Discussion
not well rated and very uneconomicalThe Elite and Eclat 504 were both Autos, didn't really see the point myself, but I've nevr heard any complaints, (I'm waiting 
) and the 501/2/3 manual versions had a truly awful 5 speed based an Austin Maxi internals with a bespoke casing which was soooooo fragile as to make it a pain.
) and the 501/2/3 manual versions had a truly awful 5 speed based an Austin Maxi internals with a bespoke casing which was soooooo fragile as to make it a pain.the elite an eclats for the 70s had 3 speed auto options very few cars of this type were produced as they were very expensive compared to the manual varients and due to the sporty nature of the cars most ppl wanted a manuel the same is true of the excel very few were produced with the 4 speed auto however while the the auto is obviously not going to be the choice of the sporty buyer it would be the choice for those wanting a comfy well equipped GT as the auto's have all the toys as standard are just the ticket if you want a grand tourer with sporty handling
elite/eclats have had automatic transmisions. i´ve owned 3 cars of it and was happy, the original 5 speed gearbox was shit, the clutch was shit...it changed after 1980 when the series 2 was launched, german-getrag-gearbox, better clutch...! the first excels came with toyota gearboxes...even more better.....little bit lots of many better!!!!
My rough rule of thumb is the more bits of a Lotus you can find with the word Toyota written on them , the better the car!
The auto's were all part of Chapman's "Big Idea" to drop the small cars and head up-market with Elite and Eclat in the hope of capturing big sales in USA. Like most other companies which have tried this he quickly found it doesn't work unless the cars are fully sorted and reliable before sales begin. The 4-pot Lotus 2.2 engine was hardly the best starting point to develop an auto option.
As engines become increasingly powerful manual transmissions are going out of favour with manufacturers. High torque can fry a clutch in a matter of seconds particularly as cars are getting heavier and tyres are getting better all the time. High mass plus high grip = lots of stress and strain. Racing clutches which can handle more grunt aren't suitable for road use due to sharp engagement. Auto transmission protects the driveline from nutter drivers who dump the clutch and the car maker can fit a nice computer to manage the process. Automatic versions of cars are often quicker than the manual in real world conditions (as opposed to Stig driven, 0-60, clutch dumping circuit sessions). Autos are getting better all the time but there's still nothing quite like the driver satisfaction of using a slick manual on the right roads.
Oh dear. I've had a nasty thought. Spring 2007 launch of the new Europa Variomatic......
The auto's were all part of Chapman's "Big Idea" to drop the small cars and head up-market with Elite and Eclat in the hope of capturing big sales in USA. Like most other companies which have tried this he quickly found it doesn't work unless the cars are fully sorted and reliable before sales begin. The 4-pot Lotus 2.2 engine was hardly the best starting point to develop an auto option.
As engines become increasingly powerful manual transmissions are going out of favour with manufacturers. High torque can fry a clutch in a matter of seconds particularly as cars are getting heavier and tyres are getting better all the time. High mass plus high grip = lots of stress and strain. Racing clutches which can handle more grunt aren't suitable for road use due to sharp engagement. Auto transmission protects the driveline from nutter drivers who dump the clutch and the car maker can fit a nice computer to manage the process. Automatic versions of cars are often quicker than the manual in real world conditions (as opposed to Stig driven, 0-60, clutch dumping circuit sessions). Autos are getting better all the time but there's still nothing quite like the driver satisfaction of using a slick manual on the right roads.
Oh dear. I've had a nasty thought. Spring 2007 launch of the new Europa Variomatic......
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