well first i must admit sonic sand cars are junk... but he doesnt really build any of the car. the chassis and all is done out of house, james just assembles them. as for the turbo situation. if the car was running poorly {surging} and you kept driving it frying the motor was your fault, not his. also coolant lines to a turbo are by no means necessary. i do recomend cooling the center section of the turbo on street cars, but for applications like this is not really necessary, the turbo kits used on teh busa use a t25 turbo that is a stock application turbo for mitsubishi eclipse's and other dsm's this is why the chra is water cooled.
if anyone here is interested in a full size rail check out www.sssandcars.youngbiz.com
any motor/tranny combo you want.
as for tompro design his billet arms look like knock offs of the tatum billet arms used on the black widows. though they look cool, i would not want aluminium arms on my car, they tend to bend pretty easily, usually right around the shock mount on the lower arm. i cant say anything good or bad about tom or his work, but if you are going to run the car hard id go with chromoly... and as long as those arms are, why is there only 18 inches of front travel?
Posted by: kawgomoo
spechead where are you from? and what welding was necessary on the car? i thought you were having engine problems. if im correct i think the blue car was bought back by james before it was sold to you.. not real sure on that one. my time out there was limited, dudes a total con artist.
Posted by: kawgomoo
well if it makes you feel better i know where james is living these days. however now posing as a hot rod dyno tuner.
anyhow i asked about your issues because i feel your pain. i build sand cars, used to work for tatum, then imoved on to prepping trophy trucks and now back to doing cars again. if you are nearby id volunteer my time to help you get your car running.
if your busa is dead you shouldnt need a 3200$ kit to replace it since you already have most of whats needed. you just need a good engine which can be found much cheaper than an entire swap. i would guess he had the oil lines for the turbo incorrectly installed. i saw alot of that over there. i would like to say the turbo kits he bought {from velocity racing in fla} did not come with any instruction on how to install them. and he was left up to his own devices to figure it out. they were there for phone support, but i still think a kit like that should come with instruction. hell maybe they did and he just lost them.
long story short you should just get the car working, chalk it up to a learning experience and then enjoy it. if you fix it, then sell it your new car will have many unresolved issues and the process starts all over. i think the sonic car is basically of decent design {just ripped off short chassis built by desert dynamics} so i think you get the motor working good, the suspension dialed youd have a fun little ride.
Posted by: kawgomoo
im over here in phoenix. what part of the wiring was dissasembled? the actual engine harness, or the harness for the car. these are entirely different assemblies {typically} if the engine starts and runs, but the cars systems {brake lights, running lights, starter button} arent wired thats really easy to correct. i understand the intellidash has to get a data stream from the busa ecu, or otherwise tap into the harness to clip signal from the sensors... so i could see how a misinstalled dash might mess with things. please describe your problems one by one, and as detailed as possible.
wiring.. exact issue is? if it was wired correctly would the tune on the engine be OK or still work needed there to?
shocks- what do you mean fix the shocks? what the hell could be wrong with your shock! that really scares me. if they just need to be dialed in.. thats pretty easy. but has to be done in the sand. if theres a mechanical problem once again not real hard to fix.
exhaust.. yeah no problem. i have a full fab shop in the back yard so any cutting/welding making things work is also no problem.
really to me, it doesnt sound like the car needs more than some time and to make a couple of odds and ends. your out of pocket cost should be minimal, especially since you already have a new engine. however if it doesnt run perfectly please do not run it at all. turbos can seriously damage things {very quickly} if all is not exactly right.
ur best bet would be to trailer it out here for a long weekend or one or two regular weekends. tatum and fodrill are right by our house so part availbility is easy.
edit
well i did some looking and the intellidash def should not affect how your car runs, its not really a dash at all, just a 4 n 1 guage panel. it uses its own seperate senders and all. so getting that working should be straight forward and pretty easy. but like i said it should not affect the way or if the engine runs, unless something is really jacked in the wiring.
Posted by: spechead
Stay away from this guy! I bought a car from James and so did my buddy... my car's turbo was installed wrong and it overheated (no coolant to the turbo) no oil plug and the turbo and the engine fried with less than three hours on the car. I sent Sonic an e-mail and James told me that he's gone out of business! Funny thing because he told one of my friends that he's got 16 cars on order! My buddies car is nothing but trouble! The electrical system was a mess, dangerous! The steering broke the 1st day out in the dunes. We just heard of another guy whose gonna take his car back to James. I'm out $6,500.00 because my car was 'thrown together' smoked wiring, loose heims joints, surging engine (before it broke) he said the car was built for a guy thats 6'3" tall, well I'm 6'3" and my head hit the roll bar. I had to re-do the seats and the peddles because James was not honest.
Posted by: spechead
Don't buy a Sonic!!!! Read my post below...
Posted by: spechead
Yea, I screwed up by not having the car checked out when I heard the noise from the engine. Hind sight is very clear. The performance repair shop that I took it to said the engine and turbo were assembled wrong and that's why the motor spun. BUT STILL, this guy James still mis-represented the car and his quality is terrible! He tells people things that are not true to make a sale. He's lucky he lives five hours from where I live or I'd be up there with a real bad attitude. I should have bought a TomPro car...
Stay clear of Sonic! Spread the word. The guys a 'you know what'. I hope he reads this because he should feel terrible about what he's doing to people and putting families in danger. I think I will go see him... This is making me angry all over again!
Hey you can see my car on his website, www.sonicmotorworks.com I bought it last summer and he still shows it for sale, it's the blue car with the Short Sand Car frame. I've been trying to find a new Hayabusa motor to replace the one he threw together.
Posted by: spechead
Where can I find a Hayabusa 1300 motor? I need to replace the one that was thrown together by Sonic Sand Cars...
Posted by: spechead
Hey everybody, I've got Sonic Sand Car news!
The new owner of Sonic contacted me about my mini-rail I bought from the first owner and he wants to fix my car's problems... YES! His name is Luke and he flew in from Minnesota to Southern California, to check out my car with it's blown engine and fried turbo.
He spent 4-hours checking out my car and a few more on my friend's Sonic car. He is in the process of shipping a pallet to my shop that contains a new engine for my car, two new wiring harnesses for both cars and a throttle cable and some other things that I didn't even know I needed.
This guy is actually gonna solve the issues that had ruined Sonic's credibility. He is for real! He said that his mission was to fix current problems with the existing cars and improve all aspects of their product. Luke want's to have the best mini sand rail on the market and so far, I believe him.
I will keep this forum informed of the events as they occur, hopefully my car will be running by the end of October.
Posted by: spechead
SONIC SAND CARS? I'LL TELL YOU RIGHT NOW, I WISH I NEVER HEARD OF SONIC! THE NEW OWNER WAS SUPPOSED TO FIX MY CAR, HE CAME OUT TO WORK ON IT, HE RAN OUT OF TIME AND MY CAR IS STILL NOT RUNNING! HE GAVE IT HIS BEST SHOT BUT GUESS WHAT? IT SITS IN MY TRAILER, NOT RUNNING. MY FAMILY MISSED OUT ON TWO SEASONS OF DUNING BECAUSE SONIC DOESN'T BACK UP THEIR CARS OR THEIR PROMISES. NOW IT'S OVER 90 DEGREES IN THE DESERT SO ANOTHER WASTED SEASON!
SONIC MADE A DEAL WITH MY NEIGHBOR TO USE HIS WELDING EQUIPMENT AND SOME OF HIS MATERIALS.... SONIC WAS GOING TO REIMBURSE HIM AND I'VE ASKED THEM MANY TIMES TO KEEP HIS PROMISE BUT HE WON'T KEEP HIS END OF THE BARGIN! I WILL PROBABLY GET MY NEIGHBOR SOMETHING TO MAKE ME FEEL BETTER ABOUT IT BUT SONIC SAND CARS WILL NEVER HEAR THE END OF THIS.
