What are peeps views on a lotus carlton there deffo very rare so obtaining parts etc could be a problem and suppose usual checks specially for any accident damage etc performance wise i think there a 3.6 tt, just out of curiosity because not much peeps mention them

It's big problem was the weight, it would demolish a set of pads on one track day, clutch every 9k,shocks around 12k.

Last bill I paid was for new HT leads £245 in 1994.

no internal work was needed as car was originally built to over 500bhp but was dropped down to avoid bad publicity which they got anyway even at the 377bhp figure Vauxhall were brande as toatally irresposible but it did give them what they wanted and that was the street cred they were looking for. They made no money on the car as the factory told me each car cost them well ovet £85k to build.

The strangest part of the car was that it had a six speed box but a warning in the handbook that sixth gear was not to be used as it was only there because it was the only box available off the shelf that could handle the torque.

Cant say Im a fan of the lotus Carlton. Bmw E34 M5 or even better the E34 B10-BiTurbo far better car.

Cant say Im a fan of the lotus Carlton. Bmw E34 M5 or even better the E34 B10-BiTurbo far better car.

 

I am not a big fan but one hell of a car when it came out :bow:

it managed a 4.6 0-60 and that was with a second gear start to try and prevent the shafts from snapping.

 

impressive! :bow:

no internal work was needed as car was originally built to over 500bhp but was dropped down to avoid bad publicity which they got anyway even at the 377bhp figure Vauxhall were brande as toatally irresposible but it did give them what they wanted and that was the street cred they were looking for. They made no money on the car as the factory told me each car cost them well ovet £85k to build.

The strangest part of the car was that it had a six speed box but a warning in the handbook that sixth gear was not to be used as it was only there because it was the only box available off the shelf that could handle the torque.

 

the sixth gear is what made it do 175mph as you said it had bad publicity so they did this to drop the speed the car should have done 200mph. i read a review and it said it was fast very fast but as soon as you put it in 6th gear it was gone mabye there way of limiting the speed

I'd sooner have an LC, it's a better car than the two BMWs listed and far more individual.

 

Btw, ALL LCs came from the factory in Imperial Green. Only one was ordered to be resprayed by the dealership in silver and AFAIK, it's the only genuine one in a non-standard colour. Imperial green is so dark that in some lights, it does indeed look like black.

 

There are more Lotus Omegas (Omega A = Carlton) than Carltons. So you'll see a lot of LHD versions knocking about.

 

The car is based on the GSi, with the same but heavily reworked Vauxhall straight 6 engine. Now a larger bore and stroke..from 3.0 to 3.6 twin turbo chargers. Produces 228bhp per tonne.

 

Interior was trimmed in very expensive Conolly leather.

 

Gearbox and dif are from a Corvette.

i saw a lotus carlton at the car show at NEC a few years ago - nice shiny black example. 0-60 was quoted as 4.7 on the board. nice car.

i saw a lotus carlton at the car show at NEC a few years ago - nice shiny black example. 0-60 was quoted as 4.7 on the board. nice car.

 

That would have been Imperial Green. Very very dark green, almost black.

That would have been Imperial Green. Very very dark green, almost black.

 

:eek: :eek: it was black as the ace of spades and that's imperial green?

Yup.

 

Imperial Green. None were ever made any other colour. The one you're refering to may have been Vauxhalls own car from the heratige centre in Luton. Has only covered 11,000 miles.

 

Believe it or not, this is Imperial Green

 

 

In a slightly different light, the same colour as a very slight green tinge to it.

 

love em, very tail happy.

yeuch! should have stayed black.

Nope, the Imperial Green is far nicer than Black. Like you think, you couldn't seem to tell the difference. It's a gorgeous colour in the flesh.

I'd sooner have an LC, it's a better car than the two BMWs listed and far more individual.

 

B10 bi-turbo versus Lotus carlton....performance is pretty much identical and about the same amount were built.

 

The Bmw B10 bi-turbo is based on the superb E34 Bmw. Whereas the LC is based on the errr...Calrton :( (and we've had carltons in my family for years, and they are crap cars) with a lairy bodykit.

