http://www.roadandtrack.com/article.asp?se...&article_id=868

The 914 looks beautiful in comparison!

I donno...I think they are pretty striking in person (saw a bunch in europe) and at 1700lbs and 190hp and a modern suspension, it would whooop the snot out of most 914's...I wan't one...maybe in a few years



edit: pic...

Tony

I found it interesting that the engiine and gearbox was Toyota. At least it won't be like earlier Lotus', these might even be reliable.

Yeah, I have thought for a long time that I would own a boxster s someday, now that plan is changing, I'll wait for all the hype and dealer markups to be over with first though. Most dealers already have 60 or so people with deposits on their waiting list!!! Wonder if their gonna price gouge Base price is supposed to be 38,500. We shall see...
Ferg.

This sounds like a 914 all over again - and 190HP to boot!

But smaller than a Miata? DAMMNN!

I'll keep an eye on it. PS: Does it come in Ravenna Green ?????????

Its a great car and even better with the Toyota Celica engine and gear box. These cars are the closest modern day equivalent to a 914 I have seen. I chased an Elise through the mountians of Italy in an Opel Corsa about a year ago. The Elise is a wicked handling car and very fast. I cant wait until they have been here for awhile and all the hype wears off.

Its the first real production sports car to hit our shores in a while.

Lotus USA

for $40k i will shove that at brad along with the specs for the elise and say "beat this..." and then be a real happy camper in an exceptionally cool teener.

Hi,
190 hp at 7800rpm. Does that sound a little peaky? The power in my 2.2 comes on around 5500. For 1.8 liters I guess that's about rite though. I think it might need wider tires. Will they fit? I'd like to see Porsche get off their ass and build something a little more affordable like the 914. The Boxter is a great car but still a bit pricey for some. Something small and light and affordable would sell at least as good as the Miata.
Cheers, Elliot

Yeah maybe, but you wont get 50 MPG highway like the Elise! Also there should be a TRD supercharger out for Toyota engine they use in the Elise soon. Nice little bolt on for extra power.

The turbo version of this car is a giant killer.

Scottsdale Lotus invited the local PCA out for a visit and I can tell you that any of us who owned Boxsters and Teeners were thinking the same thing

Where do I sign?

I like the looks of the first Elise a lot better than this one.
The Opel (or Vauxhall) Speedster looks even better though.
The Opel and the Lotus share the same chassis, but those dumb asses at Opel thought they could do a better job with the suspension than Lotus and fucked it up instead...

I really like the "no luxury crap" approach and the ultra trick glued aluminum chassis

cheers,

Jeroen

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yea..... but i would have a rockin' car that would whup up......

loan me $40k and i will show you!!!!

Atleast the Opal comes in a proper orange color, Jeroen!

I've been waiting for this to show up. Too bad I've taken a blood-oath to never ever buy a new car again. In 2006 I'll go find one. I came very close to putting some money down for one earlier this year, then the blood-oath....

I'm mildly disappointed by the choice of powerplant - looks like pretty much of a 0 torque engine to me (I've already got one of those). But I'm sure that TRD has some goodies for it, but, I'm not so sure that they'll have goodies to add appreciably to the TORQUE (what truly bad-assed cars have tons of).

Have fun,
Kevin

Torque is needed to move weight though - and the elise really is very light. I don't think the lack of it will necessarily be that much of a problem, and the article says it is improved over the Toyota version.

I got a 914 because it's basically a 30yr old Elise, and I couldn't have an Elise. I'm building the 914 to be an elise beater (the 2.0 twin turbo subaru engine (280 horse, 280 foot pounds, same weight as 1.7 (ish)) ought to spank the elises 190hp.) We'll see how well we do when we get to the corners :-). I'm not sure if it's beatable or not!!

Fiid.

Layout mid engine/rear drive
Brake system, f & r 11.1-in. drilled & vented discs, ABS
Wheels 16 x 5 1/2J f, 17 x 7 1/2J r
Tires Yokohama; 175/55R-16 f, 225/45R-17 r
Steering type rack & pinion
Suspension, f/r upper & lower A-arms, tube shocks, coil springs, anti-roll bar/upper & lower A-arms, tube shocks, coil springs


Anyone notice it has 17" rims on the back and 16" on the front!!!!

And the tire sizes are wildly different - 175 front vs 225 rear.

What else can we learn from this car?

Fiid.

I've seen a couple of Elisi (?)...one of which was a 340R, at an AX some time back.
Neither of the owners were Ax proficient, but the 340R was hella fast.

Can a 914 be built to beat one? Sure, but you're gonna play hell driving the thing on the street.....and the .25 on the dollar thingy still applies.

Modern suspension, ABS, a lightswitch shifter......torque is not an issue when a car is properly geared.

As to the tire sizes, I think we can assume that Lotus has their shit together in the handling department. I suspect it designed to have a bit of understeer to keep folks out of trouble. Tail happy is fine for AX, but not for the street or track.

I think I remember reading a while back that Pontiac was considering bringing the Opel Speedster to the US as a new Fiero.

I love the Speedster, but I'm not sure I could bring myself to actually buy a Pontiac.

The Elise, however, I would have no trouble convincing myself to buy....convincing the lender (or my wife foir that matter) that I could afford it would be a different story all together!