COME ON LUKE, WHAT CAN YOU SAY NOW? YOU IGNORED MY E-MAIL AND MY CALLS, YOU BROKE YOUR WORD DIDN' T YOU?
Posted by: spechead
Luke, the new owner of Sonic, was working on another guy's car in my driveway, it was my buddie's car, his car needed welding and fabrication. It was repaired and it went out to our local dunes all season, with a few problems but that's normal for a sand car. My car was the main reason Luke came all the way out here and he ran out of time and said he was gonna come back when he was in southern California for some other business, he was gonna stay on for another day and finsih my car... well that never happened.
Listen, I'm a construction business owner, I build buildings but I don't know 'squat' about cars. I make money and buy things for my family and for myself, this car was purchased to replace our quads because I got run over on my Harley by a drunk driver, I didn't want to risk any more injuries. I wanted a roll bar and seat belts!
Anyway, Luke isn't a bad guy, I think he's too busy to follow up on his promises, it makes me angry to spend $25,000.00 dollars on a useless sand car.
I want to get it running and sell it to a qualified mechical person so the negitive crap will stop. James, the original owner of Sonic is a crook, a creep and will get what's coming to him someday. I would like to meet him in person, again.... UFC style. Luke, well he had his chance to fix this, he's a nice guy, I think he's gonna change the company name.
Thanks for responding to my rant. Have a great Easter and good luck.
Posted by: spechead
Hey thanks for the offer! I'm located in Lakeside, CA. east of San Diego. Here's some more background... The new owner of Sonic sent me a replacement motor, it's installed but not running correctly. I've got the Intela-dash system and the wiring is not done, it was at one point but the Sonic guys didn't put it back together. The wires don't have any markings so I don't have a clue to re-wire it.
Sonic was going to re-build the exuast system but didn't, I re-built the exhuast system, I think it's gonna work, I hope... They were gonna fix my shocks but didn't, they apparently are just too busy to back up their product or their word.
They could have just told me to get lost, they did give it a try but here I am on the internet 'again', telling my story. I wish Sonic the best but you watch, their gonna change their name.
I'm gonna listen to your advise... I'm gonna get that thing running and take it out 'next season' and drive the heck out of it!
Posted by: spechead
You know, about 13-months ago I wrote what was gonna be my last post to this forum or any of the other forums concerning my experiences with Sonic. I had enough, it was through, done, over with, finished.
Now Luke comes out of the woodwork with the world's longest paragraph, telling his side of an old forgotten story. Two words of advise for Luke "SPELL CHECK".
He's telling me to get off my A$$? He says I didn't help? I helped work on the other guy's car and some on my car, I'm not a mechanic but I did my best. The fuel pump he sent me didn't work 'and' it took 5-weeks for it to get to me because he had my name and the address wrong.
I'm sure if we were closer we wouldn't have these problems, I'm in the San Diego area, I believe luke's in Minnesota. If we were neighbors we would have everything complete, we would all be happy, BUT... The guy tells me he's gonna do something and he doesn't follow through. Simple as that, he didn't return calls or e-mails. I think he is too busy to keep track of his commitments.
I closed this chapter over a year ago and now I got Luke telling me to get off my A$$? My car is still not complete but, it will be up and running, wiring completed, cleaned and put up for sale before the next desert season starts, I will pay to have the car finished like I should have from the start. Too many bad memories.
Good luck to Luke and Sonic, everyone should go out and buy a Sonic Sand Car!
Posted by: Luv4wheel
Hello, i am interested in buying a rolling chassis from Tom Pro. Can you shead your expierance when working with Tom and if you would recomend him again?
