La Dolce Veloce

Since my mind is on the Elise and there hasn’t been much sports car news to report, I thought I’d take a moment to plug one of, if not THE best, store in America for Lotus Elise parts, Sector 111. The people that run the store are first-rate, and the rate at which they’re coming out with new goodies is amazing. Check ‘em out!

The 190hp, Toyota powered Lotus Elise is fast. Real fast. 0-60 in under five seconds, and over 1g of cornering force. Could it be made any better? ForcedFed in Livermore, California thinks so. First, they designed (and are now selling) a turbocharger kit that bumps up power to 275hp, while only adding around twenty pounds of weight (this low gain is mostly because they’re replacing heavy stock parts with lighter custom ones, like the exhaust manifold). Now, they’ve finished development work on a 400hp version of that turbo kit. The car recently completed testing for an upcoming Car & Driver comparison test, and while that test didn’t go as well as hoped (the engine was severely damaged by operator error), the concept of 400hp in an Elise is mind boggling. My stock Elise is fast enough, I can’t begin to imagine what doubling the power (and almost doubling the torque) will do. Naturally, they also have an upgrade solution for the brakes and suspension to go along with the added power. I was at ForcedFed’s shop the other day and had a chance to check out their work. Really nice stuff, and I walked out of there with a new air intake for my Elise.

AutoExpress reports on details of Lotus’ upcoming 2+2 coupe, likely to be named either Excel or Elite. Basically, it’s a stretched Elise, and will likely receive a V6 engine. While AutoExpress speculates that a Toyota V6 will be used, I think it more likely that Lotus will go with Volkswagen’s VR6 motor, given the recent partnership between VW and Lotus’ parent comapny Proton. The VR6 is a good choice anyway, as it’s a very compact unit, with plenty of options for low boost turbochargers to produce a more suitable level of thrust for this 1100kg GT car. Good news too, this coupe will almost certainly be built in Hethel, unlike the next Esprit which will be coming from Malaysia. Look for this new Lotus to be unveiled in Geneva next spring. (The photo here is computer generated; the actual car may vary).

Yeah, they’re only doing this for some US publicity, but I love it. According to AutoWeek, Formula One team BAR will bring one of their F1 cars to the Bonneville salt flats to see just how fast it can go. Aside from necessary safety modifications such as a parachute, the car will be in standard FIA trim, with its aerodynamics optimized for straightline speed. Your typical F1 race requires high downforce in parts of the course, so cars are never optimized for pure speed, it’s always a balancing act between straightline speed and cornering speed. The car is expected to top 250mph.

AutoExpress has some updates on the new Mini, though it’s hard to say how accurate they are. According to them, the new Mini will be available in a number of variants: the current three door 2+2, a two door convertible 2+2, a five door wagon, and most interestingly, a two seat speedster with some sort of removable hard top. The engine will be changing to a Peugot-sourced one. The new Mini is likely to make its debut in March of 2007 in Geneva, to go on sale later that year.

According to this article at Pistonheads, much of the delay for small European car makers who wish to sell their product in the US is due to US automakers. They allege that rather than designing and building products that can compete on their merit, Ford and GM do their best to block approval and importation of new competing designs, such as the Spyker C8 or the Pagani Zonda. Is it true, or just a wild allegation? Well, given their past history (Tucker, Delorean), I wouldn’t be surprised if this is just business as usual for them. I’m not sure how involved Chrysler would be, as they’re owned by the Germans these days.