Posts Tagged ‘lotus’
Lotus Elise is a good looking and high performance sports car developed by the Lotus Company. When the 1st Lotus Elise was released, it received a lot of attention for its remarkably low weight and striking design. The first Lotus Elise hit the marked in September 1995. Today, there are 2 main types Lotus Elise available for the car fan : Lotus Elise Series one automobiles and Lotus Elise series 2 cars.
The creator of the first Lotus Elise was named Max David and worked from London. The founder of the Lotus Company, Colin Chapman, had always dreamed about an automobile that mixed very light weight with wonderful performance, and Max David took these dreams to heart. The phenomenally low weight of the Lotus Elise is what makes wonderful performance possible even with a modest engine. The form of the Lotus Elise has been made with dynamics and driving purity in focus.
The first Lotus Elise weighed not more than 1500 lb (680 kg). Driving this auto is amazing, due to its outstanding capability to accelerate, brake and corner. The weight of the first Lotus Elise can be compared to the Porsche Boxter, which is thought of as a low-weight sports vehicle and still weigh almost as much as 2 Lotus Elise cars – 2756 lb (1250 kg). This suggests that whilst the 1997 Porsche Boxter needs and engine output of 201 bhp (149 kW), the Lotus Elise works brilliant with only 120 bhp ( 89 kW ).
As mentioned above, the first Lotus Elise was released in September 1995. The year after the Lotus Company released an even lighter Lotus Elise that weighed an astonishingly low 1488 lb ( 675 kg ). This vehicle was followed by the Lotus Elise 111S 3 years after. The Lotus Elise 111S is faster than the preceding Lotus Elise cars and is fitted with a Variable Valve Control (VVC) engine. This engine has been developed from the Rover K series and equipped with Variable valve timing (VVT). You will also find more comfy seats in the Lotus Elise 111S, since some customers found the 1st 2 Elise versions uncomfortable. The new seats are filled with more padding.
The next step for the Lotus Elise developers was the roofless Lotus Elise 340R. This cabriolet version of the Elise auto was released in a restricted run in 2000 and was equipped with a 177 bhp (131 kW) engine. The name 340R was derived from the first prototype; it was regarded as having a 340 bhp/ton power to weight proportion. The prototype had a 170 bhp engine, and weighed no more than 500 kg. As agreed by this, the short edition consisted of precisely 340 cars. Later in the year 2000, the Lotus Company released the Exige. The Exige was similar to the Lotus Elise 340R, but had a hardtop. The engine was precisely the same ; 177 bhp ( 131 kW ).
The next step for the Lotus Company was to embark on the development of the Series two Lotus Elise car. The first of the Series two Lotus Elise automobiles was actually announced the same year as the Lotus Elise 340R and the Exige was released. The car from the Series two was designed without delay on the PC, which was a completely new technique of working for the Lotus Company.
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The ongoing partnership between Lotus and Yokohama Tires continues as the Lotus chose to have Yokohama ADVAN A048 tires for the high performance Lotus Exige. Yokohama tires are already the official tires on the Lotus Exige is engineered in particular for the racetrack, where maximum grip and immediate steering reply are highly vital. As a result, Lotus has picked Yokohama’s ultra-high-performance ADVAN A048s as the tires of choice for the lightweight Lotus Exige.
“We’re pleased to work again with Lotus and thrilled they chose Yokohama as OE on the Exige,” announced Jeff Wood worker , Yokohama chief. “The ADVAN A048 is designed specifically for the Exige’s racetrack-like performance. It’s a super lightweight sports auto which has 190 hp and can go 150 miles per hour . The ADVAN A048 is the ideal tire for the vehicle’s exceptional handling and reply and brings out the best in the Exige, which has its own racing series in the United Kingdom. “
In addition to being the OE tires for the Lotus Exige, Yokohama Tires’ flagship ADVAN line is now original equipment on plenty of other world’s fastest and most prestigious autos, for example the Bentley Continental GT, Bentley’s Continental Flying Spur, the Lotus Elise, 2006 Porsche 911 Carrera four, and Lexus GS300 and GS430.
The ADVAN A048 is Yokohama’s Street-Legal Competition tire engineered for the drivers of vehicles racing in autocross competition, track colleges, lapping days and circuit-type club racing. The Yokohama A048 was developed from Yokohama racing technology for a variety of autos that include the 18-inch edge diameter fitments used on the Porsche 911, Porsche 911 Turbo, Porsche Boxster and others.
On the outside, the ADVAN A048 molds a race-ready compound that provides dry grip over a wide range of temperatures into a 6/32-inch deep, “single block” tread design that increases tread rigidity and includes a wide center area that stays in continual contact with the track to improve cornering stability, on-center feel and steering reply. As the tire’s outer shoulder tread wears from hard cornering, the Yokohama A048′s directional tread design and symmetric internal construction permits worn tires to be remounted “inside-out” on their wheels to help prolong the life of the Yokohama A048 tires. We suggest shaving ADVAN A048 tires to between 3/32″ to 4/32″ of tread depth for competitive road racing.
Yokohama Tire Corporation is the North Yank producing and selling arm of Tokyo, Japan-based Yokohama Rubber Company , Ltd, a global producer and distributor of premium tires since 1917. Yokohama Tires services over 4,500 points of sale in the U.S, Yokohama Tire Enterprise offers a total line of tires,eg high-performance, light lorry, passenger vehicle, commercial van and bus, as well as off-the-road mining and construction applications.
On the interior, the ADVAN A048 is made of twin steel belts that braced with spirally wrapped nylon cap plies and belt edge strips. The belt package is placed on top of a rounded casing design that allows the tire to predictably handle transitions from straight-line travel to high g-force cornering and back.
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