S1 elise as a daily?
Discussion
Afternoon one and all. First post, so howdy.
Ive been umming and ahhing over the last few weeks about a new car, and think ive settled on an elise. Unfortunately my budget isnt the biggest, so wanted to get some opinions from people in 'the know'...
My question is very simple. Is an elise a good idea, as an only car? I do around 15k a year, and am having reservations about this sort of mileage in a 'sportscar', especially after reading alot about expensive headgaskets etc
The closest thing I have owned before is a Corrado G60 - which wasnt the best for fuel consumption or parts...
So...any opinions welcome.
Nick
Ive been umming and ahhing over the last few weeks about a new car, and think ive settled on an elise. Unfortunately my budget isnt the biggest, so wanted to get some opinions from people in 'the know'...
My question is very simple. Is an elise a good idea, as an only car? I do around 15k a year, and am having reservations about this sort of mileage in a 'sportscar', especially after reading alot about expensive headgaskets etc
The closest thing I have owned before is a Corrado G60 - which wasnt the best for fuel consumption or parts...
So...any opinions welcome.
Nick
Hi Nick,
This is a common question, if you get a well sorted S1 all the most common problems should be fixed. Too much is made of head gasket, at the end of the day it is a simple & common engine and if looked afted should be ok, also if it does go its only about £600. I would say to put by about 1k a year in case anything does come up, but in terms of fuel it is very good. There are some good cars out there at the moment and it seems to be a buyers market (unfortunately as I'm selling).
Andy
Welcome!
There have been a few threads on here before about the practicalities of the Elise and specifically the S1 as a daily driver, so you may also want to look at those as well for some real detail, but as a starter for te:
I live in London so don't actually use mine on a daily basis, only a couple of times a week, but wouldn't have any qualms about using it more frequently - it's just that I don't need to. Saying that, I have another car that I can use if more than two of us want to go somewhere, so beyond the obvious, you want to be sure that that is for you.
On the servicing/consumables side, just buy the best one that you can, and budget appropriately for servicing. As with any car that is 2000 or earlier, almost anything could/will go wrong at some point, it's just a natural part of cars getting older. Nonetheless, given that they are lighter than most cars, the physical wear and tear etc., isn't necessarily as much as you'd expect.
I used to have a Corrado ('93/2.0), but they are very different beasts.
On a practical point, the elise isn't the easiest car to get in or out of - but only for the first couple of times. You soon get the knack! And the same can be said about most aspects - you soon get used to them. If you've already driven one, you'll probably know exactly what I mean (non-servo brakes etc. - feel weird for the first few minutes, then fantastic after that). The boot's small, but you soon get used to just putting stuff in carrier bags (easier to pack in lots of small things, rather than a few big things).
Head gaskets get a lot of press, but in reality don't cost that much to sort out if they go (say £500). If your heart is skipping a beat at that kind of cost, then perhaps it isn't the car for you. They are not cars that seem to rack up large bills generally, but you've got to be prepared in case they do - it's just common sense really.
As for putting 15k on per year - I wouldn't like to spend forever in Lane 1 of the motorway getting caught in truck grooves, so it really depends on what travel you'll be doing. If you commute on the motorway, I can think of more sensible cars, but equally, wouldn't object to doing that kind of mileage.
You'll see lots of cars that have done circa 35/45k, but equally cars that have already done 75/85k miles - so long as you keep up on the servicing (and associated cost) then it's condition you should be concerned about, rather than mileage. Of course that kind of mileage will have an impact upon resale value, but if you still enjoy the car in a couple of years time - you won't want to sell it!
I'd suggest: making sure you've test-driven one and thought fully about living with it - and that choice (for me) becomes much easier if you have an average car that seats 4/5 as a back-up should you need it. Works for me :-)
You also need to see what you want - 111s or standard etc., depending on budget.
There have been a few threads on here before about the practicalities of the Elise and specifically the S1 as a daily driver, so you may also want to look at those as well for some real detail, but as a starter for te:
I live in London so don't actually use mine on a daily basis, only a couple of times a week, but wouldn't have any qualms about using it more frequently - it's just that I don't need to. Saying that, I have another car that I can use if more than two of us want to go somewhere, so beyond the obvious, you want to be sure that that is for you.
