which weekend fun car...Elise S1 or MX5

[300bhp/ton]

Left field choice, how about a tidy MK1 MR2 T-Top? Mid engined like the Elise and more rare and nippy than the MX-5. I believe there are also supercharger kits for them too as there was a supercharged version from the factory (not UK market though).

[Baryonyx]

Why not look at an MR2 with a V6 conversion from Woodsport?

http://www.woodsport.org/joomla/index.php/engine-c...

[carl carlson]

kambites said:

They are both good cars but they do different things well. The Elise is not the kind of car that you throw around and will tend to bite if you do. It's a car that thrives on a its delicacy

Don't agree with this at all. I have owned mine for 3.5 years and its in every day use. I chuck it about and its fine. Its never bitten me and I have done some stupid stuff in it believe you me.

[John D.]

Baryonyx said:

moribund said:

Hey, that's what I have - the Smart Roadster. Best of both worlds, combines the agressive, macho image of the MX5 with the rock-solid build of the Elise.

Oh, hang on...

Thats the only thing you've got to watch out for, both cars have a pretty bad image in a way. The Mazda is seen as a girls car, the Elise is the reserve of bearded men who only drink in CAMRA approved pubs and have never known the touch of a woman. Think of the Real Ale tts from Viz, but rename them the Real Car tts and you're about there.

No thats not the thing.

The MX5 has an image problem. The Elise is percieved to have build quality/reliability issues.


Hey, I know I'm an Elise owner sticking up for the Elise but you're an MX5 owner spouting ste about their owners

[stew-S160]

Having owned both, Elise every time. The MX5 was fun, but it wasn't an Elise.

[Mojo Jojo]

I've got a mk2 MX-5 and use it as my everyday car, and for fun at the weekend aswell. Its great at that and quite cheap to run and modify if u so wish aswell.

My dad has an S2 Elise as his weekend car and occasionally in the summer for his commute, and it does that brilliantly. Its also much better looking and just gives a better sense of occasion, even as a passenger than my MX-5, that's my opinion of course.

Basically I'm saying that if u had to chose one as an everyday, every weather sportscar, the MX-5 is great. However, if its for weekends and special occasions, the Elise S1 or 2 wins hands down, its just a more raw and involving experience than the Mazda. So pick the Elise even if it is more costly!

[300bhp/ton]

carl carlson said:

kambites said:

They are both good cars but they do different things well. The Elise is not the kind of car that you throw around and will tend to bite if you do. It's a car that thrives on a its delicacy

Don't agree with this at all. I have owned mine for 3.5 years and its in every day use. I chuck it about and its fine. Its never bitten me and I have done some stupid stuff in it believe you me.

I suspect what Kambites is saying, is the Elise responds far better to a smooth accurate driving style. While you can throw them about, the m/r configuration means that when they do go, they go very quickly and with little warning. Ok if you have enough room and are a driving god, not so if you're not.

An MX-5 on the other hand likely thrives on a much more hooligan style of driving and consequentially is far, far easier to do this in:

[Chris71]

carl carlson said:

kambites said:

They are both good cars but they do different things well. The Elise is not the kind of car that you throw around and will tend to bite if you do. It's a car that thrives on a its delicacy

Don't agree with this at all. I have owned mine for 3.5 years and its in every day use. I chuck it about and its fine. Its never bitten me and I have done some stupid stuff in it believe you me.

My experience is that the Elise's reputation for snappy handling is heavily overstated. For years I'd only driven the later S2s, but I had a go in an S1 111S recently - admittedly a well sorted one running grippy tyres on a nice smooth track - and to my surprise it wasn't really any harder to drive than the later cars. It was almost unstickable under power and the lift off oversteer was no worse than my 205 GTi's was.

ETA As mentioned above, the MX5 is much better for doing big skids. If, like me, you're a bit of a hooligan its front-engined RWD LSD-equipped layout may be more to your taste!

