Lotus: the future of car-building philosophy?

To be more accurate, Lotus' car building philosophy is not new. But it is simple, and even 50-odd years later, it's a refreshing outlook. The founder of Lotus cars was an Englishman named Colin Chapman, and his idea was that if you kept the weight of a car down, you could be faster than the competition despite using smaller engines. A smaller, lighter car also handles (that is, can take turns faster, brake harder, and change directions faster) better than a heavier one. If you remember the old Newtonian laws, this will make sense - there is less mass moving about, and so changing the motion of that mass takes less energy. Another upshot is that small, light cars invariably are more fuel efficient, and that is as important on the racetrack as it is on the street. But more on that last point in a bit.

One of his earliest and most iconic cars was the Lotus 7. This was about as minimalist as you get - two seats, a steering wheel, and four wheels. There was really no top to speak of, and most of the parts were taken from inexpensive donor cars (for example, the tiny motor was came from a small, inexpensive Ford sold in Britain). It was wildly successful as an inexpensive weekend racer, and it is still made to this day by successor companies who bought the rights to build the model (ie, the Caterham Se7en).

Why I am going on about this manufacturer? The New York Times just published a great review of one of Lotus' current offerings, the Exige S240. (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/21/automobiles/autoreviews/21lotus-exige.html?8dpc) As the review explains, this car really takes the "add lightness" philosophy to heart. At just over 2,000 lbs. and making 240 hp, it goes 0-60mph in 4.1 seconds and gets 26 MPG on the freeway. And it does this without a huge V8, or a complex and expensive exotic engine. It uses a Toyota four-cylinder motor that came out of the decidedly unexotic Toyota Celica, with a supercharger bolted on.

What's the bottom line? I know that not every car can weigh 2,000 lbs, or go really fast with a tiny Toyota motor. And trust me, not every person could even fit inside a Lotus Exige (they're tiny!). And while safety is a really big concern for me in recommending cars, advanced safety technology can render even ludicrously small cars like the Smart ForTwo fairly safe. It's refreshing to realize that small, light cars carry lots of benefits, and can be fun to drive too.