lotus esprit twin turbo vs Z06 corvette

[TatII]

even though the esprit is a beautiful car that is plenty fast, its no match for the Z06. they should top out at around the same speed though ( around 180 mph +) even though the Z06 will out run the lotus in the 1/4 i think the lotus will have a chance at the higher end 100 + mph. but the Z06 will destroy it in the handling and braking department. of course that is because the chassis is a 20+ year old chassis that really had no real changes to it, so its not really fair.

[youngvr4]

Z06 top speed is limited to 172mph the esprit is more like 186
so then if the Z06 is so much better than the esprit then what about the nsx-t against the esprit

[Mr Payne]

I would guess the NSX-T.

[youngvr4]

i'm not going for that one, the nsx isn't as fast as the esprit.

[Jimster]

Originally Posted by TatII

even though the esprit is a beautiful car that is plenty fast, its no match for the Z06. they should top out at around the same speed though ( around 180 mph +) even though the Z06 will out run the lotus in the 1/4 i think the lotus will have a chance at the higher end 100 + mph. but the Z06 will destroy it in the handling and braking department. of course that is because the chassis is a 20+ year old chassis that really had no real changes to it, so its not really fair.

But this 20 year old chassis is still superb- Not one of the top chassis' any more and the Elise is really a whole lot better- but Lotus have been for the past few decades, the masters of Chassis and Suspension- GM have had speacialised components for handling designed by Lotus and even let Lotus loose on some of thier cars (Omega Carlton anyone?) and seriously- look at how Lotus tuning turned the Proton Satria (a 12 year old Mitsubishi Mirage) into a fully-fledged track monster in the form of the Satria GTi

I feel inclined to say that the Lotus chassis is far superior to that of the Corvette (Which is disappointing to say the least)- Because I've driven a C5 and a '97 Esprit V8- the Vette wins on brakes- but hey- Lotus haven't tried thier hands at those yet...............

[Mr Payne]

Originally Posted by Jimster

But this 20 year old chassis is still superb- Not one of the top chassis' any more and the Elise is really a whole lot better- but Lotus have been for the past few decades, the masters of Chassis and Suspension- GM have had speacialised components for handling designed by Lotus and even let Lotus loose on some of thier cars (Omega Carlton anyone?) and seriously- look at how Lotus tuning turned the Proton Satria (a 12 year old Mitsubishi Mirage) into a fully-fledged track monster in the form of the Satria GTi

I feel inclined to say that the Lotus chassis is far superior to that of the Corvette (Which is disappointing to say the least)- Because I've driven a C5 and a '97 Esprit V8- the Vette wins on brakes- but hey- Lotus haven't tried thier hands at those yet...............

The Z06 is a completely different beast than a C5. Was this even a C5 with the Z51 option?

[Moppie]

The Z06 is still a mass produced sports car designed for soft American Market, its simply not in the same class as an Esprit V8.


And Jim, I think a Lotus reply would be to say "Lotus don't need brakes, they don't need to slow down for corners!"
However they did adress the problem on the 350 sport and the V8 GT.

[Mr Payne]

Originally Posted by Moppie

The Z06 is still a mass produced sports car designed for soft American Market, its simply not in the same class as an Esprit V8.


And Jim, I think a Lotus reply would be to say "Lotus don't need brakes, they don't need to slow down for corners!"
However they did adress the problem on the 350 sport and the V8 GT.

I like your supporting empiracle evidence. I didn't realize .98 G's was for the "soft" American market.

[Jimster]

Ever tried driving one on anything but a billiard-table smooth American highway???? Thought not- simply in a word why the Corvettes suspension has trouble coping, because, like most Yank tanks, it can glide over those roads.......

