A&Q about Lotus
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Sorry if it's a repost, but I found this on Google Video. 2hs 20m long Grab the popcorn!!
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Great find Chris!
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I'm 1 hour into it and am taking a bathroom break
This really is a heart warming "underdog" story of how the design and engineering team overcame the challenges and put together a wonderful car that has a "soul".
This is a must see.
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I liked it, but felt like it should have been edited down to one hour.
Do we really need to take three drives with the drivetrain engineer only to learn he didn't read the manual on how to start the speed sensor timer? RTFM
Anyone else think it was somewhat ironic that despite all the drawings and input for the styling of the Elise S1, Julian's first clay model looks like his Dino?
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Although 10 years old this is a must view for anyone interested in buying an Elise. The US car has the same chassis with the Toyota power plant. The special composite brakes were only on the S1 and not the later S2 model we have
There has been quite a few comments on scoops, wings and vent hole sizes lately. I would say that lotus has put a fair amout of R&D into these things already after watching this video.
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Just finished watching, a bit long at times but worth it. Would love to see a follow up episode on the design of the S2.
Also nice to see the main players responsible for creating the Elise and get some insight into the trials and tribulations they encountered. Cool stuff.
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Originally Posted by steuspeed
There has been quite a few comments on scoops, wings and vent hole sizes lately. I would say that lotus has put a fair amout of R&D into these things already after watching this video.
I was thinking the same thing, I loved when they were talking about how the front crash structure also acts as a rad support, aerodynamic wing, tow hook support and how its designed to be removed and replaced when damaged. They put alot of thought into every component of the car. However, at the same time there was the part about having to compromise for cost/weight savings/availability etc. Oh well, at the end of the day, they created a fantastic product. Good on them!
Also neet to know that lotus pioneered the glued/rivited extruded aluminium chassis, and it is superior in every way. It is cool that a small company with virtually no R&D budget (as compared to the big companies) is focused on innovation, not just slapping together a bunch of off the shelf parts to "create a new vehicle" Respect!
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Very cool! You can never get too much of this kind of info. Thanks for posting this.
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Just finished watching the whole thing - good find That little girl Elise can probably see over the steering wheel by now!
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Great video!!! Everyone with a Lotus should watch it.
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Here is a torrent link so that you can download the video.
I love this video. I wish they would produce a second and third part,as well.
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Okay, forget the torrent link. I didn't see the google video link at the top of the page.
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So, whatever happened to MMC (or is it MCC) rotors?
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The MMC brake discs were dropped when Lanxide (the manufacturer) could not make them in a real production setup for a reasonable cost.
The way they made the original sets up to 1997/98 was by using relatively labor-intensive methods, which simply made them way too expensive to keep on using for Lotus.
MMC brake discs do pop up on protoype cars from different manufacturers every so often though as the weight saving is very tempting.
Some info on MMC:
The big advantage of the discs was that they were extremely lightweight. Someting like sub 6 pounds per disc. Also because of the way the (special) brake pads and disc surface interact during braking (pads deposit a special layer) the discs actually don't wear at all and in specific cases can even get thicker!
Brake feel on MMC discs and braking effort is also extremely good and almost no steel brake setup comes close to the feedback levels.
The disadvantage of the MMC discs is that they do not cope with high HP cars or sticky tires well. Once Elises started to move up from the original 118HP specification and get used more and more on the track this became obvious. The disc surface overheats and melts, changing the material properties and making them useless.
Also the MMC discs seem to develop a metal fatigue/crack problem after several years of use where the disc shears off of the hub center. Most likely caused by the brittleness in the material and the repeated heat-cool cycles.
The original pad specification for the MMC's (a very specific mixture, can't use normal brake pads on MMC's!!) did have a problem with water though, so in the rain you would have no brakes for 2 seconds or so before they would start working. That's solved now by aftermarket brake pads since Lotus stopped selling the MMC brake pads and discs.
And yes.. MMC brake discs for the S1 are getting hard to come by nowadays, as they are no longer produced by anyone.
Oh.. And a side-link to the Fed-Elise: the Toyota engine block is cast from MMC as well!
Bye, Arno.
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What does MMC stand for (metal matrix composite)?
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Originally Posted by Arno
Oh.. And a side-link to the Fed-Elise: the Toyota engine block is cast from MMC as well!
I believe that MMC is only used in the section immediately surrounding the 2ZZ bore walls. Toyota did this so that they could space the bores closer together, thereby decreasing overall engine size, yet still maintain maximum thermal dissipation. Unfortunately, these closer bores are what makes it impossible to "big-bore" out the 2ZZ. The MMC also makes "wet-sleeving" a 2ZZ block basically impossible, and makes the traditional "dry-sleeving" process tricky because one wants to find a balance between maintaining a certain amount of the MMC, and boring a certain amount away so as to install something like Darton iron sleeves. Anyway, the rest of the block is straight aluminum.
MMC is widely used in F1 racing. Of course, cost is a very small factour there, so that's understandable. Also, from what I understand the F20 and F22 engines in Honda's S2000 use MMC around the bore walls in the same manner that Toyota does with the 2ZZ.
Originally Posted by R'elise Me
What does MMC stand for (metal matrix composite)?
Yes...
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I laughed at the man from Rover smirking saying Lotus were more on the edge of failure.
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Where can I buy this on disk?
Thanks
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Arno - Great info on the history of the brakes!
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Originally Posted by Crudson
I laughed at the man from Rover smirking saying Lotus were more on the edge of failure.
In context, he wasn't talking about Lotus failing as a business. He was talking about how Lotus stands nearer to the edge of the cliff, development wise, whereas Rover and other more traditional companies keep closer to the area "behind the safety rope" or closer to the middle of the bell curve so to speak.
xtn