What is this and Is it street Legal??

[KingOfJericho]

Originally Posted by jeremyc74

What I also said was that a tuned 135i COULD outrun a Lotus on the highway, and that hasn't been disproven either. The power to weigh ratio is close enough that it isn't impossible, or even unlikely. I've also done it personally several times, but that's another story altogether.

Ok, I might be able to give a somewhat objective opinion here. A tuned 135 WOULD outrun a Lotus on the highway. Hell, a stock one probably could. I had a 2006 (pre-SC) Exige and the car essentially hits an aerodynamic wall at about 120mph. It generates tremendous downforce which actually hampers straight line performance (highway type driving) at high speeds but aids in turning at moderately high speeds. This is why the car does so well on small, twisty tracks without long straights. The 135i is definitely faster than my Exige was in a straight line on a highway. Easily.

On a track like Lime Rock, the Exige will probably be faster because it's a slow track with only one straight. Watkins Glen is a faster track where the 135i power would more than compensate for slower cornering.

Oh, and FWIW, there is absolutely no way in hell that the OP beat an Atom. Period.

[The Cthulhu]

Originally Posted by jeremyc74

You keep going on and on and on and on about track cars but THEY WEREN'T ON A TRACK!!! I'm taking offense to the fact that you're totally ignoring the situation at hand so you can go off on some tangent in an attempt to demonstrate how smart you are. I never said a 135i was a race car. NEVER. So you can stop trying to suggest I did.

What I said was that a Lotus isn't in the same class as an Atom, and it isn't. PERIOD. You're not required to wear a helmet to drive it, or climb through a window to get into it. It's considerably slower in every measure, and the power to weight ration on the Atom is about double the Lotus. The Atom outruns some of the worlds most exotic vehicles that cost upwards of $1 Million, and the Lotus can be challenged by dozens of road going vehicles.

What I also said was that a tuned 135i COULD outrun a Lotus on the highway, and that hasn't been disproven either. The power to weigh ratio is close enough that it isn't impossible, or even unlikely. I've also done it personally several times, but that's another story altogether.

You say I'm the one who likes to argue, when you're the one going off on tangents that have nothing to do with the subject at hand, which is a race down the highway. All you have to do to end this argument is stop responding, because you're obviously not capable of taking my points and addressing them directly to prove otherwise.

The situation at hand is that the op didn't know what type of car he saw, so he posted a picture. It was an Atom, did I ignore that? The other situation was that he allegedly killed it, I think I called BS on that when I brought up power to weight for the first time in this thread. Sorry if I went too far for your tastes in my examples. I guess we should just look up 1/4 miles times and agree that it's BS and talk about nothing else. Maybe we should just talk about these two cars driving straight on the highway some more...

I believe the Lotus is in the same class as an Atom because it is a completely sparse track oriented car, but that it is nowhere near as fast. I'm not oblivious to the fact that it is not an open wheeled racer and weighs twice as much. I used it as an example of a car that doesn't have much raw power, but can keep up with a Ferrari F40 on some tracks (essentially what you said about the Atom beating out supercars). I only mentioned the Lotus because it's an excellent example of a low horsepower car that outperforms many higher horsepower cars that weigh more. As is the Atom. There is no performance comparison between an Atom and a Lotus, but they share the theme of severe weight reduction in favor of muscle.

Not even talking about track:
I said that you can't compare a tuned car to a stock car, and stock for stock, I don't think there's a chance in hell a 135i could outrun a Lotus on the highway, unless it was over 140 mph. Stock against tuned, it's a toss up, the 135i should win. Tuned against tuned, it's the Lotus again. And it does it with a 4 and a lot less power... I think that's very impressive. Maybe you don't share my enthusiasm.

I don't consider top speed and acceleration to be tangents, even if it applies more to the Lotus than the Atom. One can talk about power to weight until he's blue in the face and still lose a race because the horsepower isn't there to achieve top speed, and it's because of air resistance. It applies to the Atom because it makes far less horsepower (it isn't the 500 HP one in the pic) than a tuned 135i. It's also pretty turbulent. The top speed is lower than the 135i. It's not much of an issue because it screams to top speed so quickly...

To reiterate, The 135i DOES have a higher top speed than an Atom. And it's extremely hard to minimize drag and frontal area enough to get out of needing loads of horsepower to hit very high speeds. I thought it was pretty cool that you can just play around with an equation to figure out minimum horsepower needed to hit a top speed... Obviously not appreciated.

