Even cooler (or rather, hotter) than the Elise is the Lotus Exige....
mmMMMmmmm... a sporty and even more raw version of the Elise... think of
it as it's evil sister...
A couple of videos here:
http://www.sleepy-fish.com/sleepy/Top_Gear_Exige_hi.wmv
http://www.sleepy-fish.com/sleepy/Top_Gear_Exige_Stig_hi.wmv
Be warned they're really huge! - but well worth it! British TV at its
best... first one is the review of the Exige - they pit it against an
Apache helicopter - second is their test driver doing a lap of the test
track they have.
James
Gosling, Richard B wrote:
>Mark,
>
>I appreciate your thoughts on the Elise. It may be new to America, but here
>in Europe we have been enjoying it for about 8 or 9 years now, and it's on
>its second incarnation - it came out back in the days when I used to work at
>Lotus (although I never got involved in the Elise project, sadly). Since
>its release it has been the yardstick against which all other cars are
>measured (and generally fail) in terms of handling. The chassis and
>suspension guys at Lotus are absolute genius', and what's more they turn up
>for work each morning as much for the love of the cars they are working on
>as for the salary - I should know, I used to work with them!
>
>Frankly, even if you could get a Spitfire to be as powerful (with
>appropriate engine transplant), and about as light, it could never keep up
>with an Elise. On the straight its mid-engine helps it get the power down
>onto the road better, and when it comes to the twisty stuff, a Spitfire
>would be in the hedge at the speeds an Elise could take them. But it would
>be fun trying!!
>
>Richard Gosling
|