Cars, not bikes, but... an Elise doing 173 mph?!

[Snips]

Cars, not bikes, but an interesting story...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/derbyshire/7955457.stm

I seriously doubt an Elise could hit 173 mph, modded or not.

The police measurement is presented as being infallible, but is totally dependent on accurate operation.

Watch the video, and they claim bikes have been measured at over 200 mph, something I also seriously doubt. Determined attempts to hit 200 mph mostly fail from what I've read regarding Hayabusas.

[BluprintZ]

I wondered if anyone else had spotted that article, i saw it on Yahoo an hour or two back.
Looks like he can afford to pay the fine if he can afford a Ferrari, wot a twit.
Ah well, at least it wasn't another biker...again!

G.:biggrin:.

[simons]

Two year ban and a 5k fine is absolutely shocking. Just goes to show, next time the nice policeman asks you how fast you were going keep your mouth shut. If the guy had, the case would have been thrown out on grounds of unreliable evidence.

[bigfiretruck]

thats very funny unless he put his elyse body on the ferrari there is no way that would get to 125 let alone 170 lol

why bother saying you were doing 105 just say no officer i was doing 92 ;)

[gremlin]

Think the eco Elise can go pretty fast, it's a biofuel one with hemp panels, certainly faster than the standard but not those sort of speeds! Just shows how unreliable cameras or operators are, it was only a few weeks ago the lad got off after proving his old banger wasn't capable of the alleged speed. I guess while people just put their hands up 9 times out 0f 10 they'll carry on using them.
The new Lotus Europa is rather nice, I think it was one of those with masking on that practically had me spinning in the road while I was out on the 125. I looked in my mirror, nothing there then whoosh something came flying past and left me wobbling in its slipstream. My fave bit of road is also their test run so all sorts of weird and wonderful contraptions whizz around usually at stupid speed to test suspension on cambers etc I guess. Trouble is there's a camera van hidden quite often, I don't know how they'd prosecute as the car wouldn't have a number plate or a model name, and doesn't normally look like any particular car, I'd like to see that one in court!

[Kiwi]

and how come bikers go to jail for 148mph and car drivers get to walk away?

[Snips]

and how come bikers go to jail for 148mph and car drivers get to walk away?

...for me, the point is that he wasn't, and couldn't have been, doing 173 mph, or 148 mph, though he certainly seems to have been punished more heavily than someone doing 105 mph.

I'm *not* condoning speeding, what I am saying is that he should be prosecuted and punished for what he did, not for what they *think* he did, even if what they think he did was impossible.

Also, 'owning a Ferrari' is not a crime, nor evidence (though thankfully that wasn't used in court anyway).

[gremlin]

Funny how when any other crime is committed they have to have incontravertable proof that you've committed it and you're innocent until proven guilty but when caught speeding they can do you for the possibility you may have done something and you have to prove you're innocent. Like the guy two up the other week, yes he was speeding but he was prosecuted as much for what may have happened to his pillion, and his sentance was way harsher. The sentancing does seem a bit Orwellian "four wheels good, two wheels bad".

[MagnaJeep]

For 5k you can race on the Nürburgring till you get dizzy, fast and legal,
and probably on many other racetracks across Europe. :freak:

[muthaducka]

Just thought after Reading an article on the Eco elise the engine is not modified in any way with no increased performance, it's just a showcase of what lotus can do with natural materials. It just has a shift light suggesting earlier gear changes and runs on standard fuel. 127mph tops

[NewMon]

Sounds to me like they've 'punished' him for making them look like fools. A two year ban is outrageous especially for 105mph. And how did they measure the 105mph if the 173 was obviously wrong?

[simons]

The feller admitted doing 105, and on that basis they convicted him. I went through the same thing. Funnily enough I was in my elise as well when I got nicked for 97 in a 30, no way was I doing anything remotely like that. Kept my mouth shut. When asked I even refused to confirm my name, address or if i was the keeper. Copper resorted to every bully tactic to try to get me to admit i was speeding, i knew i wasnt and refused. Eventually got a summons, went to court, case got thrown out on grounds of insufficient evidence. The cops were unable to identify me as the driver, let alone produce calibration certificates etc. I consider myself lucky the magistrate had some sense. The case of the guy above goes to show that incompetent coppers can produce any evidence, no matter how improbable, and still the magistrates will secure a conviction, its a witch hunt and sooner or later its going to be you that gets done. Even my mum, has points on her license and she's never gone over 35.

[simons]

With the exception of the Elise gt1 which was a fully blown gt1 class racer, no elsie is capable of 173. Supercharged Honda and Audi conversions which make up to 400bhp hit a brick wall at under 160.

[gremlin]

I'm sure RSPete can give the full spec, he works for them! I thought the eco Elise was biofuel, to give it the mega green credentials. The Tessla is also Lotus developed and can do silly speed for an electric, the scary thing is it would creep up on you and never know it's there till it wafts past!
They've also been developing two strokes and getting mega efficiency out of them too. It's just a shame they don't seem to make it big, they do so much developement work but don't get much recognition, but they also shoot themselves in the foot like with the Vauxhall vx 220 or whatever it was they developed it but it was a direct rival for the Elise. The worst one was the new Elan or M100, that became the Mazda MX5, one of the best selling small sportscars ever, the Elan disappeared without a trace. Think that one was due to someone nicking the blueprints though!
Back to thread, I'd just like to see the law applied as it should be, no charge without proper evidence and some consistancy when caught, it all seems to depend on whether the judge is having a bad day or not! There should be a set sentence for say 20 over the limit and so on up the scale and it shouldn't make a difference whether it is a bike or car. Also it would be nice to have a bit of common sense, 90 on an empty motorway at silly o clock shouldn't be the same sentence as 90 past a school during rush hour. At the moment someone can do stupid speeds in a built up area and depending on the judge could get less than someone going a bit over the limit on a motorway, also it seems often being drunk gets less than speeding, which is totally wrong. People can drive the wrong way up a motorway and get away with it but go 10 miles over the limit and the book gets thrown at you.

[Snips]

Back to thread, I'd just like to see the law applied as it should be, no charge without proper evidence and some consistancy when caught, it all seems to depend on whether the judge is having a bad day or not! There should be a set sentence for say 20 over the limit and so on up the scale and it shouldn't make a difference whether it is a bike or car. Also it would be nice to have a bit of common sense, 90 on an empty motorway at silly o clock shouldn't be the same sentence as 90 past a school during rush hour. At the moment someone can do stupid speeds in a built up area and depending on the judge could get less than someone going a bit over the limit on a motorway, also it seems often being drunk gets less than speeding, which is totally wrong. People can drive the wrong way up a motorway and get away with it but go 10 miles over the limit and the book gets thrown at you.

Totally agree.

[banditloon]

Your telling me a Lotus Elise only goes as fast as my hair stylist transport....

[simons]

pretty much, it gets there in half the time though

[Snips]

And it's a bit quicker around the corners ;)

[gremlin]

Yup Lotus are renowned for their sticking like the proverbial to a blanket! Even Clarkson can't fault them for that. It's just a pity that they are also renowned for being Loads Of Trouble Usually Serious!

[Phatty]

I think it's absolutely outrageous that people can get prison sentences just for driving fast. if they cause an accident and death they yes, but just for going fast? behave.

I once got timed doing 132.25mph on the M18 in my old golf. I got a £1000 fine, 42 day ban. Very reasonable I think. In this day and age I'd get banned for a year at least.

do I still speed? of course I do, and I always will continue to speed, but only when the conditions allow it.