RE: PH Blog: "If you see SID..."

[Godzilla]

Dave Hedgehog said:

This

And I still don't understand why ppl hate him,I liked the new line up incl the esprit

Er, because there was never, ever, the remotest chance in hell of that range being put into production, but the direction it took the company was completely the wrong one?

I remember Autocar (or was it Motor?) testing SID and it could be programmed to make its fully active suspension lean into corners, i.e. bank (slightly) like a motorcycle, noticeably increasing cornering force but at the expense of completely freaking out the driver.

SID was also the implacable defender of the Earth against UFOs, but that might have been a different model...

[Thorburn]

I'm not a fan of everything Bahar did - but this piece is actually wrong. Bahar and the new management saved SID.

From a piece I wrote for SELOC in March: http://bit.ly/P8esBJ
"The final item on the tour was actually parked just by the track, with the ‘SID’ Esprit sitting looking rather sorry for itself in the Driving Academy car park. Having been rescued from the company graveyard and set to receive a restoration as part of the new managements focus on the companies history and heritage this is an Esprit like no other, with running gear – including the 4WD system – from the Metro 6R4 rally car, four-wheel steering and active suspension it was a real technical tour-de-force for Lotus Engineering in the early 90′s and one it’s pleasing to see won’t be consigned to the scrapheap."

[traffman]

Prof Prolapse said:

No... It cuts them to pieces.

That 'll be Lord Brocket..

[Chris Harris]

Thorburn said:

I'm not a fan of everything Bahar did - but this piece is actually wrong. Bahar and the new management saved SID.

From a piece I wrote for SELOC in March: http://bit.ly/P8esBJ
"The final item on the tour was actually parked just by the track, with the ‘SID’ Esprit sitting looking rather sorry for itself in the Driving Academy car park. Having been rescued from the company graveyard and set to receive a restoration as part of the new managements focus on the companies history and heritage this is an Esprit like no other, with running gear – including the 4WD system – from the Metro 6R4 rally car, four-wheel steering and active suspension it was a real technical tour-de-force for Lotus Engineering in the early 90′s and one it’s pleasing to see won’t be consigned to the scrapheap."

It would seem they told you something completely different.

[Thorburn]

Chris Harris said:

It would seem they told you something completely different.

It would seem so! It was a day arranged for the club, but they made a big thing of taking us over to it, telling us about it and how it would be restored (at least visually if not mechanically), etc.

[AllNines]

Well they've certainly given it a good clean at least, 'cause this is how it was in 2007:

[AllNines]

Goldmember1 said:

Brilliant car ..
Dont understand this ..

Try a different search - Cartell or DVLA, for instance...

[PiB]

From close to the same era I recall a yellow Ferrari 328 based (I think) doing a similar test bed function. Wish I could find it again - I've been pondering it lately.

Harris Monkey said:

. . . that left contemporary commentators completely befuddled by its abilities to absorb bumps, but at the same time remain accurate, agile and without roll.

I wonder if that is just the usual car industry massage, read comments not completely accurate, journalists give prototype/test platform cars in hopes they will just build something similar.

RichTBiscuit said:

To be fair to Bahar, If he was sacked unfairly (which is probably was, as the new management realized what a mess he'd made) then he should receive the 6m he's entitled to. No matter how well you think someone has done (or not) - a contract should be binding.

Surely it must depend on the stipulations in the contract?

WillBrumBrum said:

I miss Bahar - at least he had vision and the balls to have a go at making it happen. Jobs got it wrong with NeXT computer after the success of the Apple II, and then went back to make Apple what it was. Maybe Bahar will move on to something in a few years a make a huge success of that. In terms of marketing, Bahar did a lot right as well as the lot wrong that everyone currently focusses on. There's two sides to every story and I wonder what the truth is about Lotus.

Oh my! The two men are like night and day. Bahar for one was a spend thrift. I didn't think any of his ideas were particularly innovative and they were certainly very expensive with little return. The only people impressed were those getting paid inappropriately - including himself I wonder.

Okay, cynical Friday is almost over.

[kourgath]

I remember SID as I wanted my Final Year Project to build an Active-Noise control system for a car and the article in CAR allowed me to convince my tutors to let me do it. Almost got a job at Sony Research Labs in Japan for active noise control.

