Lotus Elite 503 Road Test

Autocar, January 18, 1975

Lotus, who started in a humble way with a trials car, have moved up the motoring scale in ambitious leaps. From Spartan sports-cars which could never be described as anything but sports-cars, they progressed to vehicles just as sporting but more comfortable in poor weather - the Elan - then to still more ambitious cars, such as the Plus 2; there was still the very tempting market. Occupied by such variously distinguished manufacturers as Ferrari, Jaguar, Mercedes, Reliant (to name a few) - the four-seater luxury Grand Touring car makers, provide differing degrees of sporting appeal combined with saloon-car comforts. With -the new Elite (the name was used before for the first fixed-head Lotus), Lotus have aimed what looks like an intelligently-pointed shaft at a lucrative market, which is threatened by the present pressures on motoring more than most.

The car was announced in May last year. Like the various Elans, the Elite has a steel backbone chassis, forked at each end to carry the front-mounted engine and gearbox and the rear final drive. In a revolutionary process evolved by Lotus collaborating with their resin suppliers, International Pinchin Johnson, the body is glass-fibre, injection-moulded in only two main pieces bonded at the conspicuous waist. Unlike any predecessor from Lotus, there is very good built-in protection against side impact. A reinforced box bulkhead is formed across the front of the cockpit. At its ends are pivoted the doors, heavily braced against intrusion with steel box sections which end in the usual burst-proof door locks. The fixed ends of these are mounted on to the steel roll cage which, underneath a noticeable bulge in the roof, arches across the back of the front seats. There is no doubt that this Elite is the strongest car Lotus have so far made, and a strong car by any standards.

The engine is Lotus' own 1,973 cc. four-cylinder light-alloy unit, inclined to the left, with four-valves .per cylinder worked by belt-driven exhaust and inlet camshafts. With over-square proportions, a 9.5-to-1 compression ratio and two 38mm choke Dellorto twin-choke carburettors, it develops a claimed 155 bhp (net) at 6,500 rpm, 11 bhp .more than the similar engine (with smaller carburettors) sold to Jensen for the Jensen-Healey.

Transmission is by a five-speed Lotus-designed gearbox which uses Austin Maxi gears, and a special final drive unit which houses a Salisbury hypo id bevel set of either 3.73 or 4.1 to 1 ratio, carrying the inboard rear drum brakes (the test car used the low ratio). Cooling air for differential and brakes is ducted within the backbone.

Suspension is all independent. with coil springs. The wide-rim light-alloy wheels with their specially developed Dunlop low-profile tyres are located by wishbones in front, and at the back by a bottom wishbone each side formed by a diagonal trailing arm and a lateral link, plus the fixed length drive shaft. Front brakes are disc. with servo-assisted dual-line circuits split between front and rear. Steering is rack and pinion, power-assisted on the variant tested.

The Elite comes in four forms; the type tested is the 503 which includes in its £6,673 price (including tax) a comprehensive amount of extra equipment as standard, including air-conditioning neatly incorporated in the normal heater system, and the top-of-the-range Philips 22 RN 712 stereo wireless cum cassette tape recorder, complete with microphone.

Performance
Bearing in mind what the car carries, it is remarkable that its weight has been kept down to only just under 23cwt at the kerb. The engine's claimed output corresponds to a high specific output of nearly 80 bhp per litre. In pure performance figures the results are impressive, as our tables show; 0 to 60 mph in 7.8 sec and 0 to 100 in 24.5 sec on an unfairly windy day at MIRA is remarkable going for two litres propelling a body which, in spite of its aerodynamically good shape, is still nearly 6ft wide and stands close to 4 ft high. The same applies to the 124 mph mean top speed, with a best down-wind of 126.

One does not expect anything but good performance from any Lotus. The point with a car of this type is how it achieves such figures.

