[Maverick1]

How would the Elise perform on the track against the new Corvette ZO6 which will have 500hp. Would it be a close race with drivers of equal talent??
Just curious

 

[Jon]

Unless the track has no straights and the tightest turns imaginable, I can't see how an Elise would come close. The Z06 as rumor has it will be close to the ultimate track car, price no object. We are talking 500hp with about 3000lbs.

 

[Richard 350z]

Yeah. He's right. Let's not be ridiculous. Elise might be about the best handling car on the planet, but 500 hp in a 3000 lb. car is just SLIGHTLY a better lbs./hp ratio than 190 hp in a 1975 lb. car.

Elise has a ratio of about 10 lb./hp. C6 Z06 will have a ratio of 6 lb./hp!!! That is incredible. Ferrari 360 doesn't come close.

 

[Maverick1]

just asking because .....

asking because the wait for the Elise is going to be long and I did test drive it and with a few options the Elise is going to cost around $45,000, and the new ZO6 will come in probably around $50,000, so for $5,000 more you get a lot more car and a heck of a lot more performance. With 500hp do you guys think it would hit 60mph in under 4 seconds..?????? If the regular C6 has a top speed of 186 the ZO6 hopefully will hit 190mph.
Decisions...decisions. Very tough indeed.

 

[Mean TT]

You are 100% correct. The Elise is expensive....expecialy for what you get. But you are getting a handbuilt race car for the streets. It is also a semi exotic, and Corvettes never are. I think the new Z06 will be unbelievable. I am sure it will be 0-60 in 3.9 or so, remember it ahs the same hp as the viper and for a lot less money. It is unfortunate that the z06 will not look substantially different from its less expensive brethern. I guess in the end, if you get your kicks from acceleration go for the Z06. Don't over look the EVO MR though either. For 5k in mods, you can kill the Z06 with the wonders of AWD.

 

[Joecooool]

I had dinner with Dave Hill a few months ago, he is the chief engineer for Corvette and designed the C6 and the C5.

The Z06 will be - significantly - more expensive than the normal Corvette and dramatically different visibly. Its going to be about $70K.

Full details will be released in December.

There is a limited edition super Vette for 2007, go google "Blue Devil Corvette" for the rumors on that one. Its going to be a Ford GT killer.

 

[theob]

I just cannot understand why you try to compare apples to oranges.

Elise is a Lotus, where the Corvette is just another powerful car, which will sell in tens of thousands.


The Z06 will be another hot rod, but I believe that all these cars don't make you feel the aura that handbuilt cars like Lotus can give...

Hope you see my drift...

 

[MOKOSpeeD]

Despite the Vette being only about 3000lbs, the Elise is yet much lighter by about 1000. I would think that the lightness allows for an experience unattainable by any car significantly heavier. I just think extremely light and great handling cars provide more thrills, and a greater sensation of performance.

 

[MOKOSpeeD]

on the other hand, like theob said above, apples and oranges they are. They both might provide equal amounts of thrills, just totally different ones.

 

[Surferjer]

Wow! The Z06 will be incredible. Cudos to Chevy (how often do you say that?). I'll still take my Elise, though. I had my picture taken twice on the way to work today. I doubt that would happen in any Vette...

 

[Stan]

I autocrossed my Elise on Sunday in "Demo" class...using a 4000-4500 RPM self imposed break-in Rev limit (around 600 miles so far). Touring suspension with stock tire pressures - 26/28, full tank of gas. Very tight course. I beat a National Trophy driver in a Z06 running Kumhos and wider than stock wheels. He was in ASP. A Mazda rx-7 TT on Kumhos beat me by a few hundredths in SS. Things would be different on a more open course, at least I'd need better tires. The Vette was roaring and clawing at the pavement...the Elise just drove around the course. Man can it slalom! The new ZO6 won't be able to use it's 500 HP big block grunt in the tight stuff. Very different driving experience too...the C6 so far still has video game no-feel steering. The Elise has plenty of feel and is rewarding to the driver attuned to the driving experience.

 

[eliseowner2b]

How does the regular c6 compare to the Elise for power/weight? I would think this would be a little better comparison for performance and price. Is it true the new vette has leaf springs at the rear? I am utterly confused that they would put this type of suspension on a modern sports car.

