toptoneone

What does lotus have to do with the development of the c6? I got in a debate with a guy at work he says the corvette only handles well because lotus made the frame and suspension? Is this correct?

C6400hp

He's an idiot.

toptoneone

did lotus have anything to do with the corvette developement?

Sven

Before you get back to him ... bet him a steak dinner. We'll back you up. .

He is an idiot.

P.S. You want the biggest, most expensive cut the restaurant has; and make sure to go large on the wine list.

User 020720

Unless I stand corrected, the only time I remember Lotus having anything to do with the Corvette was for the 1990 ZR-1 that had a Lotus designed DOHC 5.7 32valve LT5 engine mated to a ZF 6-speed manual transmission.

mdezmond

You are correct sabooher! You can consult the book, The Heart of the Beast, by Anthony Young for more details.

Wayne O

You guys are good!

overrev64

I believe you are correct. And actually Mercury Marine produced the ZR-1 engines because Lotus couldn't manufacture them to the quality Chevrolet required.

gbgary

good??? they're amazing!!!

User 020720

I knew this because a college buddy's father had just purchased a brand new ZR-1 that year while he and I were driving around in our lowly Mustang LX 5.0's. Us poor college kids had it tough.

burtonbl103

Sounds like he is talking out of his azz

28tudor

I don't know of any work in regards to the Corvette, But. Both Lotus and Porsche do lots of consulting engineering work for many companies with auto and other projects. This is not a Bad thing as both companies have some incredible milestones in their resume. Both Lotus and Porsche are responsible for the mid & rear engine development of racing cars. (the serious kind). and Lotus pioneered ground effects aerodynamics. We have wonderful Corvettes, but not everything is "invented here". Both companies are top tier.

SilverSurferC6

EXACTLY

User 020720

Yeah how's that for irony? Almost as much as Lotus sourcing the Elise engine from a Toyota.

snStarter

In fact one of the engineers, then at Lotus, is now a highly regarded engineer for the Williams F1 team.

ben dover

I "think" the Merc Marine engines were built in Stillwater Oklahoma.

Duck916

Lotus did help with the handling of the Isuzu Impulse....

Frogday

Strange that no one has mentioned that GM owned Lotus from 1986 until August of 1993.

SimpsonH

Well, not the C6, the real Lotus company was dead long before the C6. But, I doubt you friend gives in so easily as suggested above by Frogday:

From Wikipedia and other sources on the Corvette: It was General Motors' acquisition of Lotus - the famous British sports car and Formula One grand prix racing company - as a research and development facility in 1986 that sparked off the transformation. Prior to the takeover, Chevy engineers had been working on an ambitious project intended to make the Corvette one of the fastest production sports cars in the world. They intended to achieve that aim with either a twin turbocharged or 600bhp naturally aspirated V8. Once the Lotus expertise became available "within the family," so to speak, approval came from GM management for work to begin on a brand-new small-block engine.

In 1986, the Corvette team approached Lotus, then a GM subsidiary, with the idea of developing an ultra-high performance vehicle based on the C4 generation Corvette. With input from GM, Lotus designed a new engine to fit in place of the L98 V8 that was powering the standard C4. The result was what GM dubbed the LT5, an aluminum-block V8 with the same bore centers as the L98, but with four overhead camshafts and 32 valves. Lotus also designed a unique air management system for the engine to provide a wider power band by shutting off 8 of the 16 intake runners and fuel injectors when the engine was at part-throttle, while still giving the ZR-1 a stellar 375 hp when at wide open throttle.

In addition to the engine, Lotus aided the development of the ZR-1's standard "FX3" active suspension system, helping to ensure that the vehicle had real capability on the race track. The standard Z51 Performance Handling Package included heavy-duty springs and stabilizer bars, uprated disc brakes and a cooler for the power rack and pinion steering. Selective Ride Control was a feature previously seen on Lotus Formula One cars that allowed the driver to choose "Touring," "Sport," or "Performance" modes using a switch mounted on the console. The Sport setting was roughly equivalent to the normal '89 Corvette set-up, with Touring set as the soft option and Performance for the racers. Within each of the three bands there were six different shock absorber damping levels, electric motors automatically adjusting to give a firmer ride as the car's speed increased.

docgolf

As an aside... I remember Car and driver warned Lotus (When GM bought them) that GM spelled backwards was MG.......