 

One is of Exceptionally high quality, well built and reliable, the other......is'nt.

 

;)

The Carlton was a very good car in its day. The GSi 24v highly rated and often put head to head with the BMWs. Badge snob I see. The Carlton was better than most of its rivals. LC is still quicker. Was the fasted prodcution saloon car for some 15 years.

 

Vauxhall are actually very good at building RWD saloon cars and it's something they've always been good at. The Senator and Carlton were highly rated by the press on launch even though very dated now. Even the Omega was considered a good car which is more than can be said for most of Vauxhalls range of cars.

 

I'd sooner have an LC anyway, looks far nicer. The LC is built to very high standards. Interior is handstitched Connolly leather.

 

Although I considered a BMW 850 and and love the old 635CSi, I'd not buy a BMW purely on principal that the vast majority of road users think their owners are complete w@nkers! :rofl: ;)

I owned a Bmw 535i sport for 5 years, and my dad had a constant run of carltons (including gsi) for over 7 years. Big, Big difference between them in all areas ;)

but still it is just a carlton, as is the sierra cosworth, is just a sierra.

nuf said.

It's something that makes the LC just that little bit nicer...it's a Carlton that can reach 60 in under 5 seconds and looks miles better, far more aggressive than any BMW from that area, other than maybe the E30 M3...which isn't all that. The LCs have almost as much road presence as a Zed.

 

I quite like the old 5 series. Just generally have a very low opinion of BMWs, the latest BMWs are some of the ugliest cars on the roads. The one and 3 series are truly horrid looking cars.

I've has 2 Carlton GSi's, 1 12valve and 1 24valve, both manual, and id have another 24valve tomorrow If i could justify it.

 

The Lotus Carlton has always been one of my fave cars, Ive never driven one, but been round Snetterton in the passenger seat in one and for a big old barge it was bloomin quick!!

 

As for the Alpina, AC Snitzer, Hartge high power BM's, one of my old school mates and his dad has had pretty much all of them, and boy do they shift. But id have the Lotus anyday!!

24v GSi Carltons not only looked good but wen well too. The 12vs were stronger engines although not as powerful as the 24v engines.

 

Most of the high speed traffic cars the Police had in the early 90s were straight6 Carltons and Senators. The top end torque on them is very good for an N/A car. Generally very reliable too.

the lc speed ratio was crazy.......48 mph per 1000rpm in top gear 6 th, so It would never pulled top speed in 6 th

My dad had a nice but non-running Lotus Carlton sitting in his yard for a few months and some Pikeys came and offered him £50 to take it away - he agreed!!! I don't think he realised what it really was and what it was worth!

Anyone who hasn't driven one should be wary of comments such as it's only a dressed up Carlton, believe me it as far from a Carlton as a 300zx is from a micra.

It would hold it's own with many of todays supercars, the mid range torque is still stunning and the handling for such a heavy package defies belief. I have had M5's as well and the LC would easily embarass them. I sold mine to Dario Franchitti the Indy car driver and at the time he was driving in the DTM for Mercedes and he said that the LC was actually quicker than his race car in straight line performance and far superior in handling than any other saloon he had driven and believe me he could pedal a car.

Anyone who hasn't driven one should be wary of comments such as it's only a dressed up Carlton, believe me it as far from a Carlton as a 300zx is from a micra.

It would hold it's own with many of todays supercars, the mid range torque is still stunning and the handling for such a heavy package defies belief. I have had M5's as well and the LC would easily embarass them. I sold mine to Dario Franchitti the Indy car driver and at the time he was driving in the DTM for Mercedes and he said that the LC was actually quicker than his race car in straight line performance and far superior in handling than any other saloon he had driven and believe me he could pedal a car.

 

 

I dont think there is any doubt it is an awsome car but the zed is bad enough for things going wrong but the LC defies belief for problems !!!http://www.lotus-carlton.fsnet.co.uk/History.htm http://www.lotus-carlton.fsnet.co.uk/Faults.htm