Forza Motorsport 7: Extreme Elise

Lotus pioneered the sports car realm with the philosophy of "simplify and add lightness", valuing aerodynamics over power and that kind of philosophy won the hearts of many hardcore car enthusiasts looking for something that is free from the distractions that hinder their joy of driving, especially those concessions of comfort that are deemed unnecessary for sportscars. However, what happens when Lotus turns the other way around? You get with the Elise GT1, of course.



I picked this ultra-rare Lotus from Forza Motorsport 7's Totino's Car Pack and while this car brings me back to the corner of my childhood, there's a lot of explaining to do about this ultra-rare, ultra-hardcore take on the Lotus Elise. The Lotus Elise has spawned three competition versions and the first was the Elise GT1.

The Elise GT1 features a carbon fiber bodywork nested to its bonded-aluminum backbone chassis modified to accomodate the 3.5L V8 twin turbo engine from the Esprit. In its road-legal state, it produces 350HP of power but in race tune, it produces over 550HP of power - in a car that weighs less than 2,000 lbs.

Apart from that, the Elise GT1 features a full competition suspension and 14-inch disc brakes with 6-piston calipers for dramatic stopping power.



This Elise is a massive flop to Lotus. Ever since they compete in the FIA GT Championship, Lotus are looking for a suitable replacement to the aging Esprit in their racing portfolio and they've chosen the Elise as their next race car for the job. Due to financial reasons, they only built one road-going car that is unavailable for public. Lotus made seven Elise GT1 race chassis were built and while most of them never made it to the finish line due to mechanical issues, only a few made it to the end of the race. Due to such lackluster results, Lotus and parent company Proton decided to axe the program.



It's a shame that Lotus wasted a lot of money for such a lackluster performance with the Elise GT1 but since I'm driving the only road-legal in its existence, what's like the drive it? In my experience, you'll get the feeling that you're driving a Hennessey Venom before it was cool but this is not the Venom, it's actually an Elise beefed up with the engine of the Esprit and it's not as intimidating as it looks. Because it was set to 350HP of power, which is the road-legal mode of course, you don't get scared pretty easily and despite its intimidating looks, it handles pretty much like what a Lotus should be, making it a proper track toy as I shall now prove with a lap round the Top Gear Track.



This car really is quick by modern standards and because of such performance, let's take the beastly Lotus to another part of Britain which is...



...Silverstone, of course.



Ah, the venue of the British Grand Prix, this is the perfect opportunity to demonstrate the Lotus at its best and with that, it's time to see if this ultimate flop has the guts to be called a hardcore Lotus compared to the most hardcore of all...





This is the Lotus 3-Eleven, the fastest and the most hardcore Lotus ever made and it was the fastest Lotus to lap round the Nurburgring to lap the sub-seven minute mark. Since both of these machines are set to road-legal use, it's quite questionable to see which is which on the track but since I got all of the ingredients here, it's time to see which of the hardcore Lotuses is the most hardcore of them all.



And now, the results...

3-Eleven - 2:21.204
Elise GT1 - 2:24.821



It's true what Lotus said, the Elise GT1 was a complete disaster for the company but look at this way, despite being a total flop, it became an inspiration for Hennessey to create the Venom GT because if it weren't for the Elise GT1, the Texans wouldn't made the car that shattered world speed records in a pinch. It really is a Venom GT before it was cool and while it wasn't as hardcore as I hoped for, this car really takes me back to the time when I first introduced myself to the world of Lotus Cars from the Elan, the Esprit, and most famously, the Elise.

FH3 Blizzard Mountain: Snow Flower

As everyone remembered, this is the Lotus Exige S. With the added power from its supercharged V6 engine combined with the legendary Lotus dynamics that focused solely on weight loss, it is one of the most extreme Lotuses ever made to cater the most demanding drivers on the road and on the track. However, in a cold climate like Blizzard Mountain, there's no freaking way that this car can race here...or can I?

Because almost all of the cars offered in Forza Horizon 3 can be fitted with studless tires because without it, it would be difficult to drive it here, especially when you got an offroader in your collection. For a rear-wheel drive like the Lotus Exige, it's virtually impossible to drive it through ice so it's ideal to rig it with studless snow tires. Although, even with snow tires, it's still not going to make it through the icy conditions of Blizzard Mountain, or perhaps can you?

