Big Decision...
Discussion
Thinking of trading in my 111R at some point over the next 12 months and am faced with a dilema that could take me that long to decide on.
I love the Lotus, but I do a lot of motorway driving for which it's ok but obviously that is not designed to be its strength. I can't decide whether to trade in and get myself an Exige S which given the spec I want would probably set me back something around £40k or whether I move away from Lotus all together and go for the "boring" option and get myself a 1-2yr old 911 Carerra S for around £55k as this I think provides the best compromise between performance, handling and comfort.
Any thoughts/other suggestions welcome...
Doug
I love the Lotus, but I do a lot of motorway driving for which it's ok but obviously that is not designed to be its strength. I can't decide whether to trade in and get myself an Exige S which given the spec I want would probably set me back something around £40k or whether I move away from Lotus all together and go for the "boring" option and get myself a 1-2yr old 911 Carerra S for around £55k as this I think provides the best compromise between performance, handling and comfort.
Any thoughts/other suggestions welcome...
Doug
Nice to hear you've still got the Lotus Doug - for those who have driven the Exige S it really is a revelation over the standard model - I guess if you are doing lots of motorway miles, then maybe a little more comfort and a few toys would be welcome - however with the new Probax seats, the Exige could be a lot more comfortable than your R with stunning performance and you will still have that individuality that a Lotus offers.
I like Porches a lot, but there are quite a few around; servicing I'm guessing could be expensive but I'm no expert on that score.
It's a nice position to be in but I believe the Exige S would fit the bill for me anyway
>> Edited by Tim Netherton on Friday 7th April 08:56
I like Porches a lot, but there are quite a few around; servicing I'm guessing could be expensive but I'm no expert on that score.
It's a nice position to be in but I believe the Exige S would fit the bill for me anyway
>> Edited by Tim Netherton on Friday 7th April 08:56
Interesting decision to make. I've done a fair few miles in (996) 911's and just can't get over what an awesome car they are. Truly awesome. For lots of motorway driving and occasional blast a 997 Carrera S would be spot on.
The question I don't think is which car would be better; they would both do the job VERY well, but their strengths lie in different places.
Forgetting costs etc for a moment, simply put I would think it comes down to which you want to do most and which way you want to sacrifice it;
Exige S - poor at motorway miles but amazing on B-road blasts
911 - perfect motorway cruiser, very good fun and challenging on B-road blasts.
I would suggest the question is how MANY miles do you do int he 997? Depreciation wise, more miles on the Exige S would be more harmful than more miles on the 997 I would guess.
My conclusion? If you do THAT many miles, 997 911 Carrera S all the way - it truly is a fabulous car.
The question I don't think is which car would be better; they would both do the job VERY well, but their strengths lie in different places.
Forgetting costs etc for a moment, simply put I would think it comes down to which you want to do most and which way you want to sacrifice it;
Exige S - poor at motorway miles but amazing on B-road blasts
911 - perfect motorway cruiser, very good fun and challenging on B-road blasts.
I would suggest the question is how MANY miles do you do int he 997? Depreciation wise, more miles on the Exige S would be more harmful than more miles on the 997 I would guess.
My conclusion? If you do THAT many miles, 997 911 Carrera S all the way - it truly is a fabulous car.
doug ward said:
Thinking of trading in my 111R at some point over the next 12 months and am faced with a dilema that could take me that long to decide on.
I love the Lotus, but I do a lot of motorway driving for which it's ok but obviously that is not designed to be its strength. I can't decide whether to trade in and get myself an Exige S which given the spec I want would probably set me back something around £40k or whether I move away from Lotus all together and go for the "boring" option and get myself a 1-2yr old 911 Carerra S for around £55k as this I think provides the best compromise between performance, handling and comfort.
Any thoughts/other suggestions welcome...
Doug
Hello Doug
Haven't seen any of your post's for a fair while, me and S Works test drove the S a couple of week's ago and I'll be honest it's a better car to drive all round than the R, Mrs Boggy also drove it and felt very confident (More than in our R) I'd recommend you test drive it! It's out of this world around town which really surprised me & so easy to drive, it also doesn't ever feel like it's going to stop accelerating when you boot it
The down side to the S I suppose is the fact you can't take the roof off and the tyres (wear) lack of rear view, but if you can tolerate that I'd go for one, haven't you considered the Europa ? I'm hearing good thing's about it now
Boggy
Indeed the Europa could be a car for you when you wanted to stay by Lotus, the Exige S may be a wonderful atack wapo..but you have no rearview and when your a lot on the road and many times get in and out its not realy a car for that...its more a fun and drivers car I guess...that Europa you have rearview but also maybe that VX220 turbo gearbox? wich is fine but not that fine as the 111R...
the 911 carrera S is indeed a very nice and fast and sporty car...and when its not sporty anough you can buy an older GT3 porsche? maybe thats your alternative car
best of 2 worlds?
