Help with Elise colour
Discussion
Hi - I'm in the market for a S1 Elise. My preference on colour is Green, Blue, Black and Yellow. I know it's more important to buy on condition which is why I'm looking at all colours - silver in particular seems quite common but doesn't grab me.
What are people's favourate colours and are there any best avoided in terms of resale??
What are people's favourate colours and are there any best avoided in terms of resale??
I bought recently and asked this question on the Forum. I was against the hairdresser blue colour (too much like other 'fad' colours on the market) but liked the Nautilus Blue (just couldn't find one within budget). I wasn't against either of the greens, just too many MGFs in that colour, although my wife liked it. I had just got rid of a BRG car, and was also put off by the fact it had been a bit faddish amongst Rover et al a few years back. Many had cream leather too, which I had a problem with (see below). I think yellow is an acquired taste, bit like Marmite, which reduces the potential re-sell market but they do seem to have lower mileage. Having had a number of black cars I didn't want to spend my life buffing visible water and polish marks away. They also seemed to have higher mileage for some reason. I loved the Ruby Red but it always seemed to come with cream seats, which long term I have found on previous cars are hard to keep clean (especially as I have a kids bedroom over the garage and they disturb dust). Some good low mileage Red about, but I didn't want to be too obvious and they did seem to be sticking in autotrader week in week out. In the end I settled for Titanium, which looks great with the black, blue or red roof and usually has black or red leather. I think, IMHO, you can more clearly see the body lines than you can in silver. The guy I bought it from had just bought a nearly new series 2, in Titanium again.
I think the advice I got last time was to worry less about colour and more about mileage and condition. I had been prepared to take just about any bodycolour with dark coloured seats if it was the right car but had Titanium, Ruby red and Nautilus blue at the top of my list.
I think the advice I got last time was to worry less about colour and more about mileage and condition. I had been prepared to take just about any bodycolour with dark coloured seats if it was the right car but had Titanium, Ruby red and Nautilus blue at the top of my list.
simon_wade said:
Hi - I'm in the market for a S1 Elise. My preference on colour is Green, Blue, Black and Yellow.
Green - not so common but never seems to look "right" IMHO on S1's
Blue - lots about if you mean Azure, BUT a great colour
Black - well, check the profile... I'm biased, but yes, sometimes an @rsehole to keep clean.
Yellow - if I were buying again, I would not ignore Spice or Norf Mustard cars like I did last time. Not one to keep a low profile in tho
simon_wade said:
I know it's more important to buy on condition which is why I'm looking at all colours
With the benefit of hindsight and knowing what I know now, I would have looked longer and harder with this criteria in mind ONLY at first. I was lucky and bought a lovely car but really I should have waited a little and looked at more.
Take your time, plenty in the market at the moment, and find a beauty that you really like.
As far as resale goes, pretty much any colour will sell, only doubts I've ever had really are with BRG (just seems a bit dull on an Elise) and red (because red paint seems to fade).
Buy the one thats right for you, get it checked by a Lotus specialist before you hand over the readies and then enjoy your hand built, British classic sportscar and the massive
which comes for free!shirepro said:
I was against the hairdresser blue colour (too much like other 'fad' colours on the market) so I decided to go for a nice homosexual silver
I love the Azure blue. It shows off the lines of the car much better than you get with lighter colours. The only problem is it tends to show up stone chips as primer underneath is white.
For some reason BRG and red are not as popular and people either love or hate yellow.
Would agree to buy on condition though
i now have a titanium 111s with all red leather interior.
I have to say, it isnt that eye-catching as other colours( i should know having driven around in a chrome orange number previously!!!)
however, when it is clean and the sun hits it, its beautiful and does show off the lines better than most other colours IMO.
It seems to always look dirty, i know its winter but still,a bugger to keep clean.
hope that helps???!!!!
ste
I have to say, it isnt that eye-catching as other colours( i should know having driven around in a chrome orange number previously!!!)
however, when it is clean and the sun hits it, its beautiful and does show off the lines better than most other colours IMO.
It seems to always look dirty, i know its winter but still,a bugger to keep clean.
hope that helps???!!!!
ste
Usual bias warning applies - my car was BRG metallic and I loved it.
Scandal (lime) Green is rare, loud, and different and I quite like it, but it's an aquired taste!
I agree about the silver and titanium; just too many about, though titanium does look nice with a red roof.
Yellow tends to make any car look bigger, which can be a bad thing, and over-emphasises the fact that the Elise is covered in bulges and scoops.
Azure blue is nice, just not my personal thing.
Nautilus Blue and the rare Metallic Purple can look great.
Black looks great when just washed and polished, but really dog-eared as soon as you get the slightest film of road dirt on it.
The ones to really, really avoid, though, are non-metallic red and white, both of which look truly bland and awful on an Elise.
All IMHO, of course!
>> Edited by Martin_S on Saturday 20th November 17:53
Scandal (lime) Green is rare, loud, and different and I quite like it, but it's an aquired taste!
I agree about the silver and titanium; just too many about, though titanium does look nice with a red roof.
Yellow tends to make any car look bigger, which can be a bad thing, and over-emphasises the fact that the Elise is covered in bulges and scoops.
Azure blue is nice, just not my personal thing.
Nautilus Blue and the rare Metallic Purple can look great.
Black looks great when just washed and polished, but really dog-eared as soon as you get the slightest film of road dirt on it.
The ones to really, really avoid, though, are non-metallic red and white, both of which look truly bland and awful on an Elise.
All IMHO, of course!