To find out, I am giving the Lotus Exige S the "extra service" it deserves. Aside from giving it some snow tires and some performance upgrades for competitive purposes, it's got some familiar looking design that was updated for today. The last time I made a design for the Exige S back in Europe, that Takane Shijou look gave it a more alluring flair and now, I've updated the design to meet Platinum Stars standards. Nothing says I took that looks from the pages of Ridge Racer's Fatalita "Takane SP" special machine.

Anyway, after long hours of extra service, the Exige is ready to take on a scene where different cars are racing through a village during a snowstorm at the dead of night. Severe snowstorm at nightfall? That is very scary and so are the cars getting ready for filming but the show must go on as planned and judging by the challenges set here, looks like I might run into some fierce resistance from the opponents. So, let's get this show started.

Man, that Audi TT S at the end of the race is a real thorn to me during the final lap, and despite my victory at the end of the race packed with extreme icy conditions, it's clear that even with snow tires, rear-wheel drives are almost impossible to survive, although this would pack some added challenge to the drivers who demand more. Like they said, a true champion always adapt to the battlefield, seeing the harsher conditions as a challenge, and taking a rear-wheel drive Lotus on the winter wonderland is a tough act to follow.

Forza Motorsport 6: Attack of the Racing Actros

When the producers think about putting large truck in the world of Forza, in the case of the 2015 Mercedes-Benz #24 Tankpool24 Racing Truck from the T10 Select Car Pack, available now, every player from around the world got thrown in with mixed reactions, most of them saying what's a truck doing in the world of Forza. There's a major clear explanation why they put a heavyweight in this game via a DLC pack...

Ever since the FIA created the European Truck Racing Championship three decades ago, the world got mixed in with them with the idea of turning machines made for shipping duties everyday, apart from making problems with traffic nowadays despite truck bans, into racing titans in the world's finest racetracks across Europe, including the Nurburgring and Circuit de la Sarthe. Those trucks made for racing purposes weigh 12,000 lbs, equipped with special equipment, thousand horsepower of power output, ten thousand pounds-foot of torque, and there goes a recipe for creating a very unique race so unique, the producers wanted a slice of it in the game.

The Tankpool24 Racing Team, formerly called the MB Motorsports truck racing team, started their racing career at the 1995-1996 International touring car racing and began their truck racing journey in 1997 with drivers including truck racing legend Markus Oestreich, Ellen Lohr, Jordi Gene and Steffi Halm. The team was under the supervision of Markus Bauer, who manages a group of volunteers from the service area of Mercedes-Benz and has also recruited Team Hahn's top engineer, Stefan Honens.

Piloted by Andre Kursim and Roland Rehfeld, this Racing Truck, based on the Mercedes Actros MP4 semi-truck, fought for nine rounds in the 2015 FIA Euro Truck Racing Championship season. Despite last year's poor result, Kursim continues on the 2016 season alongside last year's champion, Norbert Kiss, who made a switch to this team during a pre-season announcement.

Driving a racing truck is different than driving a racecar, apart from its titanic weight it delivers, because driving one of these is like piloting a B1 or a B2 bomber in the skies above. Yes, that was a bit of a compliment but having to learn about the truck's complex machinery, and its 10-speed gearbox specially designed for ETRC use, it should be a piece of cake trying to handle a truck just like handling a sportscar on the bends. It takes guts and determination to master this heavyweight monster but if you're getting used to it,  Oh yeah and while you're enjoying it, it's recommend to play with it on Cockpit View or Chase View because that bulk of the machine really blocks your view and you really can't see where you're going on its third person perspective.

Having satisfied with a big lorry with power output beyond Veyron levels, I decided to do some experiment round the Nurburgring Grand Prix Circuit to see how track-worthy this Racing Truck this and to do that, I need a little control for this experiment and I think I found one...

This old Lotus Elise should do it and what I'm going to do is to do a little David and Goliath test to prove if the giant truck can go round the track as fast as this lightweight mosquito.


And now the results...

