Finally taken some pictures of my new toy

The_Dark_Side · 5 Feb 2006 at 23:52

Muncher said:
I certainly wouldn't put the 355 up there. The 360 was better and twitchy at speed, the 430 better still. A properly setup Elise I still think is right up there.

Handling wise an Exige is hardly any different to an Elise.

996 GT3 RS and Noble M400 are up there too.

it's all too easy to move into opinion and personal preference with this question.
however,confining ourselves to standard out of the box production cars ,would you say the Exige is the best handling road car ever made?
a yes or no reply would be sufficient.

NathanE · 5 Feb 2006 at 23:58

Yes. Now go prove me wrong

(You can't, because this a web forum. We aren't sitting ready in the pit lane of a race track with 10 of the world's best handling cars to prove it!)

Muncher · 6 Feb 2006 at 00:03

The_Dark_Side said:
it's all too easy to move into opinion and personal preference with this question.
however,confining ourselves to standard out of the box production cars ,would you say the Exige is the best handling road car ever made?
a yes or no reply would be sufficient.

Yes. I have not been in or driven anything that comes near it, maybe a Caterham Superlite does.

The_Dark_Side · 6 Feb 2006 at 00:03

NathanE said:
Yes. Now go prove me wrong

(You can't, because this a web forum. We aren't sitting ready in the pit lane of a race track with 10 of the world's best handling cars to prove it!)

i was aiming that at Muncher you nugget

he has reasonable knowledge and experience plus as he owns a similar car i was interested in his opinion and whether he is biased in any way.

grr

The_Dark_Side · 6 Feb 2006 at 00:04

Muncher said:
Yes. I have not been in or driven anything that comes near it, maybe a Caterham Superlite does.

so to clarify,is a Superlite better?

The_Dark_Side · 6 Feb 2006 at 00:05

Muncher said:
Yes. I have not been in or driven anything that comes near it, maybe a Caterham Superlite does.

remember "feel" is a notoriously unreliable barometer of ability....especially when we talk about "balls to the wall" cars like the Elise/Se7en etc.
even a mediocre driver can feel like he's Fangio in one of these cars.

Muncher · 6 Feb 2006 at 00:09

The_Dark_Side said:
so to clarify,is a Superlite better?

I do not honestly know, I would say probably not, but I have not driven one before.

Muncher · 6 Feb 2006 at 00:12

The_Dark_Side said:
remember "feel" is a notoriously unreliable barometer of ability....especially when we talk about "balls to the wall" cars like the Elise/Se7en etc.
even a mediocre driver can feel like he's Fangio in one of these cars.

Sure, but that is partly to do with the feedback, which is part of the handling.

It's entirely subjective, there is no right answer, just opinions, whether widely held or not and informed and uninformed.

As you can never test a car to the real limits on the road, only track experience matters.

The_Dark_Side · 6 Feb 2006 at 00:13

Muncher said:
I do not honestly know, I would say probably not, but I have not driven one before.

i have to say i've driven a few se7ens but only one Elise and IMHO the Se7en is better...but at this end of the wedge we are talking slight differences.
it's not as if we're comparing a Zephyr and a Zonda.

NathanE · 6 Feb 2006 at 00:14

I think we all agree that this is a subjective matter. And one that cannot be easily proved or disproved either way.

The_Dark_Side · 6 Feb 2006 at 00:23

[QU

Muncher said:
Sure, but that is partly to do with the feedback, which is part of the handling.

i can't agree with that to be honest.take a Luxobarge at 120MPH for example.you're so insulated from everything that without looking at the speedo you wouldn't know you were driving so quickly...but the fact remains that you are.
the reverse is true here,just because the car makes you feel it's handling like nothing else doesn't mean it actually is.
the feeling is a part of the driving experience,but has no place in the meat and potatoes world of handling which has the stopwatch and tape measure as it's king and crown prince.

Muncher said:
It's entirely subjective, there is no right answer, just opinions, whether widely held or not and informed and uninformed

usually i'd agree with this priciple...but not in cases like this one when we're trying to establish if something is as good (or worse for that matter) as it gets.what IS the best handling car is a debate that could run and run,but is car X the best ever produced? i think that IS an answerable question.

Muncher said:
As you can never test a car to the real limits on the road, only track experience matters.

couldn't agree more,in fact the more modern stuff can't be pushed NEAR it's limits on the road unless you're a registered mental patient.

NathanE said:
I think we all agree that this is a subjective matter. And one that cannot be easily proved or disproved either way.

as above i don't think it is subjective.what is actually the best is subjective,but "is this THE best ever" is most definitely a question with an answer that fits into the Yes/No format...and IMHO it's the latter.
superb? yes.....the finest ever produced by any manufacturer? i'd have to say no.

Matmulder · 6 Feb 2006 at 00:46

Went on a Lotus RR day a while back - one of the guys had just bought an S2 Exige, and upto that point I wasn't a big fan...but seeing one in the flesh, and on the move as we drove back...they look cool as hell

I'd still have a Black S1 out of preference

Would do anything to be back in an Elise/Exige right now

Miss mine so so much...

The_Dark_Side · 6 Feb 2006 at 00:51

Matmulder said:
Went on a Lotus RR day a while back - one of the guys had just bought an S2 Exige, and upto that point I wasn't a big fan...but seeing one in the flesh, and on the move as we drove back...they look cool as hell

I'd still have a Black S1 out of preference

Would do anything to be back in an Elise/Exige right now Miss mine so so much...

in terms of out and out attitude,the only car in a similar vein that springs to mind is the photoshopped black Reyland Escort.
both look gnarly as hell IMHO.

MaX_PoWah · 6 Feb 2006 at 02:23

I will never understand how or why for that matter lotus went from the Esprit to this :s

The_Dark_Side · 6 Feb 2006 at 06:29

MaX_PoWah said:
I will never understand how or why for that matter lotus went from the Esprit to this :s

do you think the Esprit was a bad car?
serious reliability problems but an amazing drive IMHO.

olv · 6 Feb 2006 at 10:59

I would be interested to know The_Dark_Side, how you personally define what handling is.

I'm of the opinion that handling is a fairly subjective thing, and what one person may find good another may not. when i think handling i think things like feel\feedback, composure\balance, grip, agility.

But mainly the reason i think that it's a subjective area is that in most cases it depends entirely and the range of cars that the person has experienced. I would say that there are few people who have driven a wide enough spectrum of the worlds best cars to give an accurate and objective view on what's the worlds best handling car.

Si. · 6 Feb 2006 at 11:53

Ignore me...

Mark JB · 6 Feb 2006 at 12:11

Not trying to get the thread back on track but . . . . .

Nice car mate, hope you enjot it

Also anyone got any decent wallpaper sized pics of this car ?

kitten_caboodle · 6 Feb 2006 at 12:22

That car is booooootiful.

Will · 6 Feb 2006 at 12:25

Lovely car, given a lottery win it'd be the first thing I'd be going to take for a test drive, though to be honest I don't think i'd fit so well

The 2006 model does have some form of traction control I believe?