Questions for Elise 111R owners

MajinV

MajinV

MajinV

Associate
Joined
17 Nov 2003
Posts
507
Location
London
Hi all,

I know there's at least one of you here! Just wanted to ask a couple of questions regarding the luvverly motor :)

Do you drive it in Winter? If so any troubles?

Hard top worth it for Winter?

Any reliability problems?

Is it really 100 on a scale of 1-10 of fun? silly question; don't need to answer.. ;) :cool:

Anything to look out for on a 2nd hand one? (Tracked etc?)

Thanks for any pointers in advance

Rob
 
Do you drive it in Winter? If so any troubles?

I've only had mine for a few months so I can't answer that yet. I can't see any problems though as mine's been through some of the worst torrential storms lately and hasn't leaked a bit.

Hard top worth it for Winter?

I have no plans to buy one, I just don't see the point. The S1's were famed for leaking but seeing as mine doesn't leak a drop I won't be buying a hard top.

Any reliability problems?

With a Toyota engine, I doubt it :) From reading up on them they seem very reliable. A couple of the Silverstone track cars suffered oil starvation but that's all that I can find so far.

Is it really 100 on a scale of 1-10 of fun? silly question; don't need to answer..

Absolutely! I went out for a completely pointless drive in mine last night and came back shaking, heart pounding and out of breath. It really does feel very special and takes driving to a whole new level of fun. I get in the CTR these days and yawn, it's just so dull compared to the Elise.

Anything to look out for on a 2nd hand one? (Tracked etc?)

That is hasn't been badly damaged I guess. HPI should show if it was a CAT D write off or anything. Mechanically all the 111Rs that I test drove were the same, none of them really had any faults. The oldest R's are only gonna be just over 2 years old so they shouldn't be too bad.
Don't worry too much about cars that have been tracked, that's what they do best. I didn't specifically buy my car to take on track but after seeing just how capable it is on the roads I think I'll definitely be tracking mine.

I've gotta admit though, I'm tempted to trade up to an Exige like this one!
 
Do you drive it in Winter? If so any troubles?

Had mine a year now and driven it everyday to work no matter what the weather. There OK in the winter, but cold inside, I keep a fleece in the boot of mine at all times. You just need to be carefull how you drive it, just keep in the back of your mind they type of car you are driving.. Brake and Accellerate only in a straight line, and never hit the throttle on a bend.
 
Does the 111R have a better heater though? Mine gets really, really hot inside with the heater on so I can't see it being a problem in Winter.
 
Thanks for the answers :)

I'm definately planning to take it out on a track when I get it at some point, maybe not for a few months though just so I can get used to it!

Glad to hear the new Elises aren't leaking like the old ones apparently did! I was considering buying a hard top on top of the car just incase it was needed as I do plan to use it as an everyday car as well as a weekend fun one.

The VVTLi is a lot more reliable than the K series I have read, just wanted some first hand experience opinions!

My first step is to sell my Focus. Will be a bit sad as I love it to bits. Was the 1st car I bought off my own back and it hasn't done a thing wrong in it's 2 and a half years. (53 reg (got it 6 months old)).

Are the training days someone mentioned on here worth looking into, especially for using it on the track?

Again, many thanks

Rob
 
The first one is cheap due to the milage but that second one has alarm bells, its' far too cheap. My guess is that it's a Cat D write off for that price. I'd say that an 04 111R should be £22-23k normally, especially in the middle of this very hot Summer!!
 
tis what I was thinking, thanks for the advice :) I can stretch to 22k and i've seen a few around that price. Just gotta decide on the colour hehe
 
£22k should get you a nice 111R no problems. The most popular colours seem to be Magnetic Blue (like mine :)) and Storm Titanium. Green, Aubergine and Yellow seem quite hard to shift (not sure why Green is difficult, I quite like it)

Whatever you do, make sure you get a proper aftermarket exhaust as the sound of it on 2nd cam is amazing!!

10.jpg
 
Ahh that colour looks really nice :cool:

Is storm titanium the same as Gunmetal Silver? just a different name?

gunmetalgv3.png
 
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Ah ok, yes I have seen a lot of the Storms available. I quite like the saffron yellow. Bit garish but hey it looks good on the Elise!

I think its either that or the Gunmetal or blue
 
A stealth grey might not be a good idea considering how invisible Elises seem to be to other road users, you'd just blend in with the tarmac. Maybe yellow ain't so bad after all :D
 
I've just taken delivery of a brand new 111R in bergundy (replacement car while mine is having the clam sprayed) The colour is ok but I much prefer my Magnetic blue car.

It's got Yoko tyres instead of Bridgstone and so far I haven't found them to be as good, understeered on the way back into my street (although to be fair I was testing them out if you know what I mean)

This one is totally standard and it's a bit dull to be honest, the standard exhaust is almost silent and you can't tell when it's on 2nd cam whereas in mine it howls.

I'll get some pics later
 
eidolon said:
I've gotta admit though, I'm tempted to trade up to an Exige like this one!
Click to expand...

What are the specs of the Exige like compared to the 111R?

Wasn't it just the expensive soft-top conversion that was putting you off the Exige?
 
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