You think I'm trying to demonstrate how smart I am (I'm not), but I'm just talking about car stuff. Get over yourself. This isn't a penis contest, we all have the same car.

I've addressed your points before, and I'm positive that I didn't miss a single one in this post.

[The Cthulhu]

Originally Posted by KingOfJericho

Ok, I might be able to give a somewhat objective opinion here. A tuned 135 WOULD outrun a Lotus on the highway. Hell, a stock one probably could. I had a 2006 (pre-SC) Exige and the car essentially hits an aerodynamic wall at about 120mph. It generates tremendous downforce which actually hampers straight line performance (highway type driving) at high speeds but aids in turning at moderately high speeds. This is why the car does so well on small, twisty tracks without long straights. The 135i is definitely faster than my Exige was in a straight line on a highway. Easily.

On a track like Lime Rock, the Exige will probably be faster because it's a slow track with only one straight. Watkins Glen is a faster track where the 135i power would more than compensate for slower cornering.

Oh, and FWIW, there is absolutely no way in hell that the OP beat an Atom. Period.

+1

and HOW COOL IS DOWNFORCE!?

I found that there were some curves I would spin on if I entered too SLOW, before I had enough downforce. Weirdest thing ever, I swear.

[KingOfJericho]

You say your Exige is deceased. What happened? I was in a pretty bad accident with mine...

[The Cthulhu]

First, check this out:

http://www.lotustalk.com/forums/f3/p...ingkong-77083/

LOL!

I had the Exige S as my first car, and my only car at the time, so I had no choice but to use it as a daily driver. I was driving at night around a really slow curve in the rain and a Mazda 3 tried to race me. I said eff it, and stayed at 40 mph, and he tried to cut around me. Didn't see my front fender and clipped it, sending me into oversteer. I managed to get it straight, but the car was still sliding left, so I touched a curb on the opposite side of the road with my front left tire. It sledgehammered the car backwards into a tree, but my passenger and I both walked away.

I ended up with a few ruptured discs that I didn't find out about until half my lower body went dead numb while I was playing hockey, but the car still saved my ass. I'm a little partial.Attachment 293690

[KingOfJericho]

An Exige S was your first car?

[jeremyc74]

Originally Posted by The Cthulhu

Not even talking about track:
I said that you can't compare a tuned car to a stock car, and stock for stock, I don't think there's a chance in hell a 135i could outrun a Lotus on the highway, unless it was over 140 mph. Stock against tuned, it's a toss up, the 135i should win. Tuned against tuned, it's the Lotus again. And it does it with a 4 and a lot less power... I think that's very impressive. Maybe you don't share my enthusiasm.

.

You're the one that brought the Lotus into this comparision against a tuned 135i. I compare my tuned 1 to other vehicles on a regular basis, and I don't care if they're tuned or not. This isn't a magazine test were we're trying to make everything equal, it's about the real world and a car you run across while driving down the highway. I don't care if it's tuned or not, and my argument was NEVER that you can't tune a Lotus to be faster than a tuned 135i, it was that a kill story involving a tuned 135i and a Lotus isn't unbelievable, which you seemed to be saying was the case.

I honestly don't think the Lotus is very impressive. It's extremely expensive for a street car at the the performance level it's at, but that's just an opinion. The fact that it's got basically no interior at all at a $40k+ price point should leave a little more room for some additional power as far as I'm concerned, but again, that JMO.

Originally Posted by The Cthulhu

I don't consider top speed and acceleration to be tangents, even if it applies more to the Lotus than the Atom. One can talk about power to weight until he's blue in the face and still lose a race because the horsepower isn't there to achieve top speed, and it's because of air resistance. It applies to the Atom because it makes far less horsepower (it isn't the 500 HP one in the pic) than a tuned 135i. It's also pretty turbulent. The top speed is lower than the 135i. It's not much of an issue because it screams to top speed so quickly...

To reiterate, The 135i DOES have a higher top speed than an Atom. And it's extremely hard to minimize drag and frontal area enough to get out of needing loads of horsepower to hit very high speeds. I thought it was pretty cool that you can just play around with an equation to figure out minimum horsepower needed to hit a top speed... Obviously not appreciated.

You think I'm trying to demonstrate how smart I am (I'm not), but I'm just talking about car stuff. Get over yourself. This isn't a penis contest, we all have the same car.

I've addressed your points before, and I'm positive that I didn't miss a single one in this post.

Here's what you said before:

Originally Posted by The Cthulhu

Of course.

The Atom is much faster than an Exige, an Exige is much faster than a 135i.

