Is this sort of power to weight ratio a good idea?
Discussion
I've been thinking of a smaller car to take on "spirited" drives and this looks very nice.
Thing is though, it's bloody powerful! If Lotus has meant to have 400bhp in that Exige would they not have offered at least 300bhp at some point (which they haven't?).
http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/l...
Does this kind of power in a light body make the car very snappy and unpredictable. I'm a decent driver, but no God.
It would be great if we could debate the Lotus is point first, before it becomes a more general discussion.
Thing is though, it's bloody powerful! If Lotus has meant to have 400bhp in that Exige would they not have offered at least 300bhp at some point (which they haven't?).
http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/l...
Does this kind of power in a light body make the car very snappy and unpredictable. I'm a decent driver, but no God.
It would be great if we could debate the Lotus is point first, before it becomes a more general discussion.
Will be immensely quick and great fun but RWD, Mid Engined and a huge amount of torque would call for extreme caution and, like has been said, though the throttle isnt a switch it is nice to be able to open it right up with confidence, would want to get to know that car somewhere like an airfield before I opened it up on the road, no electronic safety new there.
Sort of seems like overkill really.
Sort of seems like overkill really.
I'm sure anything under a tonne with 400bhp, a shedload of torque and no electronic nannies has the potential to punish clumsy throttle inputs. S2 Exiges come with at most 260bhp from the factory, so it's a fair chunk more power than Lotus saw fit to give it, but they do have very good traction, and if you are careful where you apply the power it won't be any more snappy than any other Exige.
Tickle said:
When you drove a normal Exige S what made you think to look for one with more power?
I'm used to GT3, Stradale etc. The Lotus is a different animal from those cars, but it simply cannot compete when grunt is required. I'm not looking for 400 bhp, but 300 bhp (normally aspirated preferably) would be great in an Exige.As long as the power comes in nicely and is controlable with the throttle,its only your right foot that will get you in trouble.
I would be avoiding any WOT until in a straight line in 3rd.
I personally wouldnt want that sort of performance on the road, an exige is supposed to be pushed to its limits and reward you for it, id be too careful with this sort of power in a light MR, and never really enjoy it.
Dont get me wrong, the outright acceleration would be very enjoyable, but not what the exige is for. IMO.
I would be avoiding any WOT until in a straight line in 3rd.
I personally wouldnt want that sort of performance on the road, an exige is supposed to be pushed to its limits and reward you for it, id be too careful with this sort of power in a light MR, and never really enjoy it.
Dont get me wrong, the outright acceleration would be very enjoyable, but not what the exige is for. IMO.
Captain Muppet said:
MotorsportTom said:
Only when you can spin the wheels from the exit of one corner to the beginning of the next do you have enough power.
I've done that for lap after lap in the dry using a 120bhp MX5.
I couldn't hardly light up the rears on my mk 2.5 MX5, and that had 140bhp.
What, no-one mentioned the 1,200 hp Hennessey Venom yet?
On this one at 400 hp it's the predictability of the power, with what could be a very laggy turbo, that would concern me rather than the total amount. Of course we don't know how it is set up. I am would probably want to fit a Racelogic traction control if I entertained ever taking it out in the wet, but then I'm an obvious wuss.
On this one at 400 hp it's the predictability of the power, with what could be a very laggy turbo, that would concern me rather than the total amount. Of course we don't know how it is set up. I am would probably want to fit a Racelogic traction control if I entertained ever taking it out in the wet, but then I'm an obvious wuss.
400bhp is possible (just) with no accompanying interal mods on the larger turbo S3/ED30/Cupra 2.0 TFSI engines. The hybrid K04 that one is running should be fairly lag-free in how it delivers boost and the threshold should be fairly OEM, if marginally higher. Though, as the owner in this case has, you should probably upgrade the internals.
The power/torque ratio won't be much different from all the supercharged Toyota or K20 converted Elise and Exiges around. Just, erm, somewhat more of it on both counts. Not a particularly light engine the EA113 TFSI, but not particularly heavy either. Lots (well, a fair few) of 1.8T converted S1 Elise around plus several using the 1.8T and 2.0T engines competing in Time Attack, hillclimb et cetera. In fact, isn't there a TA winning S1 Exige with a Garrett turbo'd ~600bhp 2.0 TFSI?
My inclination would be that, properly mapped, it would behave largely like one of the OEM supercharged cars turned up to about 17.
The power/torque ratio won't be much different from all the supercharged Toyota or K20 converted Elise and Exiges around. Just, erm, somewhat more of it on both counts. Not a particularly light engine the EA113 TFSI, but not particularly heavy either. Lots (well, a fair few) of 1.8T converted S1 Elise around plus several using the 1.8T and 2.0T engines competing in Time Attack, hillclimb et cetera. In fact, isn't there a TA winning S1 Exige with a Garrett turbo'd ~600bhp 2.0 TFSI?
My inclination would be that, properly mapped, it would behave largely like one of the OEM supercharged cars turned up to about 17.
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