Re: TA Bolt questions

[DMCVegas@xxxx]

I'm sure that Lotus is quite profitable in their engineering 
division. And that quite a few cars have benefited from the work 
performed on them. The DeLorean included. I feel that the 
double "Y" chassis w/the VIRM underbody is a great 
improvement over the original seperate front crossmember & 
rear subframe held together by the GRP underbody. Hey, if you 
want to nit-pick, I even prefer the final design of the intierior vs. 
the one on the prototype. The point to my posting is that while 
Lotus did a good amount of work and research on the 
DeLorean, they failed to properly complete it. And where Lotus 
did not complete their work properly by way of not dedicating 
themselves to the DeLorean 100% as they should have, this has 
caused problems for the DMC-12, and their owners.

Is my statement a broad one? Yes, it is. Is it based upon "very 
little information"? Well, that depends on how you look at things. 
Hands on expierience, yes. Hands on, I've really only delt with my 
DeLorean. But, there are quite a few things here. We have failing 
pivot bolts on the rear trailing arms, a front end recall kit for both 
the lower ball joints and the front frame of the chassis, failing 
pivot bolts for the shift linkage, snapping muffler brackets, the list 
can go on. Over all information? No. Colin Chapman was the 
man credited with most all of the innovations @ Lotus. And he 
worked on the DeLorean. Now with him gone, GM's influence 
over Lotus with their own lack-luster reputation as it is (since 
after all they did own it), combined with the below-par treatment 
that the DeLorean recieved, I would say that puts them into a bad 
light as far as the dedication/completion of their work goes.

Even a quick search on Google using "Lotus Esprit Problem" 
yielded some interesting results. Even the Esprit appears to 
have problems. Things ranging from replacement of "U" joints, 
to use of substandard hoses & materials, failing motor mounts, 
to even hazardous fires caused by catalytic converters @ low 
speeds. So I guess that throws out my previous posting that 
Lotus owners have no problems (I assumed, and we all know 
what assumption is the mother of :p ). Yes, that is some pretty 
broad information for a pretty broad statement.

-Robert
vin 6585 "X"



--- In dmcnews@xxxx, "Mike Griese" <mike.griese@xxxx> wrote:
> That is a pretty broad statement to make based
> on very little information. Lotus brings in far
> more money (and profit) on it's engineering 
> consultancy business than it has ever made making 
> race or road cars. In fact, it's the contract 
> engineering side of the company that the previous
> owners were most interested in. Most sports cars
> from major manufacturers have benefitted from 
> suspension and chassis tuning by Lotus and 
> some have even had engine tuning done by Lotus.
> 
> Mike
> 
> [snip]
> 
> But if you own a car made by another mfg who 
> contracted work to Lotus, be wary of what they designed.
> 
> -Robert
> vin 6585 "X"