RE: Lotus Elise S1: Spotted
Discussion
LewisR said:
Even back when I was 14 or so, I remember putting refinement and low NVH as high priorities in a car. Hence my dream car then (& now) being an '87 V8 Vantage.
That being the case, it seems a slightly odd sort of car to have bought in the first place. A bit like buying an MX5 and complaining you can't fit the children in the back. 
LewisR said:
Even back when I was 14 or so, I remember putting refinement and low NVH as high priorities in a car. Hence my dream car then (& now) being an '87 V8 Vantage.
Redeeming your self slightly, but you cant have the X pack without an Elise, it would be like having a wife without a mistress, one is refined, looks after your children and provides for you long term, the other is just naughty.kambites said:
LewisR said:
Even back when I was 14 or so, I remember putting refinement and low NVH as high priorities in a car. Hence my dream car then (& now) being an '87 V8 Vantage.
That being the case, it seems a slightly odd sort of car to have bought in the first place. A bit like buying an MX5 and complaining you can't fit the children in the back. LewisR said:
I had the opportunity buy one at a good price, so knew that I wouldn't lose money on it (you'd be unlikely to lose money on a 2nd hand Elise now anyway). I also wanted to experience the car and see if I would come round to appreciate it, which I stated earlier.
Fair enough, makes sense. I think if it was me and I placed any value on NVH, I'd have sold it the day after I bought it.
Bought my T reg S1 about five years ago with 25 k miles and full specialist and dealership history having had about £600 a year spent on it in servicing. Spent a couple of months over winter generally detailing and making her look mint. Finally hit the road in April for my first run out. Went round a moderate bend on a moorland road at about 60 mph which my 911 would have got round at 90 mph. The car spun, did a full 360 and ended up going backwards into the ditch in a cloud of tyre smoke. Thank goodness there was nothing coming the other way!!! I couldn't believe that I had got away with it with no injury or damage. Very shaken I decided that it wanted selling quick!!
Anyway after some research I sent the car to a specialist for new tyres, new adjustable shockers, lowering and full geo. car now handles like a dream and is brilliant on track. So much for 'full service history'!!
No thought of selling anytime soon as with interest rates as they are it is better than money in the bank.
Anyway after some research I sent the car to a specialist for new tyres, new adjustable shockers, lowering and full geo. car now handles like a dream and is brilliant on track. So much for 'full service history'!!
No thought of selling anytime soon as with interest rates as they are it is better than money in the bank.
Haven't read the board for some time but caught this topic on email and had to have a look see.
I bought a sport 111 18 months ago, after wanting to buy one for many years. The car came up just as I got paid for a contract and had some spare money. In type 25 colours too which is my favourite
To me the car is just the right side of race car for the road for proper driver feel good factor. I've owned a lot of cars over the years including an E39 M5, which was a great European autoroute bruiser. But not so good in UK as its powerband encouraged 120mph+ driving. It had a race car engine, little low down torque and needed to be revved. I always thought a strange engine for a saloon car. A Z8 is a lot of fun though. I sold it for an M3 CSL. but even that was unrewarding steering wise after a long line of 911's. The little lotus is an absolute joy to pilot. As someone else said, it costs buttons to run, does not eat tyres or brakes or even fuel! But it is hard work. A trip up the South Island of New Zealand at night in the rain left me completely exhausted. But it was an epic drive. So much concentration demanded by the car. No driver aids leave you exposed... A crest followed by an unexpected curve with a wet surface saw me on full opposite lock on a closed road event early this year, but we didn't bin it. Even with mid engined layout the car is not a widow maker. I don't find it similar to early 911's, they have much much larger polar moments of inertia and are VERY different at the limit. Especially the 964 and previous cars with trailing arms.
I don't drive mine every day, it's a pain in motorways as its lower than a mini! Intimidated in size by a scooter! Harsh riding on the RD08 tyres to the point of brain vibration on rough surfaces. But is 100% fun and rewarding to drive on a twisty road. I'll keep mine as long as I can afford too. Cheers!
I bought a sport 111 18 months ago, after wanting to buy one for many years. The car came up just as I got paid for a contract and had some spare money. In type 25 colours too which is my favourite
To me the car is just the right side of race car for the road for proper driver feel good factor. I've owned a lot of cars over the years including an E39 M5, which was a great European autoroute bruiser. But not so good in UK as its powerband encouraged 120mph+ driving. It had a race car engine, little low down torque and needed to be revved. I always thought a strange engine for a saloon car. A Z8 is a lot of fun though. I sold it for an M3 CSL. but even that was unrewarding steering wise after a long line of 911's. The little lotus is an absolute joy to pilot. As someone else said, it costs buttons to run, does not eat tyres or brakes or even fuel! But it is hard work. A trip up the South Island of New Zealand at night in the rain left me completely exhausted. But it was an epic drive
. So much concentration demanded by the car. No driver aids leave you exposed... A crest followed by an unexpected curve with a wet surface saw me on full opposite lock on a closed road event early this year, but we didn't bin it. Even with mid engined layout the car is not a widow maker. I don't find it similar to early 911's, they have much much larger polar moments of inertia and are VERY different at the limit. Especially the 964 and previous cars with trailing arms. I don't drive mine every day, it's a pain in motorways as its lower than a mini! Intimidated in size by a scooter! Harsh riding on the RD08 tyres to the point of brain vibration on rough surfaces. But is 100% fun and rewarding to drive on a twisty road. I'll keep mine as long as I can afford too. Cheers!