>> Edited by Martin_S on Saturday 20th November 17:53
I admit red isnt very popular but i had a red elise and think it looked great. (also think red s1 looks good)
pictures cant do the car justice, but check out this clip of a red elise
think it looks very tasty
www.dpmracing.co.uk/bendingtherules01.wmv
pictures cant do the car justice, but check out this clip of a red elise
think it looks very tasty
www.dpmracing.co.uk/bendingtherules01.wmv
jfrf said:
I admit red isnt very popular but i had a red elise and think it looked great. (also think red s1 looks good)
pictures cant do the car justice, but check out this clip of a red elise
think it looks very tasty
<a href="http://www.dpmracing.co.uk/bendingtherules01.wmv">www.dpmracing.co.uk/bendingtherules01.wmv</a>
Sorry, still looks bland and horrible to me. Better on an S2 than on an S1, but even so...
Incedentally, that clip contains the worst, messiest bit of heel-and-toe (with a panic transition to left foot braking when he realised he'd
ed it up) that I've ever seen in my life! >> Edited by Martin_S on Saturday 20th November 18:08
Thanks to everyone for their replies - it's interesting to hear preferences etc. Havig been to the local lotus dealer today, my fav colours are def brg, black and azure blue. Yellow isn't quite my cup of tea so it's off the list for the time being but I can imagine it will make the car stand out more to other motorists though. Thanks for all your help - it's appreciated!
Martin_S said:
Incedentally, that clip contains the worst, messiest bit of heel-and-toe (with a panic transition to left foot braking when he realised he'd
But it is Andy Walsh, generally regarded as THE MAN, as far as learning how to keep an Elise on the black stuff so I guess it can't be that bad!
S Works said:
But it is Andy Walsh, generally regarded as THE MAN, as far as learning how to keep an Elise on the black stuff so I guess it can't be that bad!
Have you watched it? About 20 seconds in...plain messy bit of footwork, albeit quite quick. Beats me why you would want to mix heel and toe and left foot braking in one move, anyway!
Maybe it's the VBH 'I'm a Racing Driver, me, you know!' syndrome. Don't know if anyone else has noticed, but VBH uses the crossover hands technique on the wheel of almost any car she drives on the track. Fine, and appropriate, for a race car with 1.5 turns lock to lock, but try winding lock on and off fast enough with a shopping car or luxobarge! Smacks more of someone trying to show off than demonstrating the quickest way round a circuit - which would seem to be substantiated by some of the power slides also shown in the video clip.
>> Edited by Martin_S on Saturday 20th November 22:00
This is going way off-topic, but...
If the guy is that good, why isn't he sitting in a Ferrari F1 car and earning several million quid a year?
I've no doubt he is a better driver than me, but then I don't claim to be either a racing driver (though I do have competition experience), or a driving instructor. I probably fluff about 30% of my heel-and-toe changes badly enough for it to be noticeable, but I think that still qualifies me to spot when someone else's footwork is a bit ragged, too.
Just watch the video clip and tell me, honestly, whether you think his performance more closely resembles an example of textbook high speed circuit driving, or the sort of behaviour you'd expect from Clarkson on the Top Gear test track and Daz in his chavved-up Nova on Tescos car park on a Saturday night?
I'm maybe being unfair - the sequence has obviously been created and edited for maximum drama, not as an example of perfect driving technique, but even so 'Don't try this at home, kiddies'!
Edited to add:
I still think BRG Metallic is the best colour for an Elise, though.
>> Edited by Martin_S on Sunday 21st November 02:35
If the guy is that good, why isn't he sitting in a Ferrari F1 car and earning several million quid a year?
I've no doubt he is a better driver than me, but then I don't claim to be either a racing driver (though I do have competition experience), or a driving instructor. I probably fluff about 30% of my heel-and-toe changes badly enough for it to be noticeable, but I think that still qualifies me to spot when someone else's footwork is a bit ragged, too.
Just watch the video clip and tell me, honestly, whether you think his performance more closely resembles an example of textbook high speed circuit driving, or the sort of behaviour you'd expect from Clarkson on the Top Gear test track and Daz in his chavved-up Nova on Tescos car park on a Saturday night?
I'm maybe being unfair - the sequence has obviously been created and edited for maximum drama, not as an example of perfect driving technique, but even so 'Don't try this at home, kiddies'!
Edited to add:
I still think BRG Metallic is the best colour for an Elise, though.
>> Edited by Martin_S on Sunday 21st November 02:35
He used to be a development tester for Benneton but had a bit of an incident when the spoiler came off at 190 mph sending him into a tyre wall. Spent a long time recovering IIRC which finished his career
He has a driver training DVD coming out soon which i've ordered.
Trust me he can drive.
He has a driver training DVD coming out soon which i've ordered.
Trust me he can drive.
IMHO the best colours are (assuming S1 here):
New Ali (biased), Titanium, Metallic Red (flat red makes it look like a kit car), Black, Azure Blue and Deep Purple and none of the above with magnolia leather
On the subject of the Walshy vid, I think it's two bits edited together as his right foot disappears for a couple of frames.
New Ali (biased), Titanium, Metallic Red (flat red makes it look like a kit car), Black, Azure Blue and Deep Purple and none of the above with magnolia leather
On the subject of the Walshy vid, I think it's two bits edited together as his right foot disappears for a couple of frames.
I've got a Deep Purple S1 and it looks gorgeous (but then I'm biased 
). It looks black in most light but get the conditions right and it really stands out.
Only problem is that it looks dirty very quickly and any stone chips really stand out.
As for Walshy, did my 1st lotus day with him a few weeks back and he certainly can drive. I'll be booking some more up next year as the training has already saved me from a bit of a spin in the wet.
). It looks black in most light but get the conditions right and it really stands out. Only problem is that it looks dirty very quickly and any stone chips really stand out.
As for Walshy, did my 1st lotus day with him a few weeks back and he certainly can drive. I'll be booking some more up next year as the training has already saved me from a bit of a spin in the wet.
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