All Entries Tagged With: "LOTUS"
One Writer’s Take On Building The Perfect Car That Makes A Lot of Sense
by Gunnar Heinrich
“SWADE” over @ SaabsUnited.com posted a recent article titled, “Things I’d like to hear from a car manufacturer (Saab) just once.”
Needless to say, Mr. Wade’s post has less to do with marketing jargon and more to do with building his rendition of the perfect Saab (or car) in light of the news that it’s looking more and more likely that Saab is going to bring back the hot hatch.
A snippet:
Your eyes can sense rain on the windscreen and your fingers can quickly extend from the beautiful sports steering wheel to flick the solid, new and very high-quality stalk used to operate the wipers. Because you shouldn’t drink and drive actively, there are no cupholders. Because you most likely have a smartphone with navigation, there’s no big fat screen to distract you and because you probably digitise your music, there’s just a radio with a USB port. It’s right next to the quite simple climate control interface that gives one temperature for the whole cabin. Do you really need it to be 2 degrees warmer just 12 inches to the left in a small car?
Our good fellow Saab aficionado also went on to mention his perfect 9-2 would be lightweight, feature a small 230 hp four banger, and offer the option to nix all electronic safety nannies at the flick of a switch.
Sounds like a Lotus, an original 911, or a de-contented MINI to me.
Or an old school 900 (*sigh*). His post brings to the fore what’s needed more and more in the automotive world – cars that deliver not so much insulated cabins with mega horsepower, but sensational driving experiences by keeping drivers in-tune with the mechanics of the machine.
A lovely premise.
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.
Bavarian Contrasts That Challenge Science
Somehow, both of these BMWs perform similarly.
By Gunnar Heinrich | IMG BMW, NA
SAVING weight, they say, is the key to performance.
Ask Colin Chapman. Lotus’ forthright founder knew the advantages of trimming little extras like seat padding better than anyone in order for his lean ‘n mean sports cars to not only launch like Patriots but corner like Sidewinders.
That said, consider two models in the BMW family.
One, the 750Li sedan (which your correspondent tested in the spring)…
…and the other – the X6 xDrive50i crossover (or “Sports Activity Coupe” if we must).
Both share the same 400 horsepower twin-turbo V8 engine that spools a maximum 450 lb-ft of torque in a chart curve that stays reassuringly flat.
The 7-Series is the “lighter” car at 4,641 lbs and meets less wind resistance at 0.31 cd. The X6, by comparison, weighs a portly 5,261 lbs and cuts through the air at 0.37 cd.
BMW lists the 750Li’s 0-60 time at 5.2 seconds. The X6′s specs? Five point three.
That’s a 0.1 second difference despite the fact that the X6 is 620 lbs heavier. Not to mention beefier. Granted the game probably changes at even 70 mph – when the 7er doubtless pulls away. But still…
How can this be? Was Sir Colin wrong all these years on? Can mere weight be overcome by enough boffin-sourced technical tweaking?
Simply put, this performance claim demands a new test.
ex. 4) Giugaro’s Boomerang
By Gunnar Heinrich
GIUGARO had a thing for edges in the early 70s.
And by any measure, Giorgetto was well ahead of the curve. Just as the world was looking forward to a replacement to the sultry curves of the 60s, the Italian designer filled the void with a space age glimpse into a hyper-realist future.
The Maserati Boomerang was one of three concepts that married the then-still-classified stealth fighter with the automobile.
Alongside the now famous Lotus Esprit (of The Spy Who Loved Me notoriety) and the DeLorean DMC-12 (of Back To The Future fame), the Boomerang featured the hardest edges of the three concepts and was meant to back up its supercar looks with mid mounted 310 horsepower V8 might.
Luckily, the folks behind the Trident only bought into certain elements of the Boomerang’s really hard-corners – a little bit of Boomerang can be seen in Maserati’s Merak.
The car pictured above is the only known Boomerang in the world.
- Tap the links for more Boomerang images -
[Linked: Maserati Crazy | AllSportAuto]
Slow To Bloom: Lotus Awareness Stateside
By Christopher P. Davis
IT’S not often that you see a Lotus cruising by and yet yesterday I spotted one.
An edgy little thing, the car had a shape that connoted an arachnid. Pleasing to the eyes, it appeals most to those looking for the exotic.
In my mind, when I think of exotics I think Ferrari, Lamborghini, and even Saleen, but never Lotus.
In both performance and style, Lotus is right up there with their Italian and tuner competition. Their styling is avant garde and simply looks fast, but I realize that the differences lies not within hot contours of curved sheetmetal but rather the cold numbers of stat sheets.
Numerical Challenge No. 1
Price – In the eyes of many of the rich and famous: More Cash = More Cachet.
Lotus’ sprightly Elise starts around a very common $46K- need I say more?
Numerical Challenge No. 2
Horsepower – Unlike a German or Italian, Lotus’ Japan sourced powerplants avoid those big-honkin’ engines.
The Exige S with its 218 horsepower launches from 0-62mph in 4.1 seconds.
With that kind of performance, why wouldn’t everyone want one?
Considering low price matched high performance, it’s easy to ask this basic question: why hasn’t Lotus emerged as the everyman’s sports car?
The Elise’s agility, style, and fleetness ensure makes a for a better argument than any Mustang. The Lotus will out maneuver any Corvette due to the simple fact that the little Brit can turn (at speed). James Bond in his Roger Moore days even drove a Lotus in a few of Albert T. Broccoli’s Giugaro masterpieces.
Mr. Bond never drove a ‘Stang or a Vette.
The real fault?
Advertising. Marketing. You know, getting the word out. I cannot remember the last time I saw a piece of Lotus advertising, whether it be in print, radio, or television.
I honestly wonder if you asked 10 people on the street how many people know the brand Lotus. Five out of 10? If you asked 10 people on the street if they knew what a Corvette was it would – 100%/
Often times, many companies fail because of lack of recognition and I honestly don’t know how Lotus survives. But so long as it does, the company’s cars – or arachnids – make for compelling alternatives.
[Linked: Lotus]