[Baryonyx]

John D. said:

No thats not the thing.

The MX5 has an image problem. The Elise is percieved to have build quality/reliability issues.


Hey, I know I'm an Elise owner sticking up for the Elise but you're an MX5 owner spouting ste about their owners

Steady on there, ex-MX5 owner. Very enjoyable it was too, but lets not quibble over the fact that both cars have a bad image. Yes, the Elise is unreliable and favoured by bearded older blokes who like talking about the Lotus Ford Twincam in pubs. The MX5 is a favourite of girls who don't know which wheels are driven. There is no point letting these image issues bother you, we might as well all just have a laugh about them and enjoy a good send up!

[Fruitcake]

Having owned a couple of MX-5s and driven a couple of Elises, if you have the chance to get your mitts on the latter and don't take it, you're an idiot in my opinion.

Elises are, quite simply, sublime and well worth the extra you'll spend on one.

[300bhp/ton]

Baryonyx said:

the Elise is unreliable and favoured by bearded older blokes who like talking about the Lotus Ford Twincam in pubs.

eh?

[carl carlson]

Chris71 said:

carl carlson said:

kambites said:

They are both good cars but they do different things well. The Elise is not the kind of car that you throw around and will tend to bite if you do. It's a car that thrives on a its delicacy

Don't agree with this at all. I have owned mine for 3.5 years and its in every day use. I chuck it about and its fine. Its never bitten me and I have done some stupid stuff in it believe you me.

My experience is that the Elise's reputation for snappy handling is heavily overstated. For years I'd only driven the later S2s, but I had a go in an S1 111S recently - admittedly a well sorted one running grippy tyres on a nice smooth track - and to my surprise it wasn't really any harder to drive than the later cars. It was almost unstickable under power and the lift off oversteer was no worse than my 205 GTi's was.

ETA As mentioned above, the MX5 is much better for doing big skids. If, like me, you're a bit of a hooligan its front-engined RWD LSD-equipped layout may be more to your taste!

I wouldn't attempt drifting in my elise, its not that kind of car but yes I agree the snappyness of them is very overstated. You have to be a ham fisted muppet to get one truly out of shape and the odd time mine has was when its been raining after a sunny spell and the roads are greasy. Then again this sliding was down to me giving it a bootfull too early on a roundabout. Just remember the mantra when exiting a corner "don't put your foot down unless you know you can keep it down".

Edited by carl carlson on Monday 16th May 13:48

Edited by carl carlson on Monday 16th May 13:48

[Herbs]

I've owned 3 Lotus Elise's and 2 MX5 Sport's and if it is a weekend car then it has to be the Lotus every single time.

MX5 is easier to live with a day to day basis but that becomes redundant as a weekend car. The Elise only gets tiresome after 3 month of winter getting in and out wearing a suit in the pouring rain.

The MX5's lack power but drive well but I always ended up trying to provoke it when safe to do so whereas the Lotus has you searching for corners and windy roads that give you an immense feeling of satisfaction when you string a few corners together with a perfect line and only a little speed dropped off - heaven.

Edited by Herbs on Monday 16th May 14:00

[kambites]

However much "driving gods" may say that the Elise is easy to drive (and I've certainly not found mine a problem), the simple fact is that a huge number of Elises get thrown into hedges within the first few weeks of being bought. I suspect the same isn't true of MX5s.

I suspect it's quite common that someone buys an Elise as a first RWD car, thinks "woohoo, I can drift now", floors it around the first roundabout they get to, gets huge amounts of understeer, snaps the throttle closed and ends up pointing the wrong way down the road. Of course it's not something an experienced driver would do, but it still seems to happen remarkably often.

[stew-S160]

Baryonyx said:

Yes, the Elise is unreliable and favoured by bearded older blokes who like talking about the Lotus Ford Twincam in pubs.

Wrong.

