Elise and camping!
Discussion
Ok, straight to the point here. How much stuff can you fit in an Elise? Can you take it camping with you?!
Reason I ask is I really want to buy an Elise, I dont use a car for work or anything so its a toy as such, but go I camping now an again. So can you squeeze enough stuff in or am I gonna get flammed and be told to buy an estate car instead?!
Cheers!
Reason I ask is I really want to buy an Elise, I dont use a car for work or anything so its a toy as such, but go I camping now an again. So can you squeeze enough stuff in or am I gonna get flammed and be told to buy an estate car instead?!
Cheers!
Yup, you can 
I did it to pistonfest last year....two people in the car, and all the camping stuff you need. Of course, camping is a compromise anyway and you have to buy food/drink for example when you're there (as opposed to taking it with you if you were taking an MPV...or even just a normal car) but yup, it can absolutely be done!
We've just come back from PistonFest (3am this morning gulp) and although we didn't take the Elises this year, there were others that did and had a top time.
So, the conclusion; yup, it can be done! Put it this way; people go camping on motorbikes, so an Elise is luxury

I did it to pistonfest last year....two people in the car, and all the camping stuff you need. Of course, camping is a compromise anyway and you have to buy food/drink for example when you're there (as opposed to taking it with you if you were taking an MPV...or even just a normal car) but yup, it can absolutely be done!
We've just come back from PistonFest (3am this morning gulp) and although we didn't take the Elises this year, there were others that did and had a top time.
So, the conclusion; yup, it can be done! Put it this way; people go camping on motorbikes, so an Elise is luxury

Good tips for packing.
On an S1 taking the carpet out of the boot makes loads more room as it unearths nooks and crannies on each side of the boot space, and put stuff into loads of small carrier bags. These can then be thrown into the boot and used to fill the akward spaces much more efficiently. We did two weeks in the Lot Valley last year and still had room on the way back for 14 bottles of wine on the shelf behind the seats!
On an S1 taking the carpet out of the boot makes loads more room as it unearths nooks and crannies on each side of the boot space, and put stuff into loads of small carrier bags. These can then be thrown into the boot and used to fill the akward spaces much more efficiently. We did two weeks in the Lot Valley last year and still had room on the way back for 14 bottles of wine on the shelf behind the seats!

Easy! I have an Eliseparts luggage rack, they cost a fortune new but I got mine off eBay a lot cheaper. In the boot we had clothes for me and the Mrs for 9 days, on the rack there was 2 folding chairs, a folding table, a tent, a gas cooker, saucepans, plates, towels, coats, picnic rug plus a few other bits that wouldn't fit in the car!


Everything you see in the pic (except the mobile home/bathroom!) was in the Elise on the way down to St Tropez



Everything you see in the pic (except the mobile home/bathroom!) was in the Elise on the way down to St Tropez

We had 2 elises in convoy but needed to take another vehicle for the tents, both had big tents, all we could have fit in was tent, matress, sleeping bag, pillows and clothes.
Though as a passenger I would have been packed in the car with carrying stuff on lap.
Also the sleeping bag was a double one, so maybe two singles would have fitted better, and would have needed to split the tent up from the bag.
Like the idea of the boot rack, where did you get it from?
Though as a passenger I would have been packed in the car with carrying stuff on lap.
Also the sleeping bag was a double one, so maybe two singles would have fitted better, and would have needed to split the tent up from the bag.
Like the idea of the boot rack, where did you get it from?
I've done a weekend camping (Le Mans) self sufficiently, albeit with no chairs and only a rug to sit on. Mine's an S1 so less boot space than the later cars.
My recommendation is these puppies
http://www.packmate.co.uk/packmate_main.htm
You can shove your clothes in them and then squeeze out all the air and easily take a weeks worth of clothing shoved around the edges of other stuff in the boot.
My recommendation is these puppies
http://www.packmate.co.uk/packmate_main.htm
You can shove your clothes in them and then squeeze out all the air and easily take a weeks worth of clothing shoved around the edges of other stuff in the boot.
I know the luggage racks are expensive, I paid about £265 for mine secondhand which I think was a decent price and well worth it for me. I'd guess you could buy one new and sell it for £200 less than you paid when you sold the car on which isn't too bad, and it makes packing a lot easier!
Shnozz said:
You can shove your clothes in them and then squeeze out all the air and easily take a weeks worth of clothing shoved around the edges of other stuff in the boot.
Once you take something out of a bag though and it loses it's vacuum, are you not then buggered ttrying to put it back in? Or do you have a cigarette lighter suction thingy so you can re do it?TonyHetherington said:
Shnozz said:
You can shove your clothes in them and then squeeze out all the air and easily take a weeks worth of clothing shoved around the edges of other stuff in the boot.
Once you take something out of a bag though and it loses it's vacuum, are you not then buggered ttrying to put it back in? Or do you have a cigarette lighter suction thingy so you can re do it?
TonyHetherington said:
Shnozz said:
You can shove your clothes in them and then squeeze out all the air and easily take a weeks worth of clothing shoved around the edges of other stuff in the boot.
Once you take something out of a bag though and it loses it's vacuum, are you not then buggered ttrying to put it back in? Or do you have a cigarette lighter suction thingy so you can re do it?Gassing Station | Elise/Exige/Europa/340R | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff




