Ive always read magazines and heard from friends as well that the answer to dominate automotive events such as drag or autox's or road racing in general would be three things, POWER>WEIGHT>DRIVER's skills.

Now heres the big question. IS it me ( that im about to make a stupid choice ) OR same with ya"ll.
I currently own RSX_S which has such reputation as power potential motor with simple mods and outrageous power with a built K motor. the only down side is FWD. ive owned FWD for what? 4 or 5 years. i dont have absolutely nothing against FWD but prefer RWD. So on top of this I'm greatly considering trading in my rsx into a lotus elise WHICH IS FAR much a LIGHTHER car (1900-2000's vs 2600 lbs RSX) power wise RSX would be the winner LOL. HANDLING??? this is a big question but i would vote the ELISE with better superior handling capabilities. LOOKS?? eh no doubt the LOTUS.

bottom line i just feel like I'm trading in a "legendary" (rsx s) car into (lotus elise) something that I'm not 100% certain yet ((( I DONT MIND THE CAR! ))) SUCKS every time i see integras and such i'm proud to see a relative and yearn to keep my car. if you were in my shoes.
keep the rsxs and severly modified it or go with lotus elise?

 

I hate the elise. Dont know how you think it looks better. I think its god awful looking. The only reason it has some what of a "cool factor" is because it is somewhat rare. Type-S is the hands down winner in my book.

 

An Elise will out handle your car hands down. But it also costs about what $45-50k? How can you even compare. There is nothing in them. No power windows etc etc. Its a true track car. The Elise has I believe 180hp celica GTS engine? So its 20ho less than the type s, but weighs 600-700 lbs less.

 

exige is where its at...k series ftw!

 

ariel atom is where its at!! u can pick it up for around the same price...but i think there's a waiting list

 

Driven both cars ... took an Elise out for a spin at Road Atlanta

The Elise will win hands down in a handling competition (stock vs stock) ... as far as powerplants go ... the elise runs a 1.8L, 190HP motor supplied by Toyota (very similar to the JDM engine found in the celica) ... the gearing was changed by Lotus. So, the RSX-S has a little more power, but has a lot more room for growth!

I think you could save some money ... stick with the Type S ... mod the motor and suspension and probably have no problem keeping up or rolling an Elise on the track. Just depends what you are looking for ...

If you want something a little more rare ... go Elise. Both are great cars in the end

 

As someone with experience with both cars, I'd buy an RSX-S and never EVER own a Lotus Elise. They're super uncomfortable and they're not fast at all. Yeah, they handle well if you're going *****-out, but it's not going to impress you on the street more than any other car.

 

yea comes with a celica gts motor. 180 hp...if i actually swap cars. i'm buying the k series motor conversion kit into the the lotus engine bay. cost about an hefty 7 grand (www.prototyperacing.com) ask for joe. he told me all the goods about k20 powered elise. secondly i prefer elise over the exige cuz we're talking about 10-20 grand in difference between these two cars. lastly for those who said elise is a pure track car...elise does comes with power windows and all the other street-friendly user set-ups. so u meant that the exige cup or whatever is the pure track car.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by orlandoRSXR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">....bottom line i just feel like I'm trading in a "legendary" (rsx s) car into (lotus elise) something that I'm not 100% certain yet .....</TD></TR></TABLE>

wahahahahaha.... great post! Definitely make my day.

I would say stick with the RSX.... ya know, it's a "legend" YO!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by orlandoRSXR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">lastly for those who said elise is a pure track car...elise does comes with power windows and all the other street-friendly user set-ups. so u meant that the exige cup or whatever is the pure track car. </TD></TR></TABLE>

hey bud, check lotus's website: It says manual window winders....which mean NON power.
http://www.lotuscars.com/

 

if your welling to spend that much money on a lotus then why not dish out the money on a m3 .. price wise it is the same and u get power like no other, rwd and bmw's superior weight distribution, and as far as looks go ... i dont even gotta say no more cuz ur d ick gon stay wet k . just my opinion.

 

You ever tried to sit in an ELISE with the top on ? Try that out one time.

 

IMO you can get a better car with that kind of money.. why not an evo, g35, or even gti

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by JCL &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">IMO you can get a better car with that kind of money.. why not an evo, g35, or even gti</TD></TR></TABLE>

x2

And I have heard that the American Elise's have some problems mechanically and are pretty much a safe bet on getting killed if your in an accident. Personally, I am an STi person, but you can do much better for that kind of money.

 

The Lotuses that are being sold in the USDM these days are awesome cars, there's no doubt at all. They handle extremely well, have decent brakes, and a very good power/weight ratio.

There's something you need to think about, though.

The Lotuses are for experienced drivers. Especially on the track, I would recommend that you have hundreds of hours under your belt before you consider driving a Lotus all out.

There are just so, so many situations on the track (and emergency situations on the street) that can be solved with a Honda/Acura by simply refusing to lift or even putting your foot down more.

The same situation with a Lotus just isn't going to work, and you're not going to have a way out. To put it succinctly, if you screw up a corner with a Lotus, you're just screwed. It's likely you'll spin or crash if your four wheel drift needs a carry that's longer than the track width.

With the Honda, if you screw up the corner, you might be able to solve it by keeping your foot in it bravely, or doing a quick point and then putting your foot down again.

If you are a very experienced driver, you'll love the Lotus.

If you don't have a lot of hours under your belt, do yourself, your friends, and your insurance company the favour of sticking with the Hondas.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by George Knighton &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The Lotuses that are being sold in the USDM these days are awesome cars, there's no doubt at all. They handle extremely well, have decent brakes, and a very good power/weight ratio.

There's something you need to think about, though.

The Lotuses are for experienced drivers. Especially on the track, I would recommend that you have hundreds of hours under your belt before you consider driving a Lotus all out.

There are just so, so many situations on the track (and emergency situations on the street) that can be solved with a Honda/Acura by simply refusing to lift or even putting your foot down more.

The same situation with a Lotus just isn't going to work, and you're not going to have a way out. To put it succinctly, if you screw up a corner with a Lotus, you're just screwed. It's likely you'll spin or crash if your four wheel drift needs a carry that's longer than the track width.

With the Honda, if you screw up the corner, you might be able to solve it by keeping your foot in it bravely, or doing a quick point and then putting your foot down again.

If you are a very experienced driver, you'll love the Lotus.

If you don't have a lot of hours under your belt, do yourself, your friends, and your insurance company the favour of sticking with the Hondas.

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



Well, to be more objective to the discussion. First, I don't think there is a point in comparing modified cars (RSX-S in this case) to stock cars (Elise)

If track-ability (if there is such word) is what you are looking for (and this is road course track we are talking about), stock for stock, Elise hands down winner over RSX-S by <u>far</u>. I would even argue it takes quite a bit of work for the RSX-S to be able to keep up with the stock Elise on a road course.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by idc5yes &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">ariel atom is where its at!! u can pick it up for around the same price...but i think there's a waiting list</TD></TR></TABLE>

Damn right

there were 4 elises at the auto x i attended saturday.
They are WAY too small for me... but in performance... they are built for... and should be used in track scenarios'
whereas' the rsx is a street car...which ( for the money ) can be made into whatever you want.

So your comparison is apples to oranges

 

George, good post...

Every Elise should come with a commitment to take several racing schools and a log book, to be presented to your Lotus dealer or mechanic twice a year, proving that you've raced the thing at least twice since the previous report.

I might consider an Elise as a daily driver & second/third "toy" car, but there's no way it would live its life entirely on the street, "out to pasture", so to speak. It's going to get beat upon.

For a car I could live with, and especially if I could only have one, I'd definitely go with the RSX.

 

I think if you had the money for an Elise, you'd still be driving something different. I just don't consider a Lotus (any model) to be practical daily driven car. Unless you just have a bunch of whatever to do whatever you want, your gonna have problems buying groceries in one of those things.

Sounds to me like you might as well buy a CRX shell and do whatever it is you want to with it. Or just trade in your RSX for an S2000.

 

Rsx weights more around 2800lbs, an integra weights around 2600. I dont know why you would call the Rsx legendary, because its not, maybe if you were talking about a type R you could say that. But a Lotus is an upgrade from an RSX in every way. Its faster, handles better, and more exotic. The only problem is its not practical** at all, so its going to be Really weird driving it daily


Modified by SiR99 at 8:06 PM 10/15/2006

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by SiR99 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> The only problem is its not practice at all, so its going to be Really weird driving it daily</TD></TR></TABLE>

X2 Not a PRACTICAL DD

 

small question...

would the elise be your daily driver?

i don't think i could do that, it is very small and spartan.

just a suggestion...you could purchase a used miata and add a turbo or supercharger, or buy one with one already attached. save the rsx as a daily driver.

the miata is a stout car that accepts forced induction quite well. it's rwd, topless and extremely reliable. the handling is exceptional in any form.

if you're not fast with 130hp, 300hp isn't going to help you. performance driving in a RWD car can be drastically different than a FWD. if you start with a decent miata, you can learn the skills quickly them move on to modifying it. give the car a drive before discounting it.

 

miata is more practial then the elise