...the Tesla roadster: what a wallowing pig of a car!..

[...m...]

...what have tesla done with the lotus platform's handling?..i just finished watching tonight's top gear, and the tesla was positively embarrassing to watch slosh through the corners like a drunken sow: by all rights it should have trounced the 190hp exige, but instead it struggled pitifully everywhere the track deviated from a straight line, in the end lagging a second slower through its lap under identical conditions, despite prodigous torque, power, and shifting advantages...

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[foosh]

Those batteries aren't light. It is a much heavier car (about 800 lbs.), and if they just added significant weight to the Lotus Elise/Exige chassis without compensating for it with additional suspension engineering, you would expect what you saw.

[...m...]

...very sloppy standards for a hundred thousand dollar car, but i suppose that's to be expected from IPO middlemen...

[codymac]

Crap tires.

For one second, I'd put that down more to the crap tires than the added weight as the torque appears to compensate enough for the weight.

[...m...]

...not just tires - the body roll was tragic, worse even than the reasonably-priced car...

[mopho]

The car is intentionally softer than the Lotus and is not meant to be a track car

[foosh]

Thanks. I wasn't aware that Tesla specified a softer ride.

[ads_green]

I'm fairly sure (but will check) but the yellow lotus it was compared against is the S.
You'd have thought that being equiv to 250bhp they would have used the elise SC but that would have been much closer.

Also looking carefully i'm slightly more than 50% certain that the tyres were yoko's

[SweetDaddyD]

Originally Posted by ads_green

I'm fairly sure (but will check) but the yellow lotus it was compared against is the S.
You'd have thought that being equiv to 250bhp they would have used the elise SC but that would have been much closer.

Also looking carefully i'm slightly more than 50% certain that the tyres were yoko's

Quoted from Abe (who would know) from another thread.

Originally Posted by Abe

I haven't seen the episode however; Lotus Cars UK sent out an e-mail to us in the US stating that Tesla was going to air on Top Gear with an appearance of the Elise S...the lower horse power version so I'd hope a Tesla would beat it on a drag.

And not sure if you have ever driven an electric car (I have) but one huge benefit is maximum torque right from the get go. The Ranger EV I drove was programed with a "bog" to it so it wouldn't shred the tires, but even for a pickup it felt plenty fast. I would expect it to win the drag race. Check out this vid. Even here it doesn't take it off the line but at the end of the strip it is ahead of the Exige S and everything else. shortly thereafter if would be overtaken by all as the top speed would be done. I guess this is important if you are interesting in living your life one quarter mile at a time. (and since my dragstrip is about an hour away, I'd need a trailer to come home after making a few passes) Also I don't think this is a full quarter mile- unless all those cars are running 9 seconds. Looks like it's actually an 1/8th mile.

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Driving hard takes a lot of life out of the batteries, just like it takes a lot of gas out of the tank out of a car. So not sure how it would fair in a drag event, where the field keeps getting narrowed down throughout the day. One race- awesome. Kills supercars. 15 races into the day- does it still go? But heck as far as that argument goes, drag racing is about that race. Some of the huge dragsters engines only last one race and get rebuilt after each round (but they get it back together for the next round) And more than anything else, it's the consistency that matters. If the faster car "breaks out" they may win the race and still lose. So if it falls off throughout the day, that would be tough as well.


This vid is titled second run. looks like it might be losing some juice from the first race.

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[Parramint]

The Elise was in fact an S, I drove it to the studio's on Tuesday, picked it up (in one peice) on Thursday.

Richard

[Bavarian Motorist]

If the Elise was an S, that really is pitiful.

[Parramint]

S spec in the UK a 134bhp basic car....not supercharged.

[SweetDaddyD]

Originally Posted by Bavarian Motorist

If the Elise was an S, that really is pitiful.

The Elise S is not the supercharged version. It is not offered in the states. Its a stripped down cheaper Elise in Europe. According to this site it has 134 HP.
2008 Lotus Elise S 40th Anniversary

50 of them were made. None for the states.

[codymac]

Originally Posted by Parramint

The Elise was in fact an S, I drove it to the studio's on Tuesday, picked it up (in one peice) on Thursday.

Richard

Richard,

Do you happen to recall what wheel/tire combo was on the Elise? Was it the AD07 or A048s? I can't make out the wheels on the Elise as they're black.

As a side note, it appears Clarkson's comments about the tires on the Tesla were likely incorrect as they come with AD07s, not tires 'optimized for rolling resistance.'

[Parramint]

Will check and report back tomorrow
Richard

[buzzy]

I still don't get what the point of the Tesla is. Buy an Elise, save 60K and spend it on gas...

At least Lotus got paid to make it.

[codymac]

Originally Posted by Parramint

Will check and report back tomorrow
Richard

Thanks, Richard!

I'm betting it was on AD07s as well - the front tires look awfully narrow in the shot that pans around both cars before they drag race.

[Bavarian Motorist]

Originally Posted by SweetDaddyD

The Elise S is not the supercharged version. It is not offered in the states. Its a stripped down cheaper Elise in Europe. According to this site it has 134 HP.
2008 Lotus Elise S 40th Anniversary

50 of them were made. None for the states.

That's my point exactly. If an Elise S beat the Tesla that badly, it's very pitiful for the Tesla.

[fishguy]

maybe this is why someone was offering them "without the wait" just prior to the airing of this show.

because they are a total (expensive)piece of crap, and after this show, we all now know it.

"the car is not meant for the track", WTF does that mean for a sportscar?

I bet smickers' (a tesla salesperson on the site here)panties will get all bunched up after seeing this thread.
LOL

[Randy Chase]

The Elise S has good torque and midrange (less upper end hp) but it is quite good for getting off the line. I drove an S at Nurburgring.

The Tesla is a street roadster, not a track car. I think that is all it means. Many sportscars come very softly sprung once tried on a track. My Noble being one.

I don't get all the hate for the car. It is not perfect and it is not for everyone...(I will keep the Noble, thank you) but Tesla is good for Lotus.