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The Lotus Mid-Engined Revolution
When Colin Chapman decided to move Lotus Cars upmarket in the late '60s, he introduced the mid-engined backbone chassis under the skin of the Europa, and gave the world one of the first mid-engined road cars available. The layout was revolutionary at that time, and the basic chassis at the heart of the Europa went on to outlive the car as it also gave service under the skin of every Lotus Esprit offered from the original S1 to the end-of-the-line V8s.
Gran Turismo 4 allows us to sample this chassis in its early mid-engined form in the Europa, to it's stretched and widened form in the Turbo Esprit HC, and in its final form in the Esprit V8, and so that is exactly what I did. This, then, is a celebration of the life of the mid engined Lotus backbone chassis, and an examination of the objective and subjective results of 30 years of development. All cars involved ran on N2 tyres and were standard but received an oil change. Driving assessments were conducted at Tsukuba and Midfield circuits.
Lotus Europa Twin Cam
The Europa proved to be quite a complex character at Tsukuba. The car's general balance is oversteer, though it will understeer initially in the tighter corners if the entry speed is too fast, and then swap this for oversteer once past the apex. In faster corners, the initial understeer vanishes and the oversteer takes over with more authority and can quickly develop into a spin. Slow down the entry speed a little, and turn in with some throttle applied, and the car becomes more maneagable. It will then arc its tail out in response to throttle pressure in a very satisfying and controllable way on the journey from the apex to the next straight. At Tsukuba, though, this was not the fastest way, and once a bit more comfortable with the car's rather loose rear end, I started throwing it into corners with a definite tug of the wheel, and on a trailing throttle to avoid the understeer. Plant the throttle at this point and the whole car seems to wake up, and you can then drive it through the corner, using quick steering inputs to keep it all pointing in the right direction, with the power hard down and the car gathering speed all the way. Lifting off the gas at this point is a big no-no but you soon learn to keep it pinned and use the steering to keep it pointed up the road. It's not supercar fast but it is a truly entertaining little car, and, having said that, it did post some impressive figures at the Test Course. The little twincam engine proved gutsy and willing, and was happy to spin up to nearly 8000rpm in top gear and managed an astounding 149mph down the straight. The 0-60mph time of 7.8 seconds was hampered by the need to shift to third gear at 57mph.
Overall then, hugely entertaining to drive, though it will catch the driver out rather easily if his concentration lapses at the wrong moment.
The Author deals with a bit of oversteer at Tsukuba. 
Lotus Turbo Esprit HC
The Turbo Esprit, with its extreme wedge profile and comically raked windscreen looks nothing like the slightly awkward Europa. With scoops and spoilers sprouting from its origami body it looks confident and fast, and altogether slightly menacing when finished in black. It is rewarding to look at, and shouts supercar appeal. Pull away and the driving experience matches the more serious exterior. It immediately feels grippier, dartier, and more planted than the Europa. It carries amazing speed all the way through a corner while the body stays flat and composed in a remarkably modern way. It's age is only given away by its engine that by modern standards feels powerful but not devastating. Utterly different from the Europa, then. This is a slot car, a weapon designed to get the driver to the end of his journey as fast as is possible. Venture past its high levels of grip, though, and the Europa heritage starts to show through. The lift-off oversteer is still there in faster corners, but it does not take over the driving process with as much authority and in the Esprit it can be banished with a stab of opposite lock. And then you start throwing it at the slower corners - treatment that worked so well in the Europa - and the Esprit responds in the same way. It arcs its tail out, and as long as you keep hard on the throttle, it slingshots out of the corner on a quarter turn of opposite lock, firing you down the next straight and astonishing you with its sheer pace. It's like a grown-up Europa then. Similar but faster and more serious, and perhaps a little less playful for it.
It was a surprise then when the HC wanted to swap ends absolutely everywhere at Midfield. Lift off or power on, steer a little too tightly, touch a bump or a kerb, and the HC would launch into an unrecoverable spin immediately. It was four laps before I managed a circuit without a spin, and even ater 9 laps, I did not trust the Turbo Esprit on any corner at Midfield. I never did quite get the hang of it, so it was a surprise when it posted a lap time only 1.5 seconds shy of my best in an Elise 111R. I have found that Midfield tends to make cars feel more oversteery than they would at Tsukuba, but still the Esprit's transformation was a shock. The Europa on the other hand had been about the same at Midfield as it had at Tsukuba, so the HC's conversion to The Dark Side is all the more baffling.
Perhaps I should have driven the white one instead 
Lotus Esprit V8 SE
While the Turbo Esprit's performance jump over the Europa didn't feel as big as it actually was, the V8 feels like a completely different - and faster - type of transport altogether. It has 4 more cylinders, 1.3 more litres and an extra turbocharger compared to the HC, giving it a 130bhp advantage, and the V8 growls and snarls accordingly. Then you give it some welly and the nose lifts towards the sky, the engine headbutts its limiter with enthusiasm and the car is thrown down the road with the kind of acceleration that drains the blood from your eyes. This car punts you to the wild side of 120mph just as fast as you can wave the gearlever at it, and runs on to an extremely impressive top speed of 191mph. Welcome to the world of the modern supercar. It's a surprise then to find that it was only a second faster than the HC over the quarter mile, though it has to be said that the V8 with its extra power is trickier to get off the line, and I am sure that my 0-60mph time of 5.4 seconds can be vastly improved upon with some practice.
On the track, it does not feel much faster than the HC at the apex, but the SE has enough traction to make the most of its epic engine, and it fires away from the apex in a way that would have the HC can't even touch. The backbone chassis's lift-off oversteer in faster corners has been all but banished, but in its place comes extra understeer on turn in. Enough to make a missed apex a fairly regular event, in fact. Understeer under power is also possible, and it is easy to find yourself washing out towards the outside of the corner while asking for a bit more speed from the chassis. It feels much faster than the HC, and less scary than the Europa, but it is rather less adjustable than either of those cars. The styling, too, is fussier than the HC, but then the SE does still manage to look as fast as it goes, and that is very, very fast indeed. Ultimately, most of its speed advantage over the HC is down to its extra power and excellent traction, but it was a less satisfying car to hustle. That being said, it remained utterly stable and trustworthy at Midfield, and was shatteringly fast absolutely everywhere. Its speed alone is enough to make this a thrilling car.
30 years after its introduction, this chassis could still embarrass its peers in a straight line as well as around a track. It retired at the top of its game, a position it occupied for most of its working life.
Performance
Europa (135bhp after oil change)
0-60mph - 7.8s
0-100mph - 18.7s
0-400m - 15.82s
0-1000m - 28.49s
Top speed - 148.7mph
Tsukuba lap: 1:11.9
Midfield lap: 1:36.0
Turbo Esprit HC (229bhp after oil change)
0-60mph - 6.2s
0-100mph - 14.6s
0-400m - 14.71s
0-1000m - 26.30s
Top speed - 162.3mph
Tsukuba lap - 1:09.9s
Midfield lap - 1:25.9s
V8 SE (349bhp after oil change. Car also received chassis refresh prior to test)
0-60mph - 5.4s
0-100mph - 11.3s
0-400m - 13.76s
0-1000m - 23.95s
Top speed - 191.3mph
Tsukuba lap - 1:06.9
Midfield lap - 1:25.9
