Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/634989
STORY AND PHOTOS BY BRET T BECKER MEDIA E very media day begins with a morning briefing on whatever car is being launched, some details about the track, then orientation laps for people unfamiliar with the facility. And on those mornings, in the back of every journalist's mind is the notion that he doesn't want to be "that guy." That guy is the one who breaks the car, tosses it off track or even so much as drops a wheel. Nobody wants to be "that guy," which was especially true with the new Élan NP01, and I'm relieved to report that both cars survived media day without any drama. Aside from a few splattered bugs on the windshields and a little tire and brake wear, the cars left in the same state of repair in which they arrived. So what is it like to drive? The Élan NP01 is an audacious primal scream of a racecar, an unrepentant assault on all your senses. It's loud. It's physical. It's fast. It generates a lot of g force with a metric ton of grip. Above all, it's a blast to drive. In terms of speed, the car is every bit as fast as it looks. Acceleration in first gear is explosive, the result of an enviable power-to-weight ratio of 8.92:1. That's based on the engine's 185 horsepower and the 1,450-pound car with a 200-pound driver, and let me tell you the results are biblically good. The only times I've ever driven anything that pulls this hard in the lower gears, the acceleration was backed NASA INVITED AUTOMOTIVE JOURNALISTS TO BUTTONWILLOW RACEWAY TO DRIVE THE NEW ÉLAN NP01 44