Elise S3 Photo's

[Boggy]

http://www.autoguide.com/gallery/gallery.php/v/mai...

Boggy

[CooperS]

Thats nice.. (goes away to change previous posts on the new styling)

[noodleman]

I can't be referred to as the S3 in my opinion.

It's a facelifted S2. No one's calling the MY2010 Exige the S3 so I don't understand this.

[peter450]

The S2 was just a face-lifted S1 though, the S2 shape has aged quite well so a radical rework was not really needed

[Grinnders]

peter450 said:

The S2 was just a face-lifted S1 though, the S2 shape has aged quite well so a radical rework was not really needed

I disagree.

The S2 is significantly different in quality of finish, weight and in driving dynamics. It had many new features added for comfort and specifically to improve the progression of oversteer/tail out tendencies. Whether you prefer those changes or not is personal preference but it is certainly NOT the same car. An evolution perhaps but a face lift? No.

(9 years an S1 owner and soon to be S2 Exige owner and taking the liberty of presuming the S2 Elise finish is comparable to the Exige)

[kambites]

The more pictures I see of this, the less I like it.

[Mark B]

peter450 said:

The S2 was just a face-lifted S1 though, the S2 shape has aged quite well so a radical rework was not really needed

Hardly, it was dramatically different!

[S2john]

I hope the face lift grows on me as my initial thoughts are not too good.
What have they done to the rear end & the overall facelift takes away some of the aggressive stance the previous S2 has.
I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder

[bogie]

I like it, apart from the central exhausts ...I never have liked those on any car yet

[ADM 135S]

Looks good apart from the choice of alloys and the daft exhaust position.

[Gooby]

Still feeling rather cynical. S1 to S2 was ne body, mods to chassis, new suspension, dash, suspension changes etc etc. This is new bumpers and a new engine for the S.

The bumpers are all part of the clam so why not make some big changes.

although if it aint broke, why fix it?

The big problem is why would I trade in my 2004 R for a 2010 R? It is heavier, no more powerful and no more sporty? For face lifted bumpers? Not good enough to part me form my money.

[Gooby]

Oh god - I sound like S Works....

[stinkysteve]

I'm disappointed by that but thanks for the pics. No way i'll change my S2 for one of these S2.5's (as it'll get called eventually?). I'll wait for the S3.

[nsm3]

I think the treatment of the rear diffuser/grille arangement at the rear is much better looking than the current set up on my Exige S, which is difficult to clean and always looks a bit tatty ?

[peter450]

Mark B said:

peter450 said:

The S2 was just a face-lifted S1 though, the S2 shape has aged quite well so a radical rework was not really needed

Hardly, it was dramatically different!

Perhaps i'm mistaken on this, but were they not more or less identical underneath?, same engine, Gearbox etc, other than a switch to a close ratio box and a differant manufacturer for the suspension, bodywork aside i'm struggling to think of any major differance

Yeah the bodywork was a radical rework, much like the Stevens Esprit was to the Previous wedge, but the S2 car has a design that has really aged well IMO, so a facelift was never going to be as radical as the S1 - S2 job, much like the Esprit S4 was pretty much a mild makeover of the S3 Stevens car

I agree it's not really a S3, but have lotus said that? or is it autocar et al saying it, because i must admit i have not read anything official saying this is a S3

I do like the restyle and think it looks good, they have clearly played safe but thats no bad thing IMO, what i'm more disapointed about is the fact they used the yota 1.6 instead of the new 1.8 which has near enough same figures on C02 etc while being a fair bit more powerful than the old 1.8 yota which would have resulted in some decent performance gains for the base car, which IMO it could use for 2010

[edp190]

I was chatting to my local salesman the other day. Its not an S3, just a tweaked s2.

Atleast the bloody indicators will stop falling out!! ;-)

[RobM77]

Mark B said:

peter450 said:

The S2 was just a face-lifted S1 though, the S2 shape has aged quite well so a radical rework was not really needed

Hardly, it was dramatically different!

S2 was lower, stiffer, wider, different aero and had bespoke tyres for the unusual weight distribution. It also had lower sills for easier access, and numerous little tweaks, including on later models a massively simpler hood :-D

[S Works]

Gooby said:

Oh god - I sound like S Works....

Not enough curse words.

Oh yeah, the car. What the hell is it with Lotus and peashooter exhausts? Pathetic. And what does it weigh?

[RobM77]

peter450 said:

Mark B said:

peter450 said:

The S2 was just a face-lifted S1 though, the S2 shape has aged quite well so a radical rework was not really needed

Hardly, it was dramatically different!

Perhaps i'm mistaken on this, but were they not more or less identical underneath?, same engine, Gearbox etc, other than a switch to a close ratio box and a differant manufacturer for the suspension, bodywork aside i'm struggling to think of any major differance

See my post above. My information is based on, amongst other things, a walk round and explanation of the new S2 vs the old S1 on a Lotus DVD that I've got. You're right in that the Rover engine and gearbox were retained in the switch to S2 (until the Toyota unit replaced it of course), but many other areas of the car were reworked. Sure, it wasn't a whole new car, but the changes were fairly significant.

[RobM77]

I'm not sure that I like the new dashboard:

Old:



Plus mine, along with many others, has the instrument binnacle trimmed in Alcantara to match the dash, and the gearchange surround trimmed in leather.

New:


It's the plastic I don't like, plus the far too obviously modular look to it.

As for the exterior looks, I can't say I'm that offended by them. Sure, I prefer the S2, but the S3 looks neat enough. It certainly hasn't been beaten with the ugly stick like the Evora!

Edited by RobM77 on Thursday 4th March 10:31