Test Drive

Lotus Cars brought a UK spec Elise 111s to the Lotus Club Track day / West Coast Lotus Convention.

At the end of the day they were giving rides around the track to anyone who wanted one. I was on the track taking a ride in a friends Esprit and got to the Elise line about 10 minutes before the end of the day.

Just my luck, as I got into the passenger seat there was an incident on the track that brought the session to a halt. During the waiting period the driver and I talked about the driving line and other pieces of chit chat. The organizers announced the track would be open for 5 minutes. Instead of pulling out, the driver from Lotus told me to get in the drivers seat and, “Bring it back when you’re done.” He hopped out, I hopped in and was off. The session turned out to be about 15 minutes, a very fun 15 minutes.

During the session, I slowly built up speed and found the car very well balanced and a lot of fun. More power and better gear ratios would have been nice as the car was a bit sluggish coming out of turn 12. In the turn 3/4/5 complex, the car was very controllable in a slight drift and the brakes are just incredible.In a couple of laps, I was braking almost as deep as I do in the Seven.

Lotus has tuned the car to have a slight bit of understeer and there has been a lot of discussion about the necessity for the optional wider front wheels. I don’t know if this car had the wider wheels, but the car felt like the backend would never slide.  The drive renewed my enthusiasm for the car and I need to think about making room in the garage. On the negative side, retirement will need to end and I need to go find another job.

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Author: Jim Boone
Jim is the resident photographer and web dude. He enjoys driving, practical shooting, and the occasional shotgun game. He is classified as M in USPSA Open and is working hard to be a real M class shooter.