On the servicing/consumables side, just buy the best one that you can, and budget appropriately for servicing. As with any car that is 2000 or earlier, almost anything could/will go wrong at some point, it's just a natural part of cars getting older. Nonetheless, given that they are lighter than most cars, the physical wear and tear etc., isn't necessarily as much as you'd expect.
I used to have a Corrado ('93/2.0), but they are very different beasts.
On a practical point, the elise isn't the easiest car to get in or out of - but only for the first couple of times. You soon get the knack! And the same can be said about most aspects - you soon get used to them. If you've already driven one, you'll probably know exactly what I mean (non-servo brakes etc. - feel weird for the first few minutes, then fantastic after that). The boot's small, but you soon get used to just putting stuff in carrier bags (easier to pack in lots of small things, rather than a few big things).
Head gaskets get a lot of press, but in reality don't cost that much to sort out if they go (say £500). If your heart is skipping a beat at that kind of cost, then perhaps it isn't the car for you. They are not cars that seem to rack up large bills generally, but you've got to be prepared in case they do - it's just common sense really.
As for putting 15k on per year - I wouldn't like to spend forever in Lane 1 of the motorway getting caught in truck grooves, so it really depends on what travel you'll be doing. If you commute on the motorway, I can think of more sensible cars, but equally, wouldn't object to doing that kind of mileage.
You'll see lots of cars that have done circa 35/45k, but equally cars that have already done 75/85k miles - so long as you keep up on the servicing (and associated cost) then it's condition you should be concerned about, rather than mileage. Of course that kind of mileage will have an impact upon resale value, but if you still enjoy the car in a couple of years time - you won't want to sell it!
I'd suggest: making sure you've test-driven one and thought fully about living with it - and that choice (for me) becomes much easier if you have an average car that seats 4/5 as a back-up should you need it. Works for me :-)
You also need to see what you want - 111s or standard etc., depending on budget.
Thanks for the quick replies.
I did do a quick search, as thought it has probably been done to death, but couldnt find a great deal. I shall look harder! lol.
I live out in the sticks, and its 25 miles of mainly national speed limit roads (b roads?). Motorway miles I do hardly any, so Im pleased to hear that response!
Im fully prepared for maintanence costs, I think Id be a fool if i didnt, but when looking at the seemingly small amount of forums for elises, I noticed a regular trend of headgasket questions, so assumed its a common occurance.
I was pleasantly surprised with the parkers statitics for fuel economy etc, which is part of the reason of its appeal Fun and affordable. At least thats my perception currently unless anyone wishes to correct me?!
As for a budget. Unfortunately its going to be around 8k, which appears to get me a standard elise, or a low priced 111. Whats the difference between the two? Or a standard elise with a few upgrades like suspension?
I did do a quick search, as thought it has probably been done to death, but couldnt find a great deal. I shall look harder! lol.
I live out in the sticks, and its 25 miles of mainly national speed limit roads (b roads?). Motorway miles I do hardly any, so Im pleased to hear that response!
Im fully prepared for maintanence costs, I think Id be a fool if i didnt, but when looking at the seemingly small amount of forums for elises, I noticed a regular trend of headgasket questions, so assumed its a common occurance.
I was pleasantly surprised with the parkers statitics for fuel economy etc, which is part of the reason of its appeal Fun and affordable. At least thats my perception currently unless anyone wishes to correct me?!
As for a budget. Unfortunately its going to be around 8k, which appears to get me a standard elise, or a low priced 111. Whats the difference between the two? Or a standard elise with a few upgrades like suspension?
Fuel economy on a standard S1 is very good!!! Hard to beat in most cars. As for head gasket failure, you need to let the car fully warm before giving it any stick. I just fitted an oil temp gauge to mine and it take a ful 10 minutes to get good heat into the oil and thats just driving it slowly, (dont put much load on the engine). Its quite easy and cheap to fit a gauge so I strongly recommend it. Forget that the water temp on the dash display says 70 degrees C. The oil temp will still be very low at that point.
