[Leica] speaking of cars violently OT

[glehrer at san.rr.com (Jerry Lehrer)]

Dennis und Frank

The original Europa mit Renault engine was a dog!   But the original 
Elite, if it had modern brakes would really be
a windy road car.  The Elan S2 when de-bugged is a superb handling car.

Yes, I've used them all

Jerry Lehrer


Dennis wrote:
> Hi Frank,
>
> I wondered your thoughts on Lotus' road cars. I  had a Europa Special 
> and it is a marvel. Very light, incredible suspension, and so 
> responsive. I thought Colin Chapman brilliant and was stunned at his 
> premature passing.
>
> I could never afford one of todays 'supercars' but if I could I would 
> likely own a Lotus and use some of that "leftover" money for a worthy 
> cause.
>
> I agree the Veyron is an ugly piece ;-)
>
> But, Lotus aside, what do  you make of the Ariel Atom?
>
> Dennis
>
>
> Frank Dernie wrote:
>> Pagani Zonda.
>> For "frequent" use Ferrari 599.
>> For daily use Porsche 911 turbo.
>> For pure driving Lotus anything.
>>
>> There are lots of cars about which have fancy styling and are "2 seat 
>> limos" with loads of kit, weight and electronic driving aids to make 
>> them easy to drive for less good drivers.
>> These are great pose-mobiles and practical for a rich person of 
>> limited talent to show-off in.
>>
>> I may have left some out, I am neither wealthy enough nor interested 
>> enough to study in detail. Weight is the most important chassis 
>> parameter for performance. Road cars are to a great extent a fashion 
>> item and image statement. Published stuff tends to be acceleration 
>> and top speed. It is possible to get impressive figures for these 
>> without much chassis sophistication at all. Since weight is currently 
>> not something fashionable to minimise "supercars" are now as heavy as 
>> trucks, hence no longer supercars IMO. This Bugatti thing weighs the 
>> same as 2 Ford GT40s!
>>
>> To put perspective on this, +10kg on a F1 car loses over 0.3 secs per 
>> lap.
>>
>> Frank
>