Elise prices. What's going on?

[Nobody13]

Would be interested in anyone can point me in the direction of fitting an Elise s1 OEM hardtop, ideally a video. Much appreciated.

[itcaptainslow]

fridaypassion said:

The worry list is extremely long on these cars!

Such as…

[fridaypassion]

This is the years of expertise you pay for when you come to me

[Gulf7]

GTRene said:

rossybee said:

GTRene said:

some talk about the 'difficult' or something like that Elise S1 roof?

I believe you can buy an option part, so you can fit the S2 roof on the Elise S1, so easier, better looks?

not sure anymore saw such long time ago I believe.

Having owned Caterhams in the past, the S1 roof is a model in simplicity

I guess indeed those Caterham or 7 models as well, although never seen it myself someone doing such, but words like a tent comes to mind and ow, some saying its not worth it, I drive on till I get home then parke it in the garage

The Caterham half hood is a game-changer. Super simple, although I will concede it's not 100% watertight. Better than either of the alternatives though.

[GTRene]

Gulf7 said:

GTRene said:

rossybee said:

GTRene said:

some talk about the 'difficult' or something like that Elise S1 roof?

I believe you can buy an option part, so you can fit the S2 roof on the Elise S1, so easier, better looks?

not sure anymore saw such long time ago I believe.

Having owned Caterhams in the past, the S1 roof is a model in simplicity

I guess indeed those Caterham or 7 models as well, although never seen it myself someone doing such, but words like a tent comes to mind and ow, some saying its not worth it, I drive on till I get home then parke it in the garage

The Caterham half hood is a game-changer. Super simple, although I will concede it's not 100% watertight. Better than either of the alternatives though.

I had to look that one up, not heard of it before, looks indeed more simple and better then nothing I guess specially if you stand stil i the rain

https://caterhamparts.co.uk/114-hoods?p=2

[Gulf7]

GTRene said:

I had to look that one up, not heard of it before, looks indeed more simple and better then nothing I guess specially if you stand stil i the rain

https://caterhamparts.co.uk/114-hoods?p=2

I'm not sure why their photos don't have doors. I guess so you can see the roof clearly. Nobody would actually drive like that. With doors its very good.







The rear straps stay attached to the car in the boot, so fitting is just those 4 clips and the windscreen poppers.

Edited by Gulf7 on Saturday 12th October 06:46

[GTRene]

that looks indeed like a nice and easy solution, never seen that so before

[bennno]

They just need to make it a bit bigger to close the gap at the rear and behind the doors, bit like the factory hood

[Gulf7]

bennno said:

They just need to make it a bit bigger to close the gap at the rear and behind the doors, bit like the factory hood

At that point you need the rear poppers and roof sticks to give it some support. In terms of rain, you do get some coming in the back at speed, but it's quick to put on and doesn't mist up (unlike the factory hood).

[rossybee]

Gulf7 said:

bennno said:

They just need to make it a bit bigger to close the gap at the rear and behind the doors, bit like the factory hood

At that point you need the rear poppers and roof sticks to give it some support. In terms of rain, you do get some coming in the back at speed, but it's quick to put on and doesn't mist up (unlike the factory hood).

I just went aero and wore suitable clothing

[dunc_sx]

itcaptainslow said:

Such as…

This is the stuff (specific to Exige V6) I've dug up recently if it's any help:

Cracked rear upright - Early cars
Heat soak issue on non-charge cooled variants if tracking
Cooling fan bearings can go prematurely
Brake pedal switch issues
ABS unit
Poor shielding on electric harness causing electric interference (throttle issue)
Gear shift issues (doesn't effect all cars)
Throttle control unit errors
Steamed up headlights
ABS light itermitently

Loads of owners sayinig they've not had any problems as well.

Cheers,
Dunc.

[fridaypassion]

Picked this up today from Matjk cheers!

[fridaypassion]

dunc_sx said:

This is the stuff (specific to Exige V6) I've dug up recently if it's any help:

Cracked rear upright - Early cars
Heat soak issue on non-charge cooled variants if tracking
Cooling fan bearings can go prematurely
Brake pedal switch issues
ABS unit
Poor shielding on electric harness causing electric interference (throttle issue)
Gear shift issues (doesn't effect all cars)
Throttle control unit errors
Steamed up headlights
ABS light itermitently

Loads of owners sayinig they've not had any problems as well.

Cheers,
Dunc.

OK it was a bit tight of me not answer this question I'll add a bit of into here. For reference this is my take on these issues

Cracked rear upright - Early cars - Yes pretty common
Heat soak issue on non-charge cooled variants if tracking - Yes certainly in the summer it just retards ignition its not going to break
Cooling fan bearings can go prematurely - This is a pretty rare failure but would be clam off to sort
Brake pedal switch issues - Literally need to keep a spare in the car
ABS unit - Exceptionally rare
Poor shielding on electric harness causing electric interference (throttle issue) - Never heard of this
Gear shift issues (doesn't effect all cars) - Possibly they will vary but they are generally good on all V6 cars you dont need the open shifter. If a shift on a V6 felt wrong it could well be an issue more with the gearbox or Clutch Slave
Throttle control unit errors - Usually something to do with the brake switch or low battery
Steamed up headlights - ermI think they will have done this from new
ABS light itermitently - same frequency as other similar car I think

So Clutch this is a big issue on all pre 410 cars right up to almost the end of 380 production. There is a common misconception that 350s got better clutches. They didnt. Theres a bit of a trick to detecting normal rattle vs the friction plate starting to detatch remember the owner of the car will know there has been a change in the sound and this is a prime time to shift the car on. People will tuck you up like a kipper on a private sale trust me!

