RE: Chris Harris video: Lotus Exige S
Discussion
Sorry, but i'm still struggling with the £53k bit!
Let face it, this is a "toy", only a very, very few people are going to have this as their only car, or even their second car. So yes, it's fast, and handles well, but for £53k there is a lot of stuff that does all that an you can drive it to work as well. Sorry, 1 trick pony for me (brilliant, fast, fun, 1 trick pony, but a pony never the less).
(and what's all the woo-ha about the "adaptive friction" stability control? WOW, you mean Lotus has finally stumped up the readies to join every other OEM to use Bosch systems? (for example, BMW 3 series has had adaptive friction DSC since 2004 (and that's 8 years ago!), even if the calibration was significantly "safer" in a 3'er than the Lotus application.) Hardly ground breaking is it?
(Added to which the engine sounds about as exciting as a vacuum cleaner)
Let face it, this is a "toy", only a very, very few people are going to have this as their only car, or even their second car. So yes, it's fast, and handles well, but for £53k there is a lot of stuff that does all that an you can drive it to work as well. Sorry, 1 trick pony for me (brilliant, fast, fun, 1 trick pony, but a pony never the less).
(and what's all the woo-ha about the "adaptive friction" stability control? WOW, you mean Lotus has finally stumped up the readies to join every other OEM to use Bosch systems? (for example, BMW 3 series has had adaptive friction DSC since 2004 (and that's 8 years ago!), even if the calibration was significantly "safer" in a 3'er than the Lotus application.) Hardly ground breaking is it?
(Added to which the engine sounds about as exciting as a vacuum cleaner)
The S1 was a 'drive to track'- enjoy the feel of the car in the conditions it was bred for and 'drive it home.
No frills but just that! Why have the benefits of ecu assistance? Surely it misses the point of the original ethos of a track focus car? Driver skill vs driver aid ??
This seems to pose as a 'look at me wannabe' you can experience the performance but relax on the skill of driving the thing to its limit - perhaps I'm living in the past eh?
Another S1 for me I think...........
No frills but just that! Why have the benefits of ecu assistance? Surely it misses the point of the original ethos of a track focus car? Driver skill vs driver aid ??
This seems to pose as a 'look at me wannabe' you can experience the performance but relax on the skill of driving the thing to its limit - perhaps I'm living in the past eh?
Another S1 for me I think...........
Its very expensive. But Harris doesn't agree that there are a lot of cars that can do 'all that'.
Max_Torque said:
Sorry, but i'm still struggling with the £53k bit!
Let face it, this is a "toy", only a very, very few people are going to have this as their only car, or even their second car. So yes, it's fast, and handles well, but for £53k there is a lot of stuff that does all that an you can drive it to work as well. Sorry, 1 trick pony for me (brilliant, fast, fun, 1 trick pony, but a pony never the less).
(and what's all the woo-ha about the "adaptive friction" stability control? WOW, you mean Lotus has finally stumped up the readies to join every other OEM to use Bosch systems? (for example, BMW 3 series has had adaptive friction DSC since 2004 (and that's 8 years ago!), even if the calibration was significantly "safer" in a 3'er than the Lotus application.) Hardly ground breaking is it?
(Added to which the engine sounds about as exciting as a vacuum cleaner)
Let face it, this is a "toy", only a very, very few people are going to have this as their only car, or even their second car. So yes, it's fast, and handles well, but for £53k there is a lot of stuff that does all that an you can drive it to work as well. Sorry, 1 trick pony for me (brilliant, fast, fun, 1 trick pony, but a pony never the less).
(and what's all the woo-ha about the "adaptive friction" stability control? WOW, you mean Lotus has finally stumped up the readies to join every other OEM to use Bosch systems? (for example, BMW 3 series has had adaptive friction DSC since 2004 (and that's 8 years ago!), even if the calibration was significantly "safer" in a 3'er than the Lotus application.) Hardly ground breaking is it?
(Added to which the engine sounds about as exciting as a vacuum cleaner)
jakesmith said:
the guy from lotus was charismatic wasn't he!
He's a chassis engineer, wadya expect: the looks of George Clooney, the wit of Peter Ustinov and the charm of Barack Obama? 
