Sunbeam Lotus

[Chris71]

Yeah, that was my thought too, but thought I might as well enquire! Found quite a few of people on the excel use their Loti for quite serious mileages, To be honest, I prefer the baby supercar looks of the Excel and the Toyota input, galvanised chasis etc also sound good, but I don't think it has quite enough interior space. Not interested in the back seats (they're always a joke on coupes/GTs) but do need some luggage space. I would also claim I need RWD and something with a bit of fun factor

[L100NYY]

A lightly modded E30 325i Touring would be ideal non? Light, rwd, cracking six cyl engine, near classic status and easy to run.

[Chris71]

L100NYY said:

A lightly modded E30 325i Touring would be ideal non? Light, rwd, cracking six cyl engine, near classic status and easy to run.

It's on the list

Only slight reservation is I'm told they can be a bit of a handful in the wet, don't know if this is a balanced remark though or if that's said by people who expect it to respond like a FWD hatch.

[L100NYY]

Chris71 said:

L100NYY said:

A lightly modded E30 325i Touring would be ideal non? Light, rwd, cracking six cyl engine, near classic status and easy to run.

It's on the list

Only slight reservation is I'm told they can be a bit of a handful in the wet, don't know if this is a balanced remark though or if that's said by people who expect it to respond like a FWD hatch.

Well, I had a race prepped E30 325i and yes it was a tad tail happy but no more so than I expected of it to be fair. Need to be a tad wary in the wet as it is a relatively short wheelbase with a fair amount of torque going through the back wheels.

I guess it would all depend on your experience with rwd cars? I have had one or two ( ) such driven cars but I would say that an E30 is a great place to learn all about rwd.

Edited by L100NYY on Monday 18th June 13:08

[Chris71]

I've owned two (a 924S and my current car is an imported MX5 with a limited slip diff and a few other performance toys on it) Used to do a bit of 2 stroke karting in my mispent youth.

The MX5 is running some naff Japanese tryes (one of them fitted backwards) and as soon as the diff locks up in the wet the back end will come round at comedically low cornering speeds, it actually let's go quite quickly too (haven't had the geometry set up after replacing the suspension units) but it's relatively easy to catch. I don't mind that too much, but I've heard the e30's can be a little difficult to recover once you've exceeded the limit of adhesion and I don't fancy a big tank slapper (or a trip to the ditch) at 7am on a wet Monday morning. Have heard the estates are a little more forgiving though. saw an Alpina C2 2.7 touring for sale on here a while back and would have enquired if I had the cash at the time.

[L100NYY]

Sounds as though you would really enjoy an E30 then Chris, i know I did with mine.

Should deal with your 13k annual mileage pretty well too.

[72twink]

L100NYY said:

Loving this acion shot!

Ben, I don't know if you'll be at Hethel this weekend but Guy will be there with the above car in the Special display of "Produced at Hethel" Lotuses and on our club stand we'll have 3 more - 2 x Series 2 and an Avon - so all the model/colour combinations you could possibly want !

Tony

www.sunbeamlotus.com

[L100NYY]

Hi tony,

Unfortunately I won't be able to make this event, I am absolutely gutted

Would love to have seen a plethora of Sunbeams lined up too.

[72twink]

Well it's a busy fortnight for us - we will also have 10 cars (including 2 ex-works rally cars) at Castle Combe on Saturday for Rallyday and then 25-30 odd cars at the Rally Show at Chatsworth the following weekend (mostly on the Sunday)

Tony

www.sunbeamlotus.com

[Skyedriver]

There's no catagory in PH classifieds for the Sunbeam, where do they hide?

[L100NYY]

Skyedriver said:

There's no catagory in PH classifieds for the Sunbeam, where do they hide?

A voila

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/list.asp?s=647

[72twink]

And there's another on Ebay too

Ebay Series 1

And there were a couple in the club mag a week or so back - let me know if you want any details.

Tony

www.sunbeamlotus.com

[L100NYY]

72twink said:

And there's another on Ebay too

Ebay Series 1

And there were a couple in the club mag a week or so back - let me know if you want any details.

Tony

www.sunbeamlotus.com

That e-bay find is gorgeous, just off to have a look to see how much change I have down the back of the sofa!!

[72twink]

If anyone is serious about the Ebay car email me first.

[L100NYY]

72twink said:

If anyone is serious about the Ebay car email me first.

I wish I was twink but I've just heard that my 2002tii has been delivered back home after it's re-paint!! Can't wait to see the car again as I've not seen it since it's been done!!

[72twink]

Quite an amusing little clip of Jos Ronchetti in action at Cadwell Park

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=7xEryV8N-q4

[L100NYY]

72twink said:

Quite an amusing little clip of Jos Ronchetti in action at Cadwell Park

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=7xEryV8N-q4

Top stuff twink, made my morning

[72twink]

One of our members from Finland has posted some in-car clips on his site - enjoy !

Heikki in action

www.sunbeamlotus.com

[L100NYY]

72twink said:

One of our members from Finland has posted some in-car clips on his site - enjoy !

Heikki in action

www.sunbeamlotus.com

Top stuff

[Comadis]

what would be interesting for me: what exactly did you modify to get around 200HP out of the engine, as i´m always a bit "shocked" how lazy the original 150-160HP in my Lotus are. (often thinking i´m sitting in a 100HP car...)