The World According to Tim Skipper

“Feel free to use all the revs”. “Sharp left here, and then a right and a fast 3rd gear left”. “This next bit of road is nice and open so you can pick your line nicely”.

This is the kind of salesman I like sitting along side!

I turned up early at Lotus Cars dealer Stratton Motor Company for my appointment with their Lotus Sales Manager and spent a few minutes wandering around the showroom drooling over a Vanquish and sniggering at that new Morgan monstrosity (they sell Aston & Morgan too) while the Manager was found.

Introductions over, I was asked what I knew about the Lotus Elise. Very little I said, other than seeing a lot of them at track days.

I was then given a thorough explanation of the philosophy behind Lotus and the Elise, and was shown around a silver one that was in the showroom. He explained about the bonded aluminium construction, how lightness of weight was the key to good performance from the relatively small engine, how un-necessary bits like electric windows carpets etc were left out.

I then asked about the roof, and had the removal and refitting demonstrated. The new mechanism looks a lot better than the old one. I asked whether it leaked, and to his credit he admitted that they do sometimes let a little water in, but that there was a lot of adjustment available to ensure a good fit and neither I nor the floor should get wet.

We then went outside to the demonstrator, which had the 135 engine upgrade and the sports exhaust fitted. I was asked whether I wanted the roof off, which I thought would be fun, so off it came. He drove for 5 mins while it warmed up and we got off the main road onto the good bits.

First impression sitting in the passenger seat was how nicely the seat fitted; given it has no adjustment other than fore/aft. It’s definitely on the firm side, but excellent lateral support. The sports exhaust sounded lovely!

Then I got to play. I can’t say I like the instrument panel, it looks cheap and nasty (especially given its STACK kit), but it gives you the important info clearly enough. Digital gauge shows how many litres of fuel left (I don’t know how accurate that is) and water temp alongside usual mileage info. The rearward visibility was fine through the mirrors and I felt immediately comfortable with the driving position. I particularly liked the small chunky steering wheel.

The clutch was light, the pedals nicely spaced and the (tallish) gear stick fell readily to hand. I moved the gear stick what felt like 3 microns forward and into first, and slowly let up the clutch with a tickle of revs and we were off.

Into second another 3 microns of movement and barely a whiff of clutch later - crikey what a short throw box - and a bit more gas had us progressing up to the 40 limit very nicely. Playing with the gears before we got to the de-restriction sign I was very impressed with the gearbox. It’s light, short and very positive. The clutch requires a minimum of effort and I managed perfectly smooth changes right off the bat. This is a big plus in its favour as I do really like a nice positive gear change.

Approaching the de-restriction sign now and Guy tells me to use as many revs as I care to, so I slotted it into third and pushed the accelerator to the floor. Pick up was good, better than I had expected but obviously no 911 and we head off towards some very nice twisty roads.

First impressions of the ride quality were very favourable. It’s obviously firm and jiggles a bit over really bad surfaces but I wouldn’t call it a jarring ride. It certainly didn’t sound like it was crashing about and there were absolutely no Chinese whispers involved with wheels talking to steering.

I then spent the next 20 mins exploring the handling & performance through some lovely back roads, from tight low speed 2nd gear hairpins to fast third/fourth sweepers and everything in between - they have picked out a good test drive route that really shows how well the Elise handles, and they don’t mind you using it! Performance from the 135 engine isn’t electrifying, but then I wasn’t expecting it to be. It’s quick, but it doesn’t provide that shove in the back oh-my-god this is moving feel that I get from the 911.

But to complain about that would be missing the point, the way the car responds to barely a movement of the wheel, the way you can brake into a corner, snick it down the 2nd as you do so and turn in and power out is what this car seems to be all about. I liked it, a lot.

The brakes have no servo assistance, and they certainly slow you down sufficiently, but they seriously pale in comparison with even the standard Porsche brakes, let alone my turbo conversion. This part of the package felt lacking to me, but perhaps I’m just spoiled in that regard.

Anyway we’re back on the main road now and heading back to the showroom. Cruising along at 60mph in 5th is a very relaxed and smooth affair, although the wind buffeting from having the roof down was quite bad (admittedly it is a very windy day today).

So, to sum up my impressions; It’s an easy car to drive quickly, it has a brilliant chassis and is very responsive to inputs and very generous with its feedback. It’s quick if not truly fast, and I didn’t find the brakes to be overly wonderful, but the gearbox certainly is. Snicking it up and down the box through those twisties was a real treat. The exhaust note (sports exhaust) was really nice, not too loud but definitely very sporty.

Back in the comfort (and warmth) of the showroom over a coffee Guy asked whether it would be a daily drive or a weekend car. I said my interest would be geared towards leisure and track use as I have an Mercedes A160 to drive around town in. He then explained there were two main packages available over the basic car, Sports Tourer and Race Tech. One is more comfort oriented and the other sportier inside. The differences are principally use of materials and neither handles or performs any better than the other.

Base price is £22,295. Sports Tourer is £26,190 and Race Tech £25,990. The sports exhaust was about £400 and the 135 upgrade about £2,300 all in.

He explained the Lotus Sport division of Lotus have numerous bespoke track options available such as harnesses etc that I might be interested in if I were looking for a more track oriented car. That was definitely what I was looking for I said, and so he played his trump card…

Stratton is an official Motorsport dealer he explained, and they’re doing a factory developed limited edition Lotus Sport Elise 190 only available through them. He handed me their brochure…

• 190 bhp @ 7800rpm
• 128 lbft @ 5000rpm
• Race cooling system
• Engine oil cooler
• Motorsport driveshaft & joints
• Adjustable front anti roll bar
• MSA approved roll bar
• MSA approved race seats & 4 point race harnesses
• Plumbed in fire extinguisher system
• Battery master cut out
• 282mm vented discs, Lotus/AP racing callipers & racing pads
• 710 kg
• 135 mph v-max
• 0-60 in 4.4 seconds

”How much?”

”£33,000.”

”Is it road legal?”

”Yes.”

”Don’t suppose you have a demo?”

”We don’t, but Lotus do. Would you like me to arrange a tour of the motorsport facility and a test drive of their development car round the Lotus test track?”

”Yes please.”

So he gets on the phone to Lotus and arranges it. Next Tuesday at 10am I will be taken round the motorsport facility by their head man and let loose in their demo car. It’s a left hooker and a development mule so is a bit tatty, but the engine & suspension package is production ready.

So there we have it. The story continues next Tuesday…

This article was first published on 27th February 2002 at www.sport190.com