Summer car. Audi TT or Lotus Elise?

regulus said:
I do agree that it looks quite good in a different way than your usual small type sports cars and will go and test drive one to see if the seating is really as uncomfortable as most people claim.
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The seats aren't uncomfortable at least for reasonably short length journeys; they are actually very nice to sit it. However, there is about an inch of padding if that, it doesn't give you the comfy armchair feeling that less focussed cars might give.

Halfway through a trip to Le Mans (starting at Farnborough via Dover) in my brothers Elise, I was getting quite uncomfortable, and by the time we got there I had a very numb bum.
 
NathanE said:
That's just splitting hairs :D The cars are still made out in the Norfolk wilderness :)


As long as you don't have a bad back or whatever then getting in and out shouldn't be a problem. The comfort is surprisingly good... there aren't many cars where you can drive along with your legs fully stretched out and relaxed. The cockpit is cosy especially in the winter with the roof on and the heater going. The only thing that knocks points off the Elise for comfort IMO is the noise level on the motorway. As soon as you stray over 65 then you can't really hear the radio anymore unless you turn it up - but then when you slow down you get deafened by the radio :p The ride itself is not really any more jarring (IMO, less!) than something like a Clio Sport or MINI Cooper.
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I have to agree with all of the above.

They are noisy as you have said, so that is something to think about.

But from just being a passenger I do agree with everything said there, they really are not as uncomfortable as people seem to make them out to be. Sure if you're used to a 5 Series BMW like Fox then it's going to seem a bit spartan, and probably a bit hard and noisy.
 
Yantorsen is perfectly welcome to give his opinion, even though some (myself included) find it pointless him raising the fact that a car being British-made should make it to the list of advantages. Again, that's his opinion and I respect that.

I really wish I never saw that Porsche though, I always, by reflex assumed a Porsche will be unattainable to me in my 20's, but now it doesn't look like the case.
 
NathanE said:
The comfort is surprisingly good...
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That's cos you've got a 111R which is about 10x more comfy than a series 1 which is what the OP will get for his 7-8k. The seats in the S1 are made from stone and have 6" nails sticking out of them, that's how comfy they are
 
regulus said:
I really wish I never saw that Porsche though, I always, by reflex assumed a Porsche will be unattainable to me in my 20's, but now it doesn't look like the case.
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Buying might not be unattainable, but running it might be a different story. Prepare to open your wallet if something goes wrong (which is fairly likely on an oldish Porsche)
 
NathanE said:
That's just splitting hairs :D The cars are still made out in the Norfolk wilderness :)
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I would hardly call it wilderness, quite a nice bit of road running along by the factory and fairly close to civilisation. Lovely and smooth just a shame its a 50 zone bunch of spoilsports. Personally I would go for an Elise but as has been said numerous times by the sound of it your not looking for what the Elise has to offer so the TT would be the pick of the 2.
 
regulus said:
No, that's what you think, and if you're comfortable in thinking you're right, do so. I want merely a car to cruise long roads with the top down. Whatever person happens to be impressed with an 8k car, is off course welcome to do so, but won't be noticed much.
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Bizzarre reply for what was simply a recommendation.
You don't buy a Lotus Elise to cruise about in.
 
Microwave said:
Truth
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Agreed. Fox pretty much concluded this thread before it even begun.

The only mere point IMO is that a TT isn't really a "summer car". You can use it all year round and it wouldn't blink an eye. Whereas an Elise, especially an S1, would need a bit more TLC through the winter to keep it going.
 
Simon said:
Bizzarre reply for what was simply a recommendation.
You don't buy a Lotus Elise to cruise about in.
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Bizzare reply it was to an even more bizzarre remark you made. I'm buying the car to drive in for my own and the gf's enjoyment, not to take around showing the world what a big poser I am, which is what you suggested. "Perceived image" is something I think about at work, not on the motorway zipping past droves of unknowns. Thanks for the recommendation though.
 
i quite like the TT, nice looking pretty fast etc. tuning potential too..

Lotus Elise is a proper car though in terms of rawness. Its more a slightly more refined Caterham type motor than a TT however.

Designed in Britain I think, made in Britain, engineered in Britain, a British brand.
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engine (if the 1.8 VVTLi) is Toyota 2zz-ge, designed by Yamaha.
 
regulus said:
Bizzare reply it was to an even more bizzarre remark you made. I'm buying the car to drive in for my own and the gf's enjoyment, not to take around showing the world what a big poser I am, which is what you suggested. "Perceived image" is something I think about at work, not on the motorway zipping past droves of unknowns. Thanks for the recommendation though.
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Honestly, it is not worth buying an elise for motorway driving. Infact, its almost pointless driving a convertible at motorway speeds.

The most fun I have had at legal speeds has been in an elise.
The most fun I've had on the motorway would be in something that is built to munch mile after mile of motorway. By 'fun', that means comfortable for the journey that is being done, because lets be honest, motorway driving is boring as hell!
 
Morba said:
the old TT is a girls car... definitively?
please, explain what a definitive girls car is...
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Sorry, spell check corrected my spelling wrongly. I meant definitely, or however you spell it, spell checker doesn't seem to have a better suggestion.
 
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