Lotus cars

Lotus was founded by a man whose passion led his engineering mind to create many iconic cars. Colin Chapman's creativity was second to none during his era. Lotus created the Esprit (which was featured in James Bond film), Elan and more notably the Elise which surprised the motoring world with its simplicity by proving that light weight cars can be more fun than big heavy cars with massive horsepower.

Lotus was sold to Proton in the 1990s and the company was almost run into the ground by Proton as Proton only used Lotus's engineering department to develop Proton car's suspension and chassis. Lotus was left floundering and only sold the Elise to survive. The Exige model was introduced in several years later but did not really make any impact on the Lotus car sales. Lotus's business direction was going in the wrong direction as the world economy started to take a nose dive and sports cars were second priority to most car buyers.

Lotus until today only have sports cars for sale and did not ride on the luxury sports saloon wave where Porsche and Aston Martin were making good money. Lotus also did not develop any SUVs like Porsche did. By limiting the models to only sports cars the sales volume will always remain low.

Lotus's reputation for a sports car manufacturer alone would not guarantee its survival. Lotus did not have the racing pedigree reputation like Ferrari which the brand value alone was worth billions of dollars. Lotus needs a car that would appeal more to the masses that was capable of selling in large numbers globally in order for it to survive in this difficult economic climate. Sacrifices need to be made by cutting back on sports car development and focus on luxury sports saloons and SUV model that could be sold in key markets such as US, Japan, China, India and Middle East.

One major downside for Lotus is that is does not have its own engine and transmission. Transmission aside, the engine was a major component that was missing. Transmission wise Lotus can always work with reputable manufacturers such as Aisin, Borg Warner or Getrag. Lotus have gone from working with Rover and then Toyota for engines however, Lotus really need to have their own engines to truly call the car their own.

Lotus's current owner DRB-Hicom can only inject a limited amount of money to keep Lotus afloat. Drastic changes in management direction has to be made in order for Lotus to survive beyond 2020.

tokyo auto salon

The Tokyo Auto Salon which is held every January in Tokyo is by far one of the best automotive shows to visit. This event showcases the craziest and most innovative tuning technologies as well as heavily modified cars that we don't usually see on city streets. Nearly all the famous Japanese tuning houses will display their best tuned cars and their latest products. This show is ever popular with car enthusiast. This year's show boasted an attendance of 280,000 people spanning 3 days.

This event is also used by car manufacturers to launch new models and also face-lift models. The whole event is centered around tuning, modifications and product innovation.

This year's event was much a Toyota GT86 / Subaru BRZ show as most tuning companies displayed their tuned version of the Toyota GT86 and Subaru BRZ. This car has taken Japan by storm as the car of choice for an entry level car for tuning. Different versions of tuning ranging from supercharging, turbo charging and NA tuning styles were on display. There were over 40 different types of bodykits on display for this car.

This year's Tokyo Auto salon is by far one of the biggest spanning 11 exhibition halls. A big difference compared to last year's show that only filled up 8 halls. Despite being the biggest show in several years some of the major tuning companies were absent from this show. Big names such as HKS, M7, Apexi, Pivot and Spoon were missing.

The D1 drifting team also did exhibition drifts in the rear carpark for spectators to enjoy. Big names in drifting were there to show their skill and meet the fans.

The Tokyo Auto Salon is truly one of the coolest event to attend for any car fanatic.

How much torque is too much?

While the Japanese were busy working on their hybrids the Germans have been busy pushing the performance envelope with the turbo diesel engines. Previously a turbo diesel would give good torque figures but this concept has gone out the door. The new age German turbo diesels easily yield more than 300Nm from their high tech diesel engines. These are from ordinary passengers cars. The high powered performance diesels now easily offer well over 600Nm to 800Nm!

This is enough twist to tow passenger planes! The incredible performance is from the clever use of new age turbo chargers to provide gearbox destroying torque. With high torque the car is able accelerate without much effort giving the impression similar to riding on a wave. This also enables the car to pull heavier weights without stressing the engine.

A simple comparison is like putting 4 adults in a Honda Civic Type R with 240hp and 200Nm climbing a hill slope and compare it with a Hyundai Elantra 2.0 CRDI with 140hp and 300Nm with the same 4 adults climbing a slope. The Hyundai will easily climb the same hill slope with less fuss compared to the Honda which will be screaming its guts out and struggle with the hill climb.

Muscle cars are known for their massive torque rather than horsepower. The high torque nature of the engines allow the cars to accelerate from any gear and at any speed. In the movie "Fast and Furious", Vin Diesel drove a muscle car at the end of the movie which was able to do a wheelie was a good demonstration of massive torque. The torque from the engine was able to lift the front end of the car like a dragster.

No one will ever give a figure on how much torque is too much as the more torque you have the more fun it will be but there is a limit on the durability of the transmission.