The Case For Lightweight
For the past year or so I have been much enjoying my GT4 ownership, which has left less time to drive my Lotus, which is best used for a quick 60 - 90 minute drive at most. I was a bit worried that I wouldn't enjoy driving it any more.
After a recent drive, its uniqueness is apparent. It was never a "fast" car in a straight line back in 2005 and maybe even a bit slow by today's standards. But find me a car today that has better steering and responds to driver input more directly and honestly.
You can really use its performance on the road, with the exception of its cornering speeds, which are still far too high to fully exploit without a race track. I use full throttle very frequently on the road and am always heel-toe shifting (4th gear tops out around 110mph). The 8k rpm redline requires attention to being in the proper gear at all times. Because of the unfiltered sensations coming through to the driver, I can drive it fast with a lot of confidence, but can also drive it slowly and still enjoy the drive.
This is still a toy car at best, but worth keeping in the garage, to remind me why I enjoy motoring.
On the way back, we ran into some 356 Porsches stopping for lunch:
A fun size comparison in front of my friend's home: