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Here comes the Lotus Elise (1 Viewer)

Cam S

Screenwriter
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Jan 11, 2002
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now THOSE are sweet cars! I just love the look of them, now if only I could afford one!
 

Chris Moe

Screenwriter
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Jun 12, 2002
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1.8l and 1,200 pounds will make for a very fast car. It's all about the power to weight ratio, something Lotus nows better than most.
 

Tim Markley

Screenwriter
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Jun 12, 1999
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There are definitely enough hardoce Lotus enthusiasts to ensure moderate sales success but the big question is whether the Elise will appeal to a broader base and grab sales from established roadster's like Porsche's Boxster, BMW's M Roadster and Honda's S2000
Not with 120HP it won't. Cool looking car but why design a fast looking car and then drop such a small engine in it?
 

Chris Moe

Screenwriter
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Jun 12, 2002
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Here is why the Lotus will kick ass.

A Corvette weighs 3246 pounds and has 350 horse power.

The Lotus weighs 1200 pounds and has 120 horse power.

So for every pound that the corvette has it has .108 horse power.

For every pound that the lotus has it has .1 horse power.

A lighter car will also stop shorter, handle better and get better gas mileage.
 

CharlesD

Screenwriter
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Mar 30, 2000
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Colin Chapman said "for speed, add lightness". As Chris quite rightly points out it has a power to weight ratio of a Corvette. Thanks to the 'Vette's big torque, it'll accelerate faster, but the Lotus still does 0-60 in under 6 seconds. The Elise isn't meant to be a super fast muscle car though, its meant to be a small chuck-it-through-the- corners type sportscar which it excels at! Handling is everything with Lotuses.
 

Steve Berger

Supporting Actor
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Sep 8, 2001
Messages
987
Let's see if I can get this right. When a casual bystander asked a Lotus driver how fast his car could go he was told 120 mph. The bystander said "that's not very fast , my Chevy can go that fast" To which the Lotus driver responded "you asked the wrong question" ;replied the bystander: "What's the right question?". "You're suppossed to ask how fast it can go around a corner" said the Lotus owner. "So ,how fast can it go around a corner?" To which the Lotus driver answered "120 mph"
A couple of my friends had an Elan and a Europa.One of them named his first child Colin. Neat cars but I'm 6'3" and I believe they were built for 5'7".I almost had to drive barefoot because my shoes were too wide to fit on the pedals.
 

Ray Chuang

Screenwriter
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Jan 26, 2002
Messages
1,056
Unfortunately, Lotus never considered building the car for the US market originally because its very design at the time would made it difficult, if not impossible, to meet NHTSA impact safety tests.
I personally think that Lotus should forget about using the K-series engine on the 2004 Lotus Elise and instead install the drivetrain from the Ford Focus subcompact. Can you imagine having 170 bhp from the Focus SVT hatchback in this car? This will definitely not be in the slow department, that's to be sure. :D
 

Scott L

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Joined
Feb 29, 2000
Messages
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The May issue of Link Removed had an excellent article about this. It was a 99 Lotus Elise vs a 00 SVT Cobra R. Here are some specs:
Elise:
Aluminum Inline 4
195hp
1,710 lbs.
Skid pad: 1.02g :emoji_thumbsup:
0-60 braking: 119'
1/4 Mile: 12.6 @ 110mph
Cobra:
Iron block V8
385hp
3,590 lbs
Skid pad: .95g
0-60 braking: 122' (thanks to HUGE Brembos that come stock)
1/4 Mile: 13.4 @ 108
While the Elise was much more fun to drive the authors couldn't help saying they loved the roar of the Triton V8. :) With the new Lotus weighing an amazing 1,200 lbs, 120hp will still make it very competitive with the other roadsters.
Link Removed
 

Dave E H

Supporting Actor
Joined
Apr 23, 2002
Messages
829
I think this is pretty slick. It's all about the weight. For instance, I drove a Audi 3.0 A4 the other day and it was truly a bit sluggish, even though it had 225+Hp. Of course, that's what 3500+ lbs. gets you. This is a third of the weight & only half the horsepower - this will rock!
Of course, it'll probably by pretty easy to steal - a couple strong guys could just pick it up and put it in a truck! :)
 

Danny Tse

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Nov 1, 2000
Messages
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Without looking up the prices for the Mustang Cobra R or the Lotus, my guess would be the Lotus is the cheaper of the two, right?
I've seen an Elise at my neighborhood Starbucks....definite chick magnet :emoji_thumbsup: :emoji_thumbsup:
 

Scott L

Senior HTF Member
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Feb 29, 2000
Messages
4,457
Est. Price for these specific models is about the same: Lotus- $55k, Cobra- $55,845. So yea the Lotus would be cheaper, by a hair. But throw in all that gas money with the Stang and you have a different story. :)
 

Jay H

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Mar 22, 1999
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Location
Pittsfield, MA
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Jay
It's the weight thing that's the best. To me, it is perfectly logical to drop weight. It's cheaper to operate, it handles better, it brakes better, and is cheaper to begin with. One of the reasons I bought the MR2, because it's lightweight, handles good stock, and is a fun car to drive. I'm making a custom bike rack for it too so I can take the road bike to races and century rides with it.

The elise has always picqued my interest because it's just so sexy. Another reason I've liked the 3-series BMW too, it is not a dragster, nor does it have huge amounts of HP, but it's fairly lightweight for a sedan and handles well. I've never been too much into 0-60 times as long as it's fast enough to merge but I've always liked the twisties so give me a lightweight car that handles well and I'll be happy. I've always have a thing for the newer RX-7's too.

Jay
 

Mike Lenthol

Second Unit
Joined
Jul 28, 2000
Messages
322
350/3246=.108
120/1200=.100
Now put a regular driver of 200lb in each one...
3446/350
=9.84lb for every hp
1400/120
=11.66lb for every hp
Better empty out all the change out of the pockets before racing ;)
Gocarts is where it's at, 50hp strapped to the ass and ground clearance of half an inch :D
 

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