MARLIN’S 5EXi now comes with optional doors and Honda Civic Type R power as the 5EXi-R. It’s a masterclass in making a good car even better,  says MARTIN FOSTER

We have taken a special interest in the Marlin 5EXi since its launch, at least partly because its growth and development has run almost parallel to that of totalkitcar magazine.

So it seems wholly appropriate that just when the UK’s fastest growing kitcar magazine is announcing it’s going to publish every two months, we’re also bringing you a first look at the most sophisticated 5EXi yet.

The two major developments on this latest version of the 5EXi are a redesigned body/chassis with doors, and their latest engine option, the awesome (and this is a word I use with care - and never to describe guitar solos or trainers) 240bhp Honda ‘R’ i-VTEC.

That the 5EXi first appeared without doors was entirely logical. It was conceived as a bang-up-to-date, fun-to-drive, but cheap-as-chips sportscar - one of the few cars that actually deserved that frequently misused title, ‘a Lotus Seven for the new millennium’.

Employing the sort of ingenuity that sets companies like Marlin apart from those who just play safe and churn out other people’s designs, access to the no-door version was actually made quite simple by virtue of three straightforward but clever Marlin ideas: a scalloped seat base, creating a stepping point, thus avoiding the muddy-shoe-on-the-seat delights of other step-in sportscars; a roll cage that curves around the access area; and a hood that unzips diagonally, to open-up part of the roof area.

After a while, though, it became evident that while the out-and-out driving enthusiasts were exploiting its potential as a stripped down road/track car, it was also making big inroads into the ‘softer’ sportscar market - it had the performance, handling and styling to take on some pretty sophisticated machinery.  But it didn’t have doors. Marlin had foreseen this eventuality. With some creative redesigning work on the spaceframe chassis, they were able to incorporate doors without compromising rigidity or weight.

The doors are hinged on a substantial metal plate at the front of the door, and a diagonal bracing bar, which then runs from the plate to the catch at the rear end of the door, so nothing of any structural importance is hung on GRP. This gives the doors a substantial, solid feel, and the diagonal bracing also offers some degree of crash protection in the event of a side-impact.

The door catch mechanism on the car pictured is activated by a small aluminium knob situated just to the rear of each door, which works perfectly well but is a little tricky to use when you’re seated in the car. Marlin plan to modify it so it is operated by a remote controller.

Incorporating doors into the 5EXi’s clean lines could have made them look like a messy after-thought, but the solution they’ve gone for - long ribbed doors slightly recessed from the main body line - incorporates rigidity, practicality and really neat styling cues, giving the impression that the car was designed from the doors outwards. It’s easy to underestimate subtle work like this.

Reading a note on the Marlin website, it would also be easy to underestimate the installation of a different engine. It reads: “For engine types not previously installed into any of our current cars, we operate a fitting service for our customers which, in most cases, is free of charge. This will require the customer to bring the engine and gearbox along to the factory.”

Just think of the possibilities that opens up. It means that you can use a favourite power unit, or maybe even a specific engine you’ve already built; and it also means that every time Marlin creates the necessary mountings for a different engine, that’s one more engine available as an option in their range.

The Honda Civic Type R (k20a) unit used in their new ‘doored’ demonstrator is the latest official option and, given the press the engine has received, it comes as no surprise - although Marlin’s Mark Matthews admits they hadn’t expected it to be such a tricky installation.

He explained that a successful engine fitting is all about using the unit in as near standard form as possible (thereby keeping down any additional costs) and getting the ‘interface’ right - the bits where the donor car components make contact with parts which come as part of the Marlin kit. 

On the first count, the installation is a success in that the unit is as it was lifted from the generous Honda Civic Type R donor, including air filter and all ancillaries. The exhaust system was purpose-built for the job, and could be supplied to anyone planning to use the same running gear, and the driveshafts too are specially made, with Honda-friendly connections at the in-board end. Things like throttle linkages and hoses are easy when you know how - and having developed a whole range of other engine installation options, Marlin certainly have the know-how.

But then they came to the electrics. Later model Civic Type Rs use a bulky, multi-functional electrical unit that works as fuse box, as a link between engine compartment and interior electrical systems, and as a way of incorporating one very trick sophisticated security system. No-one using the engine in a kitcar is going to need or want all that ‘electrickery’, and the engine is probably going to be supplied without it in any case but, without the necessary messages being sent in the right directions, the engine just won’t start without it.

And that’s where Marlin got clever. They found a specialist electronics company who came up with a little black box to provide the perfect bridge between the amazingly complex electrics of the Honda unit and the super-simple system of the Marlin - or any other kitcar, for that matter. It costs £350, but it does the job perfectly. And they’ll sell you one for any Type R installation, not just for their 5EXi.

The Honda unit was in and running, sounding great and driveable for photographic purposes, when we got an early preview of the new demonstrator, but it wasn’t sorted enough for a proper testdrive. However, we have been very impressed by the 5EXi handling on recent cars, and with around 240bhp on tap...

There are one or two other detail changes to the new demonstrator: a new flush rear panel incorporating reversing lights and numberplate recess; a new rear undertray panel incorporating splitters; and a very simple but very neat cover for the sidepod storage area, which you find yourself sliding over now it’s got doors. It also features Marlin’s optional larger capacity fuel tank, which now almost fills the front ‘under bonnet’ area.

So, Marlin’s 5EXi just gets better and better - and every modification and improvement is carefully thought through and brilliantly executed. Reminds me of a kitcar magazine I write for...

Words and Photos by Martin Foster
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