2:29.506 - Elise
2:33.631 - Truck

It's a shock result. The truck made it round the track four seconds slower than the lightweight car. Man, this truck sure knows how to catch up despite being a whopper of a size. It's a clear say that with so many oddballs going on around in the FM6 car roster such as Fast Five's Gurkha, the Cadillac XTS Limo, and this, looks like the weirdness keeps on going for the producers to think of. Wonder what else they'll put up next in the future of Forza?

Still, this diesel titan gave us a whole new level of enjoyment in FM6 and having satisfied with how the Racing Truck performs, it feels like a Perfect Day To Burn Some Diesel. Keep On Trucking, folks. Who knows what surprises we might get there with this hunk of metal.

Forza Motorsport 6: Sushi vs. Hamburger Redux

Remember several years ago when then-Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson tested an old Lotus Exige S (the one with the supercharged 2ZZ-GE engine in the middle) round the Top Gear Test Track and then raced against The Stig in a Ford Mustang and won? It was the old sushi vs. hamburger debate and now, that tale's about to be retold in its modern-day equivalents.



These are the modern-day equivalents I am talking about. Here, I've been rejoined by the V6-powered Lotus Exige S, the car capable of balancing big power and light weight at the same pace on the track. As for the Mustang side, I've gone for the most track-honed Mustang yet, the all-new GT350. Specifically, a specially-made GT350R. Let's hope this Mustang sounds as it should be because it's been updated twice after problems faced with the GT350's exhaust sound.

Anyway, what can you expect about these two? Well, both of these track-day, road-legal machines are well in tune with the racetracks thanks to its motorsport-derived dynamics that allows themselves to go through the corners as smooth as a baby's buttocks like those triplets in the picture. Although the Lotus Exige S V6 is a bulkier Lotus due to the bulk of its engine, its midship layout and its crafty dynamics still feels like the lightweight Lotus of yesteryears, making it the ideal track toy that you can use it harder and longer, as long as you don't pit in against ultra-lightweight machines like the Atom or the Mono because that would be suicidal.

The GT350R, a special model based on the GT350, is basically a hardcore sixth-generation Mustang I am really like and in fact, I like this one better than the old 1960's GT350 because the old GT350 is for Gran Turismo losers and the new GT350 is fit for Forza faithfuls like you and me. However, there are some idiots, presumably Gran Turismo fans, listed numerous things why they hate the new GT350 as well as many reasons not to buy one. One of the main reasons why is because it's a Forza car and you know how idiots react to cars featured in a Forza game. Anyway, while the V8 engine it powers it is not as powerful as the old GT500, its race-derived dynamics really compensates it and you can really set very fast lap times in this pony car if you set things right. Word of warning, however, is despite its newly sophisticated suspension setup like in the standard Mustang, it can still kick you off like a mechanical bull on the bar.




Now it's time to compare these two round the Top Gear Test Track and see if the whole sushi and hamburger debate still applies in this modern-day equivalents. Let's get crackin...


And now the results. The Lotus Exige S did it in 1:23.130 while the new Shelby GT350 did it in 1:23.389, meaning that light is right when it comes to track-day sportscars and looks like the sushi trumped the hamburger, but only just.

Forza Horizon 2: Driving the Lotus Exige

This is the Lotus Exige S, and it's the fastest and most powerful Lotus ever made thanks to its combination of big power and light weight that is uncanny for most British lightweights. It maybe 500lbs more than the old Exige but it has a Toyota-derived 3.5L V6 engine with added superchargers which develops 345HP of power and 295lb-ft of torque. It does 0-100kph in under four seconds and onwards to 274kph.



Back in the original Horizon, I started to fall in love with Lotus' finest masterpiece not because of its combination of power and lightness but also the agility and the precision it delivers if the setting's left untouched, probably, and it's the same story goes when I drove it on FM5 where all of its goodness starting to come unraveled in most parts of the world. In the world of FH2, it's starting to feel at home when I take it round the parts of the Southern Europe. It's like if love moves in mysterious ways and oh! Speaking of "mysterious", looks like the Exige deserves a special treatment I came up with...





