Ladies and Gentlemen... They're not bullshitting. An Esprit really does "corner like it's on rails". The harder you push it, the more it sticks. Damn these little bastards hug.
But, down shifting and hitting the turbo lag sucks balls.
A buddy of mine put a deposit on a new Elise. It's suppose to kill everything in the cornering department. It also runs 12.0 out of the box! Now that's a sweet little go-cart!
Buddy of mine test drove a Euro-spec Elise yesterday. Said it was quite impressive - handling was quite good, power was ok even though it was the 156 HP Euro version. US is supposed to be 190 HP.
His analysis was that it was a freaking TINY car with ZERO ergonomics, incredibly thinly padded racing seats that would be fine for the track but nothing else. Crank windows, no luggage space, a cheesey slap-dash top. Remind you of anything? A mini gen I Viper is what it sounded like to me. Styling, track ready but NOT a comfy street driver.
In the latest edition of evo they did a review of the lotus commenting on both versions oh and they also did a supercar test between the Enzo, Koenigsegg CC8S and the Zonda C12. They also spent about a week in califorina testing the Ford GT.
How much are they supposed to be? Might be a pretty cool toy to toss in the Garage next to the viper.
Ballpark 40-ish. Seems just a tad too high for a spartan track-only car. If I was going track-only I'd get myself a Radical for less than that and beat the pants off of every Elise in sight.
just went to lotuscars.com...car is supposed to be $38K and change, with a possible "performance package" to be released. This thing is pretty darn cheap!
The Elise is definetly no frills. Half doors, spartan interior (no carpet), etc. But she will do 0-60 in the mid 4's and 12.0 quarter. Much like a Gen1. You have to like those sorts of things. But, they will be fine for street cars as well, as long as you want to deal with the sparseness.
The replacement for the Esprit will be out around 06 from most inside reports. Total makeover and more "normal people" friendly as far as interior size goes.
just went to lotuscars.com...car is supposed to be $38K and change, with a possible "performance package" to be released. This thing is pretty darn cheap!
They're gonna get bid up by the dealers. The entire first years allocation is already sold.
just went to lotuscars.com...car is supposed to be $38K and change, with a possible "performance package" to be released. This thing is pretty darn cheap!
They're gonna get bid up by the dealers. The entire first years allocation is already sold.
Wouldnt want to pay over MSRP regardless. But wait a year and a half and youll be able to buy slightly used ones or even a new one for well under MSRP. I would bet that its an awesome track car and much more nimble and agile than the viper.
I PROMISE YOU THIS CAR WILL NOT COME CLOSE TO 12's IN THE 1/4, NO MATTER WHAT THE RAGS SAY! I'm guessing 14's, at best high 13's.
How can I be so sure? I test drove the 160HP version last week. It is very slow, and I can't believe another 30 hp will make that big a difference. Honestly, it took me forever to get to 100 MPH, and I was beating the shit out of the car, revving to redline. Now in it's defense, I go about 220 pounds, and the salesman weighed about the same. I'm guesing the version I drove (160HP) was mid 14's, AT BEST. Mid 14's with no passenger. With my 200+ pound passenger in the car, it felt like 15+. And these guesses are generous. I was expecting soooo much more, as far as acceleration. Trust me - it ain't there.... For comparison, I drove my buddies Mazda RX8 6-speed. It was much quicker.
I am going to post pics, and a full write-up of what I thought. Although, I plan to post on .org. No flames please... I only have so much time...
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