Weight

[Bender Rodríguez]

Originally Posted by fzust

I think they are addressing the hardcore folks with the 211. THey needed to expand in the US and in the US you MUST have the 3 A's: ABS, Airbags, and A/C. This expands their market, broadens appeal, and let's them sell more units.

See and that’s another point the 211 that’s not street legal was supposed to weight 1477lbs in tall the hype from magazines and articles. Recently I looked on Lotus website and now their claming it will weight 1640lbs. And I know traction launch control and more but it still its disappointing. And again I know it’s a damn light car but roughly 175lbs heaver than a <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comffice:smarttags" /><st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on">UK</st1lace></st1:country-region> counterpart that’s a price to pay, I mean look what it will cost you money wise to take that kind of weight out of your elise, and it’s only harder in a car already lighter so the 175lbs there is even more substantial.

[Bender Rodríguez]

Originally Posted by shay2nak

well going from Rover to 2ZZ added 100 lbs for engine & transmission.

then add AC +25lbs, ABS, airbags, radio?. I've got a pie chart somewhere showing where the added weight came from.

I would love to see that it's what I'm looking for. If you could post that I would appreciate it.

[Gizmo3000]

Originally Posted by Bavarian Motorist

I don't like the idea of, "Well, 2000 lbs is still really low." So is 2300 lbs or 2400 lbs. Is that what we should expect to see Elises become?

Honestly doubt that's where things are going, with the Elise at least.
but heck, 2,000lbs is still pretty impressive when you compare it to the Smart-ForTwo's that are only a few hundred pounds lighter.
- or the lightest Porsche's which are like 800lbs heavier!

[jlj3394]

I don't see why the hell these cars have ABS. I have personally never even engaged it without trying to on purpose (once) to see if mine actually worked.

These cars allow a tremendous amount of threshold braking and I think most owners are knowledgeable enough to realize that a controlled stop is better than a panic stop.

BTW, does anyone else see the "double any vehicle's MPG" ad. 60mpg Elise. WHOOO!

[Bavarian Motorist]

Originally Posted by xtn

It is unfortunate that your opinion was not considered during the design/engineering of the cars.

They do meet all safety requirements. They pass the crash tests. There was an exemption for not meeting the 2.5mph bumber requirements and another for not meeting the head light pattern requirements. Neither of those things are likely to have much impact on occupant safety though.

xtn

I recall an exemption for not having weight-sensing seats which will activate the air bags differently or something stupid like that


Who decided that was a good idea?

[Aedo]

I'm not sure about the change to the front crash structure or the door beams - they are both in the S1 and early S2s

Originally Posted by fitfan

and i really do prefer the power brakes but could do without the abs....

I suspect from this quote that you have never driven the non-assisted Elise It has simply the best brake feel of any road car both I have ever driven and it is significantly better than the ABS equiped Elises including 08 cars - the power was only added to enable ABS - not because the car needs it.

[Bavarian Motorist]

Originally Posted by Gizmo3000

Honestly doubt that's where things are going, with the Elise at least.
but heck, 2,000lbs is still pretty impressive when you compare it to the Smart-ForTwo's that are only a few hundred pounds lighter.
- or the lightest Porsche's which are like 800lbs heavier!

Yes, it is very impressive. I hope it is the ceiling, though, and from here on out, Lotus will not just add weight, but perhaps find some small ways to reduce weight to counteract added weight. Hey, I wouldn't mind 5 lbs more of cushioning or fabric or whatever as long as there's 5 lbs taken from somewhere else.


Lotus wants to sell the Elise and Exige as their entry level models, but they should also be a showcase for what Lotus is all about. Performance through light weight

[Aedo]

Originally Posted by Bavarian Motorist

I recall an exemption for not having weight-sensing seats which will activate the air bags differently or something stupid like that


Who decided that was a good idea?

That system is a cost saving one not a safety issue - it doesn't activate the passenger airbag if there is no passenger. Kind of irrelevant in an Elise since in an accident causing airbags to deploy replacing an airbag is the least of your repair worries!

