I registered on the Autoweek web site to take a gander at Paul's article and afterwards (looking for more reading materials to read), I found this article on the Lotus Elise which is currently trying to get EPA approval for sale in the U.S. market.
It reminded me of all of the people asking "What would Spitfire be like if it was still in production?" or "I sure wish they made a modern Spitfire" You can read it for yourself. But do not be fooled into thinking that they have brought the Spitfire back from the boneyard....this excerpt from an April 30th article "Lotus Blossom for America?" is all about the Elise... "...The seating position is so low that youre looking up at scooters, for Petes sake. The immediacy of the suspensionso revered on the track becomes busy and jolting on the commute. Inserting oneself into the Elise requires an inelegant torsion of the torso that would do a praying mantis proud. In our test vehicle, the rear window rattled and buzzed. A defective Clarion audio deck would illuminate but not function, then later went full-blast and could not be turned off. The luggage space is enough for a day-pack, but forget the quick run to the airport or grocery store. The pedals are tiny and wedged into a footwell better measured for the aforementioned third-grader. As appropriate for a British roadstereven one built by a company owned by Malaysian intereststhe roof leaked. At speed, a trickle would drop straight down from the A-pillar onto the drivers knee. Worse was the pond in the drivers seat after the Elise was parked in a rainstorm. First gear was recalcitrant at a stoplight. For those with a freeway commute, the Elise gets squirrelly above 80 mph with any sort of side wind. Other notes: The mid- engined Elise suffers poor cooling in slow traffic, prompting a toasty interior. The noise level is nearly intolerable, requiring shouting to converse with a passenger. Though giving a digital readout, the fuel gauge was erratic, insisting we had used more than 1.5 gallons of gas in 10 easy miles..." Aside from the non-working radio and emblem peeling off of the shift knob, myself or passengers of my car have had all of those same issues with my Spitfire. Not that the new Elise is exactly a powerhouse (an emissions friendly 120 hp version is the base model) but due to its svelt weight of 1565 lbs. the car screams to 62 mph in just 5.7 secs. Very un-Spit-like. I like it! -Terry Yahoo! Health - your guide to health and wellness http://health.yahoo.com /// [EMAIL PROTECTED] mailing list /// Send admin requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] /// or try http://www.team.net/cgi-bin/majorcool /// Archives at http://www.team.net/archive /// Send list postings to [EMAIL PROTECTED] /// Edit your replies! If they include this trailer, they will NOT be sent.
