Britain, Germany, and France go head-to-head (to-head) in this mid-engine sports car shootout!
Let’s face it; everyone wants a sports car. Well, maybe not everyone. But all the cool people want a sports car. And you, being cool, want a sports car too.
“Which one do I buy?” you may be asking yourself.
We’re here to give you a little help with that tough decision.
We’ve selected three cars, from three different European countries. All mid-engine, rear wheel drive. (Because nothing says ‘sports car’ like an engine mounted mid-longitudinally.) No sports car is cheap. Well, no sports car worth the money is cheap. These three are more ‘moderately priced’, meaning you won’t have to mortgage your home to purchase one.
The Contestants
From Britain: the Lotus Elise ‘00
Hailing from Germany: the Opel Speedster ‘00
And representing France: the Hommell Berlinette R/S ‘99
To get a good picture of where each car sits in this comparison, first we need to look at:
The Numbers
Lotus 41,060cr 120hp 123.97ft/lb torque 714kg
Opel 44,690cr 144hp 149.72ft/lb torque 850kg
Hommell 47,360cr 169hp 144.65ft/lb torque 950kg
We can see the Lotus is the least expensive, least powerful car. It is also significantly less heavy, which is important. The Opel is the middleman in this chart while the Hommell seems to be the heavy hitter. We’re excited to see how this plays out. The information packs we received from the manufacturers are, like the cars, all very similar (as you can imagine). Each one lists a lap around the Nurburgring (the litmus test for sports cars) around the 9 minute mark. While we find this interesting we prefer to disregard this material and conduct our own tests.
First we take the cars to the test track. (Yes, more numbers. Numbers are a very important part of automobile comparisons.)
Top Speed 0-400m 0-1000m
Lotus 219.99km/h 16.076s 29.085s
Opel 231.95km/h 15.654s 28.288s
Hommell 237.54km/h 16.463s 29.003s
So the Opel is the fastest accelerating car to 1000 meters while the Hommell seems slow to 400 meters but picks it up after that. The Lotus manages to hang with the big kids for the first kilometer before dropping off. Interesting, but still not enough information.
Midfield Raceway
We went to our favorite country-side racetrack, Midfield Raceway, to get some serious hands-on time with these cars.
Midfield is one of the better tracks to drive when testing all facets of a car’s performance. It has a long straight and some sweeping lefts and rights. It has an elongated S-turn which really puts a car’s body roll on display. It has a small S leading to a hairpin leading to an uphill section.
Midfield will show us which car is worth the investment.
We had all three cars for a couple of days so we were able to do numerous laps in each. Thus giving us all the information we needed to render:
The Verdict
#3 Hommell Berlinette R/S ‘99
Lap Time: 1’31.320 Top Speed: 196km/h
Yes, the Berlinette is the most powerful car of the three and fastest in a straight line. On a course like Midfield, it was the slowest. Its extra weight and looser suspension made its presence felt at the elongated S-turn. We had to brake before entering the S or risk succumbing to excess body roll. Turn in is very responsive. So, while understeer wasn’t a problem, oversteer was something we found ourselves having to deal with. A fun car to drive, but not as refined as the other two. And the fact it is the most expensive doesn’t help its cause.
#2 Lotus Elise ‘00
Lap Time: 1’30.540 Top Speed: 190km/h
The least powerful, but lightest of the three, the Elise makes up for its power deficiencies by sporting a fantastic suspension. (Would we expect anything less from Lotus?) No oversteer to deal with; at all. Very limited body-roll. In fact, we could take the S flat out and the Lotus just grinned and bore it. It does hint at understeer, we discovered at the sweepers. But the Lotus never lost grip. Even with the tires squealing, the Elise still kept its grip on the track. Of course, not everything is perfect. If you drop the RPMs too low on the Elise, its lack of power makes it difficult to regain the lost speed. Braking is more than adequate, with the car being so light. I would have liked to see the Elise with more power, but I will have to wait to drive big brothers 111S and 111R.
#1 Opel Speedster ‘00
Lap Time: 1’29.930 Top Speed: 194km/h
The Opel falls in between the Lotus and the Hommell in every category; price, power, speed, weight. But where it is number 1 is where it really counts: On the track. It emits more body roll than the Lotus and can be twitchy, but it is very forgivable and a joy to drive instead of a chore. Braking and acceleration are superb. The turn in is better than the Lotus without leading to oversteer like the Hommell. A slight lift off the throttle before entering the S was sufficient to settle the car through the turn. Its mid price point makes it the pick of the bunch. And if anyone, for some reason, thinks it lacks power, there is a Turbo version available (albeit more expensive).
Conclusion
In the end, Germany, with the Opel Speedster, finds itself on top in the sub 50,000 credit, mid-engine club. Britain, with the lovable Elise is just behind. And France? While the Hommell Berlinette is the best French sports car we have driven in quite some time, France still finds itself playing catch-up. Of course, the real winner in these contests of automotive supremacy is you; the Buyer.
Topic: Συζήτηση περί άλλων αυτοκινήτων (Read 219515 times)
