Interestng Pub Fact

[corozin 0]

1) Quoted kerb weight of a Corrado VR6 = 1,235kg

2) Quoted kerb weight of the new Lotus Evora S = 1,437kg

 

How did a GRP bodied Lotus end up weighing so much more than a piece of 20 year old German iron like the Corrado? Unbelievable!!

Note that performance is not an issue for the Lotus as it's twin turbo'd V6 thumps out 350bhp. But I'm still surprised the Lotus is coming in at anything more than a tonne considering the construction.

[Kevin Bacon 5]

I thought Evora S was a Supercharged V6?

 

Either way, it's still a heavy car and goes completely against Colin Chapman's ethos.

 

But then Gordon Murray went against his 'circle of light' ethos aswell with the McLaren Mercedes SLR.

 

It's us, the buying public. We're to blame. Someone wanted a bigger, faster Elise with A/C, stereo, arse warmers and electric windows etc etc....and Lotus obliged :?

 

Unfortunately folk like us who fully understand and appreciate what proper motoring is all about, is too small a market for car makers to focus all their energy on.

[andy 0]

Interesting, I bet the Lotus is a tad stiffer though.

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Hell yeah. I can't open my driver's door when it's jacked up on that side. Major chassis flex :D

[corozin 0]

Kev is correct, it is supercharged - not turbocharged. But it's still an absolute tank by most standards, let alone those set by the ethos of what a Lotus should be. Hence the post.

 

I still can't understand how it weighs so much. They must have hidden some kryptonite ballast in the floor or something. I bet the owners of your average Elise/Exige (both under 800kg) must be scratching thier heads on this as well, but the fact is true.

[corozin 0]

Hell yeah. I can't open my driver's door when it's jacked up on that side. Major chassis flex :D

 

You need a stiffer Corrado Kev, I can open my door easy with the car jacked up. I thought you had strut braces fitted front & back too?

[Kevin Bacon 5]

You're right. Time to trade it in for a younger model :D I think it's just been jacked up so many times and not being far off 200K, it's decided enough is enough!

I exaggerated a bit though. It does open, but the door drops, meaning it needs a good slam to close again. It's had accident repair work done on the driver's side at some point in it's history as well. That said, the pass side does the same. Another reason to find a straight and honest shell!

 

Just a rear brace at the moment. The turbo got in the way of the front brace so had to be removed.

 

Anyway, yeah the Lotus is a porky so and so. How much bigger is it compared to an Elise? It certainly looks a fair bit bigger. Most of the weight gain must be in the engine and drive train? Surely a 4 cyl turbo would be more in keeping with the Lotus way?

[corozin 0]

You're right. Time to trade it in for a younger model :D I think it's just been jacked up so many times and not being far off 200K, it's decided enough is enough!

I exaggerated a bit though. It does open, but the door drops, meaning it needs a good slam to close again. It's had accident repair work done on the driver's side at some point in it's history as well. That said, the pass side does the same. Another reason to find a straight and honest shell!

 

Just a rear brace at the moment. The turbo got in the way of the front brace so had to be removed.

 

Anyway, yeah the Lotus is a porky so and so. How much bigger is it compared to an Elise? It certainly looks a fair bit bigger. Most of the weight gain must be in the engine and drive train? Surely a 4 cyl turbo would be more in keeping with the Lotus way?

 

Ok I looked it all up. The Evora is actually a bigger car than the Corrado both in length & width

Corrado = 4050x1796mm

Evora = 4342x1848mm

 

The differences aren't huge, but it is a bigger car. But I still can't really understand the weight, given that (a) the Lotus bodywork isn't made from steel (b) the engine is an alloy Toyota lump rather than the piece of iron that is a VR6.

 

So I'm back to thinking there's Kryptonite in the chassis or something. But while I'm poking a few holes in what is a pretty and undeniably fast car, £57000 is a hell of a lot of money for a Lotus.

[Kevin Bacon 5]

I just can't get my head around a car coming from the carrot fields of Norfolk, costing THAT much! :D

I mean, I've poked around a few Elises and the build quality is pretty poor for the money these things cost. And it's not like you get top of the line equipment either. Run of the mill engines and brakes, average interiors (although the Evora does look to be an improvement there) and sparse equipment levels, etc. If I wanted an understeering plastic tub, I could achieve that by fitting a Rover engine and some tiny wheels to a bath tub for significantly less outlay. I'm talking about the base spec model there, not the Exige and other specials :D

 

It seems to be the way these days. Think of a price and double it. It's the same with the Aerial atom V8. £120K for, as Clarkson would put it, some scaffolding poles and 2 bike engines welded together :cuckoo:

 

I didn't mean to go into a rant but just thinking of the massively inflated prices of things these days just angers me!

[Rob_B 0]

I just can't get my head around a car coming from the carrot fields of Norfolk

 

costs alot to grow carrots now!!

[Andy665 0]

Just wait until we have the new Elise, Esprit, Elan, Elite, Eterne coming on stream.

 

Lotus are dead set on pushing themselves massively upmarket, even the Elise will be a 40k+ car - Dany Behr, CEO of Lotus is exFerrari and is surrounding himself with other ex Ferrari, Porsche etc people, he has even got Bob Lutz to join the board as an advisor.

