Is this Black Beauty being passed?

PeteBrown · 10-01-2002, 06:52 AM

Is this a picture of Black Beauty being passed by a modified Lotus Exige at a recent California Speedway event? Say it isn't so....

http://www.prototyperacing.com/k20kit.htm

makaio · 10-01-2002, 07:07 AM

I don't know if that's Jack, but I have seen one of those cars run before. It was during the Open Track Challenge at ThunderHill, and that little buger was fast. Dang thing barley had to use it's brakes.

rattlsnak · rattlsnak's Garage

OK, this thread is going to get interesting.. !

p.s. don't feel bad Jack, I got passed by a NEON last year. Of course he had 350HP.

JonT · 10-01-2002, 07:13 AM

remember Jack's car is only geared for 130-140mph probably

10-01-2002, 07:42 AM

Looks to me like Jack is sneakin up to pass him on the inside.

BlueSkyJaunte · 10-01-2002, 07:46 AM

That Elise weighs 750kg (1650 lbs) wet. I wouldn't be embarrassed about getting passed by that car!

Superman · 08:01 AM

A local SCCA instructor/friend, perennial class champ (portly guy in his late fifties) regularly embarrasses other folks on the track, particularly Camaros and the like. Porsches, well-driven, he cannot handle, but his car is a bone stock Dodge Colt, with roll cage.

PS. I don't think Jack's tail is that big.

Chuck Moreland · 10-01-2002, 08:14 AM

I think Jack was a full lap up on this guy and getting ready to pass again.

Seriously those little Lotus's are very fast, especially through the turns. And that one has a beefed honda motor so I am sure it is a rocket.

pwd72s · 10-01-2002, 08:18 AM

Besides, I never read of Jack claiming to be the fastest out there...he's a guy having fun!

Jack Olsen · 10-01-2002, 09:33 AM

Hey, Paul, I was the fastest guy out there, at least in my class, and I've got the trophy to prove it.

It is my car in the picture, with one of my track-only tails. I remember seeing the Lotus in the pits, but honestly don't remember him being on the track with me at the same time. But there it is in the picture.

I assume a race-prepped car with that kind of power to weight ratio -- he's got 240+ hp to 1600 pounds of dry car -- would easily beat my car on a track (I've got 260 hp to a car weighing 2430 pounds). But I'd love to know his lap times. I was running 2:03's. The fastest car of the day was a prepped 800-hp 993TT running 1:53's.

I was just there that day to learn the track. I was surprised I went home with a trophy.

And it's nice to know that a Porsche 911 is still seen as a kind of benchmark (and proving point) for a brand new ultralightweight car with a swapped in engine.

cary · 09:38 AM

But remember. Jack has the AC going and he's listening to tunes on the CD changer.

Oh yeah, maybe he was taking pictures of his gauges at 130 mph.

Until your car is gutted, your going to get passed.
SIMPLE FORMULA : POWER TO WEIGHT

PeteBrown · 10-01-2002, 10:18 AM

I know the benefit of low weight to power ratios. I was just surprised to see a picture of BB while surfing around other car-related sites.

Those little Honda powered Lotus Elises, Exiges and 340s are very impressive and I bet a ton of fun on the road and the track. Below is a link to a guy in Portland who runs his Elise 190 on the road and track. Talk about toys and being a track junky. Check out his site and his current project to build a light weight, 4 wheel drive, track car powered by a turbocharged Suzuki Hayabusa engine.

http://www.randomresearch.com/dp/elise.htm

andyu911 · andyu911's Garage

Agreed. Power to Weight and $$$. Why not compare with a Formula Ford w/ a quarter of the money and 10 times of the fun??
Nevertheless, Lotus Exige and Elise are great cars IMHO and definitely on my wish list.

Andy
'87 Carrera

TRE Cup · TRE Cup's Garage

Well, I was blown off at Euro Tuner Fest this past weekend at Willow by the Eibach 340 Lotus - I have seen a green Exige, run with the oe motor, by a novice driver, turning 1:33's at willow!
So being blitzed by the lil preying mantis was no big surprise. Those models are well engineered and are great cars to play with.
Used Exiges bring $50k- pretty high $$ for a track only car, but good bang for the $, I guess.
They run with HSR in the Lotus challenge. Dunno about the honda powered version- I believe the rules state the oe Toyota motor left in to be eligible

Early_S_Man · 10-01-2002, 11:42 AM

Those Honda swappers/tuners are pretty amusing, actually! I wonder if they are ever going to actually catch up with Lotus/Ford 4-valve engine technology from 30+ years ago???

In 1970, the race-tuned BDA engine was putting out 280 hp @ 8000 rpm from 1600 cc with Webers! It would truly be interesting to see what a 1400 lb Europa with one of those engines would do next to the Honda wonder-transplant??? 260 hp claimed by the 'tuner' with VTEC and ECU S-2000 technology looks pretty tame & lame by 1970 standards!

pbs911 · pbs911's Garage

The web site says,

Quote:

Walking away from a Porsche at 130 mph.

Jack's reply,

Quote:

And it's nice to know that a Porsche 911 is still seen as a kind of benchmark (and proving point) for a brand new ultralightweight car with a swapped in engine.

Very well said Jack.
But don't forget to add a "29 year old Porsche."

Early_S_Man · 10-01-2002, 11:56 AM

... wanna make that 30 years, Paul? Since, after all, the '73 models were rolling out of the factory ... onto the test track in Oct. '72!

NYSCAR · 12:36 PM

Early S Man,

Try running that race-tuned BDA engine in traffic

Those honda engines in NA race trim can move enough air for well over 300hp. I've been having email conversations with Joe McCarthy (guy with the Exige) and the Elise/Exige platform. The Exige is the 'lighter' weight racing version, but the regular street Elise sold overseas weighs in at about 1700 lbs (or maybe slightly less) with the honda powerplant and honda 6 speed transaxle. 240 hp gives it a better power to weight ratio than an F360.

Brad

Early_S_Man · 10-01-2002, 01:17 PM

Brad,

I don't think the BDA engine, or later variants like the BDG used in an autocross national champion '66 Lotus Elan ... has any trouble at all in a 1400 lb car with appropriate gearing!

I think you missed my point, entirely ... as these 'tuners' are selling very mildly 'electronically' altered street engines as racing engines for use on a race track! 300 hp is not that big a jump from the currently-claimed 260 hp ... with nothing but a chip change! Compare that to the '70 Escort BDA output of 160 hp for the street, then modified for racing to get 280 hp ...

160 hp/280 hp = 240 hp/??? So, where are all of the great Japanese technology gains of the past 33 years??? I guess it would be asking too much to expect an engine running max hp at 10,000 rpm??? I don't really think an extra 2000 rpm at the top end would be asking that much if the Japanese engines were as well engineered as the RICE promoters claim!

When you consider that Ferrari has been building street engines for decades with 7800 rpm power peaks ... again, I ask, where are the ricers great 'improvements?'

CamB · CamB's Garage

I was under an extremely strong impression that the Lotii all came with a Rover K series engine (with up to 200+hp from a 1.8 depending on how long you were comfortable between engine "refreshes").

Did they swap a Honda engine into this one or is there a little confusion?

OK, I just read the link.

I am officially pissed off. "The inadequacies of the Rover K series". They are reasonably adequate - US$6800 would buy a lot of K series hp. The basic (120hp) version of the K series is pathetic but the 190hp version can't be too bad...

Cam