A super-car with its sleek looks and exotic feel, the Lotus Elise is a roadster one would truly enjoy on the road. With a Carbon fiber composite body and epoxy bonded extruded aluminum for it’s base structure, the low weight allows it to come to a top speed of around 150 mph going from 0-60 mph in just 4.9 seconds. The soft cloth top, LED taillights, sealed headlights and daytime running lights, this futuristic looking roadster fits in alongside the Porches and the other notable roadsters of today. The suspension is fully independent with unequal length wishbones combined with Bilsten mono-tube gas dampers, an Eibach Coil Springs and a front anti sway bar it all adds up to a stable and smooth ride in all road conditions. The four ventilated cross-drilled disk brakes coupled with Lotus’s racing and Brembo Calipers with ABS, braking is smooth and reliable even during the most demanding turns and maneuvers.
It’s 190 Horsepower, 1.8 Liter Mid-mounted 4 cylinder engine loaded with DOHCs and VVTL-I makes for a powerful powerhouse that delivers on demand. Multi-point injection ensures the engine gets the most amount of power when requested for and the electronic controlled ignition and throttle control maximizes the engines capabilities at the users command and demand.
The Lotus Elise comes from a long line of historic and pioneering cars that have always managed to stay in the news in spite of its low presence on the roads. The car’s history has maintained a loyal following and assures it a place in the cars to look out for in the years to come. At just under $60,000 US, the car is considered to be a medium priced roadster, but alongside the Audi’s, Lambo’s and Porche’s, it is a car to be reckoned with indeed.
The car has killer looks and that might be due to the prestige associated with the brand. More related to James Bond than any other car (well in one movie he used a Mercedes and controlled it with a Nokia Communicator), the brand has become synonymous with cutting edge technology and sleek stylish looks inside and out.
With a chassis made up mainly of aluminum, magnesium alloys and carbon composite materials (which has been the trend to increase fuel efficiency making them lighter and stronger than steel) the car truly is a product of cutting edge research into alternative materials that have begun to go out of the space industry. An all alloy engine with quad-overhead camshafts, 48 valves, 5935 cc. V12 it is one of the most powerful and complex engines around. The brakes are also out of the sci-fi box with six pistons which would be needed for it has a maximum speed of almost 200 miles per hour.
The steering has servotronic speed-sensitive power assisted and the suspension, well, it has double wishbones in front with incorporated anti-dive geometry, coil springs, anti-roll bars and monotube adaptive dampers. For the rear, we have double independent double wishbones with anti-squat and lift technology (mostly derived from F1 Racing technology as most European cars have under the hood). The nice thing about this monster, it has settings for road and track making racing as easy as pie with the switch of a button adjusting all suspension, steering, engine and braking systems accordingly.
The headlights are high intensity discharge adaptive lights that are now becoming standard on most luxury cars allowing maximum illumination during the darkest driving hours. The rear brake lights are LED type with adaptive displays allowing maximum visibility on and of track. The Aston martin DBS, a breed on it’s own.
A True American Classic which comes from a long line of muscle cars that have graced racetracks all over the world. Loaded with an 8.4 liter V10 a356 T56 Aluminum engine, capable of generating 600 hp controlled by the new Venom Engine management system giving maximum output while still staying within idle and OBD requirements. It has a 6-speed manual transmission using wider gears (10%) giving more power than previous generations. It has independent front and rear suspension, along with a 4-wheel disk brake with ABS. The car is a true muscle car in its class and along with manufacturer approved and tested upgrades it can even get better. Priced under $100,000.00 US, it is still in the moderate range falling below European cars that are in the upper echelons.
Being a Muscle car, it can go from 0 to 60 in less than 4 seconds, the engine features variable valve timing which allows phasing of intake and exhaust called Cam in Cam making it more fuel and emission efficient. Using twin disk clutches, it shifts easier and faster than previous models and can rival any other car in its class. Using Brembo Brakes for unparalleled braking and cornering allowing maximum control even on those tight corners coupled with GKN Visco-Lok Limited slip differentials you get the power when and wherever you need it. And it doesn’t stop there, the styling and looks of the viper truly makes it worthy of the name Viper which has been known for stunning looks that is sure to make heads turn where ever you go whatever the weather adding the hum of it’s powerful engine that is music to the ear of the most avid car lover.
