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Banned Lotus 88 F1 car explained by Colin Chapman's son

Racing teams are always looking for ways to gain speed through creative interpretations of the rule book, but speed-obsessed engineers were a little too clever with the twin-chassis design for the Lotus 88 Formula One car. Colin Chapman's son, Clive, gave Goodwood the racer's fascinating story and why the organizers banned it. Lotus' innovation with the 88 was a novel twin-chassis layout. The outer chassis supported the aerodynamic elements and the body, and the inner one held the driver, engine, and transmission. The separate pieces allowed the car to meet the rules in the pits, but the outer chassis would create a seal with the track at speed to preserve the ground effect downforce. The organizers decided this ingenious solution went contrary to the rules against side skirts, and they banned the 88. However, this Lotus was important for a second reason. The inner chassis was F1's first carbon fiber monocoque. The lightweight material is common in racing and performance cars today, but it was a cutting-edge innovation for 1981. Get the full story from Clive Chapman in this clip. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Lotus Evija to go for Nurburgring EV record

No matter how many times Nurburgring records are made or broken, they still stand as an important automotive measuring stick – at least in a marketing sense. Granted, there are different Nurburgring lengths even on the Nordschleife, and then it all comes down to whether the vehicle is a production car, or completely experimental, or electric, or. Â… Anyway, numbers are numbers, and some numbers are smaller than others, and the Nurburgring is a legendary place to go fast. One of the future plans for Lotus is to bring its upcoming Evija electric hypercar to the ‘Schleife and see if it can go faster than the NIO EP9. PistonHeadsÂ’ article on the Evija featured some interesting tidbits from Louis Kerr, principal platform engineer at Lotus. Kerr said the Evija should be “comfortably quicker” than the NIO EP9 at the Nordschleife, meaning they are gunning for a production EV lap time of way under 6:45. The EvijaÂ’s 70kWh battery pack has reportedly been optimized to provide 2MW peak flow for a sustained seven-minute period, which is practically tailored for a record Ring lap. After that, the batteries would heat up too much to provide peak power. The swappable battery pack can also take “ultra-fast” charging of up to 80kW thanks to active cooling of its li-ion cells manufactured by Samsung. The relatively handy swap-ability of the battery pack is done for the sake of future-proofing, as it means the 70kWh capacity can be upgraded by owners when technology progresses further. Kerr also said that the Evija should be able to hit 62mph from zero in less than the 3 seconds advertised so far, and the targeted 3-second figure should be treated as a “worst case scenario”. The Evija could thus also be able to reach 300 km/h (186 mph) even faster than 9 seconds, as stated. Lotus CEO Phil Popham also said Lotus would be able to build up to 130 units of the Evija, and that several contracts have already been signed with future buyers. News Source: PistonHeads Green Lotus Electric Supercars

Lotus Elise Sprint adds lightness to lightness

Lotus announced the introduction of a new Elise trim level that exemplifies founder Colin Chapman's famous phrase of "simplify and add lightness." The new Elise Sprint combines the weight savings of the current standard Elise, along with a number of Sprint-exclusive parts for what Lotus claims is the model's most significant weight loss yet of about 90 pounds over the old model, bringing the car's dry weight (not curb weight) to 1,759 pounds. The exclusive Sprint parts account for about 57 pounds of that loss. They include a lithium-ion battery, forged wheels, polycarbonate rear window, and carbon fiber for the seats, roll bar cover, engine cover, and access panel. Interestingly, the biggest savings come from the lithium-ion battery, which is roughly 20 pounds lighter than the normal battery. Lotus also includes the optional two-piece brake rotors and carbon fiber door sills to reach the 90 pound total. This all translates to slightly quicker 0-60 mph times for Elise Sprint models over their Sport counterparts. Both the 1.6-liter 134-horsepower Sprint and 1.8-liter 217-horsepower Sprint 220 models complete the run to 60 mph a tenth of a second quicker than the equivalent Sport versions, with times of 5.9 and 4.1 seconds respectively. The weight loss also results in a price gain. For either Sprint model, you'll end up paying an extra GBP5,000, which is a bit over $6,100 at current exchange rates. Of course, the Elise isn't available in the US anyway, so it's a moot point. Related Video: