Quote:
Originally Posted by NGR
Someone once said the perfect race engine blows up just as you cross the finish line, it has absolutely no more weight or strength than needed to win that race.
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Probably Colin Chapman. Lightness was everything to him.
Not just the engine, the entire Lotus could fall apart after the finish line for all it mattered, so long as it came in first
Lightness really does make a massive difference to everything - handling, cornering, braking, acceleration, feel etc etc. Sadly even new Lotus' are 50% heavier than my series 1.
BMW's i Division engineers get it though, and the i8 is very light for a big hybrid. That's why the only change I would make to mine personally is wider wheels and more tyre grip.
If they make a v2 car, it would not surprise me if they flare out the wheel arches slightly to enable this.
I can in fact reveal that a top i Division engineer told me in Munich that they have been experimenting with wider wheels for us (parts option), but they could not get them to fit perfectly (under all circumstances e.g. bumpy road, full turn). They have not given up on that.