The lightweight chassis gave the 91 a fighting chance against the far more powerful turbo engined cars and Cosworth worked on a short stroke version of the DFV purely for Lotus' use.

[7] Elio de Angelis used the car well but found the 91 was mostly competitive on ultra fast tracks like Hockenheim, Monza and the Österreichring.

The latter track provided a thrilling final lap win for de Angelis against Keke Rosberg in the Williams.

[8] That win, as well as several other consistent results by de Angelis and a podium place by Mansell, helped the team to fifth in the final standings in 1982, before ground effects were banned for the 1983 Formula One season and the 91 was replaced by the first Lotus turbo car.

The 91 was the last Lotus F1 car to win a race under Colin Chapman's rule before he died of a heart attack on 16 December 1982.