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06-22-2009, 04:19 AM
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#41 (permalink) |
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Registered User
Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 318
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Definately be friends - lotus are very clever with their relationships so any Tesla sale boost Lotus's funds to make the cars we love.
For example - every porsche sold (not sure if the contract is still running) had to pay Lotus for the variable valve work commissioned by Porsche. I always like this Lotus/GM car - shame it was only a prototype Vauxhall Eco-Speedster Proves Saving Fuel Can Be Fun |
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06-22-2009, 09:05 AM
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#42 (permalink) | |
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daily driver
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Sunnyvale, CA
Posts: 1,950
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Quote:
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http://www.rahulnair.net/blog |
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06-22-2009, 09:50 AM
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#43 (permalink) | |
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Registered User
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Glendale, CA (formerly Gilbert, AZ)
Posts: 5,382
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Quote:
 Behold the hierarchy: [Honda Clarity] 1) Teslas 2) Prius 3) Other Hybrids 4) Gas Burners Not to mention they feel they're driving a $100,000+ car to a $50,000 car.
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2005 BRP Elise- SOLD 6/9/07 2006 MV Agusta F4S - SOLD 4/30/09 2008 Audi TT (MKII) 2009 Audi A4 2009 Ducati 1198 
Last edited by Allan Gibbs : 06-22-2009 at 02:35 PM. |
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06-22-2009, 10:47 AM
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#44 (permalink) |
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now where was I...?
Join Date: May 2009
Location: with Peter and Lois Griffin
Posts: 155
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...noticed an unspoken undercurrent in this discussion - Tesla drivers seemingly drive theirs every day, Lotus drivers usually don't, and more people see Teslas than Elises in CA/LA. Leads me to think that maybe a silent Elise is a much more liveable DD? maybe the're just listening to fantastic hifi on their commute? Maybe they're onto something?
Maybe it's Elise owners who are being bourgeois - feeling all superior for being 400lbs lighter or whatever? Plus I couldn't get over how shocked I was that Teslas have NO exhaust pipe, just never occurred to me until I seen one, really cool! My vote is that Tesla's are cool and Tesla drivers are pioneers! 
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I must not bet on the Top Gear board. I must not bet on the Top Gear board. I must not bet on the Top Gear board. |
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06-22-2009, 10:55 AM
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#45 (permalink) | |
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daily driver
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Sunnyvale, CA
Posts: 1,950
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Quote:
There are plenty of Elise daily drivers in CA - there are 4 in the parking lot of my office right now. The weather here makes it much easier to drive a fun car (Elise or Tesla) everyday.
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http://www.rahulnair.net/blog |
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06-22-2009, 11:36 AM
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#46 (permalink) |
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User, Registered
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Leesburg, VA
Posts: 1,826
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Maybe I'm dense, but I don't understand this thread. A lot of guys on motorcycles wave at me & give me thumbs up, and I wave back, although I doubt the Elise shares parts with their bikes.
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Francis 2006 Chrome Orange Elise: LSD/TC, Nitron SAs with 425/650 springs, BWR 7/8" Front Bar, Eliseparts bumpsteer kit, VF Stage 2, 2bular Header + Sport Cat + 8x24 GT3 Muffler, ECU Tune by Jermaine, Smaay's fuel rail, ACT XT clutch, Saikou Michi dual catch can, Moroso pan, Manly's mount inserts & FF Engine Damper 2000 Black Integra Type R: - 213,000 miles & needs rebuilding... |
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06-22-2009, 01:38 PM
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#47 (permalink) |
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McLareghini Bugatterrari
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Texas
Posts: 6,841
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#1. Tesla hired Lotus as a vendor, just like they hired any other company to supply any other part(s). As long as Tesla paid for the work, they can call it theirs. We all know where it comes from.
#2. Whether or not you should be friends with somebody shouldn't be based on what car they own. Sure, I've met many new friends because we have a Lotus in common, but that's not why we're friends. xtn
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2006 McLareghini Bugatterrari, Storm Titanium... <mods> installed: air horn, Scroth 4-point ASM harnesses, Sector111 halon extinguisher and mounting bracket, Von Hep exhaust and rear panel delete, Pagid brake pads, red Volks CE28n wheels, Toyo RA-1 tires, Nitron SA coilovers, Sector111 (WorksBell) quick-disconnect steering wheel kit. awaiting installation: Scroth "pull-up" lap belts, Sector111 RTD Brace, Tony's heater bypass mod, and dropped steering rack mounting plates. </mods> |
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06-22-2009, 01:45 PM
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#48 (permalink) |
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Registered User
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Redwood City, CA
Posts: 704
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I'm in the heartland of tesla and i'm starting to see more of them than elise's... i think it'd be fun to be friends, but i got nothing out of the one owner i waved at so far. Most people who don't know what my car is ask me if it's a tesla... which i agree doesn't look nearly as nice, but anyway, I think we may actually be the "cheap and dirty" step cousin to them who're going to be snobbish about it... to the car lover i think they'd want to be friends.
I vote for friends. I think it's a sweet car, even if it doesn't look as good, i'd probably still drive it if money were no object, becuase i think silent torque is WAY more useful in a daily street car than noisy high rpm's. I've now seen a white tesla on the lot... looks a LOT better in the bright colors and white than the usual dark colors most owners seem to be ordering. |
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06-22-2009, 03:27 PM
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#49 (permalink) | |
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Registered User
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Geneva, Switzerland
Posts: 114
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Quote:
 As for the chassis, it is NOT built by Norsk Hydro, but by Lotus Lightweight Structures facility in Worcester, UK. who also build all the other Lotus chassis including the Evora. Lotus builds the Tesla from scratch (that is, unless my eyes where deceiving me when I followed one down the line while visiting Hethel...they are then shipped to the US where they put in the batteries/leccy motor...) Oh and except for the rear sub-frame, we do share a chassis  |
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06-22-2009, 03:39 PM
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#50 (permalink) |
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OSX Black hat
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Las Vegas , NV
Posts: 9,935
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Norwegian company Hydro sold the plant that made the elise chassis to Holden in 07, Lotus bought it in 08 and renamed it to Lotus Lightweight structures.
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Black Exige S - http://goth.am 265 Mule / Elan M100.ECU Tuning, http://www.elisetalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=39660 West Coast Lotus Meet - Las Vegas - November 6-9 2009 http://www.westcoastlotus.com/ |
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06-23-2009, 01:01 PM
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#52 (permalink) | |
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i has skills?
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: San Diego, CA
Posts: 259
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Quote:
Frequently Asked Questions What is your relationship with Lotus? Lotus Cars is assembling the Tesla Roadster under contract to Tesla Motors. Tesla Motors has also hired Lotus Engineering for certain design and engineering tasks. Why did you choose Lotus as a manufacturing partner? Lotus is the acknowledged leader worldwide for efficient assembly of sports cars at modest volumes. |
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06-23-2009, 01:34 PM
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#53 (permalink) |
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Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Midland, TX
Posts: 689
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I live in OIL COUNTRY. so don't think I'll be seeing any Tesla's. If I do I'll wave.
I will say that most of the Porsche's I see don't want back at me. which hurts my feelings....not really, but it certainly is rude. If you drive down the highway here, 70% of the people wave as you pass them. (on small 2 lanes roads). just a few years ago I'd have said 90%. you can be driving a 1972 Ford, and you'll still get the same waves.
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2005 Magnetic Blue Elise - "the Lotus" (original I know) 2001 Jeep Wrangler - "soul crusher". If you dont GET it after you drive it, then you dont GET it - serpent |
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08-05-2009, 08:59 AM
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#54 (permalink) |
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Registered User
Join Date: Dec 2008
Posts: 32
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From a Tesla owner.
When the Tesla Roadster came out I did not know much about Lotus having grown up in an all Fiat family. I even have a friend who has (among other exotics) a limited Exige but never paid much attention to it. As I looked into Lotus and what they were founded on and what they were known for and that many car makers secretly contract them for work (I'm looking at you GT-R) I was impressed that Tesla went to them rather than having the ego to try and build yet another garage toy. If you are on the left coast where Teslas abound, you know the cars look similar to the uninitiated because we both get confused questions. My take is the Tesla is a bit dull looking and the Elise is a bit extreme looking. I like them equally. I am proud that Lotus helped my car be as cool as it is. Imagine that Top Gear comparison without a Lotus built car! I wave at Lotus owners and hope to join some Lotus drives in the hills to be embarrassed in the turns and to pull away out of them. That's some good racing!! Last edited by vfx : 08-05-2009 at 10:04 AM. |
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10-09-2009, 01:04 PM
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#55 (permalink) |
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Registered User
Join Date: Oct 2009
Posts: 1
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Unfortunately, my first post as a newbie is going to be a long one but I need to get this off my chest.
