Lotus Elise *First Drive* Long Read

Hey all, I was in Las Vegas last week and rented a Lotus Elise for 24-hours. Well here goes!

Location: Las Vegas, NV
Date: September 11, 2006 through September 12, 2006
Time: 24 hours started at 1pm
Temp: 98-100 degrees = hot as *****
Car: 2005 Lotus Elise (yellow)

First Impressions:
Ok I’m sure you’ve all seen Elise’s in magazines or in person but no matter how many times I see one I just can’t get over how beautiful they look. The particular car I took a hold of was a 2005 so that meant that it didn’t have power steering, LSD, or traction control, woot! The car had 25,102 miles on the clock and I bet that was a pretty damn hard 25k so I was impressed that the thing was still working. I actually expected only about 11k but whatever.

So I sign the paperwork, get the run down and hop in. First thing I notice is how freaking hard it is to get into it. I mean I personally didn’t really mind, but damn it was hard. Anyone with a back problem, bad knees, or any other condition that would affect them in bending over, this car is defiantly not for you!! They actually told me that they partially remove the soft top on one side to get in easier (crazy). Ok so the car was already running when I hop it and I’m like “umm is the A/C on?” the guy is like “yes it is, at full blast!” It felt like it was just the fan on, but low and behold it was A/C and on full blast!! This was by far one of the worst things about the car. The A/C was the WORST I’ve ever felt in any car. It just plain sucked; I can’t believe Lotus would even release it with the A/C that bad. Ok so I thought “I didn’t get this for the amenities” so I was off.

The Drive:
So I engage first and roll away. The clutch engagement felt kind of high but I attribute that to the hard miles the car already had. I get to the street and hit the brakes for the first time and was STUNNED by the break pedal travel. It traveled so far down before anything happened, it was disgusting!! I thought “how could such a performance oriented car had such a shitty brake feel?” Compared with the ITR, EVO, M3, and hell Mazda 3 it was by far the worst. “Ok whatever” I said, time to rip this biotch!

I get out to the open road and all torque less type-R memories come streaming back into my head. Not that they bothered me but hey this baby had none too. But all the brake, A/C, and getting in issues were erased when I hit the cam change over. Boy o boy did this thing boogey!! I instantly fell in love with the car at that second. It was all motor nirvana all over again. Screw turbos and centrifuge superchargers, the scream at 8500 rpms from an engine sitting right behind your head is PRICELESS. I just couldn’t get enough of it. The car was defiantly quick enough and people trying to add all sorts of power mods need to serious rethink that. It was fun on a whole new level. Oh and this car gets attention like no other. People were taking pictures from there cars, breaking necks, kids freaking out, its was all so cool. I felt like a celebrity or something!

Ok so this is a Lotus right? So lets go take some turns (evil laugh)! I take the interstate to Red Rock Canyon (about 20 miles out) to find some twisties. While on the interstate I must have went 120 about 7 times and 130-140 about 3. It effortlessly got to those speeds and was stable as hell even above 130!! Now lets talk about steering feel... It was damn near perfect. The no power steering mixed with the seating positive (middle of car), mixed with the weight balance made it one most confidence inspiring cars I’ve ever been in. So I find the roads I was looking for and then the fun began. I drop her into second and let it rip. The turn-in was VERY precise with almost zero body roll. Even with off chamber turns the car seemed very focused and hard to unsettle. If too much power was applied the back end would get fidgety but it was easily corrected with some counter steer and throttle modulation. Overall it was a very good experience sans the brakes which did NOT give me much confidence to brake later into a turn. The shifter could have been shorter but a short shift kits could fix that easily.

Problems:
After my first 20 miles the brakes started making a weird squealing noise when going slow (think ceramic pads). I brought it back to the rental place and they said the brake pads were glazed over and that it would need to go to dealership. I said as long as it stops its all good, so they reset my mileage (I got the first 100 for free) and I was off.

Squeaky gear lever: The shifter was really damn squeaky and if it were my car that would **** me off to no end. I attribute it to the BEATINGS that the car probably received but since it was under warranty the dealership probably would have fixed that.

Outcome:
The drive was fantastic and yes I would buy one (used of coarse). BUT the difference between it and a 200whp ITR is not a great as one might think. The ITR is defiantly as fun to drive but just doesn’t pull the attention that this car does. The ITR takes turns just as well and the brakes feel far superior. Oh and the Elise would be a biotch as a daily driver where as the ITR could be used without much trouble. All in all I feel it’s the next step up for an ITR owner due to the mid engine RWD platform, N/A Honda like engine, performance focus, and “fun” factor.

If I bought one the first things to be changed would be SS brake lines, short shifter, intake (for sound purposes), maybe an exhaust (just for sound again), and a different radio (blaupukt could blow me).

Sorry for the long read but if you have any questions or comments just ask

Cliffs:
Rented a Lotus
A/C SUCKED
Fun Car, would buy one.


Modified by hooptie157 at 2:06 PM 9/22/2006

 

Good writeup. where did u rent it and how much did you pay?? I might go take a look next time i head towards LV.

 

put in a k20 in there and its a whole new monster or should i say super car?

you can even put a b18-r and still a monster compared to the stock celica engine

 

Where did you end up driving? I know you can't get a good test drive up and down the strip.

So are you going to get one?