[Ssom]

Esprit, I"d rather a car hand-made in England by people who know what they are doing, rather than some mass-made in a Redneck state Yank-tank thank you very much- y'see the Lotus is a true Supercar and given LOtus' reputation is probably a far superior drive as well- but I've driven neither and don't intend to for years more

[Kurtdg19]

Originally Posted by Moss1O6GTi

Esprit, I"d rather a car hand-made in England by people who know what they are doing, rather than some mass-made in a Redneck state Yank-tank thank you very much- y'see the Lotus is a true Supercar and given LOtus' reputation is probably a far superior drive as well- but I've driven neither and don't intend to for years more

I find it humorous that a 'Yank-tank' is still built to compete and outperform (more than likely in this case) these 'hand-made' cars where the people know what they are doing.

Originally Posted by Jimster

Ever tried driving one on anything but a billiard-table smooth American highway???? Thought not- simply in a word why the Corvettes suspension has trouble coping, because, like most Yank tanks, it can glide over those roads.......

That may have somthing to do with the specifications on the tunning of the vettes suspension. I'm sure if they wanted it to be smooth, it could be much more smooth. And since American roads are better than most European roads this may mean that american cars are probably going to be tuned for a better surface verses a rougher surface. How good do you think the ride of a Lotus is going to feel on a rough road? It may be better than the vette....but don't expect it to be anything spectacular.

[Mr Payne]

Originally Posted by Jimster

Ever tried driving one on anything but a billiard-table smooth American highway???? Thought not- simply in a word why the Corvettes suspension has trouble coping, because, like most Yank tanks, it can glide over those roads.......

LOL, so you've driven/ridden in a Z06? This is in Europe....where they don't sell Z06's, right?

[Jimster]

Originally Posted by Kurtdg19

I find it humorous that a 'Yank-tank' is still built to compete and outperform (more than likely in this case) these 'hand-made' cars where the people know what they are doing.



That may have somthing to do with the specifications on the tunning of the vettes suspension. I'm sure if they wanted it to be smooth, it could be much more smooth. And since American roads are better than most European roads this may mean that american cars are probably going to be tuned for a better surface verses a rougher surface. How good do you think the ride of a Lotus is going to feel on a rough road? It may be better than the vette....but don't expect it to be anything spectacular.

American roads better????? In quality of surface- yes (Except the LA Freeway, I've been on 4WD trails that are smoother than that) but for actually driving on them, no- European roads have no shortages of mountain passes and winding corners that the Straight (For the most part) American roads don't have.

This generally is why European cars reign superior to those of America in the field of chassis design/engineering- hell I'd like to see someone drive a Camaro in the places I've taken my Alfa.......

Of course I am ridiculous to question the American Skyline (Read: Deemed untouchable by those who don't know what they are talking about)

I haven't driven a COrvette Z06 on our roads, but a standard Corvette- which was fitted with new tyres (To replace the disastrous stock ones) was enough to put me off the thought of driving one- or any American car on our roads, ever again. Except for the Austrian Chryslers.........

[FYRHWK1]

Originally Posted by Jimster

Ever tried driving one on anything but a billiard-table smooth American highway???? Thought not- simply in a word why the Corvettes suspension has trouble coping, because, like most Yank tanks, it can glide over those roads.......

I'm not sure where any of you think thatall american roads are smooth, but you're about as wrong as it gets. There are many, many highways where I live with enough turns to upset MS' stomach and they're far from smooth, but if you ahve to make things up for your side of the argument then whichever, i'm sure some fanboys will believe you.

Moppie, "soft" eh? I didn't realize that outperforming the other car in question made the Z06 "soft", but again, whatever it takes to help you sleep at night...

As for driving my camaro on your roads, about the only reason I wouldn't tkae it on some of them is that it's simply too wide to fit into a single lane, but many other cars would have the same problem as well. It will have no problem taking any of the cars mentioned here recently in any kind of road course, handling ability is far from it's downfall.

[TatII]

well what i think jimster means by smooth is like the curves of hte usual road. like how most american highwyas are very straight, and rarely have back country roads like in england and so on.