1968 Lotus Super Seven Reviews

That's because the Rinspeed sQuba can literally dive under the water and continue to operate submerged, just like a submarine.

And lack of the latter makes for a truly formidable amount of the former. With a power-to-weight ratio of 3.9kg per kilowatt and performance to do over supercars with price tags to make the Lotus's $127,500 seem modest.At 3.9 seconds from standing to 100km/h and 8.9 seconds to 160km/h, it'd be faster than all of them here at Oran Park.Ripping down its straight last week, even this most tentative track-day pilot felt what it was to easily exceed that speed. The bare numbers tell the story but can't begin to convey the sensation of experiencing them in this windowless open topper. Fabulously agile, instantly responsive and completely, utterly, involving; the 2-Eleven is everything you love about Lotus, only more.It takes someone of the calibre of our host, Dean Evans, to demonstrate the car's dynamic potency.Yet even for a comparative novice, one who hadn't previously enjoyed Oran in its full openness, the Lotus is a total joy toy, thoroughly accessible and exhilarating.Even an impromptu spin, the result of fat headedness and ham- footedness, serves only to emphasise the 2-Eleven's general tolerance of driver dopiness.Settling into something approaching the correct lines, the variable traction control set for indulgence, we stay in the third cog of the six-speed gearbox all the way round, using the supercharged 1.8's tractability.Fourth is snicked only as the rev warning light flashes, the tacho approaching 8000rpm and the speedo 180km/h.If you've never sampled a Lotus you must, if only for the steering. Most manufacturers treat turning the wheel as an onerous chore and in relieving the effort, they will invariably diminish sensation.The 2-Eleven's steering is bursting with feel. Unadulterated by assistance, it is sabre sharp and almost disconcertingly direct but an utter joy.If only you could drive it to the shops. Sorry, but you'll have to keep a Europa on the side, because the 2-Eleven's cleared for track use only (and a full face helmet is an entirely necessary accessory). The 2-Eleven, first seen by most at the Australian International Motor Show, is the fastest production car in the marque's rich history.With only 100 to be built annually, head-turning is guaranteed on track days. Based on modified Exige S running gear, the 2-Eleven runs a Toyota-derived 1.8-litre supercharged and intercooled DOHC 16-valve four-cylinder with variable valve timing and lift.Tuned to develop 188kW at 8000rpm, it's 16 per cent more powerful than the street-legal Exige S — and 20 per cent lighter. It's also more tractable, with an enhanced torque figure of 242Nm, so urge comes hot and strong and in linear fashion. The launch and traction controls are manipulated via the same system, the former providing starts of varying explosiveness, the latter a choice of 18 levels of electronic intervention from dictatorial to do and be damned.We've said it before (and the odds are short that we'll say it again) there just ain't nothing like a Lotus.

But what are hats and sunscreen for?Besides most of today's roadsters can get their fabric or folding metal lids up at the push of a button within half a minute. These are Carsguide's favourites: Affordable fun Mazda MX-5 Price: from $42,870Engine: 2L/4-cylinder; 118kW/188NmEconomy: 8.5L/100kmTransmission: 6-speed manual or autoIf there was an annual award in this category it would reside perpetually in Mazda's trophy cabinet. The original MX-5 reinvented the classic Brit roadster adding such novel notions as performance and reliability.The third generation retains the 1989 model's exhilarating dynamics and sheer fluidity. If you don't find pleasure in the way an MX-5 drives you've probably ceased breathing.Purists might decry such modern innovations as air-con, power steering, ESP, a folding composite roof and (egad!) an auto transmission, but it hasn't been 1957 for some time now. Still others would rather it went quicker, but they're missing the point.The MX-5 is the affordable roadster. Track marqueLotus Elise SPrice: $69,990Engine: 1.8L/4-cylinder; 100kW/172NmEconomy: 8.3L/100kmTransmission: 5-speed manualThe salient figure here is 860 that's the number of kgs the entry-level Lotus weighs, or about 500 less than a Toyota Corolla whose engine this spartan roadster uses to get from standing to 100km/h in 6.1 seconds.While it's absolutely one for the enthusiast - or the fanatic - even if you've not the least wish to drive something so uncompromised (though a good deal more civilised than the Exige) you should at least be driven in a Lotus once. It'll open your eyes. Wide.At its best at track speeds, where the Lotus's wonderfully unassisted steering comes into its own and where it doesn't matter that it takes ages to assemble to roof, you can smilingly drive one every day. But beware barging SUVs. Zed's not dead Nissan 350Z RoadsterPrice: $73,990Engine: 3.5L/V6; 230kW/358NmEconomy: 12L/100kmTransmission: 