I loved the fact that Lotus then put their system into a knackered Citroen AX and faked up the engine noise to sound like a V8. Apparently drivers didn't actually drive faster (well what do you expect of a 1.1) but they did with more 'verve'.

Shame this tech has been used on the faking side eg induction noise... I think Lexus did use the anti-noise stuff.

[Lawrence5]

Was rough when I worked there but inside one of the workshops..... I asked for a ride but it didn't work

[jason61c]

It looks better than all the elises parked up with HGF

[ARAF]

Godzilla said:

SID was also the implacable defender of the Earth against UFOs.....

I remember telling SID about British Gas shares**

• Okay, I didn't as that was 1986.

[PhilJames]

Dave Hedgehog said:

This

And I still don't understand why ppl hate him,I liked the new line up incl the esprit

I think its because he spent a hell of a lot of borrowed money on marketing 5 cars that never existed and failed to update the engine for the 211, Exige and Elise killing them off for a while.
He slagged off the cars Lotus customers had just bought and generally devalued Lotus through his F1 legal wrangling and celebrity bull ste. Declared the existing range would be wiped out by the new cars whilst gradually admitting that 3 of the 5 new cars would be shelved.
Although hatred could be summed up in 2 words: Swizz beats

The good things he did: He rebuilt the Lotus test track, redesigned the Exige bigger and more powerful with a V6, built a lifestyle brand, got Lotus on a winning F1 car, hired Wolf Zimmerman.

[Dave Hedgehog]

PhilJames said:

Dave Hedgehog said:

This

And I still don't understand why ppl hate him,I liked the new line up incl the esprit

I think its because he spent a hell of a lot of borrowed money on marketing 5 cars that never existed and failed to update the engine for the 211, Exige and Elise killing them off for a while.
He slagged off the cars Lotus customers had just bought and generally devalued Lotus through his F1 legal wrangling and celebrity bull ste. Declared the existing range would be wiped out by the new cars whilst gradually admitting that 3 of the 5 new cars would be shelved.
Although hatred could be summed up in 2 words: Swizz beats

The good things he did: He rebuilt the Lotus test track, redesigned the Exige bigger and more powerful with a V6, built a lifestyle brand, got Lotus on a winning F1 car, hired Wolf Zimmerman.

thank you

[Thorburn]

PhilJames said:

Although hatred could be summed up in 2 words: Swizz beats

So how do you feel about the McLaren MP4-12C?

Don't think Swizz Beats was a stupid thing do to in and of itself, but perhaps making a big deal of it was to actual enthusiasts - sure get a car in some music videos and put together a bling special for him, but don't try and make it seem like a big deal to people who don't give a damn.

[Gizmoish]

PhilJames said:

got Lotus on a winning F1 car,

What's that, Skippy?

[PhilJames]

Thorburn said:

So how do you feel about the McLaren MP4-12C?

Don't think Swizz Beats was a stupid thing do to in and of itself, but perhaps making a big deal of it was to actual enthusiasts - sure get a car in some music videos and put together a bling special for him, but don't try and make it seem like a big deal to people who don't give a damn.

I really like the 12C as much as I can; having not sat in, or driven one. I did some worked for them on the 12c, but still never got to sit in one.
I hope the new Esprit is in the same league but different.

I would not have minded the Swizz Beats if it was actually successful for Lotus. I didn't quite get the Jay Z link for Jaguar either, but I'm not the market any rap tie in is aimed at.

[Bash Brannigan]

Aren't prototypes usually destroyed or left to rot? Look at Albert and Edward from the Mclaren F1 story, it depressed me no end as a 14 year old reading 'Driving Ambition'. I don't understand why car companies don't generally celebrate the model's development, to geeks like me it seems a natural thing to do.

[Pesty]

loudlashadjuster said:

I recall reading about SID at the time along with other Lotus tech that still eludes us - active noise suppression, anyone?

.

Unless I have completely imagined it which is always a possibility doesn't one of teh business jet makers use the active noise suppression developed by them?

[Dr Boxcat]

http://www.lotusespritworld.com/EOtherstuff/sid.ht...

bit more info here about the SID interesting read