First Eclat Sprint in Club Lotus News

[richardw]

I was delighted to see Pete Poulter and Jamie Baker's Eclat Sprint dominating the front cover of Club Lotus News today.

Jamie is Pete Poulter's grandson, and has written a piece in the magazine for his grandfather, whose car it is. In it, there is confirmation from Andy Graham that this is indeed the first Eclat Sprint, with painted markings rather than decals.

I did post a while back when this unique Eclat joined the 45th anniversary display at the Castle Combe trackday. I also encouraged Jamie to contact Angus to volunteer the car for the NEC - as we still don't know which cars are on display, I'm not sure whether this happened.

Congratulations Jamie and Pete!

Cheers, Richard

[richardw]

Interestingly, however, Oliver Winterbottom recalls that the first 30 cars had 4 speed gearboxes, low diff ratios and steel wheels. He created the Sprint livery on a Saturday morning and all 30 were sold "off the page" on the Monday - presumably to dealers.

Jamie and Pete's car is a 5 speed with alloy wheels.

Another Lotus mystery!

Richard

[Lotus-e-Clan]

Interestingly, however, Oliver Winterbottom recalls that the first 30 cars had 4 speed gearboxes, low diff ratios and steel wheels. He created the Sprint livery on a Saturday morning and all 30 were sold "off the page" on the Monday - presumably to dealers.

Jamie and Pete's car is a 5 speed with alloy wheels.

Another Lotus mystery!

Richard

Yes, I can remember a contemporary MotorSport (mag) road test report on the Eclat Sprint and it had 4 gears (?Ford) a low diff ratio (?4.1:2) and 195 (or maybe 185) tyres ..anyway they were skinnier than the 205 of the regular Elite /Eclat. The result was a much more responsive drive using the same engine... i.e. it felt faster ...and more fun.

[richardw]

Yes, I can remember a contemporary MotorSport (mag) road test report on the Eclat Sprint and it had 4 gears (?Ford) a low diff ratio (?4.1:2) and 195 (or maybe 185) tyres ..anyway they were skinnier than the 205 of the regular Elite /Eclat. The result was a much more responsive drive using the same engine... i.e. it felt faster ...and more fun.

I have been tempted to fit 195 section all-season tyres for just this reason - it is the official Lotus winter tyre recommendation for the Elite.

[TrevorK]

Didn't Tony Rudd say the 4-speed with the narrow wheels was the one to have as it was the most fun to drive?

[Lotus-e-Clan]

Didn't Tony Rudd say the 4-speed with the narrow wheels was the one to have as it was the most fun to drive?

With the 5 gear Excel you can have you cake and eat it mind you...

I went out today into the lanes and purposely never used 5th gear. Makes for a much more responsive drive, and a lot more fun with the engine on-song all of the time (the light steel flywheel comes into its own here too).

I've been doing this (not using 5th) a lot more since retirement as not having a daily commute has greatly diminished any issue of fuel consumption for me at least.
That said, on fuel consumption, it could be argued to be counter-productive to use 5th gear around the lanes as staying in a lower gear to keep the engine on-song and within the 'torque band' on a light throttle is fairly fuel-efficient.

I can testify to such an effect when comparing the mpg of my Clan using a close ratio 'box with a low top gear. I get 45-50 mpg with either the std 'box or the close ratio one. The std 'box top = 15.3 mph/1000 rpm (60mph = 3900 rpm); Close ratio 'box top = 12.5 mph /1000 rpm (60 mph = 4800 rpm).. just use a lighter throttle on cruising. The down side is slightly more oil consumption because more oil tends to get sucked down the valve guides during high rpm light-throttle operation.