6-speed manual or 5-speed autoThe Roadster version of the still outstanding 350Z gives very little away to the coupe model and while the same-priced auto is a cog short of the manual's six, it's easy to live with in city traffic.Though we've yet to try the Roadster with the substantially new the faster V6 that causes the bonnet to bulge so priapically, our recent week in the revised Coupe suggests that it too will be more of an already good thing.It's almost impossible to believe that same company is responsible for the Tiida ... Gay tidingsAudi TT Roadster V6 quattroPrice: $92,900Engine: 3.2L/v6; 184kW/320NmEconomy: 9.6L/100kmTransmission: 6-speed DSGLike the coupe, the lighter front-wheel-drive with the GTI's turbo four pot is a better bet most of the time than the heftier all-wheel-drive, though it's not really a sports car there'll be moments when you'll love yourself for the latter's extra go and grip.Dispensing with the coupe's comedy back seat, there's ample room behind when with the fabric roof's folded. Some find the ride a bit terse; I don't but would still take the optional magnetic suspension.With performance and handling that are both entertaining and accessible while wrapped in such an aesthetically bell-ringing package, the TT is fairly loveable. If only ...Porsche Boxster SPrice: from $135,100Engine: 3.4L/6-cylinder; 217kW/340NmEconomy: 10.4 or 11L/100kmTransmission: 6-speed manual or 5-speed autoIn our rare idle moments hereabouts, certain of us scan the classifieds trying rather pathetically to convince ourselves that a used Boxster is almost within our reach. Almost. Well, maybe one day ...That's the problem with spending any amount of time in a Boxster, particularly, the top whack S. There's nothing wrong with it, you see. Well, maybe the ride on bigger tyres is just a bit savage, but so what when all else is perfect. It even sounds wonderful.At it's worst, the Boxster will make you hate yourself for not being a better driver. So sublimely intuitive is the handling, so poised and balanced does it feel even in extremis, it almost always feels capable of more. Even if you're not. Two plus twosAffordability aside, floating the open top proposition can founder on the fatal shores of practicality. Society frowns upon selling one's children, though surely financing a Boxster should be cause for sympathy.Still, Volkswagen's Eos (from $49,990) cabriolet/coupe comes is a practical, stylish and - with the drivetrain of the Golf GTI - tolerably rapid 2+2. It retains adequate bootage with the sophisticated folding metal lid, which can be configured five different way, folded down. Uniquely there's also a diesel option (from $48K), so you needn't use much juice.And there are further options afoot.With BMW's glorious twin-turbo 3-litre petrol six, the 135i cabriolet (due in June) will be by far the sharpest 2+2. Audi's A3 cabrio, likely to feature the 1.8-litre TFSI, follows in July.And if fortune smiles upon you to the tune of $1.19 there's the sensuous land yacht that is Rolls-Royce's Drophead coupe. Plenty of room in the back for the kids in this baby. 

Clad in vinyl and leather, the dozen girls on the stand could not avert (too many) eyes from the sculpted bodies of the two new Lotus recruits. Today saw the World debut of the Sport 240, a tricked-up Exige S with every racing modification a production car could offer. Specced by Lotus Cars Australia but built in Lotus Sport’s Hethel plant in England, only six bespoke 240s will make the southern journey for a landed price of $149,990. Three cars are branded with orange highlights on a black body, and the inverse is also available as an orange car with black splitter, spoiler and wheels. The supercharged Exige S powerplant is tuned further to produce 179kW, or 10 per cent more than the standard car. It is also given a limited slip diff (LSD), AP racing brakes, forged OZ alloys, launch control, and some go-fast body bits befitting a track-pack production car. The Sport 240 features another first for a car in this category; an 18-stage traction control system similar to those found in Formula One machines. While the theory is borrowed from F1, the actual technology is taken straight from Lotus’s newest track car, the 2-Eleven This is an extreme car, even for Lotus. Underneath it all, the wedge-on-wheels is actually also an Exige S; but without a roof; doors; even a windscreen. What it does have is 9kW more than the Sport 240 at 188kW, but even less weight at 745kg. It shares much of the same race-bred goodies, from the LSD to the brake package to the two-tone sports seats. The figures on paper are almost as impressive; 188kW at 8000rpm, 242Nm at an equally high 7000rpm, 0-100km/h in 3.9seconds (claimed), and a top speed of just under 250km/h. The 2-Eleven is not as exclusive as the Sport 240, with 100 cars built every year for a global market. But it is more affordable at $127,500. Bring the credit card; or make your significant other take it from you before you visit the Australian International Motor Show.  

