Why I love the Elise...

Fusion · 25 Jul 2006 at 09:45

The new S looks great. £24k, 0-60 in 5.8s. Really shakes up its class, as the Z4 and S2000 can't hold a candle to it at that price.

megakid · 25 Jul 2006 at 09:52

I went to the motorshow on Sunday and sneaked through a gate clearly marked "Exit Only" to get onto the lotus stand - sat in all 3 models, elise, exige and the new europa - I'm 6'5 so needless to say, the elise and exige were out straight away

The europa, however, I could get used to

NathanE · 25 Jul 2006 at 10:05

When are they actually launching the Europa? Must be soon surely?

eidolon · 25 Jul 2006 at 13:27

Fusion said:
The new S looks great. £24k, 0-60 in 5.8s. Really shakes up its class, as the Z4 and S2000 can't hold a candle to it at that price.

I'm not so convinced. The sort of person that buys a Z4/S2000 probably isn't the same sort of person that buys an Elise.

I think that Lotus need to produce a completely bare bones 111R based car for £20k then have lots of options like BMW do so you can weigh it down if you choose to. Make the base car around 700kg and you can specifiy soundproofing/posh seats/EW/CL/carpets/stereo/etc.

Oh well, I can dream....

Simon · 25 Jul 2006 at 13:30

eidolon said:
I'm not so convinced. The sort of person that buys a Z4/S2000 probably isn't the same sort of person that buys an Elise.

Agreed, the S2000 is more of a car IMO, the elise is a toy.

They are in very different classes I would say, plus Elises don't come with curling tongues

siztenboots · 25 Jul 2006 at 15:06

megakid said:
I went to the motorshow on Sunday and sneaked through a gate clearly marked "Exit Only" to get onto the lotus stand - sat in all 3 models, elise, exige and the new europa - I'm 6'5 so needless to say, the elise and exige were out straight away The europa, however, I could get used to

Not sure I see the point of the Europa at its price of 33K, I mean BMW's new Z4 Coupe with about 265 bhp from a 3 litre straight 6 is about £32k , a base Cayman (245 bhp from a 2.7 litre flat 6) is about £37k.

Trick · 25 Jul 2006 at 16:30

siztenboots said:
Not sure I see the point of the Europa at its price of 33K, I mean BMW's new Z4 Coupe with about 265 bhp from a 3 litre straight 6 is about £32k , a base Cayman (245 bhp from a 2.7 litre flat 6) is about £37k.

I agree with this. For me the Europa isn't really going to work with the competition although I really hope it does! Having said that, they're after 500pa and I reckon with the decent press the car's getting atm they'll easily sell that many....

Del Lardo · 25 Jul 2006 at 16:42

From what I've heard on SELOC the first years allocation of 500 have already been sold.

olv · 25 Jul 2006 at 17:10

the enterior on the europa s is really nice. enjoyable place to be.

eidolon · 25 Jul 2006 at 18:15

olv said:
the enterior on the europa s is really nice. enjoyable place to be.

Shame the exterior is ugly

olv · 25 Jul 2006 at 18:19

Really didn't think it looked too bad in the flesh. certainly not as pretty as the elise, but not as horrific as i was expecting and the pictures make out.

NathanE · 25 Jul 2006 at 18:36

I think I've decided on a Mk1 111S

That means I can keep the Clio as a run-about and use the Elise when the sun's out

A lot of Seloc'ers seem to do this and recommend it. I'd rather not be stuck driving the Elise on a frosty winter morning with no ABS :eek:

eidolon · 25 Jul 2006 at 18:39

NathanE said:
I think I've decided on a Mk1 111S That means I can keep the Clio as a run-about and use the Elise when the sun's out A lot of Seloc'ers seem to do this and recommend it. I'd rather not be stuck driving the Elise on a frosty winter morning with no ABS

Get the 111R and you get ABS

NathanE · 25 Jul 2006 at 20:41

Outta my price range

15k tops, and that's if I traded the Clio in.

CocoPops · 25 Jul 2006 at 20:51

NathanE said:
Outta my price range 15k tops, and that's if I traded the Clio in.

15k would get you a very nice VX220

16k would get you into a VX220Turbo as well.

Trick · 25 Jul 2006 at 21:16

CocoPops said:
15k would get you a very nice VX220
16k would get you into a VX220Turbo as well.

12k would get you a very nice vx220! My mate bougtha BRG one for 12k last summer and it's absolutely superb. With a thorney stage 2 and ecu re-map it's even better!

A nice s2 can be found for 13-14k these days.

Matmulder · 25 Jul 2006 at 22:02

I never found my S160 to be a problem in winter, and that was the raw S1 - you get lots of ghey creature comforts in the S2 like carpet, and double lined roofs.

Its luxurious, I tell thee!

Si. · 25 Jul 2006 at 22:04

eidolon said:
Get the 111R and you get ABS

ABS! Bah,, wimp

Del Lardo · 25 Jul 2006 at 23:09

NathanE said:
I think I've decided on a Mk1 111S That means I can keep the Clio as a run-about and use the Elise when the sun's out A lot of Seloc'ers seem to do this and recommend it. I'd rather not be stuck driving the Elise on a frosty winter morning with no ABS

Good choice

I've run mine through two winters now and so long as you drive sensibly it's not a problem. To be honest I probably drive slower than most people in bad conditions as I can actually feel how little grip I have rather than wafting along in my safety cell convinced that I am invincible.

JediFragger · 25 Jul 2006 at 23:42

Trick said:
12k would get you a very nice vx220! My mate bougtha BRG one for 12k last summer and it's absolutely superb. With a thorney stage 2 and ecu re-map it's even better!

Nice, what kind of power are they with these 2 upgrades?

Si