S2 Honda Elise v S3 Exige S

[Babw]

Hi all,

I’m looking for a trackday car and narrowing it down to a Lotus.

Either a well modified S2 Elise with a K20 conversion or an S3 Exige S. Not really looking to stretch to the later Exige 350 Sport onwards.

Any owners had both and care to comment?

[Rocket.]

Babw said:

Hi all,

I’m looking for a trackday car and narrowing it down to a Lotus.

Either a well modified S2 Elise with a K20 conversion or an S3 Exige S. Not really looking to stretch to the later Exige 350 Sport onwards.

Any owners had both and care to comment?

Not had both but a few years back had S1 with K20 which was SC/CC by one of the so called market leaders for converted cars, the previous owner had spent £60k! (I paid less than half that for it 2 years later) When it worked it was amazing, which sadly wasn't that often, maybe I was unlucky but personally unless it's a n/a K20 that's proven to be reliable I wouldn't touch an engine converted car.

After I sold that I bought a gen.2 Cayman S which I modified and tracked but this has now gone and my next car will probably be S3 Exige of some description which I intend to track a bit.

[Babw]

I have a 987.2 which I occasionally use for trackdays (Wavetrac, Girodisc, Bilsteins etc) but find it's a bit on the soft side.

I'm surprised there hasn't been more response to this as thought there'd be more owners who considered both before making a decision.

[Rocketreid]

I had an S3 Elise , a 220SC. As a track day car it was very compromised on larger circuits but great on the smaller twistier ones.

Cheap to run and maintain, however gearbox not the most slick but nevertheless a solid car.

My first S3 Exige was a V6S with an autobox which was less nimble on circuits due to the not inconsiderable additional weight but it had vastly more performance. I’ve had a 380 and now a Cup430 which has moved the performance onto Supercar levels

The 2 cars are different so best to try both before you decide

[Babw]

Rocketreid said:

I had an S3 Elise , a 220SC. As a track day car it was very compromised on larger circuits but great on the smaller twistier ones.

Cheap to run and maintain, however gearbox not the most slick but nevertheless a solid car.

My first S3 Exige was a V6S with an autobox which was less nimble on circuits due to the not inconsiderable additional weight but it had vastly more performance. I’ve had a 380 and now a Cup430 which has moved the performance onto Supercar levels

The 2 cars are different so best to try both before you decide

A fellow Mclaren owner. I have a 650S Spider and I've considered picking up a 540c/570s and modifying for track use but I think a simpler Lotus with some performance might be the sensible option. Really what I was is the involvement of the Mclaren and agility but a bit less accessible performance.

With the Honda my thoughts were a S2/S1 weight considerably less but also revs far higher than the V6 but the V6 with traction control obviously has better performance on bigger circuits.