from lotus to ferrari - experience
Discussion
Its a move that I have just done after 7 or was it 8 years with an Elise R. I thought that some might be interested in the comparison because it isnt silly at all to compare a Lotus with a Ferrari .
The car I have bought is a 430 and it is for all the world like a grown up Elise, easier to live with and to get into but very similar driving experience. Thats why I bought it. In my dotage - I am 70 - I was finding it more and more awkward getting into the Elise and I could have sold videos of my wife getting out of the car. Wouldnt have done much for the marriage but they would have been really funny! And TBH the Elise was becoming just a bit too hard core for me.
But I really struggled to find a car that was as much of a drivers car but more civilised. The mass produced SLK / Z4 didnt appeal at all, and the Porkers, the Boxter in particular, are just too character free. The Vantage is a big GT style lump. I was sold as soon as I drove what I now refer to as the Big Elise.
Cons? Yes there are a few, not least the cost of running it ( 15mpg, service £1000), the attention and jealousy it attracts and the impracticality. Can you park in a city side street? Can you leave it in the marina car park for a week? What use is 186mph max FFS? And then of course there are the tracker you have to have and the agreed value insurance that leaves you arm-less and leg - less. But going out in it is a special occasion. The F1 flappy paddle box is a delight. And down a twisty B road its every bit as much fun as the Elise provided you keep speeds sensible.
So I guess what I am saying to you Lotus types is that in driving terms you arent missing anything at all. In fact the Elise is an outright bargain for what it gives you. And when you get old you can always have something Italian and flashy cant you?
If they ever make an Evora soft top I will return.
The car I have bought is a 430 and it is for all the world like a grown up Elise, easier to live with and to get into but very similar driving experience. Thats why I bought it. In my dotage - I am 70 - I was finding it more and more awkward getting into the Elise and I could have sold videos of my wife getting out of the car. Wouldnt have done much for the marriage but they would have been really funny! And TBH the Elise was becoming just a bit too hard core for me.
But I really struggled to find a car that was as much of a drivers car but more civilised. The mass produced SLK / Z4 didnt appeal at all, and the Porkers, the Boxter in particular, are just too character free. The Vantage is a big GT style lump. I was sold as soon as I drove what I now refer to as the Big Elise.
Cons? Yes there are a few, not least the cost of running it ( 15mpg, service £1000), the attention and jealousy it attracts and the impracticality. Can you park in a city side street? Can you leave it in the marina car park for a week? What use is 186mph max FFS? And then of course there are the tracker you have to have and the agreed value insurance that leaves you arm-less and leg - less. But going out in it is a special occasion. The F1 flappy paddle box is a delight. And down a twisty B road its every bit as much fun as the Elise provided you keep speeds sensible.
So I guess what I am saying to you Lotus types is that in driving terms you arent missing anything at all. In fact the Elise is an outright bargain for what it gives you. And when you get old you can always have something Italian and flashy cant you?
If they ever make an Evora soft top I will return.
Rick101 said:
Interesting comparison and good to know.
Never really been a massive Ferrari fan but good to know they are still making drivers cars.
Did you try anything newer? 458 488? Similar experience?
No. Outside my budget but I did test 911/boxter/vantage/morgan+8/ F type and the only one of that lot that appealed as a sports car with character was the plus 8 - the current version with an ally chassis like the Elise and a big BMW v8 in it. Went like stink in a straight line but the handling could do with a bit of development by Lotus.Never really been a massive Ferrari fan but good to know they are still making drivers cars.
Did you try anything newer? 458 488? Similar experience?
In any case the Ferraris are getting ever further from true sports car in the sense that the current models are full of little electric motors operating everything plus all sorts of drive modes. Bit like the F type in that respect, which is another car that is fast and very capable but somehow lacking in sports car character
F.C. said:
I went the other way from a F430 to an Exige, I have no idea where you get the impression its anything like the Lotus, in my experience it was too wide and too heavy for twisty B roads 
There is no way to hide the extra weight of the Fezza, though a nice drive it was and that sound track
You surprise ma as much as I have surprised you. After trying lots of alternatives that were sensibly sized ( the Elise isnt) I chose the 430 just because it felt like a big Elise. Its just 11% or 7 inches wider outside which certainly doesnt make it too wide for B roads round here. If it is then you cant drive a 911 or an F type down a B road eitherThere is no way to hide the extra weight of the Fezza, though a nice drive it was and that sound track
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