+1, love top gear, but for the lotus / roush competition it would have been interesting to see them swap cars and do it again, as imo the stang driver was WAY outdriven.Or better The Stig could have done a power lap in each. Some brits are still sore at us for that 1776 thing, as well as US bailing their butts out twice in the last century, so having the lotus beat the stang probably helped the ratings in Englund.
Oh, O.P. you say "redneck" like there is something wrong with that.

 

I think Clark Kent put it better than anyone, for the type of car the Mustang GT is, when modded, can stick it out with other fast Coupe front engine cars very easily, that cost 2 to 3 times the amount. I know this because I've raced many on the 110 freeway (very curvy and fun) in LA, and easily kept up with "cornering" with all contending front engine coupes and other 2 door sport cars ie Corvettes, Porsches, Top Mercedes, ect.. Erik

 

I know this is a Mustang board, but after driving an Elise, I can honestly say that it's not uncomfortable at all. Also not to mention my buddy's Elise gets a LOT more attention here in AZ where us Mustangs are every 10th car or so on the highway.

 

The Elise (or any Lotus for that matter) is a completely different car, meant for a different purpose and audience than a Mustang. One isn't better than the other. They are different - like comparing apples to oranges.

 

The Mustang is affordable power and fun, but the Elise and Exige are extremely sexy cars.

Given a choice between an Elise / Exige and a GT500 at the same price, I'd take the Lotus.

 

Good for you. I'd take the Mustang. Can we move on now?

 

Well, you got me thinking more about the Lotus Elise and how awesome it is. I just polled some of the female gearheads at work and all of them agreed the Lotus Elise / Exige was sexier than the Mustang.

 

Whoopde-*******-do.

Do you get off on instigating petty internet arguements?

 

Dude,

I grew up a "stone's throw" from that fwy (off Ave 43), so I know what you're talking about. GREAT driver's fwy. Just watch out for Chippies. Got pulled over more than once!

Oh, BTW, I destroyed a BMW M3 on that fwy not too long ago.

 

You said it, female gearheads. Chicks like cutesy bug-looking stuff. The Lotus is a cool car, but not my cup of tea.

 

+1. To me it's just a high performance Miata. :gay:

 

The Exige is a cool looking car but any comparison with a Mustang is truly apples & watermelons. IIRC there's a 1,000lb weight difference between the two cars and the Lotus has IRS. I've read it's as close to a street legal track car as you can get without buying an Enzo or S7 for A LOT more dough. The fact that it's as fast as it is with a blown 1.8 Toyota mill shows there's hardly any mass to the thing. Not the kind of car I'd wanna tool around town in.

 

Im still amazed by how many supposed mustang lovers in this site are constantly talking about how they would this car or that car over the mustang anyday. So why the hell do you buy the mustang? JUts because you couldnt afford something else yuo actually wanted? Very strange if you ask me.

 

As someone who has owned both a Lotus (Europa) and a Mustang ('07 GT Coupe), I feel I'm qualified to venture an answer to that. If the Lotus was a knife it would be a scalpel - light and precise. I bought the Mustang because I'd always wanted to own a chainsaw - noisy with lots of kickback.

 

I'm 6 feet tall, and after experiencing Lotus's crown "athletic achievement", also known as getting in the car, I could NEVER live with that every day! Watching me get in this little car (both the Elise, with hardtop attached, and the Exige), I looked like a contorsion artist hard at work. While its a neat looking car (and I won't deny that. I bought the diecasts for my collection), its not for me!! My Mustang will be with me till I die!!!

 

That right there is funny, I don't care who you are.......

 

The version I've heard about a engineering school back home...

"...where the men are manly, the women are too, and the sheep are scared"

_________________________
As far as taking down that Elise goes, yeah in a straight line its toast, but hit the curves and that’s where you can’t be so sure. On paper that Lotus would destroy even a heavily modified Mustang but there’s much more to it.

I’m not exactly an expert but from my AutoX experience, its 80% the driver that makes the lap time (except when the cars are leagues apart like a Mustang vs an Enzo), the rest is mostly tires, then specifics of the supsension. I did AutoX school with some friends in May, and the instructor took my Stang and put it within a second of a Honda S2000 on summer tires in a 34 second course. There were no good straightaway sections either where the V8 would have an advantage. It was the 1st time the instructor had ever driven my car and the guy in the S2000 was also pretty experienced and intimately familiar with his ride. If the instructor was as familiar with my mustang as his own car, he probably would have beaten the Honda just on his own driving, inspite of a much bigger, heavier car with slower steering and much worse tires. Something I know I learned from that class: put in the hands of the right driver, our cars are capable of a HELL of a lot more than we realize. I also went to an event with the Porsche Driving Club. There were guys in Boxters beating the guy with a 911 GT3. I’d put down serious money the guy with that Elise probably wasn’t nearly as good as his car is capable of. I’d put down almost as much he probably wasn’t even as good as your Mustang was capable of. All it really comes down to is was he as good in is car as you were capable of in yours.

Oh, and cobalt, about your suspension mods...thats a lot of $$$. Sadly my funds ran out before I could quite get to that point. But from what I've done so far (see sig), you by far get the most mechanical benefit out of better tires. All the suspension parts I’ve done make a big difference but they mostly help out with control, but if you still have crappy, squishy high profile all season tires, you’re still going to end up coming up short. Example: In that same AutoX school, I had Kumho 255/50 R17 all seasons, but all of my current suspension mods. One of my buddies had a 2001 Mustang, V6 auto, and convertible with only Eibach springs and matching dampers, and oh yeah… massive 285/40 R18 Vredeschtein (spelling?) summer tires on replica Cobra R rims. In spite of my 130+hp advantage and much more rigid and controllable suspension, he still matched my laptimes, every time. We both had about the same driving ability. At that point it was all in the tires, not in the suspension.

 

Nice story O.P. Those are some of the good times when you hear stuff like that.
I was just at a Quaker steak n lube my 1st time Wednesday in Cleveland. Was a cool setting. Wings sucked tho, kinda dry.




To the other posters, the driver has alot to do with it also.
Trust me, I passed him up







If you don't believe me, the battle starts around the 5 min mark.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNFQgPTeHiw
Gotta click in the view in high quality text tho.

 

Cool vid! Looks like another Mustang passed him up too.