British Speed There are others, but lt an bs seem to be the most useful (like all forms, you will quickly learn who is knowledgable and who think they are knowledgeable)
I wish Rob, would give us a Lotus section here in Fchat like the Maserati section. I dont like Lotus Talk and rarely go over there. In fact most Lotus guys I know are on fchat anyway so a Lotus section would be great. Doug! How have you been lately? Jason
If we get enough interest. Would need to be more activity than even British is putting out now with Lotus included.
I'd rather see a Japanese section over Lotus. I tend to agree with Rob - Lotus fits under the British section, but is it really enough to justify a separate section?
Maybe not, I just know a lot of people who refrain from Lotus talk and other lotus sites but there are a lot of Lotus guys here on fchat who don't really post Lotus stuff here in the British section. No biggie though, just a thought.
Hey Jason. Just got back from working the baja 1000. That had me busy for the last month. LotusTalk goes through some phases. Past 6 to 12 months were, in my opinion, a bad spell. Seemed to be a period where a handful of guys were being obnoxious jerks and would only post girlie pictures, argue that their way was the only way, and argue just to keep in practice for their next marriage. Sorta reminded me of a small bar at closing time, when only the obnoxious drunks are left. Technical content was very low. it is getting better, guess the obnoxious drunks either passed out or got distracted by some other small shiney object.
There's not much action here: USA7s - Powered by vBulletin But what little there is can be helpful to earlier cars, particularly in the USA. Matt
I disagree. It's not as good as Lotus Talk for modern cars, and it's not worth much for classic cars. Perhaps because it's a marketing arm of Lotus itself. Matt
The only other really active one is a British based site so there's not much US activity on there. I can't even remember the last time I logged in SELOC Forums LotusTalk has it's ups and downs. Now as there are more Evoras out there the dynamic is changing a little although the number of Evoras is so small, it won't make that much of a difference. Anyway this perfectly sums LT up From EVO magazine late last year http://cdn.app.evo.co.uk/editions/uk...006f7/web.html
Over the years I've been very involved in TheLotusForums and although I tried, I never really got into LotusTalk. This is because I found TLF to be the better forum. I have always found everything at TheLotusForums to be at a higher level - better quality information; better knowledge and understanding of Lotus history, philosophy, and identity; more intelligent conversation in the general forums . . . and a more polite atmosphere with a better sense of decorum. I think Bibs did a great job early on to weed out the bad attitudes and stupidity, and the moderator team has done a great job to maintain that spirit. Clearly LotusTalk has the most Elise content, as it began as EliseTalk. On the other hand, it pales in comparison to TheLotusForums for Esprit content (which is to be expected, as TLF began as LotusEspritForum). As for Seven/old Elan/old Europa, neither forum has any content of significance. Comparing their content on 1950s-60s Lotus models is like comparing the size of Mercury vs Venus . . . in relation to the Sun. Owners of those old Lotus cars tend to have their own established communities and never gravitated toward the larger, more general and multi-model forums. When it comes to 1970s-80s Lotus (very much classics), there's no comparison: TheLotusForums wins by a landslide on both quality and quantity. EliseTalk is an overwhelmingly American forum, and has a lot of people who were new to Lotus with the arrival of of the Elise on American shores, and have or had little awareness of Lotus' existence prior to 2005. Lots of enthusiasts who have never been owners posting there, too, for better and for worse (kind of like FerrariChat). By comparison, TLF, while naturally UK-heavy, has a broad international member base, deeper knowledge of Lotus among its members, and a much higher percent of registered members are actual owners. As for your "marketing arm of Lotus" comment, you are mistaken. TLF started as an independent, enthusiast owned and operated forum, and remains that to this day (unlike LotusTalk, which sold out, BTW...). Bibs (and other members) have developed and maintained a great relationship with the factory, and that has been beneficial to both the forum and the factory. And a relationship like this is one of the things that is very cool about Lotus and probably difficult to comprehend for anyone who is into Ferrari but doesn't know Lotus; Whereas Ferrari work hard to be elitist and place the image of their "brand" as being above people, Lotus have always been sincere and approachable (although Bahar tried hard for a while to make Lotus like Ferrari in that regard). There is a difference between being an "Official Community Partner" (which is what TLF is), and "marketing arm of Lotus". Quite frankly, I think the fact that the people at Lotus are sincere enough to mingle with the owners/enthusiasts of their iconic products - new and classic - is great. Numerous current and former employees and associated people of all ranks have been members, including some of the most famous (relatively speaking) people at Lotus. And it's important to know that this happened first; these relationships developed over the years and the "Official Community Partner" status more recently followed. I think your comment undermines the very genuine relationship that exists between the factory and the TLF community. (Check out Lotus' official community partners here: Community | Lotus Cars) Which Lotus forum sounds more appealing to you: The one that focuses on just three recent models and is overrun by Americans talking and learning about these cars from a distance; or the forum with owners of many Lotus models from all over the world, that has a good relationship with the very maker of the cars we like, and has enjoyed the involvement of Lotus engineers and executives themselves? Obviously, to an American both have an appeal. If I were going to objectively call one of them "better", though, considering all of the above, it would be TLF. I have owned about 70 cars in my life, more than a dozen different makes/marques, belonged to a couple dozen clubs and at least a couple dozen internet forums. I've had a lot of great experiences and met a lot of great people, but TheLotusForums has been the best experience I have had, bar none and by a sizable margin, with any organization of car enthusiasts. I think I'll go over there right now! . . . Cheers, Tony K.
I too would like to see a separate Lotus section, although I can't disagree that it would draw light use. On the other hand, we really don't need a separate section for the "Crescent Classic Ferrari Tour" anymore, do we?
Agreed. I don't think there is enough interest in Lotus among the FerrariChat crowd, but maybe the presence of a Lotus section would invite more discussion? When I owned both Ferrari and Lotus at the same time, I was disappointed that there wasn't more shared interest in these two marques.
I belong to this website... Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums by LotusElan.net If anyone has a survivor Lotus Elan Plus 2, I'm interested! Please send me a PM. Thanks! I'm located in California.
I agree TheLotusForums is the best site. It probably depends which car though. Its especially good for Esprits and I like the way they have separate forums for Guigaro (ie proper ) Esprits and Stevens cars. I am finding myself posting on there more often than Fchat recently!
I'll try the The Lotus Forums. Being an elise owner Lotus Chat has been a resource of sorts. Like many sites it driven by people who drive on street. Its hard to find details about track setups, lots of people with ideas few with pratical experience. Lots of products for sale, very little real feedback. Prob in the Uk they have better experience. I second the opinion thta we have a lotus section here.
There is useful track oriented info regarding the Elige twins on LotusTalk. IMO there is not enough critical mass here to supplant that. And frankly, as a percentage of user, I think far fewer FChat users track their cars than LotusTalk users, in large part because the Elige is so track ready out of the box.
Very little on the eilge twins in terms of different alignment and ride height options, very few people tried different springs shocks etc, even shock settings are hard to glean. Still not hard to figure it out. In the Uk there is more feedback. I do agree the percentage of loti tracked vs probably any other marque is huge. Great thing about lotus practicaly no one buys it for the badge, pretty much everyone who buys one does it for the drive. It probably the one authetic car company left. (notice I did not use the term brand) As an aside test drove a porche macan, it is one bser of a car, lipsick on the pig or garnish on a decent midsize suv. I guess fake exhaust, insipid steering and a badge really does sell. Hence the sales problem for lotus which is imbued with none of these.
