RE: PH Carpool: Lotus Elise S1 Sport 135
Discussion
Great article reminds me why I have continued to own my s1 111s since new. As far as reliability is concerned I have never had anything go wrong in 32000 enjoyable miles, regular servicing with a specialist ( sinclaire / aka Essex ) keeps the car tip top and always have dampers and steering and suspension geometry checked and adjusted annually.
I have a stock VVC engine with larger throttle body and straigt through silencer, but the real performance gain is the 888 Toyo semi slick road legal tyres on exige s1 alloys together with adjustable gaz dampers. Been to the alps and on to Italy in the car many times over the years, will probably never part with it!
Also owned a s2 exile, but kept the s1 Elise (no contest) having both hard top and soft top option is more attractive and also love it's classic shape and fast becoming rarity.
I have a stock VVC engine with larger throttle body and straigt through silencer, but the real performance gain is the 888 Toyo semi slick road legal tyres on exige s1 alloys together with adjustable gaz dampers. Been to the alps and on to Italy in the car many times over the years, will probably never part with it!
Also owned a s2 exile, but kept the s1 Elise (no contest) having both hard top and soft top option is more attractive and also love it's classic shape and fast becoming rarity.
Knocking on for 2 and a half years with my S1 as a daily driver. I've had an (un)reasonable amount of bother with it, but I love the mini-racecar feel of the interior, it's still a fantastic looking thing, and on a road which doesn't have a horrific surface, it is just fantastic fun to drive. I still do not regret it and have no idea what I would replace it with.
Even the really stupid parts of it can be entertaining. One of the funniest moments was a (rather large) friend who was adamant he was going to buy an elise as his first car made his first attempt to climb in with the roof on and ended up kneeling on the passenger seat facing backwards
Even the really stupid parts of it can be entertaining. One of the funniest moments was a (rather large) friend who was adamant he was going to buy an elise as his first car made his first attempt to climb in with the roof on and ended up kneeling on the passenger seat facing backwards
BSC said:
May I correct? The S135/99 is easily the best S1 variant as it came with wider wheels (of the 111S) and is rarer with only 35 built.
Unfortunately the S135 was not offered here in Germany, so I had to send a friend to UK to buy me one. He converted the car to LHD, did a suspension refresh and a general renewal of all ball-joints, bushes, cambelt etc. Now she is waiting to be driven.
I love Elises to bits so I have stored some nearly new S1s with 6k to 10k miles in order to be able to drive my favorite car when some idiot doesn't find the brake, runs into my car and destroys it beyond repair. Would even like to take an Elise to heaven when my time has come.
Of more than 100k miles on my Elises I have enjoyed every single journey. Most memorable was the autumn of 2009 when I spent some weeks in the alps doing many, many passes: some 6k miles.
The original Sport 135 (50 made) did not come with 111s wheels. Lotus made a second batch of 35 cars with 111s wheels, these cars are not as desireable as the first 50! Unfortunately the S135 was not offered here in Germany, so I had to send a friend to UK to buy me one. He converted the car to LHD, did a suspension refresh and a general renewal of all ball-joints, bushes, cambelt etc. Now she is waiting to be driven.
I love Elises to bits so I have stored some nearly new S1s with 6k to 10k miles in order to be able to drive my favorite car when some idiot doesn't find the brake, runs into my car and destroys it beyond repair. Would even like to take an Elise to heaven when my time has come.
Of more than 100k miles on my Elises I have enjoyed every single journey. Most memorable was the autumn of 2009 when I spent some weeks in the alps doing many, many passes: some 6k miles.
I was owner number 3 and also owner number 5 of Danny’s 135 Sport. I bought it from a PHer in July 2003. I paid £13,995. The guy I bought it from lived in Nairn and worked on the rigs. I think he paid £16k for it. He only had a it a short time. He had bought it from a police dog handler who had retired early due to an injury, but found that he was unable to get in and out of the car so he too only owned it a short while.
I believe that the original owner was quite wealthy – he would have to be as I think the car was close to £30k when new in 1999! He had to have a new engine at 10k as it was using/losing oil.
When I bought it I thought that there was something wrong with the brakes. The only thing that was wrong was that they were a little rusty from non-use and me never having driven a car without a servo. Later I came to think that the car had the best brake feel of any car I had ever driven before and probably since.
