Lotus Elise - Handles like a yacht

[Nino Scholz]

I'm working my way through career mode right now trying to get in more experience to translate into online racing (which i'm dabbling in for now). I just finished the KTM X-bow challenge which is a pretty fun car to drive - street legal race car. Then they throw you into the Elise, polar opposite - has got to be the worst handling car i've experienced so far - really tough weight transfer thing going on - drives like a boat. I am the only one that noticed this with this car?

I have not messed with setups too much - any suggestions for this are much appreciated.(have been browsing setup guide as well).

 

[Connor Caple]

I thought the Elise SC handled quite well. I must just be odd.

I'm not an Alien though, so maybe I'm just not picky enough.

 

[Nino Scholz]

I thought the Elise SC handled quite well. I must just be odd.

I'm not an Alien though, so maybe I'm just not picky enough.

No alien here, still learning for the most part - likely part of the issue. It may be the abrupt change in cars that magnified it for me somewhat, but i was having a heck of a time with the Elise. Need more practice with it for sure. The car that has suited me best so far is the BMW M3 GT2 - that thing just seems to do exactly what I tell it to, from the first time I tried it. Apples to Oranges I know, but even out of the production cars the Elise has been the worst handler for me (well, maybe the Miura), guess it's just not the car for me.

 

[Dinca Andrei]

You might be someone who likes more the oversteer cars than understeer...some poeple the other way around

 

[ouvert]

. The car that has suited me best so far is the BMW M3 GT2 - that thing just seems to do exactly what I tell it to, from the first time I tried it..

well maybe cause M3 GT2 is practically glued to the road and it is easies car to drive .. not expecting it to be hard to drive, just feels like there is a bug in its physics ..

 

[Nino Scholz]

well maybe cause M3 GT2 is practically glued to the road and it is easies car to drive .. not expecting it to be hard to drive, just feels like there is a bug in its physics ..

I agree, it does seem a little TOO glued to the road. I chalked it up to being a good dedicated race car, but you may be right there.

You might be someone who likes more the oversteer cars than understeer...some poeple the other way around

Good point, I think I am favoring more oversteer at the point. Its easier to correct for me and translates better through my wheel setup too. I suppose when first learning brake points, its better to have oversteer than understeer.

 

[Ryan Ogurek]

Well, first off any GT spec car is going to have loads more grip, due to downforce, low amount to excess weight, slick tyres, and proper balancing/low center of gravity. The grip produced from all these traits is really immense. The xbow is sort of in the middle, more downforce than most road cars, a lot less wieght, and if I remember correctly I believe it has semi-slick tyres (cant remember if the elise does or not). So it will handle pretty well too, just not quite to the level of a GT2/GT3. The elise is a road car, so much more wieght, which is less balanced, less downforce, and less grippy tyres than a race spec car. The difference is huge and it will feel like a boat by comparison, but if we had something like an average car, say a toyota camry or something, you would be amazed with how well the elise handles.

Also, if you think the M3 GT2 is too glued down, you aren't pushing the limits of the car yet. Its pretty easy to underestimate these cars, the cornering ability is really immense.

 

[Stereo]

even out of the production cars the Elise has been the worst handler for me (well, maybe the Miura), guess it's just not the car for me.

They do have similar things going on in the braking zone, where letting the weight transfer to the front of the car via letting off throttle or braking changes the steering characteristics quite a bit, I think that's mostly from the compromise between street suspension & balanced performance in a mid-engine (thus easy to turn) car. I find it more interesting to drive than the GT3s but on the other hand, not as suitable for going to the limit lap after lap.

 

[Nino Scholz]

They do have similar things going on in the braking zone, where letting the weight transfer to the front of the car via letting off throttle or braking changes the steering characteristics quite a bit, I think that's mostly from the compromise between street suspension & balanced performance in a mid-engine (thus easy to turn) car. I find it more interesting to drive than the GT3s but on the other hand, not as suitable for going to the limit lap after lap.

Yup, well put, that sums up alot of the issues I was having. For some reason I was not expecting that type of thing from a really light, small sports car.

 

[Nino Scholz]

I manged to get silver in the time attack and in doing so was able to put my finger on the difficulties I was having with the car - there's barely any buffer between good traction and losing it with the car. Not much warning before losing grip and spinning. Perhaps this is part of the mid engine twitchyness I keep hearing about. Other cars give you a little more notice and time to back off. Anyhow, I tamed it enough to move on at least.

Thanks for your responses.

 

[Ryan Ogurek]

Think about it this way, in these small, mid-engine, light sportscars the motor accounts for a larger portion of the weight. So when the wieght shifts backward the front end becomes very light, and the increased wieght towards the rear wants to maintain its inertia in a straight line. Its just tipping the balance enough that the back end wins, and keeps going straight forward.

I'm not particularly fond of the lotus's (or is it Loti?) either. The V6 cup can be good fun, but due to the fact that it has a larger motor than it was designed to it, the balance is off and it has the opposite effect and has massive let off oversteer.

 

[poet]

The AC Elise does a splendid job of emulating the lift off oversteer that typifies the real world car (one of the few cars in AC I've driven lots IRL).
You just need to learn how to use that to your advantage.
Under braking it can feel a bit oversteery, but lifting off just before the Apex you can really throw it in tight into the corner and use the power to straighten it back out again.