Not sure how many of you out there will be interested but I had the opportunity to test drive the new (to the US) Lotus Elise yesterday

Let me say that pictures really don't do this car justice... it is absolutely, drop-dead gorgeous in person. The car is also amazingly petite... short, squat, and wide! Climbing into it can be a bit difficult (I'm almost 6'3" and around 205 lbs) but once you're in everything feels perfect! Plenty of yummy aluminum everywhere and some of the most comfortable no-nonsense seats I've seen. Nice small steering wheel (I think it was suede?)... big Tach and speedometer front and center. The rest of the display is just idiot lights though

Driving the car is a blast! Gearbox is a little notchy going into 2nd gear until the tranny gets some heat in it but other than that it's fine. Not nearly as refined as an S2K but it gets the job done. Pedals are very tightly spaced... so much so, that I couldn't get my left foot past the clutch to rest it on the dead pedal Anyway, the car's handling was flawless. It has an delightly progressive load to the steering (no-power assist) and almost no body roll. It has a smooth/soft ride compared to my hatchback (500# springs on the hatch) and could be daily driven, IMO. The powerband is peaky (big surprise, huh?) but has useable power down below 4k... the engine really does remind me of an ITR. Which is to say that there's enough power down low to put around town but the big power, and smiles, are to be found above 5k and even more so above 6k. FWIW, it does have a shift light at 8k but no actual redline on the tach. I didn't get a good chance to really try out the brakes as the dealer was with me and I suspect that he wouldn't have appreciated me testing the ABS

Anyway, I've spoken with my wife and I'll probably be putting down my downpayment for an Elise sometime in January after our current house is sold and we're into the new one Unfortunately, the waiting list is around 14+ months right now but at least they're selling the cars at MSRP. This also means that my Street Mod hatch will be up for sale sometime late next year when/if I can get a more firm delivery date.

Christian, who recalls the love/hate relationship he had with his MR2 Turbo fondly... looks like history is going to repeat itself!

edit:
so that this is RR/AutoX related... ummmm... I think the Elise is going to make a kick *** SM2 car!

 

Did it have the LSS (sport) package? The car is so light it's not surprising the little 1.8 has enough torque to power it well enough in low rpms. I'd be worried driving it around town daily next to all the SUVs though.

 

yeah i agree its nice to have something like this if you have the money but man as far as me driving it around town everyday around some of these big suv's? its like asking for trouble. But what do i know. i drive a small lil civic and it would be the same effect if a suv decided to drive over me. but sounds like a fun lil quick car.

 

To clarify, I thought that the new elise came out with the engine from the new celica gt-s? You test drove one with a type-r motor in it? Just curious because at a resent NASA event in Las Vegas I saw two different elise's: one type-r and one celica gt-s powered.

 

The new Elise comes with the 1.8 Toyota same as GTS but I think it makes close to 190 HP (187?). That Honda R motor is a conversion offered by an aftermarket company, who is also working on putting a K20 engine in the Elise.

 

I thought so. I was just confused because the Xian stated that it "elise" reminded him of the itr. I just read the post wrong i guess.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by bluedevil1142 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">yeah i agree its nice to have something like this if you have the money but man as far as me driving it around town everyday around some of these big suv's? its like asking for trouble. But what do i know. i drive a small lil civic and it would be the same effect if a suv decided to drive over me. but sounds like a fun lil quick car.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I drive a Miata in ATL-land, where your rights to be on the road are measured by your curb weight and shitty fuel mileage is prized as much as getting your kid onto the honor roll. NO ONE sees my car. I barely come up to most people's running boards. If you are concerned about getting squished-like-grape, and don't want to drive a behemoth, you should *definitely* drive an Elise. It's eye catching and flashy.
You should also install a rev limiter to keep from drawing too many tickets, but that's for another post.

 

I have some experience driving the euro spec Elise (not with the Celica motor) and I agree that the handling is just unbeatable. However, once it's in 3rd or 4th gear, it just can't keep up with the Hondas with DOHC engines. I'm sure that now with the more powerful 190hp engine, it would be a totally different story.