Now here's the little scamp that I came up with and because I'm still in the process of celebrating THE iDOLM@STER's 10th birthday, the theme for my Exige S in FH2 I made is...yes, you've guessed it, Takane Shijou. It's a bit of a "Secret, Secret, I have a secret" thing but trust me, this theme deserves to be persevered because even though she's more of an arrogance and her mysteriousness really keeps you guessing like a nude Irene Adler appeared, you're most likely to spend some time with her until you're fully seduced by her witty charms.

That's why I chose this for my special treatment because this car moves in unpredictable patterns but only when left untouched. On its own, the Exige S is a wonderful car to drive full stop but because it fell onto the category dominated by cars whose power-to-weight ratios eclipsed the almighty Bugatti Veyron, the Exige finds it to be difficult to stick through its opposition and when I improved this car around to Ariel Atom territory, it feels more sensitive when it faces to corner. As a rule, you would never want to max out this car to compete with ultra-light machines because while it's fast on the straights, cornering it can be very nightmarish, and I shall demonstrate it with a championship I've booked for this car.



See? I told you it's much difficult to drive the Exige when maxed out to Ariel Atom levels but still, I've managed to survive all the way to victory. Looks like I won't be doing that again after all this but driving this Exige never made me so thrilling because I had fun driving a Lotus that combines big power and light weight into one unique package and the way it moves is unpredictable. Yes, it's as unpredictable as the design I made for the Exige.

Gran Turismo 6: Für Elise

Lotus is a well known British car manufacturer that always using the key mantra that other car companies imitated, which goes by the saying "simplify and add lightness". The Elise is one of its prime specimens because this British car company has been with us for a very long time. Sure the founder, Colin Chapman, passed away several years ago, and Lotus is currently owned by some Malaysian conglomerate called DRB-Hicom, but its history can't be overlooked by many. It's one of the cars that expressed the true form of a British sportscar, a car that we always keep going even when wet because it's the Brits' way of life. They always get used to bad weather and even when its raining, they always drive with the roof down.



Now for the first time ever, in the world of Gran Turismo 6, Lotus enthusiasts now got the chance to try out the latest Lotus Elise. Sure it maybe a facelifted version of the Series II Elise but the one thing you may notice is the engine. The previous model have a Toyota Celica engine but for the new model, the Celica 1.8L engine has been thrown away and downsized to a 1.6L Toyota engine. No other JDM engines had this one, you know.



Lotus says that in this entry-level model, the power output of the 1.6L engine is identical to the old 1.8L engine it replaces. It develops about 134HP of power output while fuel economy is now increased by up to 23%. The old 5-speed gearbox has now added an additional gear so that now, it's a 6-speed stick shift. Even though it weighs 876kg, the Elise can flatout at 204kph and a 0-100kph time of under seven seconds, as identical as the previous model.



So, with those new updates and the downsized engine, does it still behave like a Lotus Elise? The British sports car that won our hearts because of its old-fashion British lifestyle?




Well, it does behave like a Lotus Elise and it still behaves like a proper British sportscar. Even though for a small car in such bite-sized chunks, it still has the good old British Bulldog spirit because in today's climate, even the tiniest of the few can shatter the convention proving that might can be light.



So, if the new Elise does pretty well, how can it stack up against its predecessors? To find out, we say hello to our old friends the Series I Elise and the previous Series II Elise.



This Series I Lotus Elise I have here is the one with the 1.8L Rover engine while the Series II Elise I have is the top-of-the-line 111R model which comes with the 1.8L Toyota engine, the same engine you can find on the Celica. So what's the venue for this Elise comparison test? It's Brands Hatch. The layout? The Indy Circuit. The rule? Fastest time wins.



The race begins. Although they both weigh under a ton, there's a downside regarding the new Elise we've been driving in this comparo because the thing is that this entry level model's 1.6L engine produces about less power than the 111R model of the previous Series II Elise. Not only the new model is about 121kg more than the old Series I model but it's also 16kg more than the Series II Elise 111R. However, with such downsides to the new model, will it succeed in this comparo. Let's not forget that being light, they're fast in the corners and have absolutely no problem at all. They are as nippy as a Sinclair C5 powered by fish-and-chips.

