Lotus Elise: Quotes from Tony Shute

from Car Magazine, December 1997:

The car reacts in the way you expect it to. You have to be able to trust it.

Below the limit, the key is steering linearity, proportional response to input. The steering system is part of that, so is roll control and roll damping. Rate of roll has to be what you'd expect. Some cars that roll a lot are better in this than some stiffer ones. And seeering feel , self-aligning torque, is important.

A good handler is progressive, going from grip to less grip, no grip to nothing. Rear- drive cars can have initial underrsteer, like an old 911, but you must go progressively from under to oversteer controllably. That's what differentiates a sports car, the way you can adjust it on the throttle.

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