As an ex-Lotus engineer who is also a Tesla engineer I find a lot of this discussion really rather disappointing. I drive the Roadster regularly and wave to Elise owners and disappointingly few wave back. I am not offended or insulted by this because we are two separate vehicles made by two separate companies....we just share some DNA. I would like to back up smicker's comment about parts compatibilty and reinforce that actually, in terms of exact same parts, there is only approx a 7% overlap. Yes, as some have suggested, on several parts there are only slight design differences but that does make them unique. You wouldn't find BMW or Toyota using a part if it was "nearly the same, we could just file it here and there to make it fit". I meet a lot of people try to make out that the Roadster is "just an electric Elise" and that in some way it is a member of the Lotus stable. No, the reality is that Lotus is the partner of choice for anyone wanting to make lightweight structures that go fast! They are good at it and that is why Lotus was chosen. However, all the powertrain is completely Tesla despite what some 'armchair experts' might like to profess. I hear so many people saying that "Lotus did this and Lotus did that". Well, I can assure you, when it came to the powertrain components such as motor, battery, control electronics, charging, electrical safety systems it was solely Tesla and nothing to do with Lotus. On this point, I saw a comment earlier about people thinking they know all about Tesla because they sat in one.....I couldn't agree more! It was the same when i was at lotus as it is at Tesla, there are so many people who read the mags and listen to the journalists who all of a sudden become an expert and try to tell those that work within a company about how they are wrong. Well, good luck to those people........For those on the inside it is VERY frustrating when you know the truth. Be under no illusions, Lotus was an engineering partner during development and is a manufacturing partner during production and they are well paid for those services. In a time when Lotus cash flow was low Tesla were a very welcome source of income and continue to be so. Nobody at Tesla denies Lotus' invaluable input to the program......ask a number of Aston martin Vanquish owners whether they acknowledge that 75% of their vehicle was engineered by Lotus. I'll bet not many AMV owners even KNOW that the percentage was so high if at all. Also, how many people acknowledge that pretty much most of the chassis designs for Astons that have followed the AM Vanquish have been based on the structures designed by Lotus used on the Vanquish. Funny, you don't see Aston Martin talking about that too much now do you...at least we at Tesla acknowledge the invaluable input of Lotus. Let's all just be happy that at least we live in a world where fun, exciting, exhilarating sports cars are allowed.....regardless of whether they have an exhaust or not! There are plenty of other people to dislike in this world....likeminded sports car enthusiast shouldn't be included. I have seen both sides of the fence and I love both Lotus and Tesla for prodcing exciting cars in a world full of anonymous Euro-boxes. Phew, what a first post! |
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10-09-2009, 01:12 PM
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#56 (permalink) |
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Stormtrooper
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Los Altos Hills, CA
Posts: 95
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I have a couple of friends who work/worked there, and there are at least 6 of them parked in the lot downstairs (compared to only one other Lotus that I've seen). I'd consider us cousins, with the usual family rivalries. At the end of the day, we're all driving low-slung, good-looking, rear wheel drive, great handling, fast sports cars, right?
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2007 Aspen White Exige S Track, Touring, LSD Golden Gate Lotus Club #979 Larini SC Sport, R888, black badges, red folding tow hook |
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10-09-2009, 03:11 PM
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#57 (permalink) | |
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No, it's only an N/A
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 3,285
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Quote:
 Good one though.
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Useful links to vendors removed at Nadeem's request. "Nice avatar by the way, I doubt Colin Chapman would have followed the herd as I have seen many here do. --Nadeem" |
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10-09-2009, 03:44 PM
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#58 (permalink) | |
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It's a Lotus
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Beverly Hills, Ca.
Posts: 16,986
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Quote:
They are built by Lotus. You better believe we are friends. At the L.A. Auto Show a while back, the Tesla people asked me as a Lotus owner, where to put their fix-a-flat containers. By the way, most Lotus owners are driving their cars far too fast to notice anything around them, much less other cars. 
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2005 Saffron Yellow Elise. Stage II Exhaust. 2007 ProBax seats. "We know they're magical and worth every minute we spend on them. The whole Lotus owners' world is like a secret handshake among people who understand that." (R&T) |
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10-23-2009, 11:35 PM
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#59 (permalink) |
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Put it in H!!
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Bay Area, CA
Posts: 547
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I finally had the opportunity to wave to a Tesla driver while driving the Exige.
He didn't wave back.
__________________
2006 Lotus Exige (Schroth harnesses, Larini 8", SS brake lines, Hawk pads, Nitrons, RTD brace, Titan steering rack, R888s, Braille battery, Bollock, desnorkle, AVIC-N3, etc.) 2001 Mustang GT (full exhaust, coilovers, control arms, Konis, 6 pt. roll bar, shifter, big brakes, subframes, torque arm, panhard bar, Sparco seat, BFG KDW2s, 3.73 gears, etc. 250rwhp 280ft/lbs) 2006 VW GTi Mk5 (SS brake lines, Hawk pads, BFG KDW2s) 2005 Mercedes-Benz C230K (hers, gone  )
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