• Hey Guest!
    British Car Forum has been supporting enthusiasts for over 25 years by providing a great place to share our love for British cars. You can support our efforts by upgrading your membership for less than the dues of most car clubs. There are some perks with a member upgrade!

    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Upgraded members don't see this banner, nor will you see the Google ads that appear on the site.)
Tips
Tips

Lotus Elise, where less is more....

I don't think I've ever seen one of those before. How many were produced?
 
The car started as 2005 Lotus Elise, then the PO began removing things until he got to a striped down street legal race car...
2005-lotus-elise-front.jpg
 
Wow, that's a lot of carving on a car! How did they stiffen the chassis after all that cutting? Reminds me of the Atom that Jeremy Clarkson drove. Face peeling acceleration.
 
jhorton3 said:
Wow, that's a lot of carving on a car! How did they stiffen the chassis after all that cutting? Reminds me of the Atom that Jeremy Clarkson drove. Face peeling acceleration.
He wouldn't have to stiffen the chassis - it's a separate bonded aluminum chassis on the Elise, with a composite body. He has added / modified rollover bar and supports, though.
 
The Atom became a part of his inspiration for his "lighter is better" quest. And Roger is correct, the body on this car does little more then provided aerodynamics and a comfort zone for the driver. The rollover bar is what is left from the original cage, with some obvious modifications.

One of the modifications I found interesting was the disc brakes? He had them scalloped (if the is the word), much like a petaled flower, similar to the one depicted on the right in the photo below. The modification was done to reduce rotating mass and increase heat dissipation.

41a9682e-8a77-49c2-a88c-cec3928b06a8_Motorcycle_disc_rake.jpg
 
That's the first time I've seen rotors scalloped. Drilled and slotted yes, but not this. Looks like by scalloping the surface area for the pads to clamp to would be reduced and making the them less effective.
 
Funky. Reminds me of the Elise 340R. I'm sure Colin Chapman would be most pleased with that power to weight ratio!
 
I'm not sure he wouldn't have been better off buying a 211, tho' that's not road-legal.
 
Wow

Thats only 390 lbs heavier than my '65 Super Seven... Of course it has a bunch more power.
 
I think most sport bikes come with scalloped rotors.
 
Back
Top