Do this and you should not really have any issues. Also fit an 82 degree opening thermostat instead of the standard 88 degree one. (eliseparts sell them, about £10) That will help the car run cooler all the time.
I ran an S1 sport 160 for 3 years as I daily driver. Yes it was only a 5 mile trip and similar roads to you but I would have prefered a longer journey!! It can get tough as winter sets in. Coming out of work at 5pm nd getting into the car will result in a steamed/wet windscreen and this will take ages to clear. Doesnt happen all he time, but its times like that, that will make you think about selling it....
Do this and you should not really have any issues. Also fit an 82 degree opening thermostat instead of the standard 88 degree one. (eliseparts sell them, about £10) That will help the car run cooler all the time.
I ran an S1 sport 160 for 3 years as I daily driver. Yes it was only a 5 mile trip and similar roads to you but I would have prefered a longer journey!! It can get tough as winter sets in. Coming out of work at 5pm nd getting into the car will result in a steamed/wet windscreen and this will take ages to clear. Doesnt happen all he time, but its times like that, that will make you think about selling it....
nickopolodis said:
Thanks for the quick replies.
I did do a quick search, as thought it has probably been done to death, but couldnt find a great deal. I shall look harder! lol.
I live out in the sticks, and its 25 miles of mainly national speed limit roads (b roads?). Motorway miles I do hardly any, so Im pleased to hear that response!
Im fully prepared for maintanence costs, I think Id be a fool if i didnt, but when looking at the seemingly small amount of forums for elises, I noticed a regular trend of headgasket questions, so assumed its a common occurance.
I was pleasantly surprised with the parkers statitics for fuel economy etc, which is part of the reason of its appeal Fun and affordable. At least thats my perception currently unless anyone wishes to correct me?!
As for a budget. Unfortunately its going to be around 8k, which appears to get me a standard elise, or a low priced 111. Whats the difference between the two? Or a standard elise with a few upgrades like suspension?
Hi mate, don't know how mechanically minded you're but if you are handy with the spanners or have a passing interest in learning then maintenance needn't be expensive. The problem with the Elise is that, though parts are generally cheap, access is poor and labour rates are high and so servicing can be expensive. If you're prepared to put in the time, then they can be run on a tight budget, which is what I do.I did do a quick search, as thought it has probably been done to death, but couldnt find a great deal. I shall look harder! lol.
I live out in the sticks, and its 25 miles of mainly national speed limit roads (b roads?). Motorway miles I do hardly any, so Im pleased to hear that response!
Im fully prepared for maintanence costs, I think Id be a fool if i didnt, but when looking at the seemingly small amount of forums for elises, I noticed a regular trend of headgasket questions, so assumed its a common occurance.
I was pleasantly surprised with the parkers statitics for fuel economy etc, which is part of the reason of its appeal Fun and affordable. At least thats my perception currently unless anyone wishes to correct me?!
As for a budget. Unfortunately its going to be around 8k, which appears to get me a standard elise, or a low priced 111. Whats the difference between the two? Or a standard elise with a few upgrades like suspension?
Just to put some figures to that, in the 11 months and 15,000 miles since buying my 111s, I've spent less than £350 on it. That includes a full set of tyres, a decat, a new cat, a refurbished hood and all consumables (2 minor services and a set of plugs). That's pretty good isn't it? I'm obviously aware that the lack of service history may put people off but I'm just keeping a documented record of everything I do and hopefully that should put minds at rest. I know for a fact it is better looked after than a car that just goes to a dealer/specialist at regular intervals.
Staying on the cost front, I (as many others do) have an AA warranty. This is basically an addition to standard AA membership which means that in the event of breakdown they will pay for the repair to be carried out up to the value of £500 subject to a £25 excess. This should be enough to put your mind at ease in terms of HGF. That's the reason I took it out though, the car is now on 73,000 miles and still no sign of the dreaded HGF.
