Top Gear - Clarkson driving the Elise

[Manxman]

Remember Clarkson's critcism of the Elise understeering? (Although he was subsequently shown how to drive it by the Lotus test driver...and the Stig!)

The November issue of Evo has a test of the Caparo T1, which was also slated by Jeremy. This has just annihilated the record at Evo's test track. When the Caparo development driver was asked about Clarkson's criticism he had the following answer:

"Well, I drove it around the track and it didn't understeer in the way Clarkson said it did". It seems the trouble was that he of the 80's stonewashed jeans would boot the car in a straight line, be flabbergasted by how quick it was, then realise that there was a corner coming up rather rapidly, so he'd hit the brakes, wipe off too much speed and then try to accelerate the whole way through the corner.And of course if you do that then it's going to understeer - as would any other car.

While the Elise's acceleration and top speed is a long way from the Caparo, I would guess that the effectiveness of the brakes probably had a similar result.

Don't get me wrong - I enjoy Top Gear hugely, but had not previously heard a good explanation how Clarkson suffered such massive understeer.

[slope]

if i recall correctly in the elise episode that wasn't even a test driver but one of the engineers that was showing him how to whip it around.

[Lunareklipse]

Im pretty sure it was a lotus test driver, they had him driving other crap around the lotus test track in the one where they made that lada "pimped out"

Its ok if clarkson sucks at driving, hes merely there to do some dough nuts, be funny, and they give it to the stig to show what it can really do

[perryeyges]

Engineer or one of the guys involved in getting the car to market. Just a better driver. I'm also 99% sure he was not a "test driver". Can anyone find the footage and confirm. Kind of pudgy as I recall. Nice bloke that could drive somewhat.

[Mr. Know]

I believe he was a Lotus suspension engineer, but I could be wrong.

[Shine]

His name is Gavin Kershaw:

To dedicated petrolheads, Gavin Kershaw's life seems like a dream. There's the day job of Lotus test driver. Then there's his hobby, which currently involves steering a race-speced Lotus Elise in the British GT series. 'Lucky git' does spring to mind.

[mopho]

Clarkson clearly is a pretty decent driver and obviously knows how to slide a car about.
If you watch the video, the Lotus chassis engineer is doing Scandinavian flicks to get the car to slide, so unless you are doing Rally driving on loose surfaces, that is NOT how you would enter a corner, so Clarkson was not wrong in pointing out the understeer, and I am sure the whole thing was planned anyway



That said, Top Gear is a partly scripted entertainment show and they tend to exaggerate for effect, so should be taken with a grain of salt. Most of the time they are doing "ham fisted" driving to get the car to slide about the airfield to make exciting images and that is not representational of real world driving.


As to the Caparo, Jason Plato (who is a professional race driver) tests it on Fifth Gear and complains about the understeer too, but unlike on Top Gear they don't tend to exaggerate




Fifth Gear is a much better show for honest evaluations of the cars, but certainly not as fun to watch



Additionally, Caparo has had some time to address the understeer complaints between the time when TG/FG and Evo tested the car

[perryeyges]

CHIEF CHASSIS ENGINEER.. Thanks for posting both videos. The Comparo would be added to my stable except that it is about 400% over my budget

[Shorty111R]

Didn't Clarkson also drive the 135R or whatever it was called? The one that didn't have the 2ZZ-GE?

[SUTOL111x]

Originally Posted by Lunareklipse

Its ok if clarkson sucks at driving, he's merely there to do some dough nuts, be funny, and they give it to the stig to show what it can really do

The moral to the story then is to "speak softly and carry a big STIG!"

[Stormrider]

I've read a lot about this issue. The Elise is a neutral car which car corner at high speed, but it lacks power oversteer, so if you push the throttle when exiting a bend and you expect the tail to come to the front, it wont. The car will understeer. That's a little disapointing, since it's one part of the fun of rear-wheel drive cars. I don't know if this is a common issue to all mid-engine cars or has to do with the narrow front tyres of the Elise. However, it's surprising that Top Gear claims that this doesn't happen to the VX220, which is basically the same car with the same tires.

Another video in which you can see this lack of power oversteer is the one with the SC review by Jason Plato. He complains about the impossibility to take advantage of the extra power as he presses the pedal to the metal in the middle of a bend and he says all the car does is wheel spinning (go to 2 min 30 secs):

YouTube - Fifth Gear: Jason drives the Lotus Elise SC

On the other hand, the Elise has a tendency to show lif-off oversteer, which can be dangerous if you're not used to it. If you change down gear in the middle of a bend or lift the throttle suddenly while in high revs, the car can have a sudden oversteer, and I've heard it's very difficult not to end up with a spin. So, it's good to remember to use the steering wheel and the throtle smoothly through the bends, and use the heel-toe technique if you have to do agressive downshifts with this car.

As regard the Top Gear video, as you have already said, Gavin uses speed and weight balance to drift the car. You can even see a little of the scandinavian flick technique. That way you can have oversteer even with a front engine car.

There's another video by Top Gear in which they insist in the VX220 superior handling, with a comparison of both cars taking the same bend (go to 1 min 05 secs). I may be wrong, but it seems that Clarkson has a clear sympathy for the Vauxhall over the Lotus and tends to overate it in all aspects.

YouTube - VX220 Turbo, TVR T350C, Lotus Elise

[Lunareklipse]

yeah he does, and that vauxhaul is ugly as sin if you ask me

[SteveLevin]

My opinion of the Caparo is that, like all heavily aero cars, it suffers from the classic syndrome where "you can go through the corner at 80mph on mechanical grip, and at 100mph on mechanical+aero, but at 90mph you go off into the gravel"

Plato did much better because he was willing to make the big jump in speed and trust the car would be there. Clarkson tried to inch up on it...and that just doesn't work.

Steve

[milehitom]

I watched the Top gear vid comparing the na Elise with the VX 220 and wondered what Jeremy was talking about...through the comparison turn, the Elise was neat and tidy and the Vx was under-, then oversteering. It might have been more fun for him, but "better?"

Tiff Needell of Fifth Gear seemed to see the comparison differently:



Tom