Why I love the Elise...

eidolon · 24 Jul 2006 at 14:11

NathanE said:
I'm buying one soon, probably get a bargain in the early winter.

My problem is I can't decide which S160? 111S? 135R? I just can't decide

[biased]
111R
[/biased]

If you listened to my exhaust on second cam you'd get a 111R without a second thought!!

Hate · 24 Jul 2006 at 14:35

gawd, i didn't realise how much better the S2 looks compared to the S1!

The S1 looks like a toy

Firestar_3x · 24 Jul 2006 at 14:38

How much is a 111R going for these days, does that car have the Toyota VVTI engine?

Nozzer · 24 Jul 2006 at 14:51

Matmulder said:
Surely you should be looking at buying a Jag

I said I was taking up golf, not turning 65

Nozzer · 24 Jul 2006 at 14:52

Hate said:
gawd, i didn't realise how much better the S2 looks compared to the S1!

The S1 looks like a toy

It is a toy.

eidolon · 24 Jul 2006 at 14:57

Firestar_3x said:
How much is a 111R going for these days, does that car have the Toyota VVTI engine?

Yep, the 111R is the Toyota engine'd one. The noise on cam changeover is fantastic, it makes the CTR sound limp in comparison.

They tend to start at around £22k but you can haggle the prices down a bit obviously.

There's a couple of ex Silverstone cars for sale at the moment for £18k I believe. They've got the full touring pack and aircon, absolute bargains!! (although they're yellow which may be a downside)

EDIT : Here's one and here's the other

Firestar_3x · 24 Jul 2006 at 15:06

Cheers for the info, just seems like a natural progression from the MX5, not sure when I will be upgrading but its always nice to keep an eye on the prices.

The 111R seems like the car to go for, I don't want the rover engined variant since I need a reliable car.

Will go for a test drive soon, any recommended places to look around / test one out?

Si. · 24 Jul 2006 at 15:08

Ignore the hype... there is nothing wrong with the rover K-series.

Plus there a lot more "tuneable" than the Toyota engine.

eidolon · 24 Jul 2006 at 15:20

Firestar_3x said:
Cheers for the info, just seems like a natural progression from the MX5, not sure when I will be upgrading but its always nice to keep an eye on the prices.

The 111R seems like the car to go for, I don't want the rover engined variant since I need a reliable car.

Will go for a test drive soon, any recommended places to look around / test one out?

I wouldn't disregard the rover engine'd cars, they're still a damn good car but for me I just love changing up at 8600rpm

As for test drives, I just went down to my local Lotus dealer who was superb. You could try any of the specialist Elise type garages though too, like Adrian Blyth, Dream Machines and Nick Whale (where my car originally came from)

Si. said:
Ignore the hype... there is nothing wrong with the rover K-series.

Plus there a lot more "tuneable" than the Toyota engine.

There's definitely a lot more aftermarket stuff available for the K series but I can see the Toyota engine catching up a bit now that the K series is no longer being used. There's a few supercharger and turbocharger conversions already available.

I guess you've also got to look at the fact that the 111R has 189BHP as standard anyway, it would take a huge amount of cash to get a K series up to those levels, far better off just dumping the engine and getting a Honda one instead.

Si. · 24 Jul 2006 at 15:28

I agree with the Engine conversion.. Not sure if I'd go Honda or Audi... I like the idea of the Honda, but I use mine every day for the commute to work, so I think the Audi would be more suited (Less "boy racer" sounding).

I really need to get mine on a track sometime

Trick · 24 Jul 2006 at 17:35

NathanE said:
My problem is I can't decide which S160? 111S? 135R? I just can't decide

You can get a nice 111s for 15k these days, 111r is quite a bit more expensive and I doubt you'd see much (if any) real world differnce in the performance of the two. Ok, the 111r has the bhp and the silly sound on 2nd cam but it's argued that the 111s overcomes this with better low-end torque. Plenty of people bemoan the servo-ed brakes and extra weight of the 111r too. Swings and roundabouts of course as the 'yota has the "reliabilty" tick on it's side.

S160 is supposed to be superb. 135r is alleged to be a bit crashy for the daily comute due to the suspension setup - the one I went in was a spine-wreaker for sure.

Trick · 24 Jul 2006 at 17:36

Le_Petit_Lapin said:
Hmm.....for a laugh I jammed my details into the AA website to see what my insurance would be per year on one of these.

£10,041.72

Hmm...guess one of these isnt an option until I've a few extra years driving under my belt then.

lol, you're 23 though! I assume you've either only just started driving or have a few bonus points for that quote!

Le_Petit_Lapin · 24 Jul 2006 at 18:01

Trick said:
lol, you're 23 though! I assume you've either only just started driving or have a few bonus points for that quote!

Just started, I think I was being a bit hopeful there.

eidolon · 24 Jul 2006 at 18:19

Trick said:
Ok, the 111r has the bhp and the silly sound on 2nd cam but it's argued that the 111s overcomes this with better low-end torque.

Which lack of torque would that be?

Here's a graph of a 111S vs 111R (well, Exige but it's the same engine). It looks like the 111R has more power AND more torque right up to 6000rpm and then things just get even better (around the time of that silly 2nd cam noise I guess

)

http://www.dyno-plot.co.uk/dyno/dynoplot/id=289_210&sort=rec&but_sea=qs&sea_simple=exige/index.htm

Matmulder · 24 Jul 2006 at 18:20

135R's and S160's are very much track oriented cars, and as an ex-owner of the latter I'd only recommend those as second cars. Cant really comment much on the 135R but the S160 was a bit of a pain in the traffic - sounded *awesome* on idle though :cool:

Both are pretty low too (100mm clearance on the front of the S160) so I found some multistories and speedbumps to be an issue.

So for an everyday, friendlier Elise - go with the 111S or 111R. They're all fantastic though, so you wont go wrong no matter what your choice.

Trick · 24 Jul 2006 at 22:08

eidolon said:
Which lack of torque would that be?

Here's a graph of a 111S vs 111R (well, Exige but it's the same engine). It looks like the 111R has more power AND more torque right up to 6000rpm and then things just get even better (around the time of that silly 2nd cam noise I guess )

http://www.dyno-plot.co.uk/dyno/dynoplot/id%3D289_210%26sort%3Drec%26but_sea%3Dqs%26sea_simple%3Dexige/index.htm

hokay you win! [looks for some straws to clutch...]erm, um, better fuel economy in the 111s?!

olv · 24 Jul 2006 at 22:22

Lotus overload today, for me anyway.

Sat in the Elise R and S today along with the Exige S and Europa, most of them twice

aahhh love them too much. really need to drive one though!

eidolon · 24 Jul 2006 at 22:28

Trick said:
hokay you win! [looks for some straws to clutch...]erm, um, better fuel economy in the 111s?!

Ok then, I'll let you have that one although I'm more than happy with the economy of my 111R, it's twice as good as the MR2 turbo was. I can only imagine how good the 111S must be!

andy@moFo · 24 Jul 2006 at 22:38

my cousins had hers about 7months now, had a little tinker in it about a week ago now and its the fastest, lightest car ive ever drivin, but being 6ft4 not very good on the old body, massive dislocation just to get in and out, but if your small and love a thrill, there class

i-bert · 24 Jul 2006 at 22:52

My brother went on one of those "Race day" thingys yesterday where he drove a Ferrari 360,Porsche 911,scooby and and an Elise.

His favorite was the Elise.He owns a kart and said it was just the same to drive.