The real costs involved are with suspension components which can wear suprisingly quickly. In an ideal world you'd find a car where more or less everything has been replaced recently, i.e. Dampers, bushes and ball joints. If everything may need doing you could be looking at a £2,500+ bill or around £1000 if you were to do the work yourself.
Your useage sounds ideal for the Elise. Getting in and out is a pain with the roof on, but once inside its very comfortable. And fuel economy is embarrassingly good. I hover around the 38mpg mark for a mixture of driving.
As for differences between a 111s and standard there was thread about this last week so check back through the last couple of pages. But to summarise, the main things to worry about are:
More powerful VVC engine
Close Ratio Gearbox
More padding on the seats
6 spoke wheels
Tail spoiler
Carbon dash insert things
And a couple of other irrelevant details
I'd suggest you try both but you're probably best buying on condition rather than spec for this budget.
Just my two cents here but............
I'm just starting my second year of Liz only, daily driving, all weather ownership and to be honest its getting tough! Summer time is glorious, but the winter is a bit of a killer.
Having just got in, it's noisy (my fault), the roads are wet so I couldn't relax (staying on guard as the elise can be a little tail happy in the wet) and I would give my right nut right now for a decent heater and enough space for all my stuff!
It's a little testing!
That said instead of replacing her I will be buying a second car, I love it just too much. They do get under you skin and and the clear/dry days whatever time of year everything just feels right.
HTH
I'm just starting my second year of Liz only, daily driving, all weather ownership and to be honest its getting tough! Summer time is glorious, but the winter is a bit of a killer.
Having just got in, it's noisy (my fault), the roads are wet so I couldn't relax (staying on guard as the elise can be a little tail happy in the wet) and I would give my right nut right now for a decent heater and enough space for all my stuff!
It's a little testing!
That said instead of replacing her I will be buying a second car, I love it just too much. They do get under you skin and and the clear/dry days whatever time of year everything just feels right.
HTH
Chris49 said:
Just my two cents here but............
I'm just starting my second year of Liz only, daily driving, all weather ownership and to be honest its getting tough! Summer time is glorious, but the winter is a bit of a killer.
Having just got in, it's noisy (my fault), the roads are wet so I couldn't relax (staying on guard as the elise can be a little tail happy in the wet) and I would give my right nut right now for a decent heater and enough space for all my stuff!
It's a little testing!
That said instead of replacing her I will be buying a second car, I love it just too much. They do get under you skin and and the clear/dry days whatever time of year everything just feels right.
HTH
Good lad Chris ! You wll enjoy ownership more. If there is any rain, long distance trip, motorways, then the second car gets used. Dry weather and the elise come out to play.I'm just starting my second year of Liz only, daily driving, all weather ownership and to be honest its getting tough! Summer time is glorious, but the winter is a bit of a killer.
Having just got in, it's noisy (my fault), the roads are wet so I couldn't relax (staying on guard as the elise can be a little tail happy in the wet) and I would give my right nut right now for a decent heater and enough space for all my stuff!
It's a little testing!
That said instead of replacing her I will be buying a second car, I love it just too much. They do get under you skin and and the clear/dry days whatever time of year everything just feels right.
HTH
piooly said:
Chris49 said:
Just my two cents here but............
I'm just starting my second year of Liz only, daily driving, all weather ownership and to be honest its getting tough! Summer time is glorious, but the winter is a bit of a killer.
Having just got in, it's noisy (my fault), the roads are wet so I couldn't relax (staying on guard as the elise can be a little tail happy in the wet) and I would give my right nut right now for a decent heater and enough space for all my stuff!
It's a little testing!
That said instead of replacing her I will be buying a second car, I love it just too much. They do get under you skin and and the clear/dry days whatever time of year everything just feels right.
HTH
Good lad Chris ! You wll enjoy ownership more. If there is any rain, long distance trip, motorways, then the second car gets used. Dry weather and the elise come out to play.I'm just starting my second year of Liz only, daily driving, all weather ownership and to be honest its getting tough! Summer time is glorious, but the winter is a bit of a killer.
Having just got in, it's noisy (my fault), the roads are wet so I couldn't relax (staying on guard as the elise can be a little tail happy in the wet) and I would give my right nut right now for a decent heater and enough space for all my stuff!
