The Untold Truth About Driving a Lotus Elise vs. ND Miata @ The Tail of the Dragon!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 20 ต.ค. 2024
- We drove the Tail of the Dragon! This has been one of those roads we've been wanting to drive for years -and I present to you the full drive with a 2007 Lotus Elise and a 2016 Mazda Miata (Club.)
On December 27th, I drove from Boston, MA to Deals Gap TN/NC in order to finally drive one of the all-time great roads: THE TAIL OF THE DRAGON
December, of course, is the off-season, but we had an opening and we went for it! Thankfully, we were lucky enough to have some beautiful weather, and the Lotus and Miata did not disappoint!
This video is meant to show you what it is like to drive the Tail of the Dragon, for the first time, in a Lotus Elise. In this video, I'm chasing a 2016 Mazda Miata driven by friend of the channel, Mike. It wasn't really a race, we drove spiritedly, but safely, and I followed behind so that I could narrate this video.
I hope you enjoyed this peek at the Tail of the Dragon and what it's like to drive it from a first person point of view from behind the wheel of a Lotus Elise!
Twinkle Sound Effect:
Chanhun
July 16th, 2012
SE_refresh.aif
twinkle
Used under Creative Commons Attribution License and found at Freesound Dot Org
9and 3 at all times bro, you're driving will get better immediately ...a lotus deserves good driving skills
That's the plan!
Came to say the same 👌
Was about to comment the same thing
@@dylanguidry8675 im sorry.... by 9-3 u mean zig zagging around? excuse my ignorance please!!!
So I watched the whole thing and not a single sentence about lotus vs mx5
That's fair!
I think Lotus / Mazda has it right for sports cars. At least Elise / MX-5 where weight loss in design was a goal not high powered engines. Growing up I watched Formula 1 racing & when Colin Chapman was in charge of the Lotus Team coming up with that Lotus 49B design was ground breaking by using the engine block to form part of the chassis & rear suspension support. That is probably why these 2 cars really excel at the Dragon. Can't wait to bring my MX-5 there one day. Loved the video !
Great point!
Great video. If you allow me to give a feedback, toward becoming a better driver, I would say you should lock your hands on 9-3 position and leave it there as if they are part of the steering wheel.
Thank you - I’m going to begin working on that right away! And thank you for watching!
strange for me to see others handle the steering wheel. I don't take my hands off 9 and 3 unless i really have to go beyond crossed arms.
I won’t say i have the best technique as I haven’t really ever had good instruction - but hopefully this year i will!
That is the correct way, sliding hands all the time is incorrect.. 👍
@@Exigence-2007 Thank you! You will see an improvement in the next video!
Just about what I wanted to comment :) Great video though. Glad you're back!
@@PsYr0n Thanks!
Fun video. I have an air cooled 911; for me, like you, lifting in a turn is a death wish, no matter how intuitive it seems. Left foot brake, while keeping your right foot on the gas is the best way I’ve found not to upset the balance of the car.
Turns on the Tail of the Dragon are so close together, I think it’s really better for bikers than performance car drivers. There is another route, about an hour away, called Back of the Dragon, that is much better suited for cars.
Totally agree!
Not sure there's a huge difference between using the brake vs lifting the throttle. When you lift (or brake) and don't intend to turn in more you should straighten the steering a bit
Lift off oversteer was a wakeup call in my MR2. I learned quickly to drive a corner slow in and quick out without lifting off.
Totally!
Glad you finally got to experience ToTD ! That place is my church...I make a 3.5 hr drive there in my Elise or Evora whenever I can/need to get the knots out of my rope, as it were. Keep your hands at 9 & 3, stay between the mustard and the mayo and enjoy !
Thank you so much!
Just purchased a Elise a few days ago, should be shipped here next week. Cant get enough of these videos!
Thank you!
What year and color did you get??
@@AutoSugar 2005 in Storm Titanium Silver, with the Touring and Sport pack!
