Best CAR for the twisties?
10-04-2010 | 08:38 PM
#1
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From: San Clemente, CA
Best CAR for the twisties?
If you couldn't ride a motorcycle, what car would you want to drive in the twisties?
I owned a 1959 Porsche 356A for 9 years until a divorce separated me from that car 25 years ago. It was like driving a go kart, my only complaint being I would have liked more power. But in the tight stuff, it was super fun.
From what I've read and observed, the Lotus Elise would be an absolute blast to drive on a twisty road. It seems to be the closest thing to a go kart of any street legal car available today.
What would be your choice if you had to run on 4 wheels in the twisties?
I owned a 1959 Porsche 356A for 9 years until a divorce separated me from that car 25 years ago. It was like driving a go kart, my only complaint being I would have liked more power. But in the tight stuff, it was super fun.
From what I've read and observed, the Lotus Elise would be an absolute blast to drive on a twisty road. It seems to be the closest thing to a go kart of any street legal car available today.
What would be your choice if you had to run on 4 wheels in the twisties?
10-04-2010 | 09:52 PM
#5
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From: Lake View Terrace, CA
What you really need is a Ariel Atom...... now that looks like fun 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaWoo82zNUA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaWoo82zNUA
10-05-2010 | 05:16 AM
#8
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From: thorold ontario
tough call, you want something small and nimble but powerful at the same time. rwd is always more fun than fwd but if its light and powerful awd is your best friend. the little lotus elige and exige are both great little cars. put a supercharger on that little motor and you have a mini missle.
10-05-2010 | 06:12 AM
#9
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Last edited by RWhisen; 10-05-2010 at 06:16 AM.
10-05-2010 | 06:13 AM
#10
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Squid
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From: Louisville, KY
tough call, you want something small and nimble but powerful at the same time. rwd is always more fun than fwd but if its light and powerful awd is your best friend. the little lotus elige and exige are both great little cars. put a supercharger on that little motor and you have a mini missle.
10-05-2010 | 07:04 AM
#12
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Joined: Jun 2010
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From: Baltimore, Maryland
My "ultimate" dream car would have to be the Ultima GTR...Holds numerous speed/accel records.
But for now I'll settle for my 1989 CRX Si. Very gocart like handling, with some suspension work it'll be on rails. 2380lbs with me in it.
But for now I'll settle for my 1989 CRX Si. Very gocart like handling, with some suspension work it'll be on rails. 2380lbs with me in it.
10-05-2010 | 07:37 AM
#14
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And you'd all get beaten by the Ariel Atom... For running in the twisties, no other car compares... Not the one's people have listed, not anything else available...
It feels like a scaled up gocart... The low weight makes it stick to the road like it was glued, and if you are saying some car handles on rails, then you haven't tried driving this one... On long straights it looses out, but in a corner it's second to nothing, and slingshotting through short straights is hilarious with the acceleration... Nothing can keep up... Except the stupid rainclouds, so if you need a roof, choose something else...
It feels like a scaled up gocart... The low weight makes it stick to the road like it was glued, and if you are saying some car handles on rails, then you haven't tried driving this one... On long straights it looses out, but in a corner it's second to nothing, and slingshotting through short straights is hilarious with the acceleration... Nothing can keep up... Except the stupid rainclouds, so if you need a roof, choose something else...
10-05-2010 | 07:47 AM
#15
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From: NH
And you'd all get beaten by the Ariel Atom... For running in the twisties, no other car compares... Not the one's people have listed, not anything else available...
It feels like a scaled up gocart... The low weight makes it stick to the road like it was glued, and if you are saying some car handles on rails, then you haven't tried driving this one... On long straights it looses out, but in a corner it's second to nothing, and slingshotting through short straights is hilarious with the acceleration... Nothing can keep up... Except the stupid rainclouds, so if you need a roof, choose something else...
It feels like a scaled up gocart... The low weight makes it stick to the road like it was glued, and if you are saying some car handles on rails, then you haven't tried driving this one... On long straights it looses out, but in a corner it's second to nothing, and slingshotting through short straights is hilarious with the acceleration... Nothing can keep up... Except the stupid rainclouds, so if you need a roof, choose something else...