First, starting is no bother. The choke works well, though we found that two or three prods of the throttle pedal (to work the accelerator pumps) served just as well. Drive away is good. The engine runs freely and is lively except when any real demand is made on its bottom end power, of which there is too little. This was most noticeable when attempting a re-start from rest on the l-in-3 test slope. The only way is to rev to around 5,000 rpm and slip the clutch, a smelly business to be avoided, obviously. With the lower 4.1 final drive used, fifth gear becomes a true top, but nevertheless it is better to drop into fourth if the driver is feeling lazy, since acceleration at anything below 2,500 rpm is not impressive.

Through the heart of the engine's power range which drivers will use more often, the output is excellent, and smooth enough. One revels in the mid-range power, up to around 5,500 rpm or a little more. It entices one to go further, since maximum power is developed at 6,500, and the red line, whose warning is backed by an ignition cut-out in the distributor, is at 7,000 rpm. Revving beyond 6,400 rpm is not encouraged.

The top end of the engine is clearly ready to go that far and well ,beyond - there is no lack of breathing at such speeds - but the slight vibration noticed a little earlier increases unpleasantly to a drone, which deters one. No doubt this will be cured with development. since other large four-cylinder engines (such as BMW's) are smooth throughout their power ranges.

In fact the test car's rev-limiter cut in at an indicated 7,400 rpm on the very accurate revcounter -vital if one cares about 0-60 mph times, since it just allows one to clear 60 in 2nd gear. The gearbox is on the whole very pleasing to use. Ratios close progressively as one changes up. The gearlever has a delightfully narrow movement, particularly when one makes that downward change so often used in five-speed boxes, the U-shaped movement from top to third. In the Elite it is almost an I, since 3rd and 5th slots are apparently so close, separated more by the spring guard over 5th and reverse 'than by sideways movement. First to fourth positions are like a normal British gearbox, with no spring bias. Changing into top (or reverse) is perhaps a little heavy; changing out of top one needs to resist the spring on the backward movement out of 5th slot. Synchromesh is adequate for all normal use, though the brutal changes exacted during acceleration testing made it grunt.

We believe that this is the smallest capacity car we have so far tested fitted with air-conditioning. Knowing that such systems use some power -Tony Rudd, Lotus's Engineering Director, tells us it needs 8 bhp to drive the air conditioning pump on the Elite - we always carry out performance tests with it switched off. It was interesting therefore, when using the air conditioning mildly at 70 mph, to feel the car check perceptibly as the pump automatically switched in.

Thanks partly to the easily mastered gear-change, and to a quite good throttle control, it is an easy car to drive smoothly. A big- help in this respect compared to the Elan and Elan Plus 2 is the fact that there is no abnormal amount of rubber in the drive line.

Economy The Elite may appeal more and more today with its relatively small capacity engine when one thinks about fuel prices. Fuel recommendation is 4-star, on which it. runs well, except if one asks too much of the bottom end of the rev range. When in a mistaken attempt to start in 2nd we noticed some momentary pinking. Fuel consumption as usual depends every much on the driver; our overall 20.8 mpg might have 'been higher if we had not felt it necessary virtually to run the car in, since it was taken over with less than I,000 miles on the millimeter. Most owners should return anything between 20 and 26 mpg. The tank holds nearly 15 gallons, which gives a useful range of between 270 and 350 miles. Oil consumption was on the high side at 500 miles per pint; one might expect it to improve later in the car's life.

Noise As suggested already, most of the noise heard at speed in the Elite is produced from under the bonnet. We felt that there should be less. Driven more gently in town it is a pleasingly quiet car. As well as Lotus chassis engineers, Dunlop must be awarded high marks for successfully developing such very low-profile tyres - only 60 per cent aspect ratio - which do not produce anywhere near the bump-thump one might expect. Road noise (and transmission noise) is more noticed in the back than the front, but the level is not high. There is a subdued body resonance in the back too, and at higher speeds one tends to want to lean forward to hear more easily what anyone in front is saying. Wind noise is quite well subdued; what there is seems to be generated by the excellent door mirror.

When the twin electric fans switch themselves on in traffic, they are only faintly audible. The only other ancillaries to be noticed thus are the pop-up headlamps, which move refreshingly quickly when you want them - up in less than l.sec if you wish to flash them - but close with a noticeable double bump.

