RE: Lotus Exige S Roadster: Review

[toppstuff]

kambites said:

toppstuff said:

I like that a lot.

Will it fit tall people? Like 6'5 and size 13 shoes tall people?

Too many cars are built for little people.

The interior dimensions are much the same as the Elise, which basically means "it depends". I know people taller than you who own Elises but if you're that tall you have to be the perfect shape in order to fit.

I've driven two Elise.

One of them allowed me to hunker down quite nicely and it was good to drive. The other I could not get comfortable with and I could only really drive it by sitting up and looking over the top of the windscreen. This does not look good. People point and laugh at you. It was like Shrek was borrowing someones elses car. I'd rather not repeat that experience.

No idea why one was different to the other.

[kambites]

toppstuff said:

No idea why one was different to the other.

Probably different seats.

[Ryvita]

I currently have an Exige S (the old four-pot version) which has been converted with a soft-top roof. The value of having hard-top track coupe plus ability to do soft-top summer touring is brilliant.

I *really* hope this car sells well, because in a few years I will be queueing up for a used one. Love the cleaner lines, love that engine.

I am aware however, that the whole, "I can't wait to buy one used at a discount" is something that has been said a lot about, for example, the GT-86/BRZ. I suspect that with everyone wanting a nearly new one, and not prepared to pay the piper so to speak, the residuals will stay very high with demand outstripping supply.

Edited by Ryvita on Wednesday 3rd July 12:40

[CedricN]

Would love to try one. Like an elise but finally combined lightness and slightly more cosy interior (except for the Europa S, which is a car on my radar ). And an "supercar" engine noise hopefully. Hope they sell well !

[PascalBuyens]

toppstuff said:

No idea why one was different to the other.

Let me guess... an S1 and an S2?

[Ryvita]

Could be ProBax versus standard seats.

The PB one's are superb.

[Schnellmann]

Ryvita said:

I currently have an Exige S (the old four-pot version) which has been converted with a soft-top roof. The value of having hard-top track coupe plus ability to do soft-top summer touring is brilliant.

I *really* hope this car sells well, because in a few years I will be queueing up for a used one. Love the cleaner lines, love that engine.

Edited by Ryvita on Wednesday 3rd July 12:40

I think this is the problem for Lotus. There are lots of people that would love an Exige S Roadster...but in general they aren't the same people that have £55k-£60k to spend on a new car. Giving slight chicken and egg problem.

[Bencolem]

I think the Exige has matured into a lovely design now - such a shame that the (beautiful) leather treatment can't mask an interior that dying for a re-design. Emotionally it's a super-desirable car, but intellectually a Boxster S is the more attractive proposition unfortunately.

[smilo996]

It looks great and the tweeks as well as the open top have nipped and tucked it nicely.
However 4 words:

Twin Turbo V8 Esprit

(and drop the utterly stupid bike project)

[Daniel1]

Quilted leather in an Exige (the apparent hardcore version of the Elise). I feel this company lacks direction, focus and funding :s

Boxster S / Caymen S would be a better road car (and sporty enough for weekend early mornings) and a caterham would make a better ballistic machine. Not sure who would spend upwards of £50,000 on one of these.

[dinkel]

And what a riot. Lottery . . .

[toppstuff]

Daniel1 said:

Quilted leather in an Exige (the apparent hardcore version of the Elise). I feel this company lacks direction, focus and funding :s

Boxster S / Caymen S would be a better road car (and sporty enough for weekend early mornings) and a caterham would make a better ballistic machine. Not sure who would spend upwards of £50,000 on one of these.

I fundamentally disagree.

This car is infinitely more desirable than a Boxster; Any Boxster. It is more hardcore than a Boxster to just the right degree, without doing your head in like a Caterham.

Boxster is nice and rounded and hard to criticise but oh dear, it is like vanilla ice cream. The market can take a more hardcore rival to sell well but in much smaller numbers than the Boxster. I think this Exige is perfect.

[MycroftWard]

This looks great both visually and on paper. I'm not a bit fan of the fussy wheels but I guess they are par for the course these days, the rest of the body and interior are very nice indeed.

I'm a bit confused as to why it's called an Exige and not an Elise V6 though.

[Si_man306]

toppstuff said:

Daniel1 said:

Quilted leather in an Exige (the apparent hardcore version of the Elise). I feel this company lacks direction, focus and funding :s

Boxster S / Caymen S would be a better road car (and sporty enough for weekend early mornings) and a caterham would make a better ballistic machine. Not sure who would spend upwards of £50,000 on one of these.

I fundamentally disagree.