The show has been expanded this year with additional internal and external displays.More than 50 new models will be unveiled amongst the 500 cars on display.Headliners include the world premieres of Mitsubishi's Evolution X cult car, the new generation Toyota LandCruiser featuring new Australian-developed suspension technology, and Holden's new sportswagon. Several other world premieres are expected.Other highlights include a Lexus that parks itself, and cutting-edge concept cars from BMW, Hyundai and Škoda, and new sportscars from Bufori, Lamborghini, Lotus and Maserati.View all the latest news and action on the official Australian International Motorshow website at www.australianmotorshow.com

According to the most recent monthly market bulletin, sales of soft-roaders are going off to an extraordinary extent, up by more than 40 per cent year-to-date in some categories in 2006.It would be pleasant to think the commercial success of vehicles designed to provide facility and comfort at the expense of any driverly satisfaction, indeed any sensation at all, was a temporary aberration.That we can't get enough of these cosseting, anodyne, soccer-mum mobiles marks us as self-obsessed, complacent and essentially disinterested in driving.We've had cause to expound on this grim fact of modern life more than once in the past week or so; as we came close to oblivion at the hands of yet another lane-barger automatically piloting the urban shopping vehicle.There might be some small excuse for an SUV owner (as opposed to 'driver') failing to see our low-slung and diminutive Lotus Elise S.But the bovine look on the dials of most we've been obliged to upbraid suggested they'd have been unaware of an Abrams tank.Wing mirrors, it increasingly appears, are considered useful primarily to assist reverse parking.If the greatest caveat to Lotus ownership in the automotive Sleepy Hollow of this metropolis is a very real danger of becoming a speed bump for an SUV, against that is the immense satisfaction of eschewing the prevailing decadence.A Lotus, especially the ultra-light entry-level Elise S, remains one of the most unadulterated, one of the purest, public road-going vehicles available. If you've the least sniff of petrol about you, you owe it to yourself to have a go at a Lotus at least once.Even if you're not so disposed, perhaps especially if you're not, then you ought to at least stick your head inside one. Then you'll see that it's possible to not only survive without the plethora of extraneous and distracting comforts with which most modern passenger vehicles are burdened, but to actually thrive in a way you've probably never considered.Not that Elise does without niceties. Unlike the hardcore Exige S, the rear-view mirror is made useful by there being a rear window you can see out of. There's also a stereo, twin Probax seats and even electric windows. It's just that there's no danger of mistaking the interior for a Mercedes-Benz SLK. Or even a Mazda MX-5. Unlike these, there's no push button to fold the roof away, it has to be manually disassembled and stowed. And, as with the most full-on Lotus, you lower yourself over a sill into what is a cockpit, not a cabin.The air of spartan functionality is relieved only by such inner door padding and dash materials that won't add to the weight. You need to be on good terms with your passenger who, if he or she is tall, will need to mind their knee and elbow so you can manipulate the gear stick freely.To look on it, the Elise is a desperately sweet little thing. Indeed, in the gleaming alloys shod in 16-inch Yokohama Advan Neon rubber at the front and 17s on the back, it's as cute as any number of buttons.If you're not beguiled by the Elise, you probably hate puppy dogs too. Turn the key, switch off the immobiliser and stab the start button and you'll notice that not only is there not much by way of sound deadening to mask the engine noise, but the engine is mid-mounted right behind your head. The impression forms that this is going to be a ride to make your normal daily conveyance seem like a Jason Recliner Rocker.The remarkable thing is that the engine chosen for this piece of relatively affordable exotica is actually derived from something so humble as Toyota's Celica. The 1.8-litre VVT unit delivers only 100kW/172Nm, but that is enough to get the Elise to 100km/h from standing in a Porsche Boxster S-beating 6.1 seconds. And the latter costs $140,000 ...This is what happens when extraneous items are discarded to achieve the lightest kerb weight of any car on Australian roads.At only 860kg the Elise is positively anorexic. Yet it's an almost benign daily proposition.For the rarefied nature of the beast in question, the combination of Eibach springs and Bilstein telescopic dampers is inspired.The Elise rides the worst the road can throw at it with, if not ease, then disciplined composure, without compromising those crucial Lotus values of intimate body control and utterly intuitive