Clutch slave - really common issue but hard to test for as it will be intermittent but the clutch pedal just won't return

AC - We are starting to see V6 cars coming frequently now with the AC not working we are currently fitting a condenser in a 15000 mile 380. Typical Lotus issue. I have also had a failure of a PCB component in the heater resistor which I think will pop up again so make sure all fan speeds work. Make sure hot goes to cold as well as thats also a clam off job.

Low battery - This is the single biggest issue with all V6 cars they are a total nightmare if you let the battery drain they should be kept on trickle charge. I have a working theory that an even slightly low battery will make the ECU have a right wobble after its started up the huge v6 engine with the additional effort of moving the charger and pulleys. I've had many cars that have literally broken down road side with the dash lit fixed with a new battery.

Discs - Particularly on the early S model cars check the rear face of the discs they get absolutely battered with road muck and the inner faces can be in a shocking state whilst the front faces are normal.

Charger belt - Two issues here they are quite expensive change so people skip this from the servicing it needs an engine mount removing and its about £300 on top of the service so is all too often missed. Second issue is that none specialists often miss the fact that the belt is a gator back its not just a 6pk belt so a normal ribbed belt will slip and squeak like crazy and it will need doing again.

Dash - The LCD dies in the digital part of the dash starts with vertical line and will eventually fail. Everyone these day just fits an AIM dash

Rear uprights - in addition to the issues with cracking the V6 has a really peculiar setup at the rear so it has no fewer than 6 bearings on the back of it. At each MOT at least one of these will have play in it so be prepared for doing a bit of work there each year.

EML lights - The V6 cars pop an EML light on if you fart next to them they are an absolute nightmare for sensitivity to exhaust changes and air intake changes. Not much you can do about it but you'll need a code reader in the car. Limp mode is rare so won't normally affect driving.

Damage - a lot of these cars have had off road excursions track excursions you cant really completely check for this stuff as a novice its impossible.

There are loads of other bits that nearly 20 years of experience brings but the V6 is a very needy car to get prepped up for sale for us even the 410s come up with all manor of issues. I have also just invested in a scan tool to get ECU data as you can get over rev reports which is pretty important as the V6 does not like going over its relatively low rev limit.

I would say this but I think you would be crazy to buy one private with no warranty or comeback but at the very least get an inspection done from a proper specialist and not just a specialist one that does a lot with V6 cars specifically. I have found some of the old boys that do work on mainly the older cars haven't got a clue about v6 cars so make sure the place you are looking at using have a lot of v6 experience. I'm still learning al the time myself.

[GTRene]

thats a "pretty" list.

I did not thought those 380+ cars needed such to take care of or take notion of when buying.

Its not a Toyota (forgot the model with no problems :-)

[Frimley111R]

fridaypassion said:

OK it was a bit tight of me not answer this question I'll add a bit of into here. For reference this is my take on these issues .....

....I would say this but I think you would be crazy to buy one private with no warranty or comeback but at the very least get an inspection done from a proper specialist and not just a specialist one that does a lot with V6 cars specifically. I have found some of the old boys that do work on mainly the older cars haven't got a clue about v6 cars so make sure the place you are looking at using have a lot of v6 experience. I'm still learning al the time myself.

Jesus, I fancied one but after reading that lot I think I may look elsewhere.

[fridaypassion]

Frimley111R said:

Jesus, I fancied one but after reading that lot I think I may look elsewhere.

V6 cars are certainly on that next level up from your older S2/lower level Porsche stuff. This is one of the reasons the S2 cars still command such strong money as they are far cheaper to run/Tax etc but if you want the performance you have to stump up the ££

[Puzzles]

fridaypassion said:

V6 cars are certainly on that next level up from your older S2/lower level Porsche stuff. This is one of the reasons the S2 cars still command such strong money as they are far cheaper to run/Tax etc but if you want the performance you have to stump up the ££

Thank you for taking time to expand on the issues.

Not to be too negative but the downsides of the v6s for me are..

More expensive to run
Whilst not slow, they aren't THAT quick really, but then you can argue Lotus have never been about that.
Poor customer service, dealer support, parts on back order etc
Things like the AC and other design or poor component issues which were never resolved and are a constant liability.

The V6 exiges (and tbh probably evoras too) aren't dailys for m, I may as well have a basic car that's not all that much slower but is still great fun.

Different strokes etc..

I could be tempted by an 2l Emira, some of the plastic parts are a little cheap though.

Edited by Puzzles on Wednesday 16th October 16:46

[Frimley111R]

Puzzles said:

Whilst not slow, they aren't THAT quick really, but then you can argue Lotus have never been about that.
.

I was a pax in a 410. It was like being shot out of a cannon! And there's a YT vid showing one beating a McLaren in a drag race so....

[GTRene]

fridaypassion said:

Frimley111R said:

Jesus, I fancied one but after reading that lot I think I may look elsewhere.

V6 cars are certainly on that next level up from your older S2/lower level Porsche stuff. This is one of the reasons the S2 cars still command such strong money as they are far cheaper to run/Tax etc but if you want the performance you have to stump up the ££

yep I guess so, or... do a good engine swap in a S1 or S2, some went 'crazy' with even a V10 in the back lovely.

I would do with a shorter V8 in a S1 or S2 I believe there is one for sale, but does not have road documents for that swap, was used for circuit days I believe.

ok not this one but looks like fun as well with double hayabusa V8 11k rpm...



ah found it, this one Lotus Elise V844.900,00 € VB mit 420ps

https://www.motorsportmarkt.de/inserat/51841/lotus...

[JamieF78]

The squeaky belt noise seems to affect many a V6 it seems, even those with Gatorback belts. Some owners of Emiras have experienced it too and it's to do with Lotus changing belt manufacturers. The material on the back of the belt is causing a chirping noise as it goes around the pulleys. What they'll do about it who knows.