How to run in a Lotus
Discussion
The car eventually arrived on Friday night and given the snow might come down in the next few weeks my wife told me the done thing was to take it up a few passes whilst they were still open. So, not wanting to upset her I duly agreed.
So, this morning it went on a nice running in drive over the following passes:
Klausen (from Linthal, the old hillclimb route)
Susten
Grimsel
Furka
Oberalp
I was surprised just how much torque the car has and keeping to (mostly) the recommended 4000 rev limit wasn't too much of an issue, whilst making good progress. In usual style we got to the bottom of the Klausen at about 7:00 which meant leaving Winterthur at 5:45.
Anyway, a few photos:
Near the top of the Klausen
Another top
Careful running in route
Next stop, a deserted Furka...
So, this morning it went on a nice running in drive over the following passes:
Klausen (from Linthal, the old hillclimb route)
Susten
Grimsel
Furka
Oberalp
I was surprised just how much torque the car has and keeping to (mostly) the recommended 4000 rev limit wasn't too much of an issue, whilst making good progress. In usual style we got to the bottom of the Klausen at about 7:00 which meant leaving Winterthur at 5:45.
Anyway, a few photos:
Near the top of the Klausen
Another top
Careful running in route
Next stop, a deserted Furka...
Edited by chandrew on Monday 21st September 08:45
Ok, some more thoughts on the passes from yesterday.
The klausen is a lovely pass, especially at the bottom. The first two hairpins seem to be just right to get you in the mood for what's coming and I do love the cobbles, though maybe this wouldn't have been the same if they were wet.
The straight section is really bumpy and I felt there was a good chance of bottoming the Lotus out if I pushed too hard. I've done it in the subaru from the other direction and don't seem to remember any issues. Anyway, I guess this is where there would be speed checks (though unlikely at 7:15 on a Sunday morning?) and I've heard of incidents involving farm vehicles so a good place to relax and enjoy the view.
Just at the bottom we met a classic car run featuring the usual Porsches etc and the most beautiful MG I can remember. Rebodied with aero screens and a drivers roll bar / headrest that trailed towards the back.
Then up the Grimsel, a pass which is growing on me. It has some nice flowing sections with good visibility but less impact maybe than the Sustens - until that is you leave the dam. For some reason I come to this thinking it's the top. Reality is that the best's only about to arrive.
The last bit is a wall of hairpins. I can only think that the bunch of walkers we met on a path above one left-hander were Italian by the encouragement we got. Anyway we repaid them with the sort of very late braking, heel-and-toe gear change and incredible cornering speed that the Lotus makes so easy. I remember on the exit of one hairpin looking down and seeing the dial reading 60km/h and feeling that I had at least 2 or 3 tenths still to go before the limit.
The wall of the grimsel is in reverse on the way down to the VS. We were meeting more cars here but it's easy to pass, especially when they start to brake for left handers or on the exit to right handers.
I had never driven the furka, but felt I knew it from repeated viewings of Goldfinger. The route from VS is as good as it looks from the other side of the valley. The side down is too narrow to be much fun and seemed to to many folk who had little intention of keeping to their side of the road. Lots of stop-start progress.
I'd only seen the Oberalp from the Glacier Express, but it's a nice gentle between green meadows.
Thoughts on the route - good, though I'd probably make an ammendment if (OK, when) I do it again. Take the Klausen, Susten, Grimsel then go up the Furka, have a coffee at the top and then go back down towards the Valais and up over the Nufenen with a trip back over the old Gotthard. This way you'd get the good part of the Furka and spend the time on the Nufenen. Back could be either the Oberalp or more likely the Klausen in reverse.
The car? I had much more fun than I thought I would whilst only using the first 4000 (of 8000 or so) revs. The supercharger givers the car a decent amount of torque and given the weight you can go into everything a gearer higher than you would think so. We did most of the run in 3rd and 4th with the occasional use of 5th on the flatter bits, mainly to relax. The car has the standard suspension not the firmer 'sport pack' set-up and I think this was a wise move. Especially on the mid section of the Klausen I think the more track-specific suspension might have been a bit too hard. It's now done over 1000km (not bad for a weekend driving).