Thanks,
Brian
Posted by: lukemn
Hi I'm Luke as with most story's there is two sides and I would like to voice mine as the other side of the story has voiced there's. After I bought Sonic Sand Car's from James I did find out there was several skeleton's in sonic's closet. At that point in time I had a choice to make. Address the problem cars and do our best to help work them out or wash my hands of it completely and do nothing for the owner's of the legacy sonic's. After talking to the owners of a few of the legacy car's I decided to open up the warranty for one year to all owners of Sonic car's original owner or not. Now keep in mind that I didn't sell or build these cars. So there is one hook to the extended warranty the owner's need to work with us to help get there cars up and running. From a business stand point the extended warranty was not an easy choice to make, as it was very expensive and time consuming. From a "right thing to do" stand point it was the only choice!!! So that brings us to spechead car this car lost the engine (I'm not getting into any reasons as they are point less as I decided to replace the engine under warranty) As with several of the older Sonics the wiring on spechead car was not all that good so we were going to address that also. The arrangement was that we (one of my guy's and myself) would fly out and spend a few day's working on two car's. For this trip spechead was to have both car's and all the part's in one place for us to work on and some basic tool's. The tool's were there and so were both car's but the engine that came out of spechead car was missing this present's a problem as we didn't bring new senders for the intella dash or a spare fuel pressure regulator. After pointing out that we needed these part's to do our job and knowing that we had limited time. Spechead's response was I went on a cruse last week and didn't have time to get the stuff tougher. No problem just get the stuff here ASAP and we'll still have time to get it done for you. Now unless spechead wants me too I won't get into what it took to get the engine back from that shop it was at a lot of BS and just short of getting the cop's involved. The original engine and other part's (fuel PSI regulator) made it back about 2 hour's before we had to fly out leaving no time to work with them. Spechead car is a short sand car frame and none of the exust pieces that we use on a sonic car will fit it. (That is where the owner doing some of the work come's into play) The intella dash wiring on the car was not done. We had no sender's to hook it to and as the old wiring was junk there's no reason to leave it on the car as we had rewired the rest of the car. I did ship him a stock fuel pump but it also seamed to give him trouble so I made an offer to meet up with spechead in the dunes and help him with his fuel pump but he couldn't make it if I rember right. We have a dealer not too fare from spechead and they would be willing to help him for a small charge with odds and end's. (maybe no charge??) Not too sure about any shock trouble just seamed a little stiff but that's a pressure adjustment and setting them to the feel that the driver likes. As for the friend that helped out give him my phone number and I'll get him the new liner for his MIG gun that we had talked about (I forgot to do that and don't recall the model number of his MIG I know it's a miller) as he was fare more helpful that the owner of this car!!! NOW FOR SOMETHING THAT I'D NORMALY NEVER DO BUT WE HAVE REACHED THAT POINT WITH SPECHEAD. I WILL OFFER NO MORE ASSTANSE TO SPECHEAD.....AT ALL...NEVER!!!! NEVER!!!! NEVER....!!! GET OFF YOU'RE A$$ AND FINISH UP YOUR CAR!!!!! I'VE SPENT SEVERAL THOUSAND DOLLORS AND SEVERAL DAY'S OF MY LIFE ON A CAR THAT I DIDN'T BUILD OR SELL.. As we are still helping other owner's of older sonic's that seem to "get it" this one is just one that doesn't the old saying "that no good deed goes unpunished" seems to be the case here but well still keep working with those that are willing to work with us. As for standing behind our product well were willing to warranty car's that we didn't build or sell and do all we can to help anyone with a car regardless of age that's having trouble and that speaks for it's self.
Posted by: FEDERAL SANDRAIL
Hello,
I am new to ATV Connection. My name is Brian Treat, I am the owner of Federal Sandrail. We sell the Federal UZI, a line of Hayabusa powered sandrails. Yoshi from Sinister is our builder.
We are located in Scottsdale, Arizona and have a demo unit that you are welcome to test drive at any time. Customer service is one of our strengths. Especially since Racer Offroad is our official service center. If you know anything about Racer it's probably that they have a great reputation. Yoshi, Racer Offroad and I are all reachable in the event that a customer needs assistance or has questions.
Our vehicles were in the prototyping phase for 3 years. If you see the UZI in person, it's obvious that it's built to withstand abuse. On our website there is a "Competitor Comparison" page that is quite informative.
Check out our website to view some pics and let me know if there is anything I can do for you!