This car is infinitely more desirable than a Boxster; Any Boxster. It is more hardcore than a Boxster to just the right degree, without doing your head in like a Caterham.

Boxster is nice and rounded and hard to criticise but oh dear, it is like vanilla ice cream. The market can take a more hardcore rival to sell well but in much smaller numbers than the Boxster. I think this Exige is perfect.

Have you owned both?

I have, and despite the exige's recent tarted up engine and interior, it's still a very similar car in essence to the original S2's, albeit with more capability and desirability. The exige is a gorgeous car and a fantastic feat of engineering and ideas. It is also a brilliant drivers car.

It is not however, in anyway, a better road car than a boxster or a cayman/ insert generic german mobile here. It has a hugely higher NVH, is more technically challenging to drive and less comfortable and less practical for use every day.

[herebebeasties]

Si_man306 said:

It is not however, in anyway, a better road car than a boxster or a cayman/ insert generic german mobile here. It has a hugely higher NVH, is more technically challenging to drive and less comfortable and less practical for use every day.

Well, it depends what you mean by "better", doesn't it?
IMO "better" for a sports car == more fun in the twisties.

The German approach for their most compact sports car is to use electric power steering at the expense of steering feel, all to save 1 mpg because their car is too heavy and needs power steering in the first place. Not "better" for what is supposed to be a sports car, IMO.

[Daniel1]

Si_man306 said:

toppstuff said:

Daniel1 said:

Quilted leather in an Exige (the apparent hardcore version of the Elise). I feel this company lacks direction, focus and funding :s

Boxster S / Caymen S would be a better road car (and sporty enough for weekend early mornings) and a caterham would make a better ballistic machine. Not sure who would spend upwards of £50,000 on one of these.

I fundamentally disagree.

This car is infinitely more desirable than a Boxster; Any Boxster. It is more hardcore than a Boxster to just the right degree, without doing your head in like a Caterham.

Boxster is nice and rounded and hard to criticise but oh dear, it is like vanilla ice cream. The market can take a more hardcore rival to sell well but in much smaller numbers than the Boxster. I think this Exige is perfect.

Have you owned both?

I have, and despite the exige's recent tarted up engine and interior, it's still a very similar car in essence to the original S2's, albeit with more capability and desirability. The exige is a gorgeous car and a fantastic feat of engineering and ideas. It is also a brilliant drivers car.

It is not however, in anyway, a better road car than a boxster or a cayman/ insert generic german mobile here. It has a hugely higher NVH, is more technically challenging to drive and less comfortable and less practical for use every day.

The other question to ask is if there is a market why someone like Porsche (who do like their niches) haven't released a hardcore gt3 boxster. You could argue that that was the previous gen spyder, but did that sell because it was a limited run model or would it sell in the required numbers if it was a mainstream car?

I'm yet to be convinced. But I'm not in the market so this is based purely i my gut feeling

[Guvernator]

Schnellmann said:

Ryvita said:

I currently have an Exige S (the old four-pot version) which has been converted with a soft-top roof. The value of having hard-top track coupe plus ability to do soft-top summer touring is brilliant.

I *really* hope this car sells well, because in a few years I will be queueing up for a used one. Love the cleaner lines, love that engine.

Edited by Ryvita on Wednesday 3rd July 12:40

I think this is the problem for Lotus. There are lots of people that would love an Exige S Roadster...but in general they aren't the same people that have £55k-£60k to spend on a new car. Giving slight chicken and egg problem.

Have to agree 100% with this. I would LOVE a new Exige S Roadster BUT I'd never pay £60k for one. They've become too expensive for what is in effect a weekend toy, the price should have started with a 4.

Also why the hell have they put a fabric roof on it, surely this was crying out for a proper metal targa top?

Apart from those two little issues it's almost my perfect weekend car so I'll be on lookout if\when they depreciate to their proper price point.

Also

[kambites]

Guvernator said:

Also why the hell have they put a fabric roof on it, surely this was crying out for a proper metal targa top?

I see no reason that you shouldn't stick a standard S2 Elise hard-top onto one if you want to. I can't really imagine why you'd want to though?

As far as I can see, a fabric roof is simply better.

[kambites]

Daniel1 said:

The other question to ask is if there is a market why someone like Porsche (who do like their niches) haven't released a hardcore gt3 boxster.

I think that one is easy - because a 90k hardcore Boxster/Cayman would probably be a better car than the 130k hardcore 911 (GT3RS) so no-one would buy the 911 on which they make a bucket load of profit.

[Church of Noise]

I want this badly!

Let's hope they sell well, both for me (I'd like to get a 2nd hand one as this price is simply not in my league) and for Lotus!