How lotus elise/exige accelerate so fast without much power?

[jimchitas]

Well the most cars powered by a internal combustion engine
(Gasoline) (Not diesel) they can accelerate in 3-4 seconds they have high power figures 300++ and elises/exige they only need 170-230 and they do it more efficient (irrelevant with engine efficiency)same as alfa romeo 4c i know weight plays big role and gearing but how they setup the suspension and chassis for those numbers
Is it the weight distribution who has so much effect or suspension/chassis/tires who does the most job
Now i get it this really irrelevant with most threads but if someone can help me and explain me how they achieve this it will help me a lot

[freebeard]

Colin Chapman:
"Simplify, then add lightness"
"Adding power makes you faster on the straights. Subtracting weight makes you faster everywhere."

[jimchitas]

Originally Posted by freebeard

Colin Chapman:
"Simplify, then add lightness"
"Adding power makes you faster on the straights. Subtracting weight makes you faster everywhere."

i get the point but compared to other cars with same power to weight ratio they accelerate way faster i believe is optimal weight distrubution 40/60 and gearing for best possible traction but they sure did a lot of stuff with suspension setup and chassis (great torsional rigidity for its size) aerodynamics in 0-60 doesnt affect to much but still how a exige can do it 4 secs with 180 hp its crazy

[freebeard]

Maybe your answer is here: https://www.zeroto60times.com/

Keep in mind that there are a number of factors that need to be considered when looking at 0 to 60 and quarter mile data. The ones that have an effect on the 0-60 times and quarter mile car stats include, (but aren’t limited to), the tune of the road test vehicle, fuel level (or battery level for EVs), fuel octane, engine temperature, road surface condition, elevation, air temperature, barometric pressure, acceleration measurement method, tire pressure and the variance between professional test drivers … Read More

For me the metric would be 60 foot and quarter mile times.

[jimchitas]

Originally Posted by freebeard

Maybe your answer is here: https://www.zeroto60times.com/

For me the metric would be 60 foot and quarter mile times.

i will agree and like you said 60 foot is pretty good comparison in terms of acceleration.
i will disagree with quarter mile in a sub 200 horsepower car its not really good comparison i mean the first 120 km for sub200 you might seen good numbers but 120-2xx km pretty much every 'underpowered' just loses this fast "momentium" rarely i seen a underpowered having a 100-200 km time under 10 secs yea drivers matters and tranmission but i believe is more important a good acceleration from 40-140km for a fun good handling car then you looking at high power car now back in my question i found out they use bigger tires in rear for better traction same with some front wheel drive cars im still wondering if i can any information about suspension setup (damping,height,...) but thanks

[Isaac Zachary]

This seems similar to what I had posted elsewhere about the Koenigsegg Jesko making the new 0 to 400 to 0 kph record all with traditional ICE.

I think people are easily influenced by "ICE is good for this, and EV is good for that, and you need this much power and that much torque and blah blah blah." It's better to just leave it to the real engineers to make them work and then have them explain it to us how they did it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUIzJPyl3LI

[Ecky]

The answer is mostly in gearing. The difference between 4 seconds to 60 and 6 seconds to 60 can be as little as the second gear ratio of two different cars. If you have to shift at 58mph, you're going to add near an entire second to the time.

Not all cars are geared to win in 0-60.

Beyond that, there's no magic to the Lotus formula, outside of them being light cars with good weight balance, short gearing, and a lot of tire.

I previously had a Honda Insight I had swapped a K24 into. It weighed almost exactly the same as a 2005 Elise, with around 40 more horsepower, but I chose to gear it differently, for fuel economy. 2nd would top out near 80mph. It was considerably quicker in the quarter mile than an Elise, but slower to 60 real-world.

[freebeard]

now back in my question i found out they use bigger tires in rear for better traction same with some front wheel drive cars im still wondering if i can any information about suspension setup (damping,height,...)

I've run staggered tires on VW Beetles since the 1980s. For a balanced performance you want anti-squat. In straight line acceleration with RWD, weight transfer is your friend.


i.pinimg.com/originals/e3/f1/df/e3f1df3014c31db8e69a9ccfe035930e.jpg

Why that Henry J has a dropped axle is a mystery to me.

[redpoint5]

The Elise was on my short list when my 1996 Legacy was rear ended. It was on the list because it has high performance figures and decent fuel economy. Plus, it has a Toyota engine which should be reliable and efficient.

That said, my 600cc motorcycle goes 0-60 in like 2 seconds and costs practically nothing used. I'd take anything with 2 wheels over anything with 4 for the fun factor at a fraction of the cost.

[jimchitas]

Originally Posted by Ecky

The answer is mostly in gearing. The difference between 4 seconds to 60 and 6 seconds to 60 can be as little as the second gear ratio of two different cars. If you have to shift at 58mph, you're going to add near an entire second to the time.

Not all cars are geared to win in 0-60.

Beyond that, there's no magic to the Lotus formula, outside of them being light cars with good weight balance, short gearing, and a lot of tire.

I previously had a Honda Insight I had swapped a K24 into. It weighed almost exactly the same as a 2005 Elise, with around 40 more horsepower, but I chose to gear it differently, for fuel economy. 2nd would top out near 80mph. It was considerably quicker in the quarter mile than an Elise, but slower to 60 real-world.

thx i look to some numbers and really gearing makes them accelerate/launch pretty well now they only information is the suspension setup of lotus exiges i found something on a lotus forum but thanks for helping me