 

Very ambitious plans but I'm seriously worried about their ability to turn out sufficiently high quality products, at the price points they are aiming at buyers will demand more than engineering igenuity and purity

[corozin 0]

Just wait until we have the new Elise, Esprit, Elan, Elite, Eterne coming on stream.

 

Lotus are dead set on pushing themselves massively upmarket, even the Elise will be a 40k+ car - Dany Behr, CEO of Lotus is exFerrari and is surrounding himself with other ex Ferrari, Porsche etc people, he has even got Bob Lutz to join the board as an advisor.

 

Very ambitious plans but I'm seriously worried about their ability to turn out sufficiently high quality products, at the price points they are aiming at buyers will demand more than engineering igenuity and purity

 

Yeah and as if to prove the point look what happened to Noble when they tried to push massively upmarket. They not only forgot their existing customer base, they purposefully neglected them. Everyone aspires to be the next Ferrari or Lamborghini, but the truth is both of those brands are very much in the minority, and when you consider it objectively there are alternatives that make both look very expensive (Porsche being one of them)

 

Now the Lotus 2Eleven was a success but it wasn't a road car, and wasn't a volume car either. I'm a little worried that Lotus may have gotton grand ideas which it's brand is just incapable of supporting. Remember that the last model V8 Esprit was a pathetic seller, despite being a tremendous car both visually and dynamically. You can argue that the Elise proves that Lotus can be profitable, but in fact the truth of that resurgence in the 1990s was more to do with the lucrative contract Lotus got to build the VX220 for Vauxhall, which they made a lot more profit on.

 

But the point is that British history is littered with the carcasses of failed low volume sports car makers. I hope that Lotus recognise that thier brand has been in the dustbin for at least 5-6 years, and damaged even further by it's association with Proton. And as my father has said since the 1970s when he owned an Elite +2, there is a limit to what people will pay for a car made out of fibreglass, and a limit to what they will pay for a Ford. And he's right about both things.

[Andy665 0]

I think Lotus have posted a profit only once in the last 10 years, it baffles me where Proton are getting the cash to bankroll what is probably the most anbitious expansion and upmarket push ever attempted in the motor industry.

[SamG40 0]

Yep indeed, whatever happens to them now (I wish them well but cant help thinking it isnt going to end well) the fact remains that they havent made a profit in the last ten years. That cant continue no matter how great a brand from the past it is.

 

I'd love an Elise in the next few years. I've never had a go in one though, will I be disappointed then Kev?

[Jim 1]

They're a hoot but they are EXCEPTIONALLY uncompromising when it comes to driver comforts. The ride is bone shakingly hard and the interior is basic and cramped..

 

I drove one a good few years back at the Lotus factory in Norfolk and enjoyed it immensely. It was really quick, handled amazingly, and just gave a real sense of occasion. Then, earlier this year met up with an old work friend who bought himself the Elise he'd lusted after ever since we did that test drive.. went out for a spin with him and couldn't believe how uncomfortable it was. I couldn't wait to get out of the thing! It might be amazing on a track but I can imagine after a long day at work in the middle of winter it'd be about the last car on earth I'd want to drive home.

[Guest]

My brother in law has one and I've been out for a ride in it.

I'm sure we didn't go faster than 50 / 60 but I'm glad we didn't. Sat on the floor with rock hard suspension, felt like we were at least a ton up. I was glad to come back with all my teeth still.

Great fun for playing on the roads for half an hour but I wouldn't want to have to journey anywhere far in one.

[corozin 0]

Lotus cars makes losses, but I'm pretty sure I'm correct in thinking that Lotus Engineering does good, profitable business as a design and engineering consultancy to a number of manufacturers.

[Kevin Bacon 5]

I'd love an Elise in the next few years. I've never had a go in one though, will I be disappointed then Kev?

 

Dissapointed is probably too strong a word I think. Depends what you want from a car really. It's been a long time since I drove one and admittedly it was a very early 1.6 base model, but it's not a car I like very much I'm afraid. It's entertaining for short periods because Lotus do know suspension, but I wouldn't want to own one.

 

The two things that surprised me most were the lack of grunt and understeer. I don't care how light a car is, grunt is grunt, and the non-VVC Rover K series doesn't have a lot of that!

 

That's what I was getting at with the run of the mill engines comment. I reckon with the first Elise, lotus parked a Rover 216 next to an empty Elise shell and just transferred the bits over. Why use an engine with a known history of head gasket failure and one that's torque shy? Because they were cheap, that's why!

 

But was that cheapness passed onto the customer? Errr, no!

 

Then they moved onto the Toyota 1.8 VVC which is probably the most gutless engine in the world, ever. No wonder so many people fitted VAG 1.8Ts to their Elises / Exiges and even Lotus supercharged them!. So much for light weight needing light power :lol:

 

And the car has a girly name with girly dimensions :D

 

If you like revvy engines and soft top road cars, then a Honda S2000 is a far better car imo. Or if you like open topped track day weapons, then it's gotta be the venerable Caterham!

[yacobwood 0]

Whats the only part of a Corrado that cannot fit in a Corrado :D

 

-OR-

 

1) Quoted kerb weight of a Corrado VR6 = 1,235kg

2) Quoted kerb weight of a Corrado VR6 without a bonnet = 986kg