First track outing in the Elise
Discussion
Popped along to Bruntingthorpe half circuit on Saturday with my new steed. To provide context, I had previously attended a day at Donnington in the old Cerbera. Although I was instantly converted to trackdays, I became disillusioned with the Cerbera due to its (relatively) poor handling and high running costs. This led to the purchase of a nice little S1 Sport 160 Elise (with LSS) a couple of weeks ago.
First impressions of the car were that of the ride being much harder than the Cerbera, although it does not tramline, and the significant noise generated by the engine, transmission and suspension. This is so much so that I used earplugs when sitting on the M-ways to and from the track. Obviously the Elise is massively down on power compared to the Cerbera, but I was prepared for this and happy to accept it if it lived up to its reputation for superb handling and low running costs.
Out on the track the car felt very composed and I experienced none of the skittishness or constant course corrections that were required in the Cerbera. I was surprised at this, perhaps it was down to the Cerbera being poorly setup (it did have Nitrons) or maybe it is down to the lower inertial mass of the Elise? The morning was spent making a ham fisted attempt at guiding the car around the track. I found it difficult to ‘push on’ as the car seemed to have limitless grip. This wasn’t helped by the general opinion that the cars Pirellis were a poor tyre and a little unpredictable on the limit. I had visions of loosing the car without notice and careering off into the tyre wall. Things improved when we experienced the first downpour of the day. The Pirellis lived up to their reputation for being poor in the wet. This proved to be a bonus. Although they had little grip they were very progressive and allowed my to explore the limits of the car at much safer speeds.
The afternoon session took place on dry track. I quickly found myself gently drifting through corners with my new found confidence in the ‘on limit’ handling of the car. I did have a couple of ‘moments’ though. The first was a 100mph tail-out tank-slapper on the fast corner directly after the pit exit. The second was under breaking while changing down into the chicane. This was caused by over zealous engine breaking and my inability to heal and toe!
The best part of the day was the ‘before’ and ‘after’ effect that Andy (the instructor) had on my driving. It always amazes my how balanced a car is when in good hands. A few tips to tame my aggressive steering inputs and braking had me nipping at the heals of the Westerams through the corners. I’m not misguided enough to believe that this was down to my driving, I truly do think it is a function of the incredible poise and balance of the Lotus chassis.
My only disappointment with the car (or my driving?) was my inability to dial out any understeer and create oversteer with the throttle. I’m not sure if this is down to the relatively low power of the Elise, the tyres, geometry or perhaps my failure to balance the car before the corner – I’m sure that I’ll resolve this over time.
All in all the car is excellent. It would seem that I have found a good partner to improve my tackday skills. Best of all was that fact that after 100 track miles, the tyres and brakes where still in perfectly usable condition and have at least 2 more days in them.
Would I recommend and Elise – Definitely!
Cheers,
Rob
>> Edited by rjben on Monday 9th May 11:29
First impressions of the car were that of the ride being much harder than the Cerbera, although it does not tramline, and the significant noise generated by the engine, transmission and suspension. This is so much so that I used earplugs when sitting on the M-ways to and from the track. Obviously the Elise is massively down on power compared to the Cerbera, but I was prepared for this and happy to accept it if it lived up to its reputation for superb handling and low running costs.
Out on the track the car felt very composed and I experienced none of the skittishness or constant course corrections that were required in the Cerbera. I was surprised at this, perhaps it was down to the Cerbera being poorly setup (it did have Nitrons) or maybe it is down to the lower inertial mass of the Elise? The morning was spent making a ham fisted attempt at guiding the car around the track. I found it difficult to ‘push on’ as the car seemed to have limitless grip. This wasn’t helped by the general opinion that the cars Pirellis were a poor tyre and a little unpredictable on the limit. I had visions of loosing the car without notice and careering off into the tyre wall. Things improved when we experienced the first downpour of the day. The Pirellis lived up to their reputation for being poor in the wet. This proved to be a bonus. Although they had little grip they were very progressive and allowed my to explore the limits of the car at much safer speeds.
The afternoon session took place on dry track. I quickly found myself gently drifting through corners with my new found confidence in the ‘on limit’ handling of the car. I did have a couple of ‘moments’ though. The first was a 100mph tail-out tank-slapper on the fast corner directly after the pit exit. The second was under breaking while changing down into the chicane. This was caused by over zealous engine breaking and my inability to heal and toe!
The best part of the day was the ‘before’ and ‘after’ effect that Andy (the instructor) had on my driving. It always amazes my how balanced a car is when in good hands. A few tips to tame my aggressive steering inputs and braking had me nipping at the heals of the Westerams through the corners. I’m not misguided enough to believe that this was down to my driving, I truly do think it is a function of the incredible poise and balance of the Lotus chassis.
My only disappointment with the car (or my driving?) was my inability to dial out any understeer and create oversteer with the throttle. I’m not sure if this is down to the relatively low power of the Elise, the tyres, geometry or perhaps my failure to balance the car before the corner – I’m sure that I’ll resolve this over time.
All in all the car is excellent. It would seem that I have found a good partner to improve my tackday skills. Best of all was that fact that after 100 track miles, the tyres and brakes where still in perfectly usable condition and have at least 2 more days in them.
Would I recommend and Elise – Definitely!
Cheers,
Rob
>> Edited by rjben on Monday 9th May 11:29
Sounds fun!
If you want to learn how to get rid of the understeer etc you'll want to spend a day with Andy Walsh of www.carlimits.com I spent a day at Enstone Airfield happily playing with under/oversteer situations which has now left me FAR more confident in my abilities with the Liz.
Have fun
If you want to learn how to get rid of the understeer etc you'll want to spend a day with Andy Walsh of www.carlimits.com I spent a day at Enstone Airfield happily playing with under/oversteer situations which has now left me FAR more confident in my abilities with the Liz.
Have fun
Gassing Station | Track Days | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff