I HAVE MID ENGINE FEVER!, I want one of these! Options

[Aaron Cox]

saw one drivin in hollywood- this thing has the most raced out engine-
the lotus europa, 1.6L 126 HP

[fiid]

It's a lotus. The wiring is shit. Since I'm english I won't yield the list of Lucas jokes, but the fact there is a list should tell you a lot. They tend to need everything tightening down after a while - stuff comes loose - you know?

Colin Chapman's philsophy was that if it didn't fall apart at the finish line, it was too heavy, so these things are light and perform and handle well. Few people know this, but Lotus is mainly a consulting shop. You remember that the Corvette chassis got about an 8 fold boost in tortional rigidity a few years ago? Lotus. LT1? Lotus Tuned. There are rumours that the MR-2 was a rejected lotus design (Toyota and GM are both former owners of Lotus).

Lotuses just got better with time too, so the later esprits and the forthcoming elise are all formidable, and will be more and more reliable etc. Lotus never had the daft notion that the engine should be hung out the back except when Delorean insisted on it, so they all handle pretty well out of the gate.

BTW... they are all watercooled; you could probably turbo it without too much hassle.
It probably doesn;t need it too badly though.

The one thing that has been said about these is that the cockpit is awefully cramped.

Stuff to chew on....

Fiid.