...and so it begins
Discussion
The (normally) non emotional US auto press is starting a love affair with the Elise as witnessed by this month's Road and Track article:
www.roadandtrack.com/article.asp?section_id=6&article_id=868
The magazine headline (cover page) said it all:
The purest sportscar on the planet. The awesome Lotus Elise is coming to America!
I think they like it, eh? So why is this refugee from the Esprit forum posting this on the Elise forum?
Me? I'm happy. That way Lotus will make enough money to give us a proper Esprit replacement.
ErnestM
www.roadandtrack.com/article.asp?section_id=6&article_id=868
The magazine headline (cover page) said it all:
The purest sportscar on the planet. The awesome Lotus Elise is coming to America!
I think they like it, eh? So why is this refugee from the Esprit forum posting this on the Elise forum?
Me? I'm happy. That way Lotus will make enough money to give us a proper Esprit replacement.
ErnestM
Yeah I agree Ernest. I really hope the Elise succeeds in the US because Lotus really do have their future pinned on it. There isn't enough demand in Europe to keep them going long enough to develop exciting new models, particularly when VX220 production ends.
And we ALL want to see the Esprit replacement!
And we ALL want to see the Esprit replacement!
Oh yes particularly after the M250 
I can't see the Elise having too much trouble though, reviews like that will help but if you think of the success the Miata has had over there then an Elise with 180 or so bhp that can run from anything around the corners should be a runaway success.
I took an American colleague out for a B-road blast in mine and he loved it - imagine if you will a 6'2 Texan complete with stetson (sp?)
screaming yeehaa on the exit of every corner. He 's into his street racing and reckoned that the Elise would clean up.
I can't see the Elise having too much trouble though, reviews like that will help but if you think of the success the Miata has had over there then an Elise with 180 or so bhp that can run from anything around the corners should be a runaway success.
I took an American colleague out for a B-road blast in mine and he loved it - imagine if you will a 6'2 Texan complete with stetson (sp?)
screaming yeehaa on the exit of every corner. He 's into his street racing and reckoned that the Elise would clean up.dragstar said:
nice article.
um ernie? WHY do you want the new esprit when yours is pretty much perfect? (i do have it as my wallpaper/backround)
you keep winning shows with it aswell, and you want a new one?
madness!!
...ummmm probably keep the '98 and just purchase a new one
ErnestM
ErnestM said:
nice article.
um ernie? WHY do you want the new esprit when yours is pretty much perfect? (i do have it as my wallpaper/backround)
you keep winning shows with it aswell, and you want a new one?
madness!!
...ummmm probably keep the '98 and just purchase a new one
ErnestM
you are a dirty boy ernie
that means good in my book
xsaravtr said:
MMmmm.... not keen on the centre (or is that center ) exhaust, can't see it... anyone know why they changed it?
How are the welds on the euro-Elise's exhaust? Do they hold up well? My theory on why they did this on the USA Esprit was because of all of the weld failures on the exhaust system. When the twin pipes come out of the centre of the muffler, there is no need for these welds. Perhaps they are trying to avoid something like this on the Elise...
...of course, then again, they may be just going for "the look"...
Dragstar -
Edited to add - "...purchase a new one - after my wife divorces me" The ErnestM houselhold:
"If you buy one more car....(you know the rest)"
(all in jest, she's really good about it and loves the Esprit - helped me clean it for the last show) ErnestM
>> Edited by ErnestM on Tuesday 28th October 18:26
Re the new exauust layout - From the people who were given the job of making them on the S2 (one of my clients) they have an inherent design fault that they retain water (from in out and out in).
But even they say it looks better the Lotus way.
It looks like the tail pipes now point down... perhaps?
But even they say it looks better the Lotus way.
It looks like the tail pipes now point down... perhaps?
gfun said:
It looks like the tail pipes now point down... perhaps?
Wouldn't surprise me if (drive-by) noise regulations for US approval have something to do with it.
What silencer is used on the MR2 spyder (or another Toyota..)?
I suspect this may be a very close 'cousin', just like the Elise in europe uses the identical silencer (with different end-pipes) than the MG-(T)F.
They probably don't want to mess too much with it to keep the approval people happy.
Of course that won't stop US customers fitting a euro-style exhaust setup (and closing the hole in the diffuser)with twin pipes left and right.
Bye, Arno.
More than likely I'd say the elise's downwards pointing exhaust is a way of cheating US noise regs.... pointing the tips down uder the rear diffuser like that would stil give a rather rorty noise I'd imagine, but in a dB test most of the detected moice would be reverberated off the road..... it's a well-worn racing trick to fit a "droopy" turned-down tip on race cars that are just over the noise limit... makes bugger-all difference to the flow-characteristics but could quite easily help it sneak in under the noise regs.
also could it be a packaging thing due to the new Toyota engine? If the engine's got different exhaust requirements to the K-series.... maybe it could be advantageous in terms of the performance?
Just my 2p
also could it be a packaging thing due to the new Toyota engine? If the engine's got different exhaust requirements to the K-series.... maybe it could be advantageous in terms of the performance?
Just my 2p
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