Exige or Cerbera
Discussion
Well if you've had an Elise you know all about the pluses and minuses of ownership. I think it really depends on what you want to use it for. Although I've never owned or driven either car I've looked at them closely and know owners of both. The Exige is really a track car, and a very raw and noisy driving environment. The Cerbera is comfortable, dare I say it luxurious and fapping quick!.
If I could afford it I'd take a Cerbera, no question. But if you're thinking of doing more than one track day a year an Exige is a better prospect.
Is this to be your only car or a fun spare car?
> Edited to remove a small speck of dust.
>> Edited by Bonce on Sunday 13th October 14:46
If I could afford it I'd take a Cerbera, no question. But if you're thinking of doing more than one track day a year an Exige is a better prospect.
Is this to be your only car or a fun spare car?
> Edited to remove a small speck of dust.
>> Edited by Bonce on Sunday 13th October 14:46
I'd go for the Cerbie definitely.
There's a guy at work who's thinking about buying an Exige (upgrade from his 111s) and if he's representative of an Exige owner, I'd steer clear.
Imagine the picture - Le Mans 2003 - driving down through Frenchland in a convoy with your mates. Probably driving... I don't know... maybe a Lotus Esprit 2002, a Cerbera, and an Exige and maybe an Elise somewhere behind in the distance...
Nice.
Although I could never cheat on the Lotus Marque, I think since you have the option and it'll be more for road use that track days, the Cerbera is the one. Buy it now.
There's a guy at work who's thinking about buying an Exige (upgrade from his 111s) and if he's representative of an Exige owner, I'd steer clear.
Imagine the picture - Le Mans 2003 - driving down through Frenchland in a convoy with your mates. Probably driving... I don't know... maybe a Lotus Esprit 2002, a Cerbera, and an Exige and maybe an Elise somewhere behind in the distance...
Nice.
Although I could never cheat on the Lotus Marque, I think since you have the option and it'll be more for road use that track days, the Cerbera is the one. Buy it now.
I'm not so sure. I think the Exige owner might get the better of you. The Esprit driver would obviously be mobbed with hairy-chested-open-shirted-medallion-wearing european types gaggling over the 70's looks admittedly, but would probably crash the thing at the first corner.
The quick little Exige & Elise would scream through Frogland having fun in the sun and the TVR would probably explode before it even got on the ferry.
Get the Exige mate. It's a 2000's mans car.
The quick little Exige & Elise would scream through Frogland having fun in the sun and the TVR would probably explode before it even got on the ferry.
Get the Exige mate. It's a 2000's mans car.
Let's not forget that the Elise and Exige drivers would be consuming vast quantities of headache tablets through them suffering from the wind noise and the jolting suspension.
The Cerbera is an out and out supercar, you'll be cursing yourself for taking the Exige over the TVR. The soundtrack is worth the price of TVR membership alone.
The Cerbera is an out and out supercar, you'll be cursing yourself for taking the Exige over the TVR. The soundtrack is worth the price of TVR membership alone.
he he...! what a great position to be in, you lucky git 
Either are great cars - if you want to go on lots of trackdays, the exige is probably the better bet, but if not, i'd probably say tvr.
You could always go for another lotus that offers TVR cerbera (almost) performance, with exige (almost) handling...!? Have you driven a v8 esprit?? Seriously, the esprit is way quicker than the exige, and will handle better than the cerbie - just a thought.
Olly penguin - i see you have a 2002 esprit on order - nice choice. Have you joined up on the uk esprit group on yahoo?
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/UKLotusEsprit/
cheers
Rob
Either are great cars - if you want to go on lots of trackdays, the exige is probably the better bet, but if not, i'd probably say tvr.
You could always go for another lotus that offers TVR cerbera (almost) performance, with exige (almost) handling...!? Have you driven a v8 esprit?? Seriously, the esprit is way quicker than the exige, and will handle better than the cerbie - just a thought.
Olly penguin - i see you have a 2002 esprit on order - nice choice. Have you joined up on the uk esprit group on yahoo?
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/UKLotusEsprit/
cheers
Rob
Having owned a Cerbera and a Caterham at the same time, and many other TVRs before that, and now having a Tuscan and an Elise I'd go for the Cerbera if it's a road car, and a Caterham if it's a Sunday blast / track car.
Make sure you get a good Cerbera, late 4.2 or any 4.5 and they're very well sorted and much more usable than an Elise / Exige day to day.
If it's just track fun you want a Caterham Superlight is way more fun than an Elise / Exige.
Just my 2p worth.
Make sure you get a good Cerbera, late 4.2 or any 4.5 and they're very well sorted and much more usable than an Elise / Exige day to day.
If it's just track fun you want a Caterham Superlight is way more fun than an Elise / Exige.
Just my 2p worth.
I was faced with just such a prob 18 months ago. Had owned an Elan SE for 7 years, brilliant car! Always loved Cerbs but thought they were out of my bracket. Blown away first time i saw an exige....Test drove both. Exige was awesome on tight country roads but noisy (wrong noise im afraid) cramped and uncomfortable after 30 miles. On any form of fast road your pickings for any powerfull car over about 75. Cerb = harder work on country roads. Blindingly quick (whoever thinks the exige is quicker round anything other than tight race track/country lane hasn't come accross a well driven Cerb) comfortable. all the right noises (and pops and bangs and flames on overrun) all the gadgets (keyless doors/ignition etc) and in the right colour one of the best/meanest looking cars around. 6000 mile service thro Joospeed = 260pounds. Pass anything apart from a petrol station!........Bought a cerb, went on my annual hommage to Lotus at Donnington, admired the Exiges inside, bought a burger in car park and watched the crowds having a good gawp at my Cerb.