It's a little testing!
That said instead of replacing her I will be buying a second car, I love it just too much. They do get under you skin and and the clear/dry days whatever time of year everything just feels right.
HTH
I have to have a liz on the drive, I'm thinking about an S2 111S/R or keeping the 49 and something like a new CTR for the daily run. I wholly understand your vauxhall now!
Hi and welcome. You'll find lots of help here and on Seloc (noticed you've registered there too) with Seloc being particularly good for technical stuff.
I've had my S1 for three years and clocked up 32k using her as a daily driver on and off. The first thing to consider is where abouts you live: I'm in South Devon where we hardly ever see frost, let alone snow and ice. If your winters are regularly icy then I wouldn't want to be using an Elise first thing in the morning. Its a very light car so frost and slippy roads are its enemy.
What's it like to live with? Well its noisy, keeps you on your toes, has absolutely no refinement BUT...its an absolute hoot to drive and I love it (and I'm 51!). The only downside to using it as a daily driver is that after a while it ceases to feel quiet so special so having another car is a plus purely from that point of view.
Reliability? Well like all old cars its going to be the luck of the draw to an extent but you can mitigate some of the risk by buying car with good provenance. look for the S2 suspension upgrade as the original konis will be past their best on any car with much more than 40k miles under its belt. 111S seats are more comfy than the standard cars' as well.
With an 8k budget I' be looking for a well sorted boggo S1 which should be available at that sort of price. You can buy cars cheaper but thnere are a lot of sheds around so buy cafrefully. Don't let mileage put you off - the little K series engine is used in Rovers/Freelanders and MGs and is good for many miles if looked after. HGF? don't get too hung up on it - £5-600 at most specialist to sort. If that size bill worries you then the Elise probably isn't for you though. On older cars you'll find wishbones bushes past their best and various suspension bits and bobs will eventually need replacing. If you were to pay for suspension refresh in one hit it would probably be of the order of £2-3k (inc labour).
Go in with your eyes open, keep £1k in the kitty an happy hunting.
I've had my S1 for three years and clocked up 32k using her as a daily driver on and off. The first thing to consider is where abouts you live: I'm in South Devon where we hardly ever see frost, let alone snow and ice. If your winters are regularly icy then I wouldn't want to be using an Elise first thing in the morning. Its a very light car so frost and slippy roads are its enemy.
What's it like to live with? Well its noisy, keeps you on your toes, has absolutely no refinement BUT...its an absolute hoot to drive and I love it (and I'm 51!). The only downside to using it as a daily driver is that after a while it ceases to feel quiet so special so having another car is a plus purely from that point of view.
Reliability? Well like all old cars its going to be the luck of the draw to an extent but you can mitigate some of the risk by buying car with good provenance. look for the S2 suspension upgrade as the original konis will be past their best on any car with much more than 40k miles under its belt. 111S seats are more comfy than the standard cars' as well.
With an 8k budget I' be looking for a well sorted boggo S1 which should be available at that sort of price. You can buy cars cheaper but thnere are a lot of sheds around so buy cafrefully. Don't let mileage put you off - the little K series engine is used in Rovers/Freelanders and MGs and is good for many miles if looked after. HGF? don't get too hung up on it - £5-600 at most specialist to sort. If that size bill worries you then the Elise probably isn't for you though. On older cars you'll find wishbones bushes past their best and various suspension bits and bobs will eventually need replacing. If you were to pay for suspension refresh in one hit it would probably be of the order of £2-3k (inc labour).
Go in with your eyes open, keep £1k in the kitty an happy hunting.
Using an Elise as a daily driver is a frequently re-visited topic! Here's one that was made earlier....
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
My twopenn'orth? Do it!
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
My twopenn'orth? Do it!
Hi Nick
I have a 2000 S1 Elise my running cost over about 15 months are in my profile, however I need to add the costs for a recent head gasket failure
I thought I would add a bit of balance as I would say I've had a rough 15 months with this car with various bits going wrong or expensive service items. However I have replaced broken bits with upgraded parts (this will also account for my higher running costs) and I now have a car that should have significantly cheaper servicing costs for the next couple of years
Would I change the car - sometimes I think about it and compare it to the costs I had running my MR2 turbo but as soon as I go out in it that all changes, they are excellent cars.
