A&Q about Lotus
Q:
I just purchased a 9 month old Elise. I am extremely extremely excited.
My driveway has a bump at the bottom to go from the street onto the driveway. The problem is that I think I am going to scrape the bottom of the car if I try to go up it. Me and a buddy put a piece of plywood and 2x4 to get the car up, but now it is stuck in my garage and am looking for any advice. Should I build a ramp, should I put some concrete at the bottom with a tube through it for rain??? Anybody have any experience with this?
Thanks.
A:
You won't scrape the bottom of the car, you'll get the nose of the clam.
I deal with this into my garage in the manner you suggested. I have placed two pieces of wood so the tires hit the wood before the clam hits the concrete. Works like a charm. I use a 1x4 and a 3/4" plywood plank.
With your buddy, drive your car really slowly down the driveway and as you start getting close to the nose, have him place a 2x4 or whatever you have in front of the wheel, then put a 3/4" plywood plank on top of that. You should be able to roll over it and slowly match up to the grade.
It was a PITA to get it set up, but now it's just part of life.
A:
My driveway sounds very similiar to yours. I pull in and out at an extreme angle in order to avoid scraping. I use nearly the entire lungth of it to get in and out. If my parks her car in the driveway I cannot pull in. Have you tried approaching this way? It is tougher to pull out than to get in - but well worth it!
A:
i would just try it slowly, i thought i was going to scrape on my steep driveway, but the front wheels are so close to the front that it actually makes it by a piece of paper
A:
I have the same problem and I just go over them sideways, one wheel at a time like I do with speed bumps.
A:
Originally Posted by eitan
Should I build a ramp, should I put some concrete at the bottom with a tube through it for rain???
I don't know if you will need a ramp on not, but if you do, don't build it with concrete with a tube though it. The tube will get plugged up, and cause a mess.
Instead, lay 2x2 (or 2x4 or 2x6, or whatever) along the high part of the soon to be ramp so that the wide part is vertical. Then make the concrete ramp by pouring the concrete on each side of the board and smooth things out as necessary. As it sets up, you remove the board, leaving the narrow groove in the new ramp. If it's a long ramp, use multiple boards to make multiple grooves.
When done, anything that plugs up the grooves can be swept up, or blasted out with a hose - unlike a plugged up tube.
A:
See attached photo to find half of my solution. The other half is a modified front clam to remove the winglets and license plate plinth.