Like this one a 2003 car(with the bigger wing) asking 53,500
www.pistonheads.com/sales/71508.htm
or you can go for the even harder? clubsport GT3 version...anough choices
GTRene
the 911 carrera S is indeed a very nice and fast and sporty car...and when its not sporty anough you can buy an older GT3 porsche? maybe thats your alternative car
best of 2 worlds? Like this one a 2003 car(with the bigger wing) asking 53,500
www.pistonheads.com/sales/71508.htm
or you can go for the even harder? clubsport GT3 version...anough choices
GTRene
It might be a minor point, but remember that the rear visibility on th Exige S is zilch. The interior mirror just gives you a lovely clear view of the intercooler.
Perhaps it's just me, but when I drove one, I found it really irritating to have to constantly hunt side to side in the wing mirrors to keep an eye out for following Plod. Not ideal for motorways...
Perhaps it's just me, but when I drove one, I found it really irritating to have to constantly hunt side to side in the wing mirrors to keep an eye out for following Plod. Not ideal for motorways...
beachbum said:
I think someone installed a bullet cam in the back of a 240R to take care of the rear view aspect of the cars design, might be worth considering
Yep, speedyellow did and he will make a buildup thread? and pictures for us I believe...
So for some thats good news? or at least interesting I say
GTRene
Having had more and more time to think about the S, I loved our short rendez-vous, I still think it's a great car but it's too expensive, too fat and just not enough for me to spend £35k+ on.
Will be interesting to see if Lotus bring out the "will they/won't they" SC package for the R and Std Exige - that will make used R's a very interesting alternative I guess.
Seeing as I'd be using it mainly as a fast road and track toy and I believe the Honda packages do that better. Am revisiting my Honda conundrum again after a day at North Weald with loads of Loti though, which included one NA'd Honda S2 and bogies utterly astonishing pimpmobile... the S just wouldn't come close to either on a track I'm afraid.
Frankly were I in your position I'd do neither and I'd look for a good motorway muncher... BMW M5, Audi RS4 or the like, or indeed a Porka.
Will be interesting to see if Lotus bring out the "will they/won't they" SC package for the R and Std Exige - that will make used R's a very interesting alternative I guess.
Seeing as I'd be using it mainly as a fast road and track toy and I believe the Honda packages do that better. Am revisiting my Honda conundrum again after a day at North Weald with loads of Loti though, which included one NA'd Honda S2 and bogies utterly astonishing pimpmobile... the S just wouldn't come close to either on a track I'm afraid.
Frankly were I in your position I'd do neither and I'd look for a good motorway muncher... BMW M5, Audi RS4 or the like, or indeed a Porka.
TonyHetherington said:
Exige S - poor at motorway miles but amazing on B-road blasts
911 - perfect motorway cruiser, very good fun and challenging on B-road blasts.
Agree on the 911 front Tony but am not convinced that the S2 Exige is a good B-road blaster. The set-up needs work to get the most out of the car, the engine is great but the rest of the package is better suited to good quality tarmac, on rutted B-roads it's a handful and doesn't inspire (me) with confidence.
Or take a machine like mine! also a real blast and very good feeling! the best from all the cars I drove for all round and good feeling...its also for sale its in the classifieds and under my profile.
have to go..A Lotus slalom day in Lelystad, I take a look there to see whats in NL
GTRene
its in the classifieds and under my profile. have to go..A Lotus slalom day in Lelystad, I take a look there
to see whats in NL GTRene
S works said:
not convinced that the S2 Exige is a good B-road blaster. The set-up needs work to get the most out of the car, the engine is great but the rest of the package is better suited to good quality tarmac, on rutted B-roads it's a handful and doesn't inspire (me) with confidence.
Not sure what was wrong with the car you drove Tim but nothing needs to be done to the set up. Yes its harder than a 111R and you need to keep a firm grip of the wheel but if the chassis and the grip of an Exige doesnt give you confidence I have no idea what will.
Mine has always felt rock solid and after just having the toe links replaced and a full geo done it is even better and my car spends a lot of time on rough country roads in Mid Wales.
Hope you don't mind me putting my tuppence 'orth in Doug.
