Why tow an Elise when driving is more than half the fun?
Yes you can buy a truck or SUV and drive it, but the joy of the Lotus is driving, not towing it in a trailer as S1 owners have had to do in the USA. If anyone can come up with a better solution, please email me ASAP.
Here is how I went through the options. I spent four months reviewing all the racks I could find. I reasoned, as do many other postings here, that there are lots of other small cars with bike racks, and some one of them must fit on the Lotus. But, I learned, sadly, why none work on the Lotus Elise, which shares most of the frame/body design with the Lotus Exige as well as Vauxhall and Opel models sold in the UK and Germany. I could review bike rack designs one by one (such as the Saris Bones ™ requires a rear bumper or similar parts, not found on Elise or Exige), or many others that use hooks or straps--that assume a stiff steel rear trunk area (the Lotus has a very light and weak fiberglass body all over-- like my carbon fiber racing road bike that will crush if you press it on the side).
Still, I race bikes every weekend and drive hundreds of miles, am bored with driving big cars, so got the Lotus Elise. It is fabulous to drive to bike events, and continues the bike racing experience—just the read the rave reviews in the car magazines. But the car needs a rack, for cycling, as well as luggage if you want to take more than an extra pair of socks (I drove it 3,000 miles on one trip). Yes the Lotus factory built a rack and sold racks for a while, for folks like Chris Boardman, but some blew off and they are out of the rack business. Their rack was mounted over the rear engine area. I contacted them and they said you need a different design altogether; this is unsafe as the connections are weak.
I drove to the Saris (TM) headquarters in Madison, Wisconsin as they have 120 types of clips that the salesman felt should fit almost any car. But once there, we found alas that none would fit on the Lotus top. Next I called Thule, which sponsors off-road rally cars. I almost bolted a Thule (TM) stiff steel set of tracks onto the top, designed to fit any fiberglass car top that will not take clamps. But before drilling, I emailed the top engineers at the Lotus factory in Hethel. They shot down all top mounting plans, since the window frame and connections would not withstand the torque. We initially looked for ways to add rigidity to the top, but came up with a better design.
I worked with engineers at the Illinois Institute of Technology and Society of Automotive Engineers, and then David Cooper, a talented vintage car restorer. We struggled with alternatives for months, finally developing the Unique Rack (
www.uniquerack.com), now available for others.
Our design, one commentator was rightly concerned, might not be made from strong enough materials. Indeed many racks are loose, flexible, and some are breakable. The Lotus exacerbates this as the frame is lightweight aluminum and the body lighter fiberglass. There is a small core frame of steel around the engine and roll bar. This steel core is what we attach the rack to; anything else, like the top or fenders would be too stressed. There is no steel at the rear end of the car to which a “hitch” mount might be attached, which is another common car/bike rack solution. Some advised building a steel frame to add on to the existing frame, but this is heavy and complex.
Our solution is marvelously simple in using no new frame parts, but attaching to the solid steel core that are a standard part of the Lotus design.
On the Unique Rack larger stock items are made from very strong, high grade aluminum stock 7075-T651. These are then machined down to fit with each other and attach to the pre-existing car frame. The connector rods and bolts are steel. No fiberglass or carbon fiber used in the rack.
There is something magical about the combination of the car and rack. It does not rattle or make any significant wind noise at well over 100 mph, with the bike on or off. (I race the Lotus as well as bikes.) Why no noise, I ask—as many bike rack owners complain of this, even on high end sports cars from Germany? Why is ours different? I am not fully sure, but two elements stand out. First the rigidity of the mount transcends that of any of the racks I have seen or used. The foundation is steel bolted to heavy aluminum bars 25 to 38 mm thick—without any thin and flexible metal car hood or top or nylon cables in between. Second, Lotus has long been famous for aerodynamic mysteries (or at least subtleties). Much light rain flies over the windshield. Still, it amazes me that this extends to the height of a bike with three wheels on top of the car—but it seems to do so. True at high speed the Lotus engine is louder than a Bentley TM, thus obscuring some wind noise, but I hear almost no noise or rattles from the bike at any speed, compared to many other cars with bikes.
Could the design be adapted to carry extra wheels or other kinds of gear? Yes indeed. See the two sided model, onto which you can mount standrad rack accessories for carrying.
I or David Cooper would be glad to respond to any other specific questions that others may raise. Thanks for your serious concern.
Terry Clark, Chicago
[email protected]
www.uniquerack.com
