All Entries Tagged With: "Lotus Elise"
Contrasts: Lotus Elise v. Nissan GT-R
Lotus Elise v. Nissan GT-R
By Gunnar Heinrich | IMG Kevin Kusina
WHAT defines a sports car? Really?
And has the definition changed? At a recent exotic car rally at Foxwoods, we were treated with a small lesson in contrasts. On paper and by word of mouth, Nissan’s infamous GT-R is every bit a performance machine: 485 bhp, 434 lb-ft of torque, 193 mph max velocity, Brembos, AWD, spoilers, electronic spoilers (VDC), and the rising sun rocket comes fitted with a Porsche-grade price tag – $80K to start.
On paper, the Lotus Elise seems to offer much less.
Top speed 150 mph thanks to a gimbly four pot, 185 bhp, 133 lb-ft of torque built by and originally for – gulp – Toyota. The price? $45K to start.
And then we leave the paper realm and find the two cars, shoulder to shoulder, rim to rim in a parking lot full of Ferraris. And this is where that all-important definition comes in to play.
Next to the Elise, the GT-R seems tall and slab-sided with the height, width, weight, and road clearance that seems more inline with a full-size, passenger friendly Altima sedan – they make ‘em big now! The Nissan simply towers over the little Lotus.
Then you consider, in its vast shadow, this low, lithe little British track car. There’s no excess paneling, in fact the cabin seems to be squeezed between wheel wells and air intakes. Sneeze and you just might skid its 1984 pound curb weight sideways into the next spot.
The Nissan, by contrast, weighs 3,814 lbs.
It’s seems improbable how the Elise is fit for human occupation. But, fit it is and does, if barely; requiring a gymnasts’ flexibility from driver and passenger during ingress and egress.
Which brings us to a question put to most performance machines: which car would you rather steer forcibly around a track at great speed? Which car would, by merit of its own stature be less likely to lean, pitch, and wallow without the help of electronics? Which car would consume less and fight on longer in long-distance competition rallies? Which driver would feel more in-tune with his car?
Which car is really the true sports car?
That answer depends on your definition.
2009 Ferrari California: The Horse Prances Off Style Ranch
By Gunnar Heinrich
FERRARI hasn’t made beautiful cars in some time.
The last gorgeous, stop-me-in-my-tracks-HOT set of equestrian wheels to come from Italy was the F355. Frankly, I’m tired of Maranello’s artistic drought – it seems that all the style has fled from the barn to the lesser stables on the Fiat ranch – principally Alfa Romeo and Maserati.
Let’s prescribe an eye crossing double negative by observing that Ferrari’s latest top-down, pedal down roadster fails to not disappoint. The styling is the offspring of a late 90s Fiat Barchetta that was crossbred with a Lotus Elise (already a strange looking car).
Throw some California and Ferrari badges on it and – voila! – a Ferrari that will likely be priced to appeal to those with more modest means – Porsche drivers, namely.
There was some yabbadabbadooing about reintroducing the “Dino” nameplate*. But that idea just didn’t fly and only Hannah Barbara knows why.
The square lined matrix grille that curves into a rye smile is a plus. But the also-ran five spoke rims are forgettable and stand in awkward contrast to the torch blown undulations of the car’s flamboyant flanks.
Counterpoint – the interior looks as glove soft and sweetly hide bound as a Ferragamo boutique. In cream, it’s tactfully and tacitly well executed.
But back to bitchin’, as one commentator on Jalopnik noted, the electronically retractable hardtop looks German-car complex and far too heavy to befit a lithe Italian sports car.
What happened to the 575 Superamerica’s beauty by simplicity?
I can’t wait for Ferrari to start making beautiful cars again.
[Linked: Autoblog | ADL Archive Post > At Concours, A Ferrari Owner Flips His Lid]
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*Note* – A hallmark of another era of sports cars, the original Dino (1968-1976) was a less expensive model series that founder Enzo Ferrari named in memory of his son Alfredo “Dino” Ferrari who died at a young age.