[Bavarian Motorist]

Originally Posted by Aedo

That system is a cost saving one not a safety issue - it doesn't activate the passenger airbag if there is no passenger. Kind of irrelevant in an Elise since in an accident causing airbags to deploy replacing an airbag is the least of your repair worries!

Thanks for clarification. So it's an insurance issue and it's only on the passenger side

[jlj3394]

Would the electric AC that is going in on some cars (to save gas) save weight also?

[xtn]

I am not knowledgable on the seat/airbag interaction, but I sure think it's a good idea not to have it if it adds weight. Heck, I've already removed my driver's side airbag and intend to remove the passenger side bag sometime later this Summer.

xtn

[Bavarian Motorist]

Do air bags really save lives in certain circumstances? Mine went off once on a different car and, well, in my opinion it was delayed.


It went something like this...CRASH! 'Oh crap. I just crashed'. Then POOF! [air bags deploy] 'Great!'

[Kaliuzhkin]

Originally Posted by Bavarian Motorist

Do air bags really save lives in certain circumstances? Mine went off once on a different car and, well, in my opinion it was delayed.

It went something like this...CRASH! 'Oh crap. I just crashed'. Then POOF! [air bags deploy] 'Great!'

Yes, airbags save lives. About half a year ago, I had an accident while test driving a BMW in Greenwich, Conn!. I was pulling out of the driveway, intending to cross Putnam and make a left. A Jeep came flying out of nowhere on Putnam and crashed into the car I was driving. The impact was Jeep broadsiding the BMW, point of impact being the driver's side door.

The side air bag went off and I sustained only minor bruises. Without the air bag, I might have been killed or sustained major damage.

[CosmosMpower]

I weighed mine at 1930 last weekend. 06 Elise with sport, touring, stg 2 exhaust, rotas with the top off and 2 bars of gas.

[Kaliuzhkin]

I'm surprised no one mentioned this but the Elise lacks a rear window defogger. Every other car I've had since a Plymouth Valiant had one. Someone I was talking to said its mandatory. That must have been one of the items waived.

[Aedo]

Originally Posted by Kaliuzhkin

I'm surprised no one mentioned this but the Elise lacks a rear window defogger. Every other car I've had since a Plymouth Valiant had one. Someone I was talking to said its mandatory. That must have been one of the items waived.

You know I have never noticed! but the rear window has never fogged up either maybe it is close enough to the engine stay warm?

[sandsmuseum]

Somewhere there is a pie chart, generated by Lotus, that shows where the increase in weight is attributed.

Anybody remember where it was published? I seem to remember around 2001 just after the Elise 2000 was introduced.

While we are taxing your memory, there was also a flow chart that showed how to adjust suspension parts. It had boxes, with arrows and a question about over and under steer. It helped demonstrate how to adjust sway bar, shocks, and springs.

I am getting old...

Michael

[climb4fun]

Originally Posted by Bavarian Motorist

Mine went off once on a different car and, well, in my opinion it was delayed.
It went something like this...CRASH! 'Oh crap. I just crashed'. Then POOF! [air bags deploy] 'Great!'

Something must went wrong with that airbag. They suppose to deploy in a fracture of a second (.0035 second).

I know someone that badly broke his thumb when driver's airbag deployed in a minor front collision.

[andykeck]

Originally Posted by Kaliuzhkin

I'm surprised no one mentioned this but the Elise lacks a rear window defogger ... Someone I was talking to said its mandatory. That must have been one of the items waived.

The waiver documents say nothing about a defogger requirement. Think about this: rear windows (cf. Exige, box trucks, work vans) aren't even required.

[mopho]

Originally Posted by CosmosMpower

I weighed mine at 1930 last weekend. 06 Elise with sport, touring, stg 2 exhaust, rotas with the top off and 2 bars of gas.

The proper way to weigh a car is with a full tank of gas