10-05-2010 | 08:00 AM
#16
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Squid
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 18
From: Shawnee, KS
And you'd all get beaten by the Ariel Atom... For running in the twisties, no other car compares... Not the one's people have listed, not anything else available...
It feels like a scaled up gocart... The low weight makes it stick to the road like it was glued, and if you are saying some car handles on rails, then you haven't tried driving this one... On long straights it looses out, but in a corner it's second to nothing, and slingshotting through short straights is hilarious with the acceleration... Nothing can keep up... Except the stupid rainclouds, so if you need a roof, choose something else...
It feels like a scaled up gocart... The low weight makes it stick to the road like it was glued, and if you are saying some car handles on rails, then you haven't tried driving this one... On long straights it looses out, but in a corner it's second to nothing, and slingshotting through short straights is hilarious with the acceleration... Nothing can keep up... Except the stupid rainclouds, so if you need a roof, choose something else...
10-05-2010 | 09:04 AM
#18
Out of my mind, back in 5
MotoGP
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From: Skurup, Sweden
Correct, they have a supercharged Honda engine... I think it was license built in the US with a GM ecotech engine in a short series... So those could have engines very similar too the one in the Saturn, but I know no details of that...
Pricy? Well considering it will kill any sportscar around a track and on the strip, I'd say it's a bargain... I'm pretty sure you get 2-3 of them for the price of any car that comes close...
I know there was some talk about a souped up Atom with a V8 or something a while back, but I haven't seen or hears anything about it... A friend has taken a slightly tuned Honda engine and dropped it into an Atom chassie though... Close to 400 bhp at the rearwheels and it takes of like a rocket... 300 was bad-*** enough if you ask me at 600 ish kg of weight...
Pricy? Well considering it will kill any sportscar around a track and on the strip, I'd say it's a bargain... I'm pretty sure you get 2-3 of them for the price of any car that comes close...
I know there was some talk about a souped up Atom with a V8 or something a while back, but I haven't seen or hears anything about it... A friend has taken a slightly tuned Honda engine and dropped it into an Atom chassie though... Close to 400 bhp at the rearwheels and it takes of like a rocket... 300 was bad-*** enough if you ask me at 600 ish kg of weight...
10-05-2010 | 10:45 AM
#20
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Squid
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 98
From: Temecula, CA
And you'd all get beaten by the Ariel Atom... For running in the twisties, no other car compares... Not the one's people have listed, not anything else available...
It feels like a scaled up gocart... The low weight makes it stick to the road like it was glued, and if you are saying some car handles on rails, then you haven't tried driving this one... On long straights it looses out, but in a corner it's second to nothing, and slingshotting through short straights is hilarious with the acceleration... Nothing can keep up... Except the stupid rainclouds, so if you need a roof, choose something else...
It feels like a scaled up gocart... The low weight makes it stick to the road like it was glued, and if you are saying some car handles on rails, then you haven't tried driving this one... On long straights it looses out, but in a corner it's second to nothing, and slingshotting through short straights is hilarious with the acceleration... Nothing can keep up... Except the stupid rainclouds, so if you need a roof, choose something else...
Of course I would opt for a standard Caterham 7 in kit form, put a 300hp cosworth 2.0L engine and a Mendeola sequential tranny in it. Budget track *****
10-05-2010 | 11:04 AM
#21
Out of my mind, back in 5
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From: Skurup, Sweden
True... The R500 comes pretty close... And I agree, it's very similar...
It's more expensive though, and more complicated to get through the legal system as it's not e-certified (Europe, dunno about your neck of the woods...) The Atom is road legal from the get-go all over Europe... The R500 you can only title here in the EU/Sweden if you build it yourself and omit bying parts of the kit, having the exact same piece duplicated in a shop, to make it "custom"... Or buy it prebuilt in Sweden to prices that are equal to highway robbery...
And it looses out on one more specification... The chassie on the R500 is a classic tube chassie box... The Atom is using the tube frame as an exoskeleton making it more rigid with heftier tubes, which is good for handling, and also for driver safety...
