Crash Lotus Elise???

[racingdynamcs]

How "safe" is the lotus elise S2???

i'v seen 1 guy crash his at about 50mph and he walked out with nothing on him...

but did he just get lucky??? the car is alla luminium!?

[markqelise]

Know a bloke who trashed one of the first 190 Motorsport MK2 elises ( the road going one not the racing car ) - came of the road through a fence and rolled it - smashed most of the car and panels and surivived with just bruising.

[bogie]

Very safe - check out some of the crash pics on www.elises.co.uk

the aluminium chassis is probably stronger than most steel ones...just because there are no airbags and ABS dosent mean its gonna kill you in an accident....but at the end of the day if you want to be safe then dont buy a sports car - stick to Volvo

[DanH]

If you want to be safe on the road, don't go on it!

[joust]

Very safe if you crash it head on - as it has a "F1" carbon composite crash structure at the front. On the "Lotus Elise - Insider Story" video there is a video clip of it doing a 30mph crunch into a solid wall front on. The car basically just stops, and according to Lotus could be driven away - the only damage being a new clam and a new crash structure (which 'anyone with reasonable competance could de-laminate and put a new one on - we designed it that way as we figured lots of enthusiats would want to race it).

As for sideways crashes - the fact that the chassis structure comes up so high on the sides, and the exceptional rigitity of the structure - you should fair rather well.

I haven't heard of anyone being seriously injured when having a "moment" in one - although some of the pictures of elise crashes are quite spectacular to say the least.

All in all a pretty safe car IMHO.

J

[spining-v-grid]

70mph into a railway wall and still here to tell the tail. There was no damage to me , shame about my car

SVG

[DanH]

Regarding that clip in the lotus video, they stopped the real before the car had fully stopped. The fact they edited it down tells a tale imho...

Frankly if you hit anything solid at more than 30mph in pretty much any car its down to luck.

[racingdynamcs]

thx for the great info guys...IM actually located in the USA and on May3rd a Lotus dealer is having a huge presentation party for future elise owners in the states and he invited me to join..the main point here is that the "Lotus rep. from England is coming here to answer all the questions people have." I will def. bring up the crash test points...

[charisma]

I think the Elise is pretty safe if you have a mishap with the scenery, however I wouldn't like to hit another vehicle.

If an Elise and a Disco/X5/4x4/HGV come together there is a large difference in heights. I don't think the crash tests allow for that scenario.

We Brits imagine all Americans to be driving large stationwagons, you know.

[Englishman in LA]

Racingdynamics,

Where abouts are you? I'm on the list in Thousand Oaks. also check out Roadfly for more US centric Elise talk.

Steve

[fergusd]

I've seen a number of crashes, or the after effects.

One, where an Elise had a head on with an old Subaru was very impressive, the car was actually repaired, however the driver and pax (IIRC) had broken ribs, and the driver had a serious foot injury from the brake pedal he was derperately pressing.

I know a guy who drove one into a ditch/forest then rolled it, then hit another car, walked away.

I know a guy who drove one into a field at about 70mph, rolled it, destroyed the car, walked away.

I know a guy who removed the front corner of the car by hitting an armco barrier at speed, walked away as did his pax.

In short, for such a small car they seem to be strong little beasts.

Just as well really, lots of people crash them . . .

Fd

[hungryjim]

The car is is quite safe although it wasnt designed to be. The safety is just a byproduct of the cars design.
Bogies right if you want safety buy a Volvo - but remember LIFES TO SHORT TO VOLVO

[racingdynamcs]

Steve im located in NJ/ NY area...

[Captain Muppet]

hungryjim said: The car is is quite safe although it wasnt designed to be. The safety is just a byproduct of the cars design.
Bogies right if you want safety buy a Volvo - but remember LIFES TO SHORT TO VOLVO

Hmm. The Elise was definitely designed to be safe - the composite crash structure at the front is an extremely good design (light weight, multifunctional, uses the total length of the structure to absorb energy, unlike a steel crumple zone). This sort of thing is designed in right at the start, you can't just sprinkle your car with safety powder so that it'll pass crash tests.

Good to see you back HJ, where have you been?

[Bombjack]

On a dog-riding tour of the Highlands, I heard?