Are Elises too slow?

[tricky 100]

Tam said:

My Saab is as quick, if not quicker, than my 111R in a straight line, so I do think the Elise feels under-powered on occaisions.

What model saab do you have then ?

[Bing o]

A Saab...

[shnozz]

Esprit said:

My near-standard Elise runs the quarter mile in 13.6 seconds.... At the last drag day I was at, I was about 50/50 for the day with a brace of TVR Griffith 500s there which were running 13.0-13.8s quarter miles..... given that I doubt anyone would accuse a Griff 500 of being slow in a straight line, I don't see where you're coming from.

In REAL terms, the Elise is BALLISTIC on the road. Off the mark, from 0-30, there's little on earth to keep up with it as its low weight makes the biggest difference here.

Stop worrying about on-paper figures and enjoy the thing. On the road a 111R is one of THE fastest point-to-point dry-weather cars on the road.... period.

thats a very good 1/4 time. I was managing low 14s in my B&C 160 (which is 145 on the rolling road). I was surprised to find out it was 1/2 second to a second quicker than my (4 litre) TVR Chim that I took to the same event the year previous. I put it down to the traction off the line, which is instantaneous in the Elise. The fact was at 1/4 mile the elise was at 99mph as against 110mph for the chim, so another 30 yards and it would have torn past. Having said that though, how often do you come to a 1/4 mile+ straight in everyday driving, as we know the king of the corners

[Tam]

9-5 Aero (low pressure high output turbo)

[Gooby]

Tam said:

9-5 Aero (low pressure high output turbo)

I think you are more than a little mistaken. I have anihilated a carlsoon in my R. And yes he was trying, he is my neighbour.

[Tam]

Gooby said:

Tam said:

9-5 Aero (low pressure high output turbo)

I think you are more than a little mistaken. I have anihilated a carlsoon in my R. And yes he was trying, he is my neighbour.

Nope, I've tried it with me driving the Saab and the 111R. 30-60 the Saab is quicker (not enough to overtake, but enough to tailgate). 0-60 the 111r is quicker (again, not significantly).

[Gooby]

Tam said:

Gooby said:

Tam said:

9-5 Aero (low pressure high output turbo)

I think you are more than a little mistaken. I have anihilated a carlsoon in my R. And yes he was trying, he is my neighbour.

Nope, I've tried it with me driving the Saab and the 111R. 30-60 the Saab is quicker (not enough to overtake, but enough to tailgate). 0-60 the 111r is quicker (again, not significantly).

How many miles has the R done?

[sigmamark]

I've got a Crescent Rizla Replica Suzuki GSXR 1000 which puts out a measured 163bhp at the back tyre. The standard (lower power) version can do 0 - 100 - 0 in 10 seconds and is limited to 186mph, so the bike is blindingly quick, but the big problem is that I don't have anything like the skill to do it myself. Neither do I have enough skill to get the maximum out of the Elise, but in real world performance terms, I guess the Lotus does more to make me feel part of process than the bike. For the time being, my Elise isn't too slow (but the bike is too fast!).

[Tam]

Gooby said:

Tam said:

Gooby said:

Tam said:

9-5 Aero (low pressure high output turbo)

I think you are more than a little mistaken. I have anihilated a carlsoon in my R. And yes he was trying, he is my neighbour.

Nope, I've tried it with me driving the Saab and the 111R. 30-60 the Saab is quicker (not enough to overtake, but enough to tailgate). 0-60 the 111r is quicker (again, not significantly).

How many miles has the R done?

about 15k. that was mostly keeping it on 2nd cam.

[pasthim]

Hi All,

I know how fanastic the Elise is to drive and all the other things which make me love it to bits and never want to change it but I suppose what I am getting at is that 'in the old days' when I was young(the 80s) a car like a Lotus would not only look fast but be genuinely fast compared to 'b and b' cars. Now 'b and b' cars are so much quicker I just wonder whether the Elise should be too. Do you want your neighbours diesel saloon to have equal or more power/torqu and so better straigh line performance?

However, I agree with what a lot of you have said..

R

[Andy T]

pasthim said:

Hi All,

I know how fanastic the Elise is to drive and all the other things which make me love it to bits and never want to change it but I suppose what I am getting at is that 'in the old days' when I was young(the 80s) a car like a Lotus would not only look fast but be genuinely fast compared to 'b and b' cars. Now 'b and b' cars are so much quicker I just wonder whether the Elise should be too. Do you want your neighbours diesel saloon to have equal or more power/torqu and so better straigh line performance?

However, I agree with what a lot of you have said..

R

Exatcly what "Bread and butter" cars can get to 60 in 5.1 seconds?

[ttwiggy]

While there may be many family saloons putting out 180+ bhp, and in the case of diesels, very big torque figures, they probably weigh in at roughly twice the weight of the Elise. So in terms of bhp/tonne, they will be lagging behind by quite a margin.

