Elise vs. Veyron

Posted by: Rob
Editor-in-Chief

So I was bagging on the Ferrari P4/5 and Bugatti Veyron this weekend and said, with tongue firmly in cheek, that I was thinking of picking up a used Elise so that I could supercharge it and go look for a Bugatti Veyron to beat up on. Well, a few CarDomain members took me to task for this. Okay, so maybe supercharging is the wrong way to go. Maybe Id need to go with a turbo or engine swap.

Seriously, something about the Veyron rubs me the wrong way. Maybe its the fact that they stuck a legendary Italian name on a VW. Maybe its the price. Maybe its cause it’s a mid-engine "sports car" that weighs more than my old grocery getter. Or maybe its the fact that the Veyron runs 10.4 in the quarter and is now ranked #1 on the list of the fastest production cars of all time, pushing Ma Mopar into the number two spot after almost forty years of dominance.

But back to the Lotus. I still think a modded Elise could embarrass a Veyron. In fact, I just got off the phone with John Modica, owner of ForcedFed in Livermore, California. If you havent heard of ForcedFed, theyre one of the premier Lotus tuning shops. They have a turbocharged 380 HP Elise that runs low 11s in track tires. John thinks that with slicks it could produce high to mid 10s. And John is confident that on many tracks and road courses their car would leave the Veyron in the dust. Dont believe it? Watch this video of what appears to be a stock Elise repeatedly catching the porky Veyron in the corners. John has a car ready to go if we can find a Veyron owner willing to step up to the challenge. Heck, maybe we could take this to Pinks.

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Posted at 10:48 am in Rants

Comments

Brendan
Jan 5, 2007 at 8:12 am

this would be like puttin a 600 sports bike againts the 1300 busa or the new ZX 14 R the bigger bikes are built to go in a straigh line as fast as possible the 600 is made for more of a well rounded bike
or if u put them up to a 250 sport bike there is no way the bigger bikes wouldnt even touch the 600 or 250 but would rape both once they hit the straight

Gerry
Nov 23, 2006 at 6:21 pm

Hi Guys,
Have you seen the new Lotus with the super smoth underbelly and afew other design modeification to the rear end.They will leave that veyron panting for more ron ron.
go Lotus

Rob
Nov 23, 2006 at 1:02 am

Ettore Bugatti was Italian. And his name is Italian. Yes, he set up shop in France.

Anonymous
Nov 23, 2006 at 12:39 am

Good luck with the Lotus, you will need it!

RD
Nov 23, 2006 at 12:36 am

The Bugatti is originally a French company not Italian, get your facts straight before you write anything!

Jason DeShane
Nov 22, 2006 at 6:33 pm

You guys are right to say that the cars are designed for completely different purposes. They aren’t exactly classed the same, or priced the same. There are great reasons for owning either one.

Brett
Nov 19, 2006 at 9:43 pm

Of course an Elise could beat a Veyron on certain tracks! It weighs half as much and was designed, not for speed and stability, but to turn corners. Put them both on a tight, small track and the Elise would mop the floor, with or without modifications. But put them on the German Autobahn and no one would even try to top out the small, twitchy, nervous Elise, whereas one could happily sail along at 180 mph in the Veyron, AC on and radio blasting. IT was designed to go fast and be comfortable, not to fly around corners.

Danali
Nov 17, 2006 at 4:29 am

Just can’t let it go can u Rob?

LOL

I actually did some research on the elise since i have thought about buying one.. and they do handle EXTEMELY well.. actually do a google For ELISE and TOPGEAR I am pretty sure they did a show about how well the Elise handles and that it kept up to a ferarri on the track.. one with a lot of corners.. So no doubt they handle very nicely.. They just dont have the power for the straights..

I am no longer seriously considering the elise.. after seing one at a car show (molson indy toronto) because they are TINY little cars.. Looked a little bigger in the pics online.. Add some HP and it would be a very fun car to drive..

Still not convinced its gonna beat on a veyron though

travis
Nov 16, 2006 at 7:16 pm

there is no way you could beat a bugatti with a lotus. Especially if all you were doing was turbocharging or supercharging it, you’d have trouble squeezing 400HP out of that tiny engine. Good luck, you are gonna need it.

Anonymous
Nov 16, 2006 at 6:45 pm

dude those are some nice cars but i would half to go with the veron because i have a lookalike similar to tyours

Andrew
Nov 16, 2006 at 3:42 pm

I’m not ragging on the lotus but after watching that video it looks like they well rounded the veyron. If i’m looking to buy a car that can get out of the corners quickly then thats the way i would go out of those two. Personally i like the Porsche Carrera GT but thats just me. But i get what your sayin if you put enough in to the lotus like the money you would have left from not buying the veyron then yeah i think it take it.