It's more expensive though, and more complicated to get through the legal system as it's not e-certified (Europe, dunno about your neck of the woods...) The Atom is road legal from the get-go all over Europe... The R500 you can only title here in the EU/Sweden if you build it yourself and omit bying parts of the kit, having the exact same piece duplicated in a shop, to make it "custom"... Or buy it prebuilt in Sweden to prices that are equal to highway robbery...
And it looses out on one more specification... The chassie on the R500 is a classic tube chassie box... The Atom is using the tube frame as an exoskeleton making it more rigid with heftier tubes, which is good for handling, and also for driver safety...
10-05-2010 | 12:12 PM
#23
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Superstock
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From: Honolulu, Hawaii USA
On a more practical note...
The two cars I've had a chance to drive and were great on hilly twisties were:
Lancia Stratos, late 70's version.
Lotus Elan, 2nd generation with Japanese engine, early 90's.
Both cars needed minimal breaking for turns and held like gorilla snot in the corners. Nice acceleration too. Very streetable and everyday practical.
The two cars I've had a chance to drive and were great on hilly twisties were:
Lancia Stratos, late 70's version.
Lotus Elan, 2nd generation with Japanese engine, early 90's.
Both cars needed minimal breaking for turns and held like gorilla snot in the corners. Nice acceleration too. Very streetable and everyday practical.
10-05-2010 | 12:21 PM
#24
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Superstock
Superstock
Joined: Apr 2007
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And you'd all get beaten by the Ariel Atom... For running in the twisties, no other car compares... Not the one's people have listed, not anything else available...
It feels like a scaled up gocart... The low weight makes it stick to the road like it was glued, and if you are saying some car handles on rails, then you haven't tried driving this one... On long straights it looses out, but in a corner it's second to nothing, and slingshotting through short straights is hilarious with the acceleration... Nothing can keep up... Except the stupid rainclouds, so if you need a roof, choose something else...
It feels like a scaled up gocart... The low weight makes it stick to the road like it was glued, and if you are saying some car handles on rails, then you haven't tried driving this one... On long straights it looses out, but in a corner it's second to nothing, and slingshotting through short straights is hilarious with the acceleration... Nothing can keep up... Except the stupid rainclouds, so if you need a roof, choose something else...
10-05-2010 | 12:51 PM
#25
Out of my mind, back in 5
MotoGP
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Posts: 6,109
From: Skurup, Sweden
I have driven one, on more than one occasion... On track and off... Never read their marketing bullshit...
I have no problem with taking you up on that... I'll wear my warm jacket... I'm pretty used to winter roads...
I have no problem with taking you up on that... I'll wear my warm jacket...
I'm pretty used to winter roads...
10-05-2010 | 02:44 PM
#27
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Superstock
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Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 380
From: Houston, TX
Lotus Elise on a budget:
It's a '72 914 with a full turbo'd Subaru WRX drivetrain. It's has the 5 speed from the WRX with the rear output deleted so it's just a transaxle and it uses a MR2 style cable shifter so it shifts like a new car. While the transmission was apart we put in a Quafe LSD diff. It was dynoed with 12lbs of boost at 250hp to the wheels. Best 1/4 was 13.01 with, when slicks were bolted up it exploded a CV joint. If it wasn't for that it'd easily be a 12 second car. Now it's running 16lbs and accelerates with violence, but it's slow compared to the Hawk LOL. The car is right around 2000lbs.
Or you could go more classic on a budget:
'58 VW with 944 suspension, 4wheel disks, f/r roll bars, gutted to 1600lbs
It's a '72 914 with a full turbo'd Subaru WRX drivetrain. It's has the 5 speed from the WRX with the rear output deleted so it's just a transaxle and it uses a MR2 style cable shifter so it shifts like a new car. While the transmission was apart we put in a Quafe LSD diff. It was dynoed with 12lbs of boost at 250hp to the wheels. Best 1/4 was 13.01 with, when slicks were bolted up it exploded a CV joint. If it wasn't for that it'd easily be a 12 second car. Now it's running 16lbs and accelerates with violence, but it's slow compared to the Hawk LOL. The car is right around 2000lbs.
Or you could go more classic on a budget:
'58 VW with 944 suspension, 4wheel disks, f/r roll bars, gutted to 1600lbs
10-05-2010 | 03:52 PM
#29
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From: Lake View Terrace, CA
