Francis Sanchez wrote:
> Okay, talking about FWD Elans, I will just give you my impression.
And then followed up immediately, with:
> whooops sorry guys, I actually sent that last mail to the wrong place...
> being this group. disregard, okay??
But... errr... uhhh... jeez, Francis, debatus interuptus! Well, I gotta
respond. Can't diregard this! You got my blood going!
<sorry, all... advance apologies for ranting>
> When it first came out, the driveline was secondary to its gorgeous lines.
Got to agree with you 100%, here... despite all else that we rwd lovers
might have to say about the M100, it *is* a very attractive machine!
> The dealer took me out to the area
> around the local university which is all 50 kph zones and we switched
> spaces. The corners were third to fourth gear types and I soon realized I
> was doing 150 k's. It was incredible. It actually felt like it was all
> wheel drive. There were no scary moments or anything, the car simply
> stuck to the road.
Sounds familiar and believable... the usual M100 comments about exemplary
grip. No debate here, just evidence of superb fwd engineering for what it
is worth, which is probably quite a bit for 90% of the drivers.
> Not in a Jap car way where there is no handling, just
> grip; it just did the job as it was designed to do by masterful
> engineers. Unlike Jap cars it didnt make you feel confident and then
> later bite your ass...
Ummm.... "Jap car"? Wow, that covers a lot of ground, doesn't it?
Plenty of Jap cars have excellent handling, in the sense of the word as you
have used it. The Miata and Mk1 MR2 come to mind, as two examples that I
have personally driven to rather amusing cornering attitudes various times.
Ever driven either of them? Others here on this list can personally vouch
for other examples.
> If purists want to claim that FWD is too modern and not part of the Lotus
> paradigm, then perhaps we should include good reliability in that pool.
Purists? Where?!? We're just a buncha fartz, young and old...
Too modern? Hmmm... well no, not if you ask me. In fact, I doubt if any
of us here on this list would say that the Elise is too modern, or that the
Gen3 RX7 is too modern (at least, I would hope that we wouldn't!)
Not part of the Lotus paradigm? Yep, you nailed it. Not because of being
too modern, nor because of being reliable (or, not!) Rather, because it
is a car designed to allow 90% of the drivers achieve 80% of the potential
of the machine 100% of the time. Front wheel drive is an effective way to
achieve that (and, for rwd lovers, an equally effective way to make the
handling rather dull and uninteresting).
This is a *decidedly* non-Lotus paradigm, because Lotuses are 10/10ths cars,
and they have interesting handling characteristics.
> I just suggest that you drive the car, you will want one...not because it's
> a Lotus, but becasue it is what a Lotus should be.
Francis, despite seemingly disagreeing with you 100% about what a Lotus
should be, I am left agreeing your main point... "just drive one, and see
for yourself".
No one could argue with that... it is darn sound reasoning, and I have to
admmit that I have never actually driven an M100. Maybe I need to.
Where do I sign up?
Erik "Driven CRXs before... it can't be *too* different, right?" Berg
PS> Never mind F1... ever seen a fwd car at a SLICK TRACK???? HA!
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