handling.The rigidly mounted rack and pinion steering is, of course, wonderfully unassisted and thus full of feedback.A 2.8 turns lock-to-lock, it's also instantly responsive and direct, so that when you're properly on the thing, changing direction seems to be a matter of osmosis. While maximum power, such as it is, occurs near top revs at 6200rpm, all the torque is at 4200rpm, making all the mid-range you need and even allowing for occasional use of fifth gear.There is no sixth gear, but you won't feel the want of it.To rev the Elise up past 5000rpm as the good Lord intended, though, is to reap a whirlwind of sharpened acceleration and shrieking exhaust note until the warning light flashes on just shy of redline.This surfeit of feel translates to the stop pedal which has just the right amount of retardation built in before the ABS threshold is breached. The Elise experience is visceral in a way that the cars we've chosen as ostensible 'rivals' have been plucked out of fairly thin air. Each are abundantly rewarding in their own ways, but none emulate the immediacy and rawness. Seldom has being so 'un-Australian' been so cool.If $70,000 seems steep, remember that you can also buy a hatch as well for getting the groceries and still have change from $100,000.

The GT inspired two-seater is aimed at providing Lotus customers with a spectacular sports car featuring higher levels of practicality and refinement compared with the sport-oriented Lotus Elise and Exige models. The new model has a larger boot and luggage compartment as well as a higher roofline and lower sills for easier access.Despite extra size and features the Europa S maintains Lotus's reputation for light weight, tipping the scales at just 995kg. The low kerb weight combines with a torquey 149kW, 263Nm 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine to give the Europa S a supercar-like power-to-weight ratio of 156kW/ tonne. The Europa sprints from 0-100km/h in just 5.5 seconds. Maximum speed is approximately 225 km/h (140 mph).Lotus has again employed advanced materials including its highly rigid extruded and bonded aluminium chassis, composite body panels and an advanced composite energy absorbing front crash structure.

Hired straight from graduating by Toyota's Calty Design Research studios near Los Angeles, Ian Cartabiano's path was laid out early. His mother was a sculptor, his father an industrial designer and the family were car nuts.He toyed with the idea of becoming a film director, but the cars won out when Toyota signed him on in 1997. So now Cartabiano drives a Toyota-engined Lotus Elise and a bunch of Toyota cars he helps design.Calty senior executive Erwin Lui says the design studio is a “conduit for American tastes and the American market”.Toyota's sales volume, and direct involvement, in the US auto industry has grown considerably since the mid-1990s. Toyota in Japan recognises the worldwide influence of the Californian culture.This is a young, diverse and faddish place with a huge appetite for the latest in style and technology. Equally, California has long been a car place, a hot-rodders' and imports paradise.Among Calty's recent design includes; the wild Toyota FJ Cruiser from 2006 creating a modern spin on the original Landcruiser, then there's the latest Tundra which is a full-sized American pickup and finally the 2007 Kluger known as Highlander in the US.For Cartabiano, the Kluger did not come easy. “It was one of the hardest projects I've been involved with,” he says.“The Highlander (Kluger) is our most mainstream SUV, it's like the Camry of SUVs.”So Cartabiano's early grille for instance the strong horizontal bars, which was abandoned and deemed a little too tough.“This car had to look strong and tough but also intelligent,” he says. “It had to have an intelligent silhouette and be proud of what it is. The previous Kluger had a kind of waddly look and the wheels looked like they had been sucked in.”The new philosophy for Toyota design, still being analysed and understood, is “vibrant clarity”. Automotive design has become more a marketing tool in recent years, manufacturers chasing individual expressions to define the “face” of each car family, he says.Cartabiano gave the Kluger a new wheel focus, a stronger face with more style muscle to the bonnet and more shoulder to the rear. There is the hint of flare over the mudguards and both 17-inch or 19-inch wheels fill out the guards.There is a more athletic look to this next Kluger, without disguising the cabin length and the fact that this is a seven-seater SUV.“There had to be a balance between form and function,” Cartabiano says.He is happy with the production version although, while understanding the need to tone it down, he does miss that original design for the Kluger grille. The end result is a more sophisticated style than the original wagon, inside and out.The new Toyota Kluger is smarter all round, with some similarities to its little brother the RAV4 and Hyundai's Santa Fe. 