 

DId you get any pics?

 

Thanks for the write up!

I actually saw a video on youtube the other day showing how to properly get in and out of a lotus elise. lol

I would love to rent one and take it to an autocross event.

 

I rented it from "rent-a-vette" better known as RAV rentals. The rate was 299 per day which included the first 100 miles free. My total bill was 381 but it with about 30 miles over. The taxes (12%) KILLED me. But hey I don't gamble so the money I would have used doing that I used on doing something I love..... driving

Rental Website:
http://www.rent-a-vette.com/lo....html

 

awsome write up.
<---Will be looking at upgrading to a Exige in 2-3 years (Need CPA and have to remain an elitist)

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Rguy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">DId you get any pics?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yup I will post them soon

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Lewie &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Where did you end up driving? I know you can't get a good test drive up and down the strip.

So are you going to get one?</TD></TR></TABLE>

I might buy one when I'm done getting my MBA. They don't seem to resale well so I'm looking to spend about 30-32K on one with &gt; 10,000 miles

I went to Red Rock Canyon to rip it on the turns

 

sounds like a blast

pretty surprised about the brakes, would think that lotus would have everything above par

 

The car was beautiful, pain in the *** to get into but once I was in there I didn't want to get out...so much fun! Well, until we got to the canyon and I had hooptie drop me off at the visitors center cuz I was scured of the twisties lol

 

Good write up..

I had the chance to flog an Elise last week at Waterford Hills. It pretty much felt like a gaint go-kart. Some repects it felt like the ITR and others it was compelelty opposite. It was a blast and one of the reason my kaa is for sale... One of my only compaints was the shifter was pretty sloppy, however it was a demo car..

 

Even more so than the ITR, people shouldn't even begin to think about purchasing an Elise unless they plan to track it IMHO.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Reid &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Even more so than the ITR, people shouldn't even begin to think about purchasing an Elise unless they plan to track it IMHO.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Or thinking it will beat M3 on the road. I've heard those stories and cant stop LMAO

 

An ITR can't hold a candle to an Elise if both are driven correctly. The ITR is a great car, but it's no Elise/Exige.

 

Up for more pictures and an awesome review. I hope to one day be able to afford an Elise in my stable of cars.

 

As someone who has driven both the Type-R and the Lotus Elise (2003/4), I would take the Type-R hands down any day regardless of intended function. The Elise is pretty, but it feels cheap and it's not very fast and unless you're going 80+ mph the handling difference isn't something you even notice.

 

Thanks for the review.

The brakes and shifter is crap due to the abuse the car has taken I'm sure.

Time to schedule my flight to LV to drive this car.

Last time I was there I rented a S2K and wasn't impressed vs owning a slightly modded ITR.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Archidictus &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">As someone who has driven both the Type-R and the Lotus Elise (2003/4), I would take the Type-R hands down any day regardless of intended function. The Elise is pretty, but it feels cheap and it's not very fast and unless you're going 80+ mph the handling difference isn't something you even notice.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Well the car I had was the touring model so it didn't have those awesome yoko's that the sport model has BUT I see what your saying. I was in a 204whp ITR with spoons brakes, smsp exhaust, tuned suspension, and a host of other track oriented goodies and it felt more planted (on the street atleast). But then again that R was modded vs. the stock Elise.

Still all in all the car put a huge smile on my face, which to me is worth tons.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by meat &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">An ITR can't hold a candle to an Elise if both are driven correctly. The ITR is a great car, but it's no Elise/Exige.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Hmm I would love to see a modded R such as Bradstard vs. a Elise on a track and see the outcome. It would be interesting. Oh and I say modded because the Elise is like 40K new and the ITR is 24K new. So to make it even, atleast in price, the R could have some mods

 

The squeaky shifter is common, if it has anything similar shiter to the celica gts, they sqeak like a motha.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Edwin &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> Last time I was there I rented a S2K and wasn't impressed vs owning a slightly modded ITR. </TD></TR></TABLE>


I thought the same thing at first, it just seems like a fancy rwd r, but its much more than that, took me a little while to really appreciate it, the readily available parts for the S2k is excellent.

lotus&gt;s2k&gt;itr

 

I love the Elise. Saw one of the first ones to hit my area.

 

steve harris FTW!

 

Nice write up.

Surprised at the brake pedal feel comment. Possibly because it's a rental? Who knows how often they maintain the fluids and equipment on that thing.

Personally, when it was introduced, I wanted one badly but now that excitement has waned a bit. Probably would opt for a used Cayman S before an Elise now.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by SilverDc2 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I thought the same thing at first, it just seems like a fancy rwd r, but its much more than that, took me a little while to really appreciate it, the readily available parts for the S2k is excellent.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yep. Compared to my previous "lightly*" modded R to my stock S2K, the S2K is probably a tad bit slower on a road course. But I certainly have more fun going slower now than ever before.

* I consider my old R lightly modded since it had no internal engine work done on it. Had just about everything else though ...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by meat &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">An ITR can't hold a candle to an Elise if both are driven correctly. The ITR is a great car, but it's no Elise/Exige.</TD></TR></TABLE>

If your behind the wheel of the Exige, then its the other way around..

 

Ive only seen one of these out on the street up by me. And I forgot to go back and check it out

I like the write ups in GRM though

Exige Cup FTMFW