New (old) car time Lotus

Trifid said:
I'm still not willing to accept that this is a 19 year old car.

I found the statement about lack of brake servo interesting. The vx220 had them and I remember someone trying it without and it was unusable.
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I had a VX220 before the Exige. Still didn’t have any form of traction control though! Had quite a few brown pants moments in the wet when the turbo kicked in.

Still such a better driving experience to all the super fat (and more powerful) cars these days.
 
You don't get that so much in the Lotuses. They are either NA or supercharged so smother power curve and less snappy. Though you do have to be careful of liftoff oversteer. It's not a good idea to try and drive them hard on the road tbh.
 
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Vita said:
Great buy! I’ve been looking at exiges recently.
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They do appeal a lot to me, but I'm also keeping my Mustang so couldn't really justify two large engine and noisy cars. The Elise does however have a Janspeed Roadsport exhaust system fitted, it's neighbour friendly on start-up but does make a lovely sound when you open her up.
 
Trifid said:
I'm still not willing to accept that this is a 19 year old car.

I found the statement about lack of brake servo interesting. The vx220 had them and I remember someone trying it without and it was unusable.
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The brakes were designed from the outset to not require a servo. All the Toyota powered cars have a servo and ABS though.
 
It's like a built in fitness test before you are allowed to drive it. You need to be flexible and not obese :D

But you do get used to it. Just don't put weight on the doors or steering wheel.
 
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Nasher said:
It's like a built in fitness test before you are allowed to drive it. You need to be flexible and not obese :D

But you do get used to it. Just don't put weight on the doors or steering wheel.
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I've been told the steering wheel is fine but the one thing to avoid is the A pillar as that can result in the windscreen popping!
 
GSXRMovistar said:


I've been told the steering wheel is fine but the one thing to avoid is the A pillar as that can result in the windscreen popping!
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Yea that too with enough weight on it. But the steering wheel mount in the pre-airbag cars is designed to collapse in a crash apparently, so it's not very load bearing.
 
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A friends friend lent him his for the day a few years back and he brought it round to let me drive. The handling is just insane. I've always had a soft spot for these.

It was certainly cramped inside though, I don't think I'd fit in one now that's for sure!
 
Rilot said:
Awesome cars but too raw for me. The S2000 is about a cramped and raw as I can handle.
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Yeah it's certainly raw, but that said it's such an enjoyable and engaged drive. The last few days the weather has been good so had a lot more oppertunity to get out and drive the car. Bendy country roads is where this car excels, no need for stupid speeds but just the littlest bit of pace makes it so much fun.

It's certainly closer to karting than it is driving. :p
 
I very much enjoyed mine - miss the earlier years when the roads were quieter and other cars were smaller! You forget how incredibly tiny the Elise in relative to modern cars....on the motorway you're very very aware that you're barely visible to other big vehicles and you have to be on your toes.


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