[Leica] speaking of cars violently OT

[dennis at hale-pohaku.net (Dennis)]

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