My advice to you would be;
Get an AA warranty, my head gasket failure came to £950 of which the AA funded £475 of. I had an 82 degree thermostat added, cambelt changed, spark plugs changed, coolant replaced while this was done hence mine being more expensive than the prices being quoted however this will save me money in the future.
Don't be put off by upgrades at all, S2 suspension, stainless steel exhaust and downpipe, alloy throttle body etc will save you the money of doing it in the future. If you’re looking at this car for a daily driver also look for one that has an upgraded audio system or if you prefer a Larini or 2bular exhaust system
Join SELOC or similar for your area you get a discount at some dealers and specialist for servicing
Have a through read through the service history before buying, seems obvious but I missed something with my car that was brought up at my 1st service.
Edited to add - I should point out that all of the work has been done by a mid price range Lotus specialist so I realise that I could have reduced the money I have spent on the car by doing the work myself or using a cheaper specialist. If you are handy with a spanner the parts for the Elise are not drastically expensive and are easy to get hold of and there is a wealth of information on the car on the internet.
I have a 2000 S1 Elise my running cost over about 15 months are in my profile, however I need to add the costs for a recent head gasket failure
I thought I would add a bit of balance as I would say I've had a rough 15 months with this car with various bits going wrong or expensive service items. However I have replaced broken bits with upgraded parts (this will also account for my higher running costs) and I now have a car that should have significantly cheaper servicing costs for the next couple of years
Would I change the car - sometimes I think about it and compare it to the costs I had running my MR2 turbo but as soon as I go out in it that all changes, they are excellent cars.
My advice to you would be;
Get an AA warranty, my head gasket failure came to £950 of which the AA funded £475 of. I had an 82 degree thermostat added, cambelt changed, spark plugs changed, coolant replaced while this was done hence mine being more expensive than the prices being quoted however this will save me money in the future.
Don't be put off by upgrades at all, S2 suspension, stainless steel exhaust and downpipe, alloy throttle body etc will save you the money of doing it in the future. If you’re looking at this car for a daily driver also look for one that has an upgraded audio system or if you prefer a Larini or 2bular exhaust system
Join SELOC or similar for your area you get a discount at some dealers and specialist for servicing
Have a through read through the service history before buying, seems obvious but I missed something with my car that was brought up at my 1st service.
Edited to add - I should point out that all of the work has been done by a mid price range Lotus specialist so I realise that I could have reduced the money I have spent on the car by doing the work myself or using a cheaper specialist. If you are handy with a spanner the parts for the Elise are not drastically expensive and are easy to get hold of and there is a wealth of information on the car on the internet.
Edited by num2uk on Wednesday 29th October 10:00
As someone else looking into S1 ownership, this is all useful stuff for me too. I think I have have my mind put at rest over head gaskets now, so it seems the next item for me to worry about is suspension. The suggestion seems to be that suspension wears quickly on Elises. Is that just the original fitment setup, or does it also apply to aftermarket upgrades or the S2 conversion ? What I am getting at is should I be happy simply that a car has had suspension replaced or upgraded, or might that be shot too ? What are the telltale signs of worn suspension ? and why is the S2 setup better ?
Apologies for thread hijack, and if this has already been done elsewhere, please just point me at the thread.
Thanks.
Apologies for thread hijack, and if this has already been done elsewhere, please just point me at the thread.
Thanks.
I'll be brief with mine,
For reasons stated above, I decided that my S1 Elise was NEVER going to be a daily driver.
I have got a cheap daily driver, which takes up all the motorway miles, the stupid people in tesco opening the door on it, it was very cheap to buy and cheap to run and insure, im not a snob so i dont mind people seeing me driving it. So why spoil the S1 by shoving a load of "normal road" (boring) miles on it, meaning repair costs are more etc etc when The crap car can take all that and it doesnt matter?