LewisR said:
The reason I kept it for so long after the 9 month period after I was fed up with it was to see if i would come round to it but I didn't.
I bought an E39 M5 3 years ago.
I went the opposite way, bought a e39 M5 thinking a 400bhp saloon would be all I would ever need, got bored of it very quickly and just felt disconnected from the road.I bought an E39 M5 3 years ago.
Sold it and bought a s1 elise and could instantly feel the road and again and the apparent lightness.
I then wanted more power and turbo'd the rover k series in it and now have over 300bhp so you can make them pretty quick if you want without spending a fortune.
chris996 said:
Hello Mr Turbotoaster,
Who turboed it for you and what was the approximate cost if you don't mind me asking.
i did it myself, started with a 111s it cost me about £1000 to do, using stock oem engine components, astra vxr injectors, loads of bits off ebayWho turboed it for you and what was the approximate cost if you don't mind me asking.
makes 300bhp at 18psi, will be running it next week at 19psi with reduced intake temps which im hoping for 320bhp and 290ftlbs
Having someone else make you a manifold obviously costs, i think a tubular manifold that fits the turbo between the bulkhead and the engine costs £600
get your hands on a rover 75 turbo engine cheap(you should be able to get one for about £500, then bolt that in if you have a none vvc car, if you have a vvc engined car, bolt your head onto it for the bigger valves and ports to get the most out of the setup.
Im just running a spare massively skimmed vvc head on mine until i can build my fully forged lump over the winter with a good head and aim for 380bhp+(that will only cost me circa £3k to build)
I test drove one at an Official Dealer and didn't get on with it.
In particular the steering wasn't as feelsome as the Boxsters I'd been running, I thought. I often wonder whether it was me or it!
Also tried the VX220T after that - twice, and thought that was better than the Elise in many respects, but hated the engine's delivery, so didn't go there, either.
In particular the steering wasn't as feelsome as the Boxsters I'd been running, I thought. I often wonder whether it was me or it!
Also tried the VX220T after that - twice, and thought that was better than the Elise in many respects, but hated the engine's delivery, so didn't go there, either.
M
The non-pa steering of the Elise is about as pure and feel-some as its possible to deliberately engineer. Porsche try their best at this too of course. But when you introduce pa then you're going to lose a bit of feel. Having owned several porkers from different generations I would agree their steering is marvellous. But the Elise beats it. And that's a big reason why I own one.
Every time I squeeze myself into it, start the engine (phew, it runs!) I marvel at how easy and perfectly pilot able it is to drive with such an improbably small wheel.
I do hope they go up in value cos I lost a shed load on a 2.7RS ..
Bonefish Blues said:
I test drove one at an Official Dealer and didn't get on with it.
In particular the steering wasn't as feelsome as the Boxsters I'd been running, I thought. I often wonder whether it was me or it!
Also tried the VX220T after that - twice, and thought that was better than the Elise in many respects, but hated the engine's delivery, so didn't go there, either.
It must be you In particular the steering wasn't as feelsome as the Boxsters I'd been running, I thought. I often wonder whether it was me or it!
Also tried the VX220T after that - twice, and thought that was better than the Elise in many respects, but hated the engine's delivery, so didn't go there, either.
The non-pa steering of the Elise is about as pure and feel-some as its possible to deliberately engineer. Porsche try their best at this too of course. But when you introduce pa then you're going to lose a bit of feel. Having owned several porkers from different generations I would agree their steering is marvellous. But the Elise beats it
. And that's a big reason why I own one. Every time I squeeze myself into it, start the engine (phew, it runs!) I marvel at how easy and perfectly pilot able it is to drive with such an improbably small wheel.
I do hope they go up in value cos I lost a shed load on a 2.7RS ..
The Elises's steering is extremely geometry sensitive. It can feel absolutely awful if it's off and Lotus didn't do a very goof job of setting the cars up from the factory so even brand new cars could feel pretty poor. Unfortunately, in their quest to keep weight down Lotus also managed to make the suspension rather fragile so it takes very little to knock it out of alignment.
Edited by kambites on Sunday 23 August 21:16
kambites said:
The Elises's steering is extremely geometry sensitive. It can feel absolutely awful if it's off and Lotus didn't do a very goof job of setting the cars up from the factory so even brand new cars could feel pretty poor. Unfortunately, in their quest to keep weight down Lotus also managed to make the suspension rather fragile so it takes very little to knock it out of alignment.
So it might not have been me after all? Edited by kambites on Sunday 23 August 21:16
Seriously, I'd read everything, had an expectation of something, and it just, well, wasn't.
kambites said:
The Elises's steering is extremely geometry sensitive. It can feel absolutely awful if it's off and Lotus didn't do a very goof job of setting the cars up from the factory so even brand new cars could feel pretty poor. Unfortunately, in their quest to keep weight down Lotus also managed to make the suspension rather fragile so it takes very little to knock it out of alignment.
How does this 'awfulness' manifest itself?Edited by kambites on Sunday 23 August 21:16
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