Handling and ride One is tempted to begin "As usual. the Lotus handles very well. .." except that it sounds mildly derogatory. The Elite generally speaking steers beautifully and behaves well nigh perfectly, which is no mean achievement when one deserts two-seaters for bigger cars.

We have not yet tried a non-assisted-steering Elite, so the need for power steering is not obvious. Saying first of all that we would prefer it appreciably less light, replacing the low effort with much more feel and rather higher gearing, one must go on to say that the car steers superbly with no perceptible lost motion and excellent response and, thanks partly to ideal weight distribution, very little understeer until you start attempting corners at very high speeds. It doesn't roll much, the seat 'holds you well, and it copes with all bends with almost deceptive ease. Traction is excellent in a straight line, and fairly good on corners, though the inside wheel will spin in some circumstances. Keeping one's foot down in a long track bend taken very fast does produce understeer pro rata. The car is fail-safe in handling, since if the driver finds he has attempted a bend too fast, his (possibly) instinctive reaction to decelerate produces a tail slide which scuffs off the excess speed. Catching such a slide is a little more difficult than on some other cars, since the steering does not self centre as readily as it should; in normal driving one notices this in town, when one has to help the car straighten up after leaving a side turning more so than should be needed.

Turning circles are tolerably confined. One notices quite a lot of tyre scrub on full lock. Roadholding on the Dunlop Super Sport radial tyres is very good indeed. in bath wet or dry.

The ride is on the whole excellent. At low speeds one notices bumps more, but the faster one travels the better the car copes. There is a further improvement in ride with increased load of course, and we encountered no bottoming when four-up with light luggage. The only weakness here is the projecting lip of the radiator air scoop, which fouls the road at the bottom of any steep, sharp-angled ramp, such as some garage entrances.

Straight line stability is very good indeed, and the car resists deflection by side-winds well.

Brakes These respond well to very light pedal pressures, only 30 lb effort being needed to slow at better than 0.5 g. Fade resistance is good enough for most purposes, the pedal effort rising by 50 per cent in our usual fade test, 'but still well within bounds. Driven hard on the very testing MIRA flat circuit, the brakes rumbled and faded rather more noticeably, though still not too much, recovering quickly. The hand-brake is just adequate, though it could barely hold the car on a l-in-3 slope. Ultimate response of the main braking system two-ups was 0-93 g, which the makers say would be bettered in the four-up condition.

Controls Driving position and ease of driving are both very good. Everything except the comparatively heavy clutch pedal is light to use. We would prefer a little more room for one's left foot when not on the clutch; you have to slip it round the pedal on motorways.

The accelerator and brake are perfectly arranged for heel- and-toe changes. There is more than enough legroom for taller than average drivers. Surprisingly nowadays the instrument glasses are flat, and so, especially if one is driving into a low sun, one can find reflections of one's face making it difficult to read the dials. Matching the effort needed to turn it. the leather rim of the steering wheel is light, almost delicate.

Apart from the choke and ignition lock, all other switches and minor controls are placed in the centre console. It is an age old problem - how to make it easy to find everything at night - and Lotus have solved it with delightful ingenuity, using an aviation idea. It is amusing to ask anyone who doesn't know the car to say how the centre panel is lit so subtly; the answer is not unpleasantly obvious, even to the driver. who can perceive the little spot of light in his mirror if he stoops slightly. A lens-bulb. peering through a small hole in the roll bar housing in the roof, makes a miniature floodlamp which, controlled by the panel lamp rheostat, works very effectively yet unobtrusively. (As a matter of interest. Lotus call it the "miners lamp".)

Headrests are provided. In front they are a fixed part of the seat. The back ones would be welcome in any rear-end collision, but they do make tunnel vision out of the view in the inside ;mirror. One must turn round to see anything on the nearside which isn't dead aft, or to see up the slight rise of a motorway entry slip road.

Three-quarter rear vision is limited. though not as poor as in some other cars in this class.

In front the relative closeness of the quite hefty screen pillar makes something of a blind spot, noticed in town particularly. The long single windscreen wiper blade may at first look like a cheap expedient, but in fact it works very 'well indeed. The areas at the top corners of the screen which it does not clear are unimportant. There are two twin-jet washers sticking up on stalk-like tubes from the heater inlet in front of the screen, and these give a generous flood of water. Familiar steering column controls make fingertip work of indicating, headlamp flashing and dipping, washing and two-speed wiping.

A rear window wiper with washer is provided, and is needed. since the back glass does get filthy quickly on a mucky day. Surprisingly, it too is a two-speed type; we would think it better to have one continuous speed and one intermittent.

The electric window lifts work satisfactorily, if somewhat slowly by transatlantic standards. Because of the closeness of the header rail and the size of the visors, one has to duck slightly when pulling them back for use. They are held in place when not wanted rather more positively than usual, each with a flexible clip.

The Elite is not the easiest car to park neatly as soon as you start driving it. One must carefully bend forward to see anything of the nose; normally all the driver sees is the top of the scuttle. The back is out of sight, though it does not protrude seriously; the width is noticeable too when deciding where the kerb is. Such criticisms are of course only made by the first-time driver; the owner soon learns to overcome them.

Living with the Elite Ventilation works tolerably well, and so does the heater, though the one on the test car lacked good temperature control. A very good feature of the temperature control on the 503 is that the one lever combines, very logically, the heater control and the air conditioning temperature control. English December weather is not exactly ideal for seeing how effective a "fridge" is, but to our surprise - and recalling remarks made by the drivers of the only air-conditioned rally car we have 'heard of - we found that slight use of the air conditioning was most refreshing when driving hard, keeping one cooler than the normal ambient air inlet would have done. Although we would not have thought so once, experience has taught us that even in an English summer, air conditioning is a welcome luxury.

Sitting in the back is a more practical proposition for an adult than it may look. Sensibly, the two seats are form-fitting, making you sit with your knees bent, so that there is, contrary to appearances, tolerable legroom - provided that the front occupants move their seats forward. Getting into the back isn't something a considerate man would ask his rheumatic grandmother to do, but it isn't impossible either. Leaning forward to join in a front-seat conversation or to get out, one must remember to duck to clear the roll bar padding. The view out isn't very generous, but with the provisos stated, each seat is comfortable and holds you well, giving a feeling of security.

The glove locker is tolerable in size. and would be easier to open with some sort of handle. There is a surprising amount of space in the boot, in spite of the battery and tools hidden under a bulge on the right. The spare wheel lives in a drop-down tray under the boot. To unlock the glass hatch, you pull a tee-handle behind the driver by the back seat; the window opens itself under gas-spring pressure, and is best closed slowly, otherwise much effort is needed. Accessibility to parts needing maintenance is fair to middling. The dipstick is easily found, and thanks to a single small underbonnet lamp on the right, one can find its home easily at night. The oil filler on this engine is nowadays where it should be, on one cam cover, the brake reservoir, fuses and battery are obvious, and adjusting alternator belt tension looks fairly easy. The distributor and oil filter hide under the carburettors, and one must remove the air inlet and cleaner trunking; the distributor is best taken off for checking. Shutting the bonnet properly means one must press it down to lock on both sides.

The handbook is quite informative for minor routine points (and it is good to see Lotus advertising the availability of a workshop manual, at a price). There are large circuit diagrams and a lubrication chart too, in addition to the other customary pieces of information, all packed very neatly in a slender wallet. We liked the Philips radio cum recorder very much, though through no fault of Philips you must change into neutral out of 5th if you wish to change a cassette.

Overall. when considering any car which sets itself up to compete with some very distinguished company, one must apply high standards. The Elite 503, in spite of what its specification includes as standard, is not a cheap car, and there are some points which we suggest need improving. But, besides being a tremendous. attention-drawer - its looks are still very unusual, attracting a lot of stares - it is now a delightful car, and because of a most pleasing combination of good steering, high fuss-free cornering power, good seating and ride and good performance, it is most relaxing to drive. We would like it quieter, but nonetheless we like it greatly.

Specifications

Performance