The 2008 Lotus Elise
Posted by bensto in CAR on 04 9th, 2008
The 2008 Lotus Elise is a one of type sports car for purists who yearn for the closest thing to a telepathically controlled track special you can find on the road. While other exotics rely on massive engines, space-age materials and high-tech technologies to hustle them down America’s twistiest roads, the Elise utilizes an age-old principle — the lighter, the better.
Regardless of a mere 190 horsepower generated from its Toyota-sourced 1.8-liter four-cylinder, the base Elise still manages to go from zero to 60 mph in 4.9 seconds. Credit a curb weight of 1,984 pounds, which is a minor miracle in this era of perpetually pudgy vehicles. By comparison, a Mazda Miata weighs 2,498 pounds and has only 170 hp aboard. For 2008, a detuned version of the supercharged four-cylinder found in the Lotus Exige S makes its way into the more street-going Elise SC, which boosts thrust up to 217 hp and 153 pound-feet of torque (versus 133).
The 2008 Lotus Elise is a two-seat roadster with a targa-style removable soft top. Standard equipment includes 16-inch front wheels and 17-inch rear wheels with high-performance tires, Lotus/AP Racing & Brembo brakes, HID xenon headlights, air-conditioning, power windows and locks, leather-trimmed Momo steering wheel, aluminum handbrake and shift knob, trip computer and a four-speaker Alpine stereo with CD player.
read comments (0)Danisa Patric
Posted by bensto in ARTIST AND MUSIC on 03 29th, 2008
Danica Patrick born in Beloit, Wisconsin, on March 25, 1982.Grew up in a happy household with parents T.J. and Bev and sister Brooke. Danica’s need for speed was not clear from the get-go as, like many young girls, she like to play with Barbie dolls as a child.
At the age of 10, however, Danica got a glimpse into a world she would come to love. She accompanied her sibling on a trip to a go-karting lesson and quickly fell in love with sitting behind the wheel of a speedy vehicle. While sister Brooke soon abandoned racing, Danica was hooked, and she soon joined the World Karting Association (WKA).
Within two years’ time, Danica had become a racing fiend, and in 1994 she captured the WKA Grand National Championship in the Yamaha Sportsman class. She would win additional karting titles in 1995 and 1996, and soon had established herself as a rising star. Her final season in the WKA came in 1997, and she went out with a bang, winning the Grand National Championship in both the Yamaha Lite and HPV classes.
The next step in Danica’s career would be a big one. She upgraded her competition by joining the Formula Vauxhall Winter Series, moving to England in order to do so. Over the course of 1998, Danica kept up only an abbreviated racing schedule in the UK, because she was also spending time fine-tuning her technique at the Formula Ford racing school in Canada.
Therefore, it was in 1999 that Danica made her true British racing debut. She finished her first full season in ninth place, then showed vast improvement by finishing second the next year at the Formula Ford Festival, the best-ever finish by an American at the British event.
In 2001, her last year in England, Danica made a name back home in the U.S. She won the Gorsline Scholarship Award for Top Upcoming Road Racing Driver and competed in the tough British Zetek Formula Ford Championship. On the heels of these feats, Danica was touted as the top female open-wheel driver with international experience.
In July 2006 Danica Patrick announced that she’d signed a deal to race with Andretti Green Racing. For the 2007 season, she scored her first three career podium finishes to finish with four top 5’s and 11 top 10’s. She scored her career best championship points finish of 7th with 424 points.