I'd flog the current car and buy a really good late S1 and look to spend about £3k on engine/suspension upgrades to get a really goos B road/track car. For motorway work I wouldn't bother with a petrol car anymore. How about a BMW 535D. I can't stand their image but there's no denying they are a good car. As an alternative how about a sport spec Jag S type diesel. I know most people don't go for their looks but in dark metallics I think the're OK.
Anyway, happy hunting!
I'd flog the current car and buy a really good late S1 and look to spend about £3k on engine/suspension upgrades to get a really goos B road/track car. For motorway work I wouldn't bother with a petrol car anymore. How about a BMW 535D. I can't stand their image but there's no denying they are a good car. As an alternative how about a sport spec Jag S type diesel. I know most people don't go for their looks but in dark metallics I think the're OK.
Anyway, happy hunting!
Coming back to this one...
Thanks for all the suggestions, very helpful. I'm still undecided though especially as i've really enjoyed the Elise of late given the better weather. I almost liked the suggestion about getting the Exige S and a mondeo - trouble with that is having driven the elise for 18 months I now can't stand driving anything that is so unresponsive, if I had the mondeo as well I would never drive it and might as well hire a car for the odd occasion where I needed the bigger boot space.
Next step for me is further test drives and lots more procrastination. Out of interest anyone here have any idea of the maintenance and running costs on a 911s? Another thing I should factor in is insurance. Given my slip up in the Elise a year or so back it may be that I can't get insurance on the porker (still only 25). Should get some quotes.
Thanks for all the suggestions, very helpful. I'm still undecided though especially as i've really enjoyed the Elise of late given the better weather. I almost liked the suggestion about getting the Exige S and a mondeo - trouble with that is having driven the elise for 18 months I now can't stand driving anything that is so unresponsive, if I had the mondeo as well I would never drive it and might as well hire a car for the odd occasion where I needed the bigger boot space.
Next step for me is further test drives and lots more procrastination. Out of interest anyone here have any idea of the maintenance and running costs on a 911s? Another thing I should factor in is insurance. Given my slip up in the Elise a year or so back it may be that I can't get insurance on the porker (still only 25). Should get some quotes.
Davey S2 said:
not convinced that the S2 Exige is a good B-road blaster. The set-up needs work to get the most out of the car, the engine is great but the rest of the package is better suited to good quality tarmac, on rutted B-roads it's a handful and doesn't inspire (me) with confidence.
Not sure what was wrong with the car you drove Tim but nothing needs to be done to the set up. Yes its harder than a 111R and you need to keep a firm grip of the wheel but if the chassis and the grip of an Exige doesnt give you confidence I have no idea what will.
Mine has always felt rock solid and after just having the toe links replaced and a full geo done it is even better and my car spends a lot of time on rough country roads in Mid Wales.
Is it not harder to drive an exige without adjustable dampers on a rough road compared with an elise, i would have thought it would bounce around a lot more. One of the best things i learned on an activity day with walshy was to not grip the wheel too firmly, allowing the car to move around and sort itself out.
Hi,
I've just sold my 111R because I couldn't justify having the car in the garage or using it mostly on motorways which isn't what the car was designed for... It's a real bad motorway cruiser and made me regret buying it after every 200 mile trip.
However, it was great in any other environment (aside from the peaky engine
) - I think you have the following choices;
1. Buy the Porsche - still good for the odd blast (although not as involving as the Lotus) but great on the motorway.
2. Keep or trade the Elise and buy a Mondeo (or something similar) for the motorway. All depends on how much opportunity you'd have to drive the car - i.e. do you mind having it parked in the garage for most of the time? This was my problem, with a busy family the car was always used for business (mways) with hardly any time for the B roads.
I've gone back to a bike now because having £8K in the garage doesn't hurt as much as £30K.
Rob.
I've just sold my 111R because I couldn't justify having the car in the garage or using it mostly on motorways which isn't what the car was designed for... It's a real bad motorway cruiser and made me regret buying it after every 200 mile trip.
However, it was great in any other environment (aside from the peaky engine
) - I think you have the following choices; 1. Buy the Porsche - still good for the odd blast (although not as involving as the Lotus) but great on the motorway.
2. Keep or trade the Elise and buy a Mondeo (or something similar) for the motorway. All depends on how much opportunity you'd have to drive the car - i.e. do you mind having it parked in the garage for most of the time? This was my problem, with a busy family the car was always used for business (mways) with hardly any time for the B roads.
I've gone back to a bike now because having £8K in the garage doesn't hurt as much as £30K.
Rob.
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