Does It Really Make Sense to Own a Stupidly Fast Car?
When a good friend asks you to take his track toy for a spin, you simply can’t say no. On the other hand, driving a 306 horsepower stiff-as-hell race car on the streets of Indianapolis isn’t exactly a hoot. Here’s why…
The beautiful red Lotus Elise you see pictured here isn’t as basic as it looks. Its bright red exterior, black stripes and black wheels show it means business, but the real magic lays underneath. There are a ton of man-hours, sweat, and of course, money in the engine bay and across the entire thing that aren’t immediately noticeable. This bad boy was built for one purpose only, and that’s to go really fast.
If you know much about Lotus (proper plural for Lotus), then you know that they aren’t exactly famous for crazy fast acceleration or horsepower figures, but such trait went out the window with this particular modified model. This bad boy has gone through an even stricter diet in order to shed some unnecessary pounds, and then fitted with a supercharger; clearly a recipe for badassness. A stock Lotus Elise weights around 2,000 pounds, so to shed any more weight and inject a whopping 306 horsepower is basically nipping at super car power to weight ratios.
Sadly, experiencing such raw speed on public roads was nearly impossible, and every time I’d step on the throttle to feel its brutal acceleration, I’d have to let off almost immediately to avoid crossing into triple digit speeds. Seriously, this thing accelerated like a bloody motorcycle, demanding upshift after upshift without dropping a single rev. It was simply breathtaking.
Needless to say, the hard suspension highlighted the fact that my man-boobs were all of the sudden as volatile as Kate Upton’s while playing volleyball. Every time I drove over the slightest resemblance of a pothole or road imperfection, they’d go out of control, and not to mention getting in and out of the car is a complete circus act.
So, unless one can afford to pay for track days, and actually exploit the car to its full potential, it’d be simply idiotic to drive a car like this on the streets. Which brings up another dilemma—would you drive a slower, more comfortable and less-cooler car, or would you suffer through the pain and drive a beast such as this?
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