I was in love with the 1990s Lotus Elan as a kid.
Loved the shape, had the Lotus Turbo Challenge computer game for my Amiga, basically lived the dream as a 12 year old. Dreamed about it all the waking hours of my life. As Thorns School & Community College would attest.
So why didn’t others like the Lotus Elan?
It wasn’t through lack of power. 165bhp and 148lb/ft stack up today, when you consider a scant 1020kg kerbweight; the far heavier Corsa VXR can only add 24bhp from its more modern 1.6-litre turbo.
Autocar, at the time, reckoned it was effervescent and had lots of mid-range oomph, although the throttle response was soft. Old-school turbos, that. It was boomy, too.
The ride, long a Lotus beauty, was so good at soaking up bumps, it made rivals ‘look amateurish’, reckoned our writer. Superior damping control gave the driver near-total immunity over poor roads.
So what was the problem?
Controls and dynamics (oh, only the controls and the dynamics…). Sure, there were no 101 #fails here; it’s just that ‘the simple acts of steering and gearchanging, which play such a vital role in the pleasurable aspects of driving’, were not up to scratch.
Here’s why:
• Gearchange – too-long in throw, vague and rubbery action
• Steering – saddled with torque steer, which degenerated feel and corrupted feedback
• Handling – phenomenal grip, but no delicacy or throttle-adjustability
• Overall enjoyment – too remote, too frustrating; fast motoring wasn’t a challenge, but also didn’t reward
Still didn’t bother our man. Unlike the vast majority, his vote still went to the Elan, ‘because it sets a higher over standard in small sports cars that few of us believed possible’. Heavens. Praise, despite the above?
Indeed: ‘If,’ he continued, ‘the Lotus Elan loses some of the fun element, then that can only be put down to the price of progress.
‘In this case, it’s a price worth paying.’
Bold stuff. Even now, I’d probably agree. Alas, the rest of the world STILL doesn’t. The Lotus died, was rejuvenated, died again, and was recreated as a half-heated Kia. Seems Lotus fans really did wish bad stuff on their worst enemy.
But there’s a lot of significance in the failure of the Elan, I reckon. So, more on this to come…
Motoring entertainment for Easter
How Chevrolet today became cool
Simple reason for failure – Front Wheel Drive, the drivetrain of Satan.
In Lotus owners eyes, that’s just never going to be accepted.
From a personal view, I didn’t really like the shape, looked too short and dumpy for me.
I’m a fan of FWD, must admit – but only those with ‘loose’ rear ends, set up like the 205 GTI. If the rear can be sufficiently mobile, yet the front end bagged with loads of grip to help you exploit this adjustability, then I’m happy.
Sounds like the Elan 2 wasn’t like that…
Shape did it for me! But not, oddly, in S2 guise. Then, yes, it did seem dumpy… colour sensitive shape, perhaps? Me, it’s red every time…
Mind you, I’m also particularly colour-sensitive with the Elise. Red? Yes. Yellow and orange? Yes. Grey? No. Black? Hell, no. Green? No way. Wonder if the Evora will be so colour-sensitive for me?
Richard.