Originally Posted by The Cthulhu

Light weight sports cars without LSDs are built to drive on tracks rather than drag strips. You might kill them on a drag strip, will not kill them on a highway pull (if they have a better pwr/weight and plenty of extra HP after they overcome drag), and definitely will not kill them on a track. Your car is heavy for no performance reasons.
.

And that's why I've taken issue with this. In the context of this thread, it's simply not the case. This isn't about penis size, it's about maintaining some sort of truth to the stuff that's posted in forums like this. If you don't want someone to disagree with what you're saying, don't post things that aren't true.

I never really intended to compare the 135i and Lotus head to head, only to point out that neither are in the same class as an Atom, but since you're insistant on doing so, here are tests of the two cars by Edmunds:

http://www.edmunds.com/apps/vdpconta...8/pageNumber=5

http://www.edmunds.com/bmw/1series/2008/testdrive.html

The 135i is equal to 60, faster through the 1/4 mile, and has a higher trap speed. It's also running on vastly inferior tires, but still manages to come up only 2ft short on braking, and post a reasonably solid slalom time as well, for about $15k less. The Lotus just isn't that impressive as a street car, and for that kind of money there are better options in a track car (with the Caterham and Atom being good examples). It just doesn't seem to do anything really well.

[The Cthulhu]

I'm sorry you made up a scenario in your head about a tuned 135i racing a stock Lotus Exige S on a highway. I should have known. Please accept my resignation as mayor of Crazytown...

We have differing opinions of the Lotus, that's fine. And FYI: I think heated seats are silly. I adhere strongly to my statement that the Exige S is a faster car. Especially in the most general sense, rather than only in straight lines.

I still say stock for stock the Exige S will blow a 135i out of the water on a highway pull...

Oh, you posted something about the naturally aspirated 2006 Exige, I've been saying Exige S, which is supercharged. You're stretching again. You already know what I'm saying, and you're trying way too hard. If you can't really disagree with what I'm truly arguing, WHY ARE YOU DISAGREEING?



And Jericho, yes, the Exige S was my first major purchase after I graduated. I got it out of Texas with 6K miles for 40.5K, which was still at the edge of what I could afford. But I drove the parents stick shift Saturn all the time before I had my own car, and my dad has a few sports cars I've driven, so it isn't like I had to learn to drive stick on it. The Exige was well worth the sacrifices, but I didn't want to replace it with the insurance payout. I figured I'd just get hit in the dark again if it was my only car.

[majin ssj eric]

Ok, back on topic. I still wanna hear this 135i killz Ariel Atom story. That ought to be a good one!!!

[BMWF10DAC]

Originally Posted by Zell

Hell yeah it's street legal! And it'll blow any car away at a stoplight

Cool find!! I'm surprised you saw one.

That´s a dream, tnx for posting it...

[NewYearsBoy]

Originally Posted by O-cha

You probably wish you could too, he had no idea you were racing, trust me.

HAHA^^^..

[MikeyV]

Originally Posted by blklacker

Wish I could write up a cool kill story but...rulez are rulez

Maybe if you were on a BMW S1000RR you could write a kill story, even a McLaren F1 would struggle to keep up with one of these (especially if it was the V8 or the supercharged version) to 200kph.

They are scary fast. I'm surprised Ariel haven't had a crack at the Ring record in the 500 V8.

Sexy motor



goes in here



and you end up looking like this

[MikeyV]

Originally Posted by jeremyc74

I wouldn't put the Lotus in the same catagory as the Atom. A tuned x35i will most certainly kill a Lotus on the street, but neither one of them is going to touch an Atom.

A 2-Eleven is pretty much in the same category as the Atom, a x35i is going to struggle, the 2-Eleven is wicked fast.

[Sylon]

I dont think thats the 500hp one, the front and rear wings are not the same as the stock photo of the car. Might be one of the lesser models with the optional wing and splitter.


Either way, they are one of the quickest cars on the planet. Would be an absolute dream to be able to take one of those around a track.

[pixelblue]

Originally Posted by Sylon

I dont think thats the 500hp one, the front and rear wings are not the same as the stock photo of the car. Might be one of the lesser models with the optional wing and splitter.


Either way, they are one of the quickest cars on the planet. Would be an absolute dream to be able to take one of those around a track.

Yeah it is. The V8 has the gold anodized frame. The engine is 2 Suzuki 4 cylinder engines mated together. Btw the V8 beat the BMW 1000 bike around the top gear track