The Gospel of the Elise according to Jimmy.........
Jimster
11-19-2002, 05:40 PM
The Lotus Elise is the follow up to the infamous 7 kit car of 1957 and Elan of 1962, that being it had raw appeal, superb handling and a very light wieght, all this in contention with Colin Chapmans "For better performance, add lightness" formula. All throughout the 70's Lotus' road-car program was based around powerful Coupes and supercars, but building these cars for a mass market appeal was a great struggle. Lotus had tried for the mass-market with the Elan in the early 1990's but that went wide of target and ended up a failiure.
The Elise went back to Lotus' first theory. Simple, light and suprisingly innovative roadster, it delivered a supercar-style driving experience without the supercar price-tag. The Elise was manufactured with an all-aluminium chasis, the rigidity of this chasis is amazing, the steering also being super sensitive.
The Elise to compare it to your typical roadster (Lets use the MGF) is 30% lighter, and shared a 118 bhp engine with the MGF, making it not only quick, but easy on the wallet. The body work is made of fibreglass which was infuluenced by Julian Thompsons Ferrari Dino, the interior is beautiful, it was left in bare aluminium.
The Elise IMHO is one of the most revolutionary cars ever produced, it is 95% supercar and 20% the price. They are quite common at the track days the car club here that I belong to holds, my favoutrite being one with a 190 bhp engine, competition exhaust, Roll cage, Close ratio gear-box, Torque bias differential, cross-drilled brakes, Uprated srings and dampers, anti roll application, Uniball toe link assembly and some impressive Cam work as well :)
Elise rules :ylsuper
The Elise went back to Lotus' first theory. Simple, light and suprisingly innovative roadster, it delivered a supercar-style driving experience without the supercar price-tag. The Elise was manufactured with an all-aluminium chasis, the rigidity of this chasis is amazing, the steering also being super sensitive.
The Elise to compare it to your typical roadster (Lets use the MGF) is 30% lighter, and shared a 118 bhp engine with the MGF, making it not only quick, but easy on the wallet. The body work is made of fibreglass which was infuluenced by Julian Thompsons Ferrari Dino, the interior is beautiful, it was left in bare aluminium.
The Elise IMHO is one of the most revolutionary cars ever produced, it is 95% supercar and 20% the price. They are quite common at the track days the car club here that I belong to holds, my favoutrite being one with a 190 bhp engine, competition exhaust, Roll cage, Close ratio gear-box, Torque bias differential, cross-drilled brakes, Uprated srings and dampers, anti roll application, Uniball toe link assembly and some impressive Cam work as well :)
Elise rules :ylsuper
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