The klausen is a lovely pass, especially at the bottom. The first two hairpins seem to be just right to get you in the mood for what's coming and I do love the cobbles, though maybe this wouldn't have been the same if they were wet.
The straight section is really bumpy and I felt there was a good chance of bottoming the Lotus out if I pushed too hard. I've done it in the subaru from the other direction and don't seem to remember any issues. Anyway, I guess this is where there would be speed checks (though unlikely at 7:15 on a Sunday morning?) and I've heard of incidents involving farm vehicles so a good place to relax and enjoy the view.
Just at the bottom we met a classic car run featuring the usual Porsches etc and the most beautiful MG I can remember. Rebodied with aero screens and a drivers roll bar / headrest that trailed towards the back.
Then up the Grimsel, a pass which is growing on me. It has some nice flowing sections with good visibility but less impact maybe than the Sustens - until that is you leave the dam. For some reason I come to this thinking it's the top. Reality is that the best's only about to arrive.
The last bit is a wall of hairpins. I can only think that the bunch of walkers we met on a path above one left-hander were Italian by the encouragement we got. Anyway we repaid them with the sort of very late braking, heel-and-toe gear change and incredible cornering speed that the Lotus makes so easy. I remember on the exit of one hairpin looking down and seeing the dial reading 60km/h and feeling that I had at least 2 or 3 tenths still to go before the limit.
The wall of the grimsel is in reverse on the way down to the VS. We were meeting more cars here but it's easy to pass, especially when they start to brake for left handers or on the exit to right handers.
I had never driven the furka, but felt I knew it from repeated viewings of Goldfinger. The route from VS is as good as it looks from the other side of the valley. The side down is too narrow to be much fun and seemed to to many folk who had little intention of keeping to their side of the road. Lots of stop-start progress.
I'd only seen the Oberalp from the Glacier Express, but it's a nice gentle between green meadows.
Thoughts on the route - good, though I'd probably make an ammendment if (OK, when) I do it again. Take the Klausen, Susten, Grimsel then go up the Furka, have a coffee at the top and then go back down towards the Valais and up over the Nufenen with a trip back over the old Gotthard. This way you'd get the good part of the Furka and spend the time on the Nufenen. Back could be either the Oberalp or more likely the Klausen in reverse.
The car? I had much more fun than I thought I would whilst only using the first 4000 (of 8000 or so) revs. The supercharger givers the car a decent amount of torque and given the weight you can go into everything a gearer higher than you would think so. We did most of the run in 3rd and 4th with the occasional use of 5th on the flatter bits, mainly to relax. The car has the standard suspension not the firmer 'sport pack' set-up and I think this was a wise move. Especially on the mid section of the Klausen I think the more track-specific suspension might have been a bit too hard. It's now done over 1000km (not bad for a weekend driving).
Hallo Andrew
Congrats :-)) What a lovely car, it it Dorothy's favourite, well mine , too, if entry
was easier with the roof on ;-)
How is the gear-change, wobbly or really straight?
I saw a few S/C at Lotus West in St.Gallen two weeks ago, BUT there was a glorious looking
Morgan +8...at a price, these cars seem to be bullet-proof regarding depreciation....
Regards,
Rainer and Dot
Congrats :-)) What a lovely car, it it Dorothy's favourite, well mine , too, if entry
was easier with the roof on ;-)
How is the gear-change, wobbly or really straight?
I saw a few S/C at Lotus West in St.Gallen two weeks ago, BUT there was a glorious looking
Morgan +8...at a price, these cars seem to be bullet-proof regarding depreciation....
Regards,
Rainer and Dot
The gearbox is more notchy than a mass produced car but very nice and mechanical feeling. I think it was the Rover ones which were a bit loose.
Yes, Morgan prices do seem to defy gravity. I have a soft spot for them as my great grandparents used to sell the 3 wheelers. When I was young I had my name down for a plus 8. There was a German registered Morgan parked where we took photos on the klausen. The dealer near Basle can rent you a roadster which we looked at when we hired the caterham a few weeks ago.