When most people buy a car, they think of a simple equation; practicality plus enjoyment equals a good decision. They look for space, comfort, storage compartments and features that will make them feel like they're getting a better deal than the next car buyer. But with a Lotus that equation is thrown straight out the window, as we discovered with our trial in the entry-level model, the Elise S.There's little storage space, it's squishy inside and you'll pull nearly every single muscle in your legs, back and neck when getting in and out of the car. If you're over 50, you'll moan and groan when attempting this near impossible feat. Because the Lotus is everything but practical.With its insect-like looks, the Elise S has an aggressive “I mean business” stance. The sweeping front is complemented by the more muscular rear. And it's a real boys' toy, proof of which comes when hitting the road.On three different driving days, the Lotus attracted the “thumbs up” from three types of boys; a 10-year-old, a 20-year-old and a more mature — but still kid at heart — 40-year-old. But don't fret girls, it's also one we can have plenty of fun in.At $69,990, the Elise S is the more affordable Lotus. But our test car was more expensive with the $8000 Touring Plus option pack. This added features such as leather touches to the interior, gear knob, and handbrake lever gaiter, noise-insulation panelling in the cabin and soft-top.As well as the impractical size, there are a few other things that aren't strong selling points, including the extra muscle required in cornering because there is no power steering. And with very few smooth roads in Sydney, you'll feel every single pothole.Safety equipment such as ABS and driver and passenger airbags make you feel more comfortable about your easily disguised position on the road. But it's still rather daunting as it's easy for other drivers to miss you, especially the ubiquitous city SUVs.But despite these downfalls, after a week in the car there was still something quite humorous about it which managed to bring a smile to the face.Crawl inside and the cabin appears to be almost stripped bare. There is a CD system, but the engine is so loud you really have to crank up it to hear anything.The Touring-plus pack offers an upgraded Alpine stereo with iPod connection, cupholder and embroidered mats, but without the pack, the Elise S has minimal features.There's no storage space, not even a glovebox, and it has a tiny boot. There is even a lack of carpet on parts of the interior, which gives the Elise S the real racing feel by adding aluminium as decoration instead.By excluding features, as well as using an aluminium chassis with a lightweight steel rear subframe, the car weighs just 860kg. To put that into perspective, a Barina is 1120kg.The Elise S is one of the lightest cars in the world, the weight advantage providing better acceleration, handling and braking. This all equates to better performance for the little Lotus.Powering the Elise S is a 1.8-litre 100kW Toyota engine which may sound small in print, but takes into account it's a car that looks somewhat like a go-kart and weighs a lot less than your average runabout.It races to 100km/h in just 6.1 seconds, which also feels faster than it might sound.In terms of performance, the Elise S produces 100kW at 6200rpm, although it's hard to push the revs to the top end of the tacho, as it urges you to shift up a gear earlier. In terms of torque, the Elise S produces 172Nm at 4200rpm.Performance is delivered through a lightweight five-speed manual transmission, which sounds rather clunky as you shift your way through the gears.But all the downsides are quickly forgotten when you let it off the leash.Throw it into a corner and the Elise S handles well, gripping tightly as you cling to the small racing-like steering wheel.Slipping into topless mode is an effort. Unlike other sports cars, this requires manual exertion to remove the soft-top.Getting it off was easy, but putting it back on took close to 15 minutes and drew a crowd.And while the car inspires lots of smiling, that disappeared when it wouldn't start, especially when one of the places it decided to stop was on an incline in a car park.A Lotus technician later said it could have been because the accelerator was pressed too early — you're suppose to wait 10 seconds between turning the engine on and accelerating, to let the car settle. The catalytic converter apparently needs the time to warm to operating temperature to comply with emission law requirements.An instruction on that quirk would have come in handy a lot earlier.The Elise S is fun, but hardly your average car. Having it as your daily driver could send you crazy and put your body into spasms.But if you have the money, it's the type of car you can take to the track a couple of times a month, show off in traffic occasionally or go for a longer cruise.Because there's no doubting the fun and attractive elements of the Lotus Elise S.

