[Modern Wedgie]

One of the feminine advantages to owning an elise is that we weigh significantly less than many of our fellow male elise owners. I think this may offer a significant performance advantage.

So what happens when you add a lot of weight? A 200lb passenger could significantly decrease this advantage.

Not that I compare the elise to my datsun, but I had this thought this morning after driving my 200lb dad to work. Excessive load in my car definetly causes it to run hotter (it is, after all, an old car), and I noticed it was running hotter than normal this morning. However, once I dropped off my dad, the engine went back to normal temperature. I found it hilarious that 200lbs would make such a difference. So I was wondering if in the elise, because it is such a small, lightweight car, if the addition of 200lbs will make a huge performance difference?

Anybody else have similar tales with small cars?

 

[LarryB]

Sure, my current mid-engine car is around 2800 lbs. Every weekend I've got a chance will do a local back road run. Adding a 200+ lb passenger, takes a noticeable edge off it

 

[Need4Speed]

Will depend a lot on the passenger...

 

[Need4Speed]

...

 

[Jasonv44]

I wonder if she would fit : )

 

[TripleBlack_NJ]

Not only will a 200lb passenger slow things down a little, it will also add a little understeer and increase max gs for right handers

From pictures it looks like the center of gravity for the seats are around 55-60% rearward. Our Elise is 38/62 unladen, so with only the driver it is probably 39/61, and with a passenger it is probably 40/60.

Most cars tend to corner a little better to the left with only the driver, but with a passenger the car won't roll as much in right hand turns.

At autocross events people tend to go a little slower with a passenger, but not as slow as you might think based only on straight line performance.

 

[offroadr35]

Sure adding 200lbs to a 1900lb vehicle is going to make a huge difference.

That is a 10.5% increase in weight. So it's basically the same as having a 315lb passenger in a 3000lb car, or for better illustration, it's like having 4 of your girlfriends in a 5000lb SUV

-Steve

 

[James A]

I can tell you a 200 pound passenger in my Seven is a BIG difference. I only take passenger at autocrosses during fun runs because it is worth so much time. I notice the addition in cornering and braking, I know it effects accelaration but I can't tell the difference there. I have corner balalnced the Seven and did it with my weight only in the car, so a passenger really changes things. Even though the Elise is 700 pounds heavier than the Seven I'm sure it will be noticable.

 

[theob]

It has a huge difference. Once you'll have Elise in your garage, you may check it by yourself, by trying to turn the steering wheel from outside of the car, and then from within the car.
I'm an XXL man (6'4", +200) and if I want to feel some decent accel, Elise should be driven as a single seater. Still Modern Wedgie would have the lead, and show me her back plate
:clap: .

 

[shay2nak]

I also feel that adding 200 lbs or so will make a noticeable difference. If I track my car competitively, I won't allow any passengers. offroadr35 has good comparisons.

Need4Speed thanks for posting that picture again :no: After the first time, I lost a bit of my eyesight and had a doctor check me out. He advised me not to view any blinding objects for another 3 months or I may risk going completely blind. I can tell you that I'm now blind in my left eye. LOL Just having sight in my right eye, she appears to be half the size and therefore just a tad overweight. There is no way in hell that this chic could even fit in the Elise if she wanted to. She looks as wide as the Elise's interior. Actually, how the hell can she fit in any car? Damn...

 

[fastspider]

I do notice a significant difference in my Elise, which is about 1700 lb. For one thing its a lot quieter without the passenger saying "oh mi god" every few seconds and screaming on the fun corners. Luckily the VTEC drowns out their noise if you keep the revs up

 

[Need4Speed]

Need4Speed thanks for posting that picture again :no: After the first time, I lost a bit of my eyesight and had a doctor check me out. He advised me not to view any blinding objects for another 3 months or I may risk going completely blind. I can tell you that I'm now blind in my left eye. LOL Just having sight in my right eye, she appears to be half the size and therefore just a tad overweight. There is no way in hell that this chic could even fit in the Elise if she wanted to. She looks as wide as the Elise's interior. Actually, how the hell can she fit in any car? Damn... [/B]

Nobody's fooled that's the real reason for the blindness shay2nak...

I just pray to God she's not inspiring those moments !

 

[sandsmuseum]

performace contradiction

My experience is different from most of you. I find my autocross times improve(!) with a passenger.

Up until this month, I had a Seven! (Very sad to see it go after 15 years, but now there is room for the Elise.) It was set up for autocrossing and the corner weights were set to within 5 lbs on all four corners with me sitting in it. It was very neutral.

However the tire technology left the light cars behind. My Seven was 1250 lbs and was not heavy enough to get temperature into the tires. The last good tire was the Yokohama 008 Rtus, where i was able to corner at a steady state 1.27 gees.

Adding a passenger adversely affected the acceleration but aided the handling as I was able to scrub in more temperature. Lap times went from the usualy 40 down a half to full second, depending on how many straights there were.

I suspect this will be different with the Elise. Temperature in the tires will not be a problem and tire manufactureres seem to be going away from it to get stickyness.

On the other hand, adding 200 lbs is like taking away 20hp. You tend to notice things like that...

Michael

 

[fastspider]

Re: performance contradiction

My experience is different from most of you. I find my autocross times improve(!) with a passenger.

I have also found that a passenger doesn't make much difference on autocross. I think its because I have more power than traction, and a passenger balances the car a bit better side to side, and I'm able to put a bit more power down. I'm not a seriously competitive autocrosser, so if I was better at it and had a better car setup it would probably make more difference.

 

[David]

At the LA Auto Show, Nick Adam told me that the placement of the passenger seat was chosen to keep the passenger's body weight as neutral as possible. I took him to be referring to handling rather than to speed.

 

[meat]

A passenger in my Exige makes 2-3 seconds per lap difference on a 1:35 course.

FYI