Exige first drive - now I'm smitten
Discussion
Hi all,
I attended a track day at the weekend at Bedford (GT track) with some mates. One of them had a 480hp Westfield Turbo that was just about the most frightening experience I've ever had in a car! I imagine that this 800bhp/tonne monster is about as close as you can get to a pillion ride on an R1...
Anyway the reason for this post is that I also got a drive in a Lotus Exige (supercharged) - my first drive of any Exige/Elise car. I used to have a 160bhp 7, so I've some experience of lightweight cars, and have since poured a huge amount of time and money into a prolonged love affair with manual gearbox Porsche 928s. "You'll fall in love" said my friend before we headed out on track, and it was so.
It was quick - didn't feel massively faster than my 7 but obviously we were 2 up and an Exige weighs more than a 7. But it wasn't the raw pace of the thing but the overall package, the steering, the brakes, even the limit handling which I thought might be twitchy due to the mid engined layout, was beautiful. We had a couple of oversteer situations which I was able to blend out nicely with some corrective lock and a soft foot on the gas.
Overall what caught me was the simplicity of the experience - great vision (forwards and side at least), lovely controls, endless feel and the feeling of being able to drive around anything.
I have to have one, only question is which model. I think an S2 Elise 111S looks like stonking value at around £13k.
Joel
I attended a track day at the weekend at Bedford (GT track) with some mates. One of them had a 480hp Westfield Turbo that was just about the most frightening experience I've ever had in a car! I imagine that this 800bhp/tonne monster is about as close as you can get to a pillion ride on an R1...
Anyway the reason for this post is that I also got a drive in a Lotus Exige (supercharged) - my first drive of any Exige/Elise car. I used to have a 160bhp 7, so I've some experience of lightweight cars, and have since poured a huge amount of time and money into a prolonged love affair with manual gearbox Porsche 928s. "You'll fall in love" said my friend before we headed out on track, and it was so.
It was quick - didn't feel massively faster than my 7 but obviously we were 2 up and an Exige weighs more than a 7. But it wasn't the raw pace of the thing but the overall package, the steering, the brakes, even the limit handling which I thought might be twitchy due to the mid engined layout, was beautiful. We had a couple of oversteer situations which I was able to blend out nicely with some corrective lock and a soft foot on the gas.
Overall what caught me was the simplicity of the experience - great vision (forwards and side at least), lovely controls, endless feel and the feeling of being able to drive around anything.
I have to have one, only question is which model. I think an S2 Elise 111S looks like stonking value at around £13k.
Joel
All good thoughts, thanks guys.
I had a 'K' in my 7 and I loved the power delivery of the engine. It loved to rev but was relatively linear in the way it made power (160bhp from a 1.6 @ 7300). Actually it sounded and felt like it was about to explode above 6000rpm but that was part of the fun.
I'll try and get a drive in a 111S.
Joel
I had a 'K' in my 7 and I loved the power delivery of the engine. It loved to rev but was relatively linear in the way it made power (160bhp from a 1.6 @ 7300). Actually it sounded and felt like it was about to explode above 6000rpm but that was part of the fun.
I'll try and get a drive in a 111S.
Joel
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