2009 Axis Winter Hero Award.

Burlington, Vermont.




(thank you Spencer)

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Nice garden, you let cars drive on that?

Mas du Clos has to be one of the most gorgeous looking tracks on the planet, look at those manicured runoff lawns! They must be very exciting when it rains but man, they look pretty.

Here are some great shots from the Track4Fun guys who had what looks like a very Lotus-centric track day. Excellent pictures by Zamp and AlexF.

At the bottom is a movie clip from a 996GT3. Don't get thrown by the music, just a bit of humor which ends with the first oversteer moment!














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Electric Boogaloo, the Axis views the Tesla up close.

Adil writes:
It is an Electric Lotus Elise weighing 2500 lbs, with 240 ft/lbs of Torque available from 0 RPM. The car is built by Lotus although the Tesla marketers claim that it only shares 15% of the Elise's parts.

It looks good, and very familiar to any Elise owners looking at the pictures. It is also completely silent as evidenced by the movie. At the tail end of the short clip you can see the tach briefly 1/3 of the way up. The woman revved the engine but no one could here it above the conversation.

Given the instantaneous torque, it is supposed to go 0-60 in 4 seconds. 35 People who have put down deposits on the car test drove it in New York's West Village last Friday, at an event hosted by The Classic Car Club. The Club is going to buy one for its members. The cost of running it is 1 cent per mile. The car costs 90k and should be available in the fall of 2007.

AC adds:
I'm not automatically against alternate fuel cars but a sports car has to be FUN TO DRIVE, and while I certainly had tons of fun in my life with slot cars I think SOUND IS a fundamental component of enjoyment. The Tesla's main sound components when driving will be tire and wind noise...not really what you want to hear. Maybe they should come up with an automotive version of putting cards against bicycle spokes.
Another issue from our twisted hyper enthusiast prospective: I'm skeptical their published specs would hold up when using the car as we usually do at the track and if their power consumption is linear. Worse, consider 200 miles with a 3.5 hours stop to charge means a trip from say NYC to Watkins Glen would take some 8 to 9 hours?

P.O.D.

Laguna Seca, February 20 2006 by Rahul Nair



Want to have your photo considered for Axis P.O.D.? send it!

"Axis Celebrates insanity" week, Part 3: ...hey, I have a track car.

Some people have an Elise to drive at the track and then there are some people who have a slightly larger version they drive as if it were "just an Elise"!...



aside from the wow factor of the clip from our previously featured friend Manuma, what is immediately apparent is how well behaved the Enzo is at the limit. contrast that with the rawness and brutality of his "other" track car in the following clip!

"hold my cell phone please!"



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