Lotus 88
- Constructor
- lotus
- Years
- 1981–1981
- Designers
- Colin Chapman, Peter Wright, Tony Rudd, Martin Ogilvie
- Engine
- Ford Cosworth DFV V8
- Configuration
- 90-degree V8, 2993 cc, naturally aspirated
- Power
- 490 bhp
- Chassis
- twin carbon-fibre composite chassis
- Gearbox
- Lotus/Hewland 5-speed manual
- Suspension
- Top rocker arms, lower wishbones, inboard springs front and rear
- Brakes
- disc
- Weight
- —
- Wheelbase
- —
- Tyres
- Michelin, Goodyear
- Races
- 0
- Wins
- 0
- Poles
- 0
- Drivers' titles
- 0
- Constructors' titles
- 0
- Specification confidence
- high
Two chassis, one inside the other: the outer one takes the aerodynamic load and runs stiff, the inner one carries the driver and rides softly
The twin-chassis principle, and one of the first extensive uses of carbon fibre in a chassis
Ground-effect cars had to run rock-hard suspension to keep the skirts sealed, which by 1981 was punishing enough to hurt drivers. Chapman's answer separated the two jobs. Rival teams protested that the sprung outer body was a movable aerodynamic device; the car was excluded from three race weekends and never started a Grand Prix. It is the clearest case in the sport's history of a rule stopping a genuinely good idea, and Chapman's disgust at it is usually read as the beginning of the end of Lotus.
Never raced. Ran in practice at Long Beach, Rio and Silverstone in 1981 and was excluded each time.