Yes, Morgan prices do seem to defy gravity. I have a soft spot for them as my great grandparents used to sell the 3 wheelers. When I was young I had my name down for a plus 8. There was a German registered Morgan parked where we took photos on the klausen. The dealer near Basle can rent you a roadster which we looked at when we hired the caterham a few weeks ago.
Thanks for your info.
RE: renting a Morgan
what dealer do you mean?
This one:
http://www.abtautomobile.ch/abtautomobile
or this one:
http://www.pantheonbasel.ch/en
First one is an official importer.....
Don't give Dot any ideas ......;-))
Rainer
RE: renting a Morgan
what dealer do you mean?
This one:
http://www.abtautomobile.ch/abtautomobile
or this one:
http://www.pantheonbasel.ch/en
First one is an official importer.....
Don't give Dot any ideas ......;-))
Rainer
Sorry Rainer, away on business with little web access.
The first one, which is, as you say, the official importer. It's not cheap, but if you compare it with rental of something of a similar price - eg a Boxster - it's pretty competitive.
The Caterham I hired from Kumschick nearish to Luzern. Great guys. They offer either the CSR 200 or an Elise S. I was so impressed with their service, and the attention that we got from all that we met - including both Fredy and Elisabeth Kumschick - that they're now going to be looking after the Lotus even though I live on the TG / ZH border.
The first one, which is, as you say, the official importer. It's not cheap, but if you compare it with rental of something of a similar price - eg a Boxster - it's pretty competitive.
The Caterham I hired from Kumschick nearish to Luzern. Great guys. They offer either the CSR 200 or an Elise S. I was so impressed with their service, and the attention that we got from all that we met - including both Fredy and Elisabeth Kumschick - that they're now going to be looking after the Lotus even though I live on the TG / ZH border.
Hi Stu,
You need to think of two things with the passes. First if there is snow I'd give them a wide berth. You also need to consider the temperature at the top as summer tyres won't be on top form from below about 6 degrees. Webcams can be your friend. At the beginning of the week there was snow planned, now it seems to be getting a bit better.
If they're not looking promising then the southern Black Forest is fantastic and it's in autumn colours right now.
You need to think of two things with the passes. First if there is snow I'd give them a wide berth. You also need to consider the temperature at the top as summer tyres won't be on top form from below about 6 degrees. Webcams can be your friend. At the beginning of the week there was snow planned, now it seems to be getting a bit better.
If they're not looking promising then the southern Black Forest is fantastic and it's in autumn colours right now.
chandrew said:
Hi Stu,
You need to think of two things with the passes. First if there is snow I'd give them a wide berth. You also need to consider the temperature at the top as summer tyres won't be on top form from below about 6 degrees. Webcams can be your friend. At the beginning of the week there was snow planned, now it seems to be getting a bit better.
If they're not looking promising then the southern Black Forest is fantastic and it's in autumn colours right now.
Excellent thanks for the advice, I plan to do a route around the Mulhouse area / Blackforest so that is perfect, then think I will do a fairly easy pass over Alps and into Italy....You need to think of two things with the passes. First if there is snow I'd give them a wide berth. You also need to consider the temperature at the top as summer tyres won't be on top form from below about 6 degrees. Webcams can be your friend. At the beginning of the week there was snow planned, now it seems to be getting a bit better.
If they're not looking promising then the southern Black Forest is fantastic and it's in autumn colours right now.
Thanks for the advice and enjoy the SC, looks great !
Hallo there
Have a look here:
http://www.tcs.ch/main/de/home/verkehrsinfo/paesse...
it is in German, but you can see that quite a few passes are already closed :-(. This link
is being up-dated regularly.
Maybe the AA or RAC can help you, too.
Enjoy your car :-)) and have a nice trip.
PS: weather is getting slightly better....
Rainer and Dot
Have a look here:
http://www.tcs.ch/main/de/home/verkehrsinfo/paesse...
it is in German, but you can see that quite a few passes are already closed :-(. This link
is being up-dated regularly.
Maybe the AA or RAC can help you, too.
Enjoy your car :-)) and have a nice trip.
PS: weather is getting slightly better....
Rainer and Dot
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