[Robert Puertas]

Just got home from a week away ( I really missed you guys
Opened the mailbox today to find the November issue of Road & Track.
Guess what's on the cover...

Report inside says:

3000 cars the first year

$39,000

est. 1975 lbs.

190 hp @ 7800 rpm
133 lb-ft @ 6800 rpm

8350 rpm rev-limiter

twin oil-cooler system for better durability
new intake & exhaust manifolds & re-mapped ecu provide better mid-range
center exiting dual exhaust tips below the diffuser

"pulls impressively from 2000 rpm onward"

0-60 in 4.8
1/4 mile in 12.0
141 mph top speeed

Toyota 6-speed w/ un-modified gear ratios

new & custom developed Yokohama tires:
front: 16x5-1/2 w/ 175/55-16
rear: 17x7-1/2 w/ 225/45-17

Comes standard with:
Blaupunkt Stereo
A/C
power windows
airbags
ABS

 

[LarryB]

Cool, so besides specs, did they have a full write up on how it handles or was it more of a sneak peak? With the S on airbags, guess it's a pair.

 

[Robert Puertas]

It's pretty much a full write-up, but not a full road test.

Oh yeah, center exiting dual exhaust tips below the diffuser and ABS standard.

Implication is two airbags - the steering wheel doesn't look too bad.

 

[Modern Wedgie]

Sweeeeet. The tension is becoming too great. more and more news about the elise comes out all the time. I cant stand the waiting. I want my elise!!!

I think that the road and track article was based on the US elise testdrives at a test track. Atleast that is the info I got from a Lotus rep. I'll go check my mailbox when I get home

 

[smura]

Damit. I didn't get my magazine today. I'll have to buy one tonight and bring the extra one to work.

 

[jml1952]

Sounds great. Thanks for the tip about the magazine; have to run out a buy a copy.

Of course, if the 1975 pounds is accurate, some people will be disappointed. Sounds a little high, but I guess we will see. Probably won't make any difference to people like me who don't plan on racing.

It's going to be hard to wait another 6 months or more.

 

[Allan Gibbs]

2000lbs with 190hp and 12 seconds quarter mile? I don't memorize 1/4 mile specs but I don't think that's really possible...unless the driver is a super shifter.

Questions for the rocket scientists. Is it possible to figure out accleration given the horse power, toruqe, and gearing for the Toyota Celecia?

 

[scot]

175s on the front? 225s on the rear? Ok I understand being safe and on the side of understeer.. but come on! That is insane.

Why can't lotus just make a car? And not a car for "Amurikahns.."

Scot

That sport suspension option better be good.

 

[Vantage]

Allan,
No, it doesn't seem probably to me either, otherwise you'd run out of gear too early. 13.0 sounds more like it, but I'd have to dig up the ratios...

Scot,
These are the same tire sizes that were in R&T's handling test. For the base, there is nothing wrong with them. Right now, all of the S2 Elises come with these widths except the 135R. You'll probably see 195s on the sport suspension.

 

[pcpacker]

I am pathetic. I read the first post, grabbed my car keys and went to 3 different stores looking for a copy. My wife thinks I am insane. Not a copy anywhere.

Craig

 

[Randy Chase]

I am pathetic. I read the first post, grabbed my car keys and went to 3 different stores looking for a copy. My wife thinks I am insane. Not a copy anywhere.

Craig

On the other hand, some of us really understand. I was just thinking "now... what good reason otherwise do I have to run out to a store?"

P.S. I wonder what the 1975 pounds means. Is that a Lotus published weight or did someone put it on some scales? Did that include a full tank?

 

[MotorCade]

No... pathetic is having a broken leg (and only manual tranny cars)and calling friends in an attempt to get one of them to drive you to the local bookstore...like I did. Fortunately, my friends sympathize, even if they don't really understand.

However, no copies anywhere yet.

Cade

 

[Allan Gibbs]

No... pathetic is having a broken leg (and only manual tranny cars)and calling friends...like I did. Fortunately, my friends sympathize, even if they don't really understand. However, no copies anywhere yet. Cade

No, sir. You are a true auto-enthusiast! You know, you could use the other leg.

So, is the the November issue of R&T not out yet?

 

[Randy Chase]

Pathetic is deciding that... yes indeed... our house NEEDS some ice cream at 10:30pm.

And no, they still had the October edition.

Waiting....

 

[L8BRAKR]

From my experience subscribers always get the issues ahead of the stores. I'm hoping mine will come tomorrow (usually a day behind the cali mail). Thanks for the heads up though!

 

[Eyelise]

I was thinking the same regarding the perormance numbers. No way it will turn 12.0sec 1/4 mile no matter how good a shifter the test driver is. If they gave the trap speed and true weight of the car then you can figure out the approx. HP generated. If the quarter is wrong and I'm sure it is, I wonder how much of the rest of what R&T reported is inaccurate.

 

[ex-M3]

the steering wheel doesn't look too bad.

Personally, I like the wheel on the 111S better, but I had a theory because it did not have a Lotus emblem on it.

I went to the Vauxhall VX220 site and confirmed the wheel on the R&T Elise is the VX220 steering wheel (this car has always had an airbag). I guess we will have to wait to find out if Lotus just badges this wheel or creates a different design.

 

[Thomasio]

>I wonder what the 1975 pounds means

I'm really trying to be optimistic here, becasause at 1975 lbs the car is pretty porky compared to the euro. spec. Elise... doesn't one of the magazines (R&T or C&D?) list weights including a hypothetical driver?

If the 1/4 mile time is accurate, which I doubt, then I guess that I wouldn't be as worried about the weight (assuming it will still do the same lateral g's as it used to). But geeze, thats a big weight gain.

Thomas

 

[zvezdah1]

exm3,
Remember these pics are of a test car, so it's highly likely the final edition will be slightly different.
Chris

 

[ex-M3]

175s on the front? 225s on the rear? Ok I understand being safe and on the side of understeer.. but come on! That is insane.

This is a car with 60% of the weight on the rear wheels. While Lotus has definitely reduced the oversteer from the S1, the handling is still nothing short of phenomenal. I did not push the 111S that I drove too hard, but the salesman did and I can say that massive understeer will not be a problem. Will some of us want less understeer than stock, probably, but this is more nuance than a fundamental flaw .

To put this in perspective a Porsche 911 GT2 has 235 front and 315 rear tires. So the front tires are 25% narrower than the rears. The Elise fronts are 22% narrower than the rears.

The lightweight of the Elise changes the norms from current cars. New "sports" cars typically have 17" and now 18" wheels with tires in the 225 and up section. But they weight over 3,000 pounds. The beauty of an Elise is that Lotus has designed a car for an enthusiast and not for a marketing department (which thankfully is much less influential, if it really exists, for Lotus)