[Gooby]

Tam said:

Gooby said:

Tam said:

Gooby said:

Tam said:

9-5 Aero (low pressure high output turbo)

I think you are more than a little mistaken. I have anihilated a carlsoon in my R. And yes he was trying, he is my neighbour.

Nope, I've tried it with me driving the Saab and the 111R. 30-60 the Saab is quicker (not enough to overtake, but enough to tailgate). 0-60 the 111r is quicker (again, not significantly).

How many miles has the R done?

about 15k. that was mostly keeping it on 2nd cam.

The engine should have loosened up by now!. I know saabs are renownes for thier balistic overtaking speeds, this is the first time there has not been a saab in the family in about 20 years so I speak from experience. The saab always felt quick as the body roll made it feel hugely quick. I would have to say you should re examin what you are doing if the saab will take the R.

[jondude]

I think there is also the problem, as the biker alludes to, that in a lightweight car there has to be a limit to the power available.

Why? Well, to be blunt, because Lotus do not want unskilled drivers ( as 99% of Lotus owners are ) losing the rear and flying through hedges at every opportunity.

They would get the blame for that, anti-car papers would give the Elise an aura of 'killer car'....we all lose.

Yes, some modern hatches can run close, maybe even exceed the Elise is some ( very few ) areas, but they are also full of ABS this, power steering that - all the things which the Lotus driving experience is against. Weight and lard. So maybe a heavy diesel is pulling from you at 80mph, but believe me ( I've tried! ) that unlike you, he will be shitting himself as he approaches the next bend at that speed.

I still haven't met a car faster than the Elise to 70mph though, must say.

[tricky 100]

Tam said:

9-5 Aero (low pressure high output turbo)

But thats got a 0-60 time of 6.5 secs and a top end of 155 compared to 4.9 and 150 top end , so not really in the same leaque im afaid .Tons of cars get 6-7 secs but not many get below the 6 sec mark let alone 5 seconds.

[S works]

Phil-Ch said:

That wasn't quite the point I was trying to make though. To word it a little bit different - my point was, that cars with turbos tend to feel a lot quicker, at times, even more so than cars that ARE quicker. I.e. A Europe-S that does 0-100 in 14 seconds feels quicker than my Exige that does the same in a bit more than 9 seconds. It's all about the power delivery.

I completely agree. I've been in 300+bhp SC'd Honda Elise/Exiges and 280bhp Audi'd ones. The Audi turbo'd ones *felt* a lot quicker, but in reality there was probably almost nothing in it.

My mates 350bhp Skyline *feels* quicker than my Elise, but I know for a fact that it's about the same right up to silly speeds because we timed them at an activity day @ North Weald.

Edited by S works on Wednesday 9th May 19:45

[cej]

Andy T said:

pasthim said:

Hi All,

I know how fanastic the Elise is to drive and all the other things which make me love it to bits and never want to change it but I suppose what I am getting at is that 'in the old days' when I was young(the 80s) a car like a Lotus would not only look fast but be genuinely fast compared to 'b and b' cars. Now 'b and b' cars are so much quicker I just wonder whether the Elise should be too. Do you want your neighbours diesel saloon to have equal or more power/torqu and so better straigh line performance?

However, I agree with what a lot of you have said..

R

Exatcly what "Bread and butter" cars can get to 60 in 5.1 seconds?

Yeah I'd like to know as well. There's certainly more cars in the 6-7s range nowadays ,but not that many in the sub 6s range

[bogie]

Gazboy said:

siwil1 said:

Put it on a twisty B road then the Elise comes into its own.

Dunno about you, but I tend to find especially on twisty B-roads that the limit of pace is the road space you can see, rather than whatever bhp, lbsft or kgs you've got, or whether you can pull 1G+ on a skidpan. Maybe I'm just a girl but I like to be able to stop in the roadspace I can see.

exactly .....the only time an Elise can feel underpowered is on the motorway, drag racing 535Ds or Cayenne Turbos etc from 80mph upwards ...which is not really what its about

[Chr1sG]

The whole point of the else is the style, the poise and the individual feel.
Sure I guess there are faster mid range production cars avaliable but I can garantee you none of them will make you smile like a liz.

If you want pure speed then go get it (althugh I can't think what) for many of us the elise is the be all and end all of motoring pleasure.

Amen!

[Buelligan 984]

Hi guys,

I'm kinda new here so perhaps I shouldn't be sticking my head above the parapet just yet - but....

I sold two turbocharged Kawasaki's to make space in the garage for the Elise.

You want a quick 0-60 or standing 1/4 mile time, get a turbo bike. We're talking aprox 3.0s to 60; 1/4 in the 8s bracket. (Yes, the "track" bike was kinda breathed on.)

Straight line speed / accelleration really isn't everything. Yep, it sure feels good but give me a vehicle that leaves me getting out / off with a grin a mile wide every time. The turbos would top out at 150+, my Buell tops out at 135 but that's the bike I kept because it makes me smile every time.

My Saab is faster in a straight line than the Elise - so what? One car is a work tool, the other is a toy. I know which one makes me smile more when driving it and - in my view - that's what counts,

Dave