At the end of the day theres pros and cons for both. Go with your heart and hope your wallet can stand it. If you dont youll always wished you had!
At the end of the day theres pros and cons for both. Go with your heart and hope your wallet can stand it. If you dont youll always wished you had!
The Cerbies Quick.............The Exige is Quickest
Hey Jim, nice to see you are still spouting utter b*llocks as usual. The Cerbera is a 200mph GT supercar, the Exige is anything but. The Cerbera will beat anything in a straight line, except maybe a McLaren F1 or an Enzo, but these are 'slightly' more expensive. Incidently I was using a little bit of sarcasm in that previous sentence... could you tell?
Thanks to everyone thats posted. My main concern for the Cerbie was that it was a bit fragile, and i'd end up with whopping bills. I get the impression that the 4.5 is going to be more reliable than the 4.2. I would be mainly using the car on the road, and have experienced the pain of being out dragged by a Golf TD on the M1 in my Elise at 70mph, so I think I'll go and look at a few 4.5 Cerbies.
bigbigray said: Thanks to everyone thats posted. My main concern for the Cerbie was that it was a bit fragile, and i'd end up with whopping bills. I get the impression that the 4.5 is going to be more reliable than the 4.2. I would be mainly using the car on the road, and have experienced the pain of being out dragged by a Golf TD on the M1 in my Elise at 70mph, so I think I'll go and look at a few 4.5 Cerbies.
Whilst not wishing to compare the exige and the cerbie in out and out performance - clearly no contest
this are fairly different animals, the exige probably still turns in 30 mpg on the roads - and is cheaper to insure and run.
How often in the cerbie are you going to exceed 150 mph ? once on the way to le mans ? maybe
not many tracks have enough space - except maybe the main runway at bruntingthorpe or similar.
The exige is a far more usable track day car, but I agree if you park the two cars side by side and take one set of keys- its a no brainer..
this are fairly different animals, the exige probably still turns in 30 mpg on the roads - and is cheaper to insure and run.
How often in the cerbie are you going to exceed 150 mph ? once on the way to le mans ? maybe
not many tracks have enough space - except maybe the main runway at bruntingthorpe or similar.
The exige is a far more usable track day car, but I agree if you park the two cars side by side and take one set of keys- its a no brainer..
In a Cerbera, a 4.5 should be no more reliable than 4.2 - they are basically the same engine these days.
The other piece people haven't mentioned is that you can fit a lot more "girl-accesories" in a Cerbera which means she'll come away for longer than an overnight touring holiday....and for a grand you can make one handle as well as an Exige
The other piece people haven't mentioned is that you can fit a lot more "girl-accesories" in a Cerbera which means she'll come away for longer than an overnight touring holiday....and for a grand you can make one handle as well as an Exige
bigbigray said: Thanks to everyone thats posted. My main concern for the Cerbie was that it was a bit fragile, and i'd end up with whopping bills. I get the impression that the 4.5 is going to be more reliable than the 4.2. I would be mainly using the car on the road, and have experienced the pain of being out dragged by a Golf TD on the M1 in my Elise at 70mph, so I think I'll go and look at a few 4.5 Cerbies.
Golf TD......how did that happen?
Nothing wrong with dropping it a few cogs before trying to accelerate!
Nothing wrong with dropping it a few cogs before trying to accelerate!
The fact is the Elise is great up until about 80mph and then it just feels... let me think about the right words... normal? My standard Elise felt completely gutless above 80mph which proved to be embarrassing when making any kind of motorway journey.
On a tight and twisty track it is king but in a 'real world' environment, long straight, dull, motorways it will get torn apart by some very mundane motorcars.
>> Edited by adeewuff on Tuesday 15th October 15:49
Sorry, I can't comment on a standard Elise. My comment was based on my experience.
I'm not saying the Elise is the 'best', and mine is hardly a power house, but I have found that if I give it some stick in every gear there is not much that creams you on the m/way.
Normally if you catch them by surprise, once they have mustered all their horses into action you are long gone.
But as someone said, it is difficult to make use of anything above a ton in the UK.
And, what a choice to have to make!
I'm not saying the Elise is the 'best', and mine is hardly a power house, but I have found that if I give it some stick in every gear there is not much that creams you on the m/way.
Normally if you catch them by surprise, once they have mustered all their horses into action you are long gone.
But as someone said, it is difficult to make use of anything above a ton in the UK.
And, what a choice to have to make!
135sport said:
Normally if you catch them by surprise, once they have mustered all their horses into action you are long gone.
I suppose if you are talking about a bog standard Mondeo then I would hope that a £26k lightweight sports car could outrun it.
That's where my problem is really, anything with any real guts can just outgun an Elise without even changing down a gear at those sort of speeds. It was one of the reasons I changed cars, the performance of the car couldn't meet the image it gave out. Very disheartening.
>> Edited by adeewuff on Tuesday 15th October 16:57
Hmm - Have heard this complaint many times - so I am sure there is something in it
I had a 111s - and whilst the power was 143bhp - the c/r gearbox meant you were right in the powerband at 75/80 eg just over 4000 revs - made it noisy but never had a problem with reaching silly speed. (where appropriate
)
The exige has the C/R box and a good deal more power than a std elise - so whilst its not in Cerbera country it will see off the competition mention so far.
I had a 111s - and whilst the power was 143bhp - the c/r gearbox meant you were right in the powerband at 75/80 eg just over 4000 revs - made it noisy but never had a problem with reaching silly speed. (where appropriate
) The exige has the C/R box and a good deal more power than a std elise - so whilst its not in Cerbera country it will see off the competition mention so far.
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