@@DannyTheDonk Oh fantastic! You will not be disappointed! Storm Titanium in person looks even better than in photographs - it's got great depth to it and the sport wheels are fantastic as well!
I’m so jelly. I want one so bad
Great to see you again Roger! :) We'd love to have you in California. Don't forget your friends in NorCal... "wink-wink". Cheers!
Thank you! And of course I would never forget about Nor Cal and I’ll definitely be visiting you all again soon!
Good to see you again. My Elise is in SC so get to drive some off season. Going to Carolina Motorsports Park next month for some Track Time. The Yoko 052s are superior in every way to the 048s. Can actually drive in light wet. Got some seat (passenger) time in a '65 Elan and have been promised the keys to his Seven. THAT car is awesome. Tomorrow being Sunday will go for a drive , then garage it for a month due to work. Lotus on...
Lotus on indeed!!
Good video! Loves the pops from that exhaust. I have an 07 Exige and absolutely love it. It's on the bucket list to get the car on the Dragon. I'm in Texas, the back roads are fun, but nothing like this.
Thanks! I’m originally from the Dallas/Ft. Worth area and I know what you mean!
YOU NEED MORE VIDEOS WITH THE WIFE MAN. YOU GUYS ARE A NATURAL COMEDY DUO!
Thank you!
Nice. I’m taking my Elise SC on The Tail of the Dragon this summer on the Ace Spade Rally. Can’t wait! Looks like a blast.
Absolutely - it was an awesome drive!
great to see the drive. i really need to drive there some day.
It’s a great drive and great fun!
An inexpensive solution for your wheel & tire needs is: Use your stock OEM wheels and install Bridgestone RE-71R tires during the summer & autocross and Bridgestone WS80 tires for the winter.
This is what I do for my Minneapolis 365 daily driven MX-5 RF. Even though the RE-71R is a great autocross tire, it still is a normal road tire. I have personally driven through absolute down pouring rain where you can only see brake lights at 60mph and the tires handled the water fine. The WS80 is an inexpensive Blizzack tire that makes the MX-5 better at ice & snow than my daughter’s new Civic with OEM tires.
The winter driving limitation is how well does the Lotus go through a car wash? For $30/month the MX-5 gets washed every other day in the winter; and is why I got a RF over the roadster.
The Lotus, actually cannot go through a drive-through car wash - it causes all kinds of issues, and in fact, when these cars were new, going through an automatic car wash would void the warranty (NOT KIDDING!) - Which means hand-washing only...which, in the Minneapolis winter...well, that's not likely to happen! I think you made the absolutely right choice in choosing the Miata RF for your situation...and it's a great looking car too!
hey iam shopping for elise and also live in MA. Do you still have the elise? did you ever take it to Devens to autocross? i miss my 4C but want to try Elise
I do still have it and more content is coming soon - car is garaged until this Spring once the snow and salt are gone!
The photos from the roadside photographers are really good quality and affordable!
I believe it! No photogs were there in Dec but I’d totally go back!
Very great job man! For your next driving videos, it could be possible to fix a camera on the pedalbox to film your footwork please? :)
I'm not sure my footwork is anything anyone would want to see, but I'll think about it!
@@AutoSugar Man, it's still interesting, it would be so great! :D
Thanks for the video, fun to ride along on the Dragon. I'll have to see whether the Lotus guys have a get together at the Dragon. I'm sure you'd be welcome at Miatas at the Gap in early August. And your driving was just fine for an enjoyable run up the Dragon's Tail! Would love to ad an Elise to the stable. I think it's the most mountain road ready in stock form. Shoulda picked one up when their prices hit bottom, oh well, so many choices but only so many dollars!
Thank you! I will try to make it in August!
Now that you've done the Tail of the Dragon and given your affection for California, your next trip should be the Nacimiento Fergusson road to Pacific 101 (North) then through Yosemite National Park. I do this every other year in my Elise. You'll send me postcards, thanking me.