 

[Stan]

>>>How does the regular c6 compare to the Elise for power/weight? I would think this would be a little better comparison for performance and price. Is it true the new vette has leaf springs at the rear? I am utterly confused that they would put this type of suspension on a modern sports car.<<<

Vette leaf springs run side to side and not front to back like the old cheaply built American sedans. They are fine. They have been using them for years. Vettes versus Elise? Totally different driving experience. Many of the Lotus advantages are absent in the Vette.

 

[eliseowner2b]

Vette vs Elise....meaning track/autocross times. I've been in both (not the c6 yet) and id choose the Elise any day. Thanks for the info on the leaf springs layout. If anyone is interested, Top Gear does a review of the c6 on www.racingflix.com. Go to Recently Added Videos. You do have to register/sign in but they have tons of great vids. They really rag on the poor quality of the car while it does put a good time in on the track.

 

[HOCKYDOC]

I just cannot understand why you try to compare apples to oranges.

Elise is a Lotus, where the Corvette is just another powerful car, which will sell in tens of thousands.


The Z06 will be another hot rod, but I believe that all these cars don't make you feel the aura that handbuilt cars like Lotus can give...

Hope you see my drift...

Agree with you 100%. Why we keep hearing attempts to compare the Vette with the elise I can't understand. So different cars, both great in their own way.

I know we all have probably read the Aug Road and Track, but I think it warrents repeating their nice intro to the Elise review:




"Once upon a time, not so long ago, sports cars were about simplicity, balance and light weight. Horsepower was certainly welcome, though not necessarily essential, as handling and agility were at least as important as outright speed. Throughout the '50s and '60s, featherweights like the Porsche 550 Spyder and Lotus Seven exemplified this "handling over horsepower" approach to going fast, driving circles around scores of heavier, more powerful competitors.

Fast-forward to 2004 and the sports-car landscape has changed significantly. The machinery is undeniably faster and more powerful, but with these improvements have also come corresponding increases in size, complexity and most important, weight. Festooned with a dizzying array of creature comforts and high-tech wizardry, the modern sports car has packed on a few pounds over the past 40-plus years.

To compensate for this increased bulk, most of today's contenders possess increasingly potent powerplants (usually 300-500 bhp) to keep their 3000-plus-lb. bodies briskly in motion. The added thrust no doubt helps them get down the road quickly, but there's also no getting around the effects such mass has on a car's agility. Simply put, a 3000-lb. vehicle accelerates, brakes and corners very differently than one weighing 2000.

Which brings us to the Lotus Elise. Tipping the scales at a gravity-defying 1950 lb., the diminutive Elise remains faithful to the Hethel company's less-is-more school of vehicle production. Like the famous Seven and Elan, lightweight roadsters that helped put Lotus road cars on the map, the Elise is built around the same concept of joining an exceptionally light, nimble chassis to a flexible and responsive 4-cylinder engine. With so little mass to haul around, the Elise doesn't need a ton of horsepower to go fast, huge brakes to slow down or massive wheels and tires to handle well."

 

[GabbaGabbaHey]

I believe Ferrari charges about 30K more than base for their Challenge Strade version of the 360 which besides engines tweaks loses about 300 lbs. or so by stripping out sound insulation etc. It costs $ to make cars light.

OT, for day to day use, I really don't get the horsepower wars that are taking place in sport sedans sold in the US. How many times can one use the extra top end speed above 130 mph or so and not be thrown in jail? If I lived in Germany I can understand it, but here it seems akin to buying an SUV and never going off road.

 

[eliseowner2b]

I think people compare them because we expect to be running against them at auto x's. I expect to see them at track days and i havent kept up with the exact 1/4 mile times, lateral g's, braking distances of each car. I wonder, will I be pulling by them or will they be leaving me? It isn't that I want a c6 to drive, I compare them because they are somewhat comparable in performance.

 

[Surferjer]

Let's not lose sight that the new Corvette is probably the best one ever built in terms of power/weight, and especially performance/$$ cost. I LOVE my Elise, but the new Vette is a more than worthy competitor which will have a lot of success at the track.

It's okay for two cars to be great in different ways, isn't it?

I look forward to challenging the Vettes in local autocrosses next year, especially after I learn to be a better driver...

 

[OneFastLotus]

I personally am so tired of corvettes I could puke. Everybody and their brother has one, and around here most of the owners think they're gods gift to driving.

 

[smura]

I personally am so tired of corvettes I could puke. Everybody and their brother has one, and around here most of the owners think they're gods gift to driving

I thought they were God's gift to white trash?