**CAR OF THE WEEK! Friday 12/10/12**

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Announcing the 36th installment of the Car of the Week series.

A chance for everyone on GTPlanet to get behind the wheel of the same car and give it a thorough going over. The aim is to get people driving what they wouldn't usually drive, or cars that may have been overlooked. They may be great, they may be terrible, but as part of GT5 they deserve discussion right here.

People can show off their amazing photos, trade tuning tips, race one another and review that weeks nominated car. Lap times can be posted, top speeds and acceleration times compared and tips on handling discussed.

We are starting to develop a brilliant bunch of regular contributors but I very much encourage everyone to get involved and have their say. Every week (almost!) a poster will be picked for their contribution in that weeks thread to pick the star car for the following week. Ask anyone that has so far been chosen to pick and I am sure they will tell you what an honor it is! So get involved and it could be you!

Car of the Week - What do YOU think of the car?

So, without further ado, this weeks star car of the week...

Last week iainn gave us a brilliant look at his crappy French car, and claimed that it wasn't total (expletive). While I disagree (because most French cars are, just look at the Seasonal), I still felt iainn should be rewarded for his efforts. What I didn't tell him was that it was going to be posted late because a) I partied my (expletive off), and b) needed some time to recover. Sorry, iainn.

iainn originally planned to keep it French, but instead chose to go from Special Education classes straight to the Mental Ward. His choice:

vauxhall_lotus-carlton-1990-92_r15.jpg

Image Source
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http://www.mygranturismo.net/car_sheet.php?id=408

Loads Of Trouble Usually Serious.... think I'm wrong?
 
As I'm old enough to remember when this car was launched I can recall a magazine article (Autocar?) where they tested it and managed to get it to wheelie. There was a picture but I can't find it on Google. Anyone else remember?

I tested it at a top speed of 172mph on SH tyres! For anyone that hasn't tried it before remember it weighs as much as the Sun and takes a long time to slow down!
 
One of the few sedans I wish I had a chance to try in real life, but hey, I have driven this one more than a few times here on GT5. It does weigh a bit more than the average Lotus, but it doesn't even get into the top ten heavy weights for English cars. Sad really when you have English made 2 doors that out-weigh the fastest sedan of yester-year...

Have a good one
 
I need one of these! Anyone have one they want to trade? I know, I put a notice in the marketplace, but so far just someone that wants some paints I do not have. I did get another copy of the Pug 908 TDI from the seasonal, it's 0/0/0, anyone interested in it or anything else?
 
The Lotus Carlton then, an unassuming biggish family saloon on the face of it, but once you get close you notice the flared wheel arches and the spoilers which add a bit of menace.

Once it's fired up and you press the accelerator you realise the what Lotus did here. Which is create a saloon car with amazing performance. Top speed on the test track was 172mph!

The other figures of interest are;
394bhp after an oil change and engine overhaul giving 478PP
1/4 mile in 14.116 seconds
1 mile in 33.804
0-60mph in 5.710
0-100mph in 12.063

I took it to the track in the 500PP FR seasonals to see what it could do against newer machines.


Pretty well is the answer at the High Speed Ring as once it gets going it's quick, the problems lies in slowing down enough to stop sliding off at the corners, I found I had tp brake too early and couldn't really get to the front.

Next up was the Cape Ring Inside. This one saw me sliding all over but there are some good high speed flowing curves which were great fun.



Cheers
 
I was on holiday last week, taking in the delights of Wales, so I missed this update. I was so close to choosing this last on the previous week!

I have a friend who has one of these - I based 'Dave' from a previous story on him). His is a very interesting example - it's test car that managed to escape; it has a roll cage, test drivers log book amongst a few other other things. It's not in perfect condition, of course, but that's not the point. He's had to do some welding where the the wheel arches where the back end was being pulled from the rest of the shell - a common occurrance apparently.

He's always been a Vauxhall man - and always wanted a Lotus Carlton (we were quite young when they came out), so i suppose this is a bit of Mid Life Crisis car :lol:. I haven't been in many 'properly' fast cars but this thing is relentless, luckily the brakes are amazingly good. He reckons it handles well enough, but will spin up the wheels at 90-100mph if provoked and you need to be very careful in the wet!

I've not had a go at driving the real thing, but could not resist the virtual one, so hopefully will catch-up soon.
 
This thing I believe was known to be the bastard offspring of a Sierra Cosworth and Darth Vader.

Incredible really, since the Vauxhall Carlton was one of the most dull cars ever to hit the road (I had a retirement-burgundy 2ltr CD one for a bit. Sucked the joy right out of driving).
 
Lotus Carlton 1990

More late 80s madness, but this time from a maker of relatively sensible cars - Vauxhall/Opel. Starting with a 'normal' 3.0L 24v GSi Carlton, Lotus increased the displacement of the sturdy straight-six to 3.4L and strapped on a couple of Garret T25s. Suspension was fettled, the very fat wheels and tyres accommodated by a moody bodykit, and enormous brakes were added. The big torque (in the region of 420 lb-ft) required the ZF gearbox from the Corvette ZR1 and Holden's V8 diff'.

The performance bettered contemporary supercars and left Beemers and Mercs in the shade (no 155mph limit here!). This outrageous performance from a family saloon inevitably caused consternation and panic in parts of the UK - mainly the Daily Mail (moralising conservative, with small 'c', tabloid for the middle classes) who called for it to be banned and the car even got mentioned in Parliament. It bothered the police too: this was mainly due the cars being quickly targeted by joyriders, thieves and ne'er-do-wells but the Police, of course, had nothing that could keep up with the Lotus - their best traffic car being the 24V Senator.


LotusCarlton_MtAso_1_zps08527944.jpg



Quite a rare car this in GT5 land, it doesn't seem to show up very often but I still have two in the Imperial Green (being the only colour they were made in). After rebuilds: 391BHP, 1655Kg, 478pp

On to Trial Mountain and the Carlton handles well, with some pitch and roll but it soaks up the bumps without fuss; there is good pull from around 4000 rpm and the gearing works well on the track. As Iann has mentioned, it is a big car and requires a bit of extra care with braking but doesn't suffer much understeer once you get entry speeds right. Power oversteer is prominent but easily controllable, meaning there is fun to be had. In fact it feels pretty nimble for its size and weight. Trial Mountain on SH 1:46.601


LotusCarlton_TrialMountain_3_zpsed4b399d.jpg



Next I sought out a race and went to Mt Aso in the 500pp FR seasonal. It felt like there was a bit too much lateral grip on the Sports Softs used for this seasonal, but there was no problem overwhelming the rears in the corners, leading to some ragged laps. The Carlton easily out powered most of the field, but I could only manage third, a sad 18secs behind the winning Series One Supercharged.


LotusCarlton_MtAso_5_zpsa5a1344a.jpg



The loose back end led me to a full lap drift at Tsukuba. I did five laps on CH to score just under 14K; the Carlton is a pretty good drifter in stock form and I expect good be improved plenty by a drift tuner.


LotusCarlton_drift_Tsukuba_3_zpsf9c27b6f.jpg


I really like the Lotus Carlton - it's fast and good fun, but I suspect would be out-handled by more specialised cars in the 500pp range. A great piece of madness from a different time, and I doubt we will see its like again.
 

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