Totally! I did Sequoia last year but didn’t have time for Yosemite.... perhaps this Summer or Fall I can do it!
Enjoyed the video. I drove the Dragon once several years ago before the Elise (had an Audi TT then) and I want to go back. Would have loved to see you drive the Miata as well and give a comparison.
I really should have done a proper comparison that day and I should have driven them back to back. That was originally the plan but we ended up meeting a great group of people at the top and we ended up talking about cars for hours and by the time we were done, we needed to head back to town :( - But we will have lots more comparison content coming soon!
@@AutoSugar Hahaha! One of the biggest dangers of owning an Elise - people are gonna wanna talk to you about it. My wife and I love it. We get to meet great people and share the car with them.
You're going to have to tell me which go pros to get and adapters and placement for my Elise Turbo. Do you do iracing at all?
Thanks! I've got a bunch of different GoPro 6 Black Editions - I have never done iRacing - just Asetto Corsa
The Elise is a cool car, but the MX-5 is so much more reliable. The ND1 had some transmission issues that have been worked out in the ND2. I'll take a loss of HP and handling for a car I don't have to worry about as much.
MX5 is far more usable and probably reliable but the fun factor of the Elise is off the charts!
Since you're in Boston you know that you can come up to New Hampshire and find lots of good twisty two lanes. For me they are perfect for my '16 Mazda ND Sport, the basic car. Or the Mazda is perfect for the roads. Though at this time of year the frost heaves add to the fun.
Indeed!
No better way to get critiqued then showing the inside driving shot haha. I have a shorter throw steering rack that really helps me keep my hands planted in the twisties
Indeed - but that's okay! I want to get better! Thank you for watching! :) In all honesty I usually drive a bit better than that, but I was not feeling well and wasn't driving all that fast either since I was making the video...but all that said, my technique here definitely needs improvement and it will improve immensely by the next video!
Are you still living in the Boston area? I'm in NH. Are you daily driving the Elise in the winter?
Still in Boston! I drive the Elise in Winter on nice days - but because of the kind of work I do (i have to carry a lot of video equipment for work) I usually have to drive myToyota Highlander for work which is kind of the opposite of an Elise lol!
@@AutoSugar Good to know. Do you know of a place/person where I cn test drive an Elise? There aren't mayn around here.
If you want so see some good driving to learn, Best MOTORing official channel is all you need.
Thanks!
Nice to see you back on youtube! PS: I'm the guy from State College, PA and I sent you an email months back. I ended up buying that '09 Elise and have loved every one of the nearly 5K miles I logged since.
PS: Would love to see telemetry data overlays in your videos.
Fantastic - I'm so glad you ended up buying that one, it looked like an excellent deal! Honestly, nothing makes me happier than helping others get into these cars - I'm so glad you are enjoying it!
@@RandomTaskEHE - Yes, I'm going to look into adding that this Spring for both autocross and track. Thanks so much!
I objectively deserve that shirt more than you do. I have a 1990 Nissan 300ZX Twin Turbo.
Lol!
You mentioned concerns with temps. What temps do you see that begin to concern you?
Thanks for writing! I am probably a bit more paranoid about engine coolant temps than others, because I had some early issues with one of my radiator fans not coming on, and the car really needs both to keep the engine temps cool. In my experience, even with both radiator fans working, on warm days or very spirited driving, the car has trouble keeping temps cool *if* you are also running the air conditioning - if not, it can usually handle things ok - so I just keep an eye on it and turn off the AC if things start to climb. The boiling point of the system is quite high (I believe around 250-260 degrees), but the coolant temp light will start flashing at around 230 degrees to let you know that you should keep an eye on things and if it doesn't start to come down, you need to pull over and let the engine cool down.
What tire pressure do you run?
Which exhaust is that? Sounds like mine, a Larini SC.
Hi Joe! It's a Larini sports exhaust with slash tips! Such a great sounding exhaust!
@@AutoSugar Ah, I knew it sounded familiar. Mine is the SC (Oval) Sounds great.
Thank you!
Man u lot need to drive some welsh mountain roads 🏴
Indeed!
$500 fine for crossing center line. Ha ha Miata👍👍Is Always The Answer!!👍👍😎😎😎✌️
shift intohigh yes I know
Little Lost Lotus 👍😎
Would love to see vs the 2019 miata with 181hp
Me too!
Lotus 😍
Yes!
@@AutoSugar I have an s2 it's wonderful
What is wrong with lifting off the throttle
So, in a mid-engined car, if you are going fast into a turn, and lift off the throttle, the weight will shift from the rear tires, to the front tires, and in certain cases, if too much weight transfer happens at the wrong time, you can lose to lose traction and you can spin the car.
Driving school is recommended.
No argument there.
Why does that engine sound so good?
Miata for the win.
Thanks for watching!
Less gum next time.
It was a cough drop as I was fighting a cold, but I agree I wish I could have gone without it.
Once again, it was a cough drop as I was fighting a cold - I’ve never had one in a video before and hopefully never again, I respect my audience deeply and I do my best.
3:00 - Committed Cardinal Sin
Thanks for watching!
Slowed down? What was he supposed to do?
@@toyotahontas9296 Thanks :) I went over the yellow line a bit, I think the camera makes it look a bit worse than it really was...while I had good visibility of the other side, you never know who's coming and how fast so it's just something I will keep trying to improve. Thanks so much for watching!!!
@@toyotahontas9296 you will get pinned to the wall of shame if you go over the yellow line on the ToTD.
Need to get off public roads and goto a race track once a month. If you did that, you’d never need to drive fast on the street agaun
Agreed and I truly don't drive that fast on the street.
That's so American, to give a twisty road a name and have a logo etc. Surprised not called it 'World Famous Tail of the Dragon'
Lol!
I’m certain that would apply ! People do come from around the globe to drive ToTD and surrounding roads. 318 curves in 11 miles without any intersections... it’s special 🙂
Move to San Diego and you got a like from me.
I really really love San Diego!
Buy it.
Great road, great time of year. If you want to see 9 & 3, a little bit 10 & 2 and some hands off in tight turns have a look at these...th-cam.com/video/C2kdsofRLiU/w-d-xo.html & th-cam.com/video/smW-x8t9tbE/w-d-xo.html
Thank you!
Dont people say that California has terrible laws for car anthusiasts?
They do have more regulations, but at the end of the day, it's got amazing roads and great weather all the time, and many car enthusiasts choose to live there. I think a lot of the criticisms are based mostly on politics and this is not a political channel.
No, but they have terrible laws for gun enthusiasts
A ND is just as uncomfortable as a Elise
I’d take the Elise since it’s worth the discomfort over the NDs as a ND owner
Fair point!
I guess the suspension ride is a little rough on the ND. As a 19' club owner, I'd say it's one if the most comfortable cars I've sat in, as far as sports cars go.
@@UpToSpeedOnJaguar 100%. I’m 6’1” and my ND2 RF GTS fits like a glove. Miata is always the answer. Progress Springs is my only significant mod.
Wanna become a better driver - get a miata
I now 2 peaple that sold their lotus for miatas.lotus looks cooler but no match for miatas
Miatas are great!
No match in what way?
You know you are out of your mind right? Lmao. Lotus no match for Miata haha. I have had both and the Miata while cheaper and a lot of fun was a mere taste of what the almost 500lbs lighter lotus can do. First hand experience here not second hand blah blah
@@1fastmx5 I think our friend Corey here is having a bit of fun with us.
@@AutoSugar lol ok I'll call off the Sports Car Police
I own two Miatas. If i owned 10 i would trade them all for one Elise