With 14 months wait and the car is still sold for MSRP? I'm really surprised, but it's definitely a good news.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Vitt1 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Did it have the LSS (sport) package? The car is so light it's not surprising the little 1.8 has enough torque to power it well enough in low rpms. I'd be worried driving it around town daily next to all the SUVs though.</TD></TR></TABLE>
Nope no LSS package on the car The car had the "luxury package" which consists of a stereo, leather seats, additional sound insulation, insulated top, and power windows. I think it adds like 12 lbs to the vehicle weight. It still seemed like a pretty raw car... I can only imagine what it would be like with only the LSS package

It has enough torque to pull it around town... not stump pulling torque like a C6 Vette but plenty of power for "regular" driving. Yes, it is extremely low in comparison to pretty much everything else on the road. I'd think that a bright color (Chrome Orange or Yellow maybe?) would be a good choice for anyone with visibility concerns

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by AutoxEK9 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">To clarify, I thought that the new elise came out with the engine from the new celica gt-s? You test drove one with a type-r motor in it? Just curious because at a resent NASA event in Las Vegas I saw two different elise's: one type-r and one celica gt-s powered.</TD></TR></TABLE>
Sorry, re-reading my post I realize I wasn't completely clear. The Elise I drove (and all US spec dealer sold Elises) have the Celica GTS engine. However, what I was trying to say is that the power band of the GTS engine is reminiscent of the ITR engine. They pretty much feel the same down low but the Elise can accelerate harder than the ITR b/c of it's 600 lb weight advantage.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Type Zero &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I have some experience driving the euro spec Elise (not with the Celica motor) and I agree that the handling is just unbeatable. However, once it's in 3rd or 4th gear, it just can't keep up with the Hondas with DOHC engines. I'm sure that now with the more powerful 190hp engine, it would be a totally different story.

With 14 months wait and the car is still sold for MSRP? I'm really surprised, but it's definitely a good news.</TD></TR></TABLE>
Let me say that in the new Elise 3rd gear still pulls hard. My butt-ometer says that it pulls much harder than my B18C1 powered hatch. Not to mention the fact that it can accellerate out of a corner in ways that would make my hatch cry AFter all, didn't the Rover engines make something like only 130-140hp? An extra 50hp (35-40% more power) can make a huge difference in a really lightweight car...

There are other dealers in the US that are charging anywhere from 3-8K premiums for cars that are on the lot and ready to go but it seems that most dealers aren't marking them up for people willing to wait.

Christian

 

I love that the Elise gets econo-box gas mileage on top of everything else it does so well. I'm hoping to get one of these used in the future, but for now the CRX is going to keep me happy.

Be sure to check out the EliseTalk forums for tons of insider info from owners...some good, some not so good, but still worth living with.

 

yeah, I've been browsing through EliseTalk and http://www.puresportscar.com. Both seem to have a good amount of info on the car. So far it sounds like the biggest issue with the car is the price of body work on it... one guy was involved in a collision (not his fault) where he hit another car that did a U-turn in front of him. It was a relatively low speed hit but is going to cost somewhere around $15k to repair

I was surprised at the insurance Quote I got from Progressive... it's only about $100/year increase over what I've been paying for my ITR.

Christian

 

I envy you!

One day I may have some sort of elise (hopefully with a k20 or something more powerful).....

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Vitt1 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The new Elise comes with the 1.8 Toyota same as GTS but I think it makes close to 190 HP (187?). That Honda R motor is a conversion offered by an aftermarket company, who is also working on putting a K20 engine in the Elise. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Check out Prototype Racing:

http://www.prototyperacing.com/k20kit.htm

Joe McCarthy is the guy doing K20 conversions (Elise, Exige, etc). I ran into him at Mid-Ohio this past summer at a NASA event. He was with Doug Macmillan (of Hondata fame). The last thing I heard they had built a K20a with a Comptech supercharger. Something like 300 whp after Doug worked his magic. All that in an Exige. Yeah... consider that my current dream car.

 

A couple of years back I was lucky enough to drive the Elise (wife's cousins). Rhd with the Rover engine. Good handling car. Like a go-kart on the street.
In this photo album about 3/4 of the way down is a picture of a all carbon-fiber
Elise. This thing was fast. I was on the track at the same time and it lapped me
a couple of times. A little farther down is a pic of a race spec. Elise.
http://homepage.mac.com/jamesr....html

 

Very nice! Any idea how much weight can be saved going from the fiberglass stock body to a CF one? I can't imagine that it'd be too much of a weight savings...?

Christian

 

but.... but.... but.....


who's going to build the superEGSMwinnAr?!?!?!11?1?!!!??!1

 

I'll sell you the hatch in a year! Not sure what I'm going to do with the T-25 and Intercooler I committed to buying...

Christian, who sometimes can't decide which is more fun; mod cars or fast stock cars

 

I've been fortunate enough to drive a number of Elise and Exiges, with a number of different engine combinations. Overall it is a good car and fun to drive, but after you look closely at the way the car was put together, you relise that Lotus tried to make the car as cheap as possible, and many things are mickey mouse.

Euro Elise with rover K series engine (178 hp version) - feels very slow and over geared. Don't know if I drove a car with an engine that was a dog, but in a side by side race this combination was almost idential in speed to my stock RSX (which is not fast).

US Elise with toyota engine - much better than the rover engine, but the car is much heavier. Power brakes are better. Engine and gearing is good, but the toyota has a huge flat spot from 3500-6500 rpm before the vvti. Driving the car it feels slower than what it is - it moves right along.

Euro Exige with K20A engine - lighter and more aerodynamic than the Elise. K20A engine turns the car into a supercar beater - a lot of fun to drive. Extra torque and better gearing makes the car easy to drive and fast in any gear. Actually took this combination around willow springs, but did not like the handling. Raced this with my K20A race car, but I was so far behind after the launch it was hard to tell if I could catch it at all. Damm front wheel drive.

Euro Elise with K20A engine supercharged. Now we're talking. The boost builds with rpm with the supercharger and the torque curve was very flat, so this car was easy to drive, and damm fast. About as much power as you want in a streetcar. Huge acceleration is the low 4 gears. As fast as the ferreri enzo.

Euro Exige with supercharged K20A and n2o. Have not driven this yet. Traction is a problem.

The chassis is very stiff but the first thing you notice is the bump steer and front alignment. In a straight line the steering is very light and the car tends to wander with little bumps. All the cars I drove were like this so it seems to be a feature of the suspension setup. Feels like it needs the front bump steer sorted out and more castor added. The ride is OK except for certain freeways at certain speeds, where your kidneys take a pounding.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Xian &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Nope no LSS package on the car The car had the "luxury package" which consists of a stereo, leather seats, additional sound insulation, insulated top, and power windows. I think it adds like 12 lbs to the vehicle weight. It still seemed like a pretty raw car... I can only imagine what it would be like with only the LSS package </TD></TR></TABLE>

I haven't driven a luxury package yet, but have driven the sport and I know another friend who owns a normal one (which I haven't driven yet). I want to compare them back to back to see for sure but the sport package car feel friggen amazing. *GREAT* brakes, great handling and it's damned fast. Gauge cluster is out of an isuzu pickup it looks like but who cares in this case.

 

My understanding is that the Sport Package sharpens up turn-in a bit (like the standard model really needs it! ) and also makes it a little easier to get the rear end to rotate. With the standard tires apparently the car needs a little "twitch" to the steering or a lift of the throttle to rotate and keep from pushing a bit. Honestly, the "luxury" package isn't too luxurious, IMO... all it really adds is a slightly nicer stereo, power windows, leather, and some extra sound deadening a total of 15lbs extra to the curb weight.

I'd love to hear your opinion of the sport vs. non-sport package as it's a decision that I'm going to have to make in the future.

Christian

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Xian &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">My understanding is that the Sport Package sharpens up turn-in a bit (like the standard model really needs it! ) and also makes it a little easier to get the rear end to rotate. With the standard tires apparently the car needs a little "twitch" to the steering or a lift of the throttle to rotate and keep from pushing a bit. Honestly, the "luxury" package isn't too luxurious, IMO... all it really adds is a slightly nicer stereo, power windows, leather, and some extra sound deadening a total of 15lbs extra to the curb weight.

I'd love to hear your opinion of the sport vs. non-sport package as it's a decision that I'm going to have to make in the future.

Christian</TD></TR></TABLE>

I'll try to arrange a time this weekend to drive them both, and maybe the C6 too just for ***** and giggles.

The Sport package is lighter by a few lbs so the difference is actually close to 30 IIRC between the sport and luxury. The sport comes with bilsteins with adjustable perches (according to lotuscars, I noticed the bils but didn't look at the perches, I was too happy looking at the bottom of the car ) and eibach springs, and the A048 rubber, forged wheels, etc. Nice package. The blood pressure monitor lumber support pumps are pimp too

Turn in on the sport is nice. One of the most fun cars I've ever driven. I like how you can see the locktite like substance around the bolts that hold the car together... not a refined car but the driving experience makes you forget those minor details.

When I drove the sport it only had 247miles on it so I didn't push it.. the car (as of last friday anyways) was only at 500 miles so it's still being babied a little..