Lotus offer a variety of experiences (click here) but the cheapest one (Taste of Lotus) offered reasonable bang for buck in terms of getting hands on the car without breaking the bank.
You get a short briefing and then the group is divided up and sent out 3 at a time with an instructor in the seat, for two 20 minute sessions. The cars were all V6 Emiras, one with the sports chassis. I'm convinced the yellow one sounded better than the others.
In the first, the instructor shows you the circuit for a couple of laps, progressively winding up the speed. My instructor was a lotus development engineer and very quickly impressed with the agility and levels of grip on the car. Its ability to turn in is hugely impressive, with almost no body roll and neither over nor understeer. Then a swap and you're away. Those who know me will know that I am not the world's most impressive performance driver, but fortunately braking points, turn in points and apices are marked with cones and the instructor (occasionally huffily) tells you where to put the car.
The car is massively technically competent and throughout I felt safe, like it could handle anything I threw at it or any situation I got into. Quite a few ham fisted approaches to Clark or Andretti could neither unsettle front or rear. The driving position (low, low, low) was excellent and the controls felt perfectly weighted. The gearbox was a pleasure to go up and down (short throw, firm and mechanical) although some of the blokes with bigger feet I think struggled with pedal spacing. The the V6 was an absolute revelation, from the outside it snarled, howled and popped and from the drivers' seat it offered amazing power and tractability, hungrily eating up the rev range and offering significant torque.
The website mentioned two 15 minute sessions but I guess we must have been lower on numbers as we got two 20 minute sessions. There was a bit of variety in instructors (a couple of lotus engineers, a couple of racers) and it would have been nice to have swapped as they all had different approaches, although you stayed with the same one for both sessions.
I was smitten with the Emira, it was vastly capable and fun to drive. Linking up a series of curves in a satsifying line is clearly its forte and the track was well set up to show that off. I could see myself having one as a toy that you could have fun on a road with, take to a track and maybe try a weekend break in. Although not at current prices. Not on show was the i4 Emira, to be honest part of the draw of today was the fantastic engine note and I would be sad to miss that.