Great vid, BTW. Would've been even better with some opinion/footage of the car's A-/B-road performance. And some more views of the cabin.
Edited by NGK210 on Wednesday 25th April 21:40
C1RVY said:
Thats just awesome.
I so want one of these.
What a pleasant change to have something to lust after that is attainable. Thanks Lotus.
You cannot buy one, not this year anyway, add track pack and the better tyres and 1k purchase tax, it's a 60k carI so want one of these.
What a pleasant change to have something to lust after that is attainable. Thanks Lotus.
You can buy a 997.1 gt3 for 55k and enjoy it this summer :-)
Loteuk said:
The S1 was a 'drive to track'- enjoy the feel of the car in the conditions it was bred for and 'drive it home.
No frills but just that! Why have the benefits of ecu assistance? Surely it misses the point of the original ethos of a track focus car? Driver skill vs driver aid ??
This seems to pose as a 'look at me wannabe' you can experience the performance but relax on the skill of driving the thing to its limit - perhaps I'm living in the past eh?
Another S1 for me I think...........
They are catering for all needs and abilities I think. Remember you can drive to the track and then switch all the gubbins off if you so desire.No frills but just that! Why have the benefits of ecu assistance? Surely it misses the point of the original ethos of a track focus car? Driver skill vs driver aid ??
This seems to pose as a 'look at me wannabe' you can experience the performance but relax on the skill of driving the thing to its limit - perhaps I'm living in the past eh?
Another S1 for me I think...........
My elise traction control saved my bacon a couple of times on road, I can see the appeal of this.
Any trackday I have been on sees most of the lotus brigade cabin up in wet conditions, and it's all scoobs and evos out playing, maybe this will change that.
Bob
mrdemon said:
You cannot buy one, not this year anyway, add track pack and the better tyres and 1k purchase tax, it's a 60k car
You can buy a 997.1 gt3 for 55k and enjoy it this summer :-)
A 2006 old shape 911 eh?You can buy a 997.1 gt3 for 55k and enjoy it this summer :-)
As capable & wonderful as the GT3 is, it's just not as appealing as this new car to me.
There's big credibility about it being the new British sportscar, the new kid on the block & capable of punching above it's weight. As I've said earlier, there's a hint of TVR about it all which is rather special for us traditionalists.
i'll admit i am a lotus fan boy, but some of the comments on here are so.... jees I dont know, negative. Its like unles lotus make a car as fast as a veyron, that sounds like a F430, that costs the same as an elise did in 1996 and is as easy to get in and out of as a Skyline, that goes round a track like Radical then they have somehow failed? I just dont get it! In the journalists own words - the only thing close to this is a GT3 - how much were they new?
IMHO 53k isn't that much anyway - according to my trusty inflation calculator 53k is 35k in 1996 money... anyone know how much the original Exige was when it came out? I know it didnt come out in 1996 so there is going to be some movement but I would venture that credit crunch aside people have more disposable income now and it can be said its not vastly more expensive.
As for all the nay sayers re T/C intervention, every modern performance car bar the ultra track day cars have it - why are Lotus getting caned for it? Secondly not all of those manufactures let you turn everything off - if you didnt watch to the end, you can still have the Series 1 Exige experience by doing just that, turning all assistance off.
anyways, thats my 2p worth, well done Lotus, well done Matt for creating a great car, credit where credit is due, here's hoping I drive one onw day.
IMHO 53k isn't that much anyway - according to my trusty inflation calculator 53k is 35k in 1996 money... anyone know how much the original Exige was when it came out? I know it didnt come out in 1996 so there is going to be some movement but I would venture that credit crunch aside people have more disposable income now and it can be said its not vastly more expensive.
As for all the nay sayers re T/C intervention, every modern performance car bar the ultra track day cars have it - why are Lotus getting caned for it? Secondly not all of those manufactures let you turn everything off - if you didnt watch to the end, you can still have the Series 1 Exige experience by doing just that, turning all assistance off.
anyways, thats my 2p worth, well done Lotus, well done Matt for creating a great car, credit where credit is due, here's hoping I drive one onw day.
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