The results;

0:52.850 - Elise 111R '04
0:56.266 - Elise '11
0:58.793 - Elise '96

So, it's a shock result. Although the new Elise fared well against the Series I Elise, it was ousted by the old Series II Elise with the 1.8L Toyota engine on it! But I think it's safe to say that all good scientists are facing a bitter loss and I think the new Elise just...failed to beat the old model even when the old model in question is a 190HP 1.8L Toyota engine-powered British sports car.

 

Time to get a real job, love...

Forza Motorsport 5: The Lotus Exige S V6

This is the Lotus Exige S, or to be accurate, the Lotus Exige S with the V6 engine on it. Launched in the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show, the Exige S balances big power and lightweight, making it the driver's car that delivers a threat against the big boys in track days.



It's a tricky one when Lotus made this car from scratch and the reason why it's longer than the old Exige and it now weighs a ton is because of its supercharged Toyota 3.5L V6 engine derived from the Evora S. But still, with the added power and weighs less than Europe's finest sports cars, the Exige S is truly born for the track and usable for the road. Here in Forza 5, when it comes to drive the Exige S, it takes a lot of science experiments to examine how the Exige S stacks up. Think of it like stuffing things up to the microwave...



When I take this round at the Top Gear Track, it set a lap time of about 1:24.272 and that's not bad for a track-day car with big power in the middle. Although the added weight was not a hindrance for the V6 Exige, Lotus truly knows how to balance it out to create the perfect driver's car; a driver-focused car that is more powerful and lighter, a car that is more track-focused and usable for the road and this car sure does that.

Forza Motorsport 5: The Lotus E21

With the addition of open-wheelers in Forza Motorsport 5, the lineup got expanded not just to track toys but also IndyCars and F1 racers and nothing's more extreme to drive as the Lotus E21. This is Lotus' entry to the Formula One 2013 season but what is it? Let's find out...



Being the first of the F1 cars launched for the F1 2013 season, the E21 is designed and built by the Lotus F1 team. It was driven by Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean. As a response from 2012's E20 for having difficulties with the DRS, this machine comes with a built-in passive DRS device. It was powered by Renault's RS27-2013 2.4L V8 engine developing 750HP of power and 221lb-ft of torque.



The chassis features a moulded honeycomb composite monocoque made of carbon fiber and aluminum for added strength and less weight. It comes with carbon-fiber top and bottom wishbones where in the front, it operates with a pushrod setup, and in the back, it comes with a pull rod operated torsion springs and transverse-mounted damper units mounted in the top of the transmission casing.

This car placed 4th in the F1 2013's World Constructor's Championship whereas Kimi Raikkonen placed 5th overall and Romain Grosjean 7th overall in the F1 2013 season.

 

Five Lotus concepts axed, brand not for sale

Remember those?

2010 Lotus Elan Concept

2010 Lotus Elise Concept

2010 Lotus Elite Concept

2010 Lotus Esprit Concept

2010 Lotus Eterne Concept

Yes, these were the concept cars from Lotus Cars as seen on the 2010 Paris Motor Show. The Elise, Elan, Esprit, Elite, and Eterne. There was a City Car Concept I heard. Like those? Well, bad news though because word from DRB-Hicom, the Malaysian company now taking responsibility of Lotus and Proton, said that they've shelved plans to produce these models! Yep, those development plans were cancelled before DRB-Hicom acquired Proton.

DRB-Hicom group MD Datuk Seri Mohd Khamil said that these plans were invalid during the press conference held during DRB-Hicom’s media drive event that took place weeks ago.

The thing is though that these five concepts as seen in the 2010 Paris Motor Show were not running prototypes. They were made out of three different configurations; small mid-engine, big mid-engine and front engine.

Lotus Exige S V6

For the Lotus brand though, Datuk Seri Mohd Khamil said that the Lotus brand's not for sale, as demonstrated by the grand opening of Lotus showroom in Sungai Penchala, Petaling Jaya and the Malaysian launch of the Elise S and Exige S models.

With the exception of the Evora, which was launched back in 2008 or 2009, despite the Elise and the Exige are getting older in its age, they remain good cars and there is still demand for them. He also point out that we can expect replacements for the Exige and Evora by 2015 or 2016, with a newly-developed platform and engine at the heart of things. No further details yet as of now.

URL: http://paultan.org/2013/01/15/lotus-five-concept-cars-canned-brand-wont-be-sold/