Not only does it go like a bat out of hell, but a Lotus of any kind commands attention like few other cars on the road. And the rarely sighted Exige is no exception.CARSguide recently took possession of the S version, and it didn't take long to discover there's no sneaking about unnoticed in this machine.A stop at the lights in George St saw tourists whip out their mobile-phone cameras for a quick snap. And filling up at the service station inevitably involved a “Lotus” conversation.The S, which is about a second quicker than the “normal” model, hits 100km/h from a standing start in just 4.2 seconds. And you feel every bit of the ride.The near $115,000 asking price is just one of the costs of driving a car such as the Exige.Because this car is designed for racing (and, in the case of Lotus, that's not just a marketing line), it has been stripped of almost every possible creature comfort.It has no rear vision whatsoever. It's loud, hard, rough, impossibly difficult to get in and out of, and is one of the most uncomfortable cars we've ever driven.It's also a hell of a lot of fun and, for a road car, one of the most thrilling driving experiences one could hope for.You sit so low to the ground it feels as though your backside will hit the road each time you go over a bump.Even a Holden Barina towers over you when you pull up to the lights. In fact, with doors open, it's not too much of a stretch to touch the tarmac from the driving position.And you notice every bump, with the worst of them coming close to taking the wind out of both driver and passenger.Really, it's a car that is best suited to smooth roads, which can be rather hard to find in NSW.Although stripped of most comforts, the Exige still comes with a reasonable safety package, including driver and passenger airbags, ABS braking and a traction-control program (which, naturally, can be deactivated at the touch of a button should the driver be in a brave frame of mind).Despite these safety features, the Exige feels very unsafe. Not only are you nearly completely blind to what's happening behind you, it feels as though nobody else can see you, either.And for those in larger 4WDs and SUVs, that's probably an accurate assessment. They simply would not know you were there unless they made a meaningful effort to look down.So defensive driving is the order of the day in a Lotus.For everyday use, the lack of comfort and the lack of sight make for a pretty demanding car and, in some cases, a downright stressful experience.Get into some tight corners, on the other hand, and the Exige is as involving a drive as money can buy.The small, 1.8 litre, four-cylinder supercharged (the normal Exige is atmo) Toyota engine sits just behind your head. So when you put your foot to the floor, you can barely hear yourself think. You can also feel the heat rising from the back once the engine really starts to spin.The (unassisted) steering is razor-sharp, throttle response is instant, and handling is, as you'd expect, superb from the grippy, semi-slick tyres.The trick to getting the rather small Toyota engine to propel the Lotus so quickly lies in the overall weight of the car or, indeed, lack of weight.You see, the Exige is one of the lightest cars on the road, at about 935kg. This gives it an enormous power-to-weight ratio and explains the tremendous acceleration and stopping power.The super-stiff chassis and very low centre of gravity, combined with the semi-slick tyres, are the reasons it holds on so well around corners.If you're thinking of parking an Exige in your garage, just make sure it's not your daily wheels. Over the week or so we had the car, we were well and truly sick of its harsh nature by day two or three.But it would be an absolute riot to drive on a track, or even for a Sunday spin up your favourite country road.Forget the Lotus for everyday use — unless of course you're willing to suffer for performance, and you have a very good relationship with a chiropractor. Fast factsLotus Exige SOn sale: NowPrice: $114,990Body: Two-door sports coupeEngine: Supercharged 1.8 litre four-cylinder, 2ZZ-GE VVTL-i, 162kw/215NmTransmission: Six-speed manualFuel: Between 7 and 9 litres per 100kmSafety: Driver and passenger airbags, traction control and ABS