[Ikemi]

matts4 said:

Elise, sure, they look better than the MX5, albeit quite dated I reckon. Would be a great handling car for sure, however the reliabilty (head gasket) seems a little dubious. I have also read that suspension parts are quite susepitible (sp) to age related wear, and the roof is a nightmare to get fitted (read 5 mins or so). Low mileage cars, whilst attractive, seem to be as much of an issue to all of the above as the average mileage examples. Parts would probably be more expensive, as would servicing, even at a specialist.

Never buy a S1 Elise based on mileage - Buy an Elise based on the owner! Has the owner cherished the car by fitting premium parts? Is it in good condition overall? Does the owner know his stuff? It all helps in finding a well sorted example.

High mileage shouldn't be a deal breaker. Believe it or not, many of us use them as a daily drive! I covered 46,000 miles in 2 years with my S1. I sold it with 76,000 miles on the clock. It never missed a beat, it never succumbed to head gasket failure, and it was the most reliable car I've owned!

Head gasket failure is a bit of a myth. It does pop up on forums from time to time, but then again how many people post up threads saying, "All okay here! No HGF yet!" As long as the car has had time to warm up fully before a spirited drive and has had time to cool down after a spirited drive, the chances of HGF should be reduced. If it does go, it'll cost you ~£500-700.

A Service is ~£150, B Service is ~£250-300 and a C Service (cambelt) is ~£500. Look for cars with the Bilstein S2 suspension upgrade. It's a worthwhile modification that dramatically improves handling, decreases body roll and gets rid of the noisy Koni shocks. If you did this upgrade yourself, you'd be looking at ~£1000 fully fitted. Also look for examples with a sports exhaust of some kind (The standard exhaust doesn't do the car justice) and Yokohama Advan Neova tyres

Lastly, if you do buy one, attend some driver training courses. I'm not implying that you're a bad driver, but the S1 is oversteer happy! So much so, Lotus purposefully made the S2 pro-understeer, as lots of owners were crashing their S1's! Mine caught me out a few times, some of which were at slow speeds! The clams are rather expensive too ...

They're lots of fun and perfect as a weekend car. There are some sacrifices that come with ownership, but none that you cannot overlook when you hit that apex just right Get one! You won't regret it!


- Previous S1 owner, S2 owner.

[vdubbin]

Dan_1981 said:

I've got an MX5 - and i'd go for the Elise.

Nothing wrong with the 5, but as a special weekend car - the Elise wins hands down i think

^This. The NA MX5 is a great budget sports car, but driving the Elise is much more of an occasion, if you've got the extra 9k or so.

[Ikemi]

AndyCowman said:

TVR http://pistonheads.com/sales/2824084.htm

OP said 'cheap to run'

[anonymous-user]

A weekend car needs to be more than an MX-5 IMO.

Lotus is the better bet but you might find yourself missing a bit of straightline speed after a while.

or..

TVR if you are prepared to put a little work in and compromise a little on the handling.

My vote would be neither....

http://pistonheads.com/sales/2581391.htm

[carl carlson]

kambites said:

However much "driving gods" may say that the Elise is easy to drive (and I've certainly not found mine a problem), the simple fact is that a huge number of Elises get thrown into hedges within the first few weeks of being bought. I suspect the same isn't true of MX5s.

I suspect it's quite common that someone buys an Elise as a first RWD car, thinks "woohoo, I can drift now", floors it around the first roundabout they get to, gets huge amounts of understeer, snaps the throttle closed and ends up pointing the wrong way down the road. Of course it's not something an experienced driver would do, but it still seems to happen remarkably often.

I agree. I suspect that many of the crashed cars the driver was saying only moments before "watch this!"

Always amuses me when someone says "get driver training". Its not needed, not needed at all and you would be better off spending your 400 odd quid on a good geo set up removing that stupid bloody understeer lotus built into it.

Edited by carl carlson on Monday 16th May 14:04

Edited by carl carlson on Monday 16th May 14:05