And my main point for doing this is, every time I get into the elise, its a special occassion. I cant keep the grin off my face as its something new and something to use on days off or when im going to be driving on good nice roads. I cant help feeling that if I used it every day I'd get a little bored of it, or at least it would be less special.
Not everyone's view, but I think thats the way to do it!
For reasons stated above, I decided that my S1 Elise was NEVER going to be a daily driver.
I have got a cheap daily driver, which takes up all the motorway miles, the stupid people in tesco opening the door on it, it was very cheap to buy and cheap to run and insure, im not a snob so i dont mind people seeing me driving it. So why spoil the S1 by shoving a load of "normal road" (boring) miles on it, meaning repair costs are more etc etc when The crap car can take all that and it doesnt matter?
And my main point for doing this is, every time I get into the elise, its a special occassion. I cant keep the grin off my face as its something new and something to use on days off or when im going to be driving on good nice roads. I cant help feeling that if I used it every day I'd get a little bored of it, or at least it would be less special.
Not everyone's view, but I think thats the way to do it!
GR4 said:
As someone else looking into S1 ownership, this is all useful stuff for me too. I think I have have my mind put at rest over head gaskets now, so it seems the next item for me to worry about is suspension. The suggestion seems to be that suspension wears quickly on Elises. Is that just the original fitment setup, or does it also apply to aftermarket upgrades or the S2 conversion ? What I am getting at is should I be happy simply that a car has had suspension replaced or upgraded, or might that be shot too ? What are the telltale signs of worn suspension ? and why is the S2 setup better ?
Apologies for thread hijack, and if this has already been done elsewhere, please just point me at the thread.
Thanks.
The original Koni setup on the S1 Elise I believe lasts between 30,000 and 40,000 miles before they need replacing, the S2 setup uses Bilstein dampers with Eibach springs, I think the expected life of these is around 60,000 miles obviously depending on how the car has been used.Apologies for thread hijack, and if this has already been done elsewhere, please just point me at the thread.
Thanks.
It's generally regarded that the S2 suspension is a superior setup to the original S1 set up, the S2 setup sits lower than the original by about 10mm. My opinion would be that the S1 setup is slightly softer but the S2 setup has better damping and improved handling in all areas with the added bonus of no knocking noise like you would get with an S1 setup.
IMO the S2 upgrade would be the ideal set up for road use where as Nitrons or similar would be better for the track.
I use my 1998 S1 everyday. I don't have a garage and so far despite the damp and ice, when the cabin is warm it is fine. My commute is about 30 mins over mainly country roads......lovely!
My car is completely standard but I will soon up-grade to the S2 suspension and my local Lotus dealer has quoted £740 all in. Apprarently it is a fairly easy job if you are handy with a spanner but I'm not! Anyway the parts alone are about £600. Apart from that I would not change a thing but remember that it does take a certain state of mind to use it every day!
HTH
My car is completely standard but I will soon up-grade to the S2 suspension and my local Lotus dealer has quoted £740 all in. Apprarently it is a fairly easy job if you are handy with a spanner but I'm not! Anyway the parts alone are about £600. Apart from that I would not change a thing but remember that it does take a certain state of mind to use it every day!
HTH
Chris49 said:
Just my two cents here but............
That said instead of replacing her I will be buying a second car, I love it just too much. They do get under you skin and and the clear/dry days whatever time of year everything just feels right.
HTH
Good Man... FYI. The best two upgrades I made to mine for "daily use" were an upgrade to the seats (I had std S1 versions ith a veneer of padding) and a hardtop.That said instead of replacing her I will be buying a second car, I love it just too much. They do get under you skin and and the clear/dry days whatever time of year everything just feels right.
HTH
As far as luggage is concerned... you get creative over time!
One thing I've found so far in my short ownership - if using one as your only car, driving a normal car feels WIERD! A golf felt to me like an MPV - "why won't the seat go lower? why is the gear lever so far away? These brakes are overservoed. God it's gutless and roly poly. Why am I seated so high? This car is oversized. God I can't wait to hand this back and get in the Lotus! Hmm, getting in and out is easy."
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