I kept the car about a year but for some silly idea I decided to sell it – at that point I had only done one airfield day and it scared me. I spun in the wet and nearly wrote it off in to some gates at Crail. I would echo the comment about a www.carlimits.com day. The car was sold to a fellow Scottish Elises member. He kept it about a year and a half before deciding that he would “upgrade” to a NA S2 exige. The car was advertised for less than 2 hours before I had arranged to buy it back. I think that was April 2006. I think I had sold it for £12,300 and bought it back at £9,700.
The car need very little during my combined 4½ years of ownership. I replaced the 4 front ball joints and wheel bearings and also new disks and pads. The rear brake pipes were beginning to corrode so I had these replaced- apparently it is a b
h of a job as the tank has to be dropped.
The 4th owner replaced the suspension with bilstiens from an S2. I then had the geometry set and this completely transformed the car. I probably did around 25k in it and about 10 track days. I also did a fantastic French Frolic in the car where it performed faultlessly clocking up just under 3,500 miles in a week, not to mention 3 track days.
Eventually the allure of a chrome orange NA S2 exige was too much and I sold the 135 to chap in Plymouth for £8,700. That was March 2009.
The contrast from the 135 to the exige was huge. I loved the planted feel of the exige but it felt so heavy and less nimble and less agile than the 135. Also there was no low down torque. I always felt certain that a well driven 135 Sport would keep the exige honest on open roads.
I did a couple more French Frolics in the exige but I was tiring of the lack of low end power in the exige. I decided to sell it with a view to perhaps trying to pick up another 135 Sport. I found our later that I had just missed the opportunity to own S614 SEL for a 3rd time. I eventually came to the conclusion that it would be difficult to go back to a 10 year old car. I also concluded that owning one could be a frustration as so many parts would likely to need replacing. Whilst not too many of them would be expensive, it would no doubt be a constant concern. I compromised with myself and bought a lowish mileage S2 111S.
This was a great car and I it had that low down power and torque that makes and elise such a fantastic B road car. The “lightness” and agility that I had been missing was also there..
I never quite fell in love with the 111S in the same way I did the 135 – not sure why – and sold it last November and replaced it with an uprated S2 Exige S. Now this is some car! It would really be wrong to talk about it in this post, so I’ll leave that for another day!
Danny, thanks for taking the time to write your report – it brought back a lot of great memories. Below are some pictures of “our” car that you may like.
Stewart
I believe that the original owner was quite wealthy – he would have to be as I think the car was close to £30k when new in 1999! He had to have a new engine at 10k as it was using/losing oil.
When I bought it I thought that there was something wrong with the brakes. The only thing that was wrong was that they were a little rusty from non-use and me never having driven a car without a servo. Later I came to think that the car had the best brake feel of any car I had ever driven before and probably since.
I kept the car about a year but for some silly idea I decided to sell it – at that point I had only done one airfield day and it scared me. I spun in the wet and nearly wrote it off in to some gates at Crail. I would echo the comment about a www.carlimits.com day. The car was sold to a fellow Scottish Elises member. He kept it about a year and a half before deciding that he would “upgrade” to a NA S2 exige. The car was advertised for less than 2 hours before I had arranged to buy it back. I think that was April 2006. I think I had sold it for £12,300 and bought it back at £9,700.
The car need very little during my combined 4½ years of ownership. I replaced the 4 front ball joints and wheel bearings and also new disks and pads. The rear brake pipes were beginning to corrode so I had these replaced- apparently it is a b
h of a job as the tank has to be dropped. The 4th owner replaced the suspension with bilstiens from an S2. I then had the geometry set and this completely transformed the car. I probably did around 25k in it and about 10 track days. I also did a fantastic French Frolic in the car where it performed faultlessly clocking up just under 3,500 miles in a week, not to mention 3 track days.
Eventually the allure of a chrome orange NA S2 exige was too much and I sold the 135 to chap in Plymouth for £8,700. That was March 2009.
The contrast from the 135 to the exige was huge. I loved the planted feel of the exige but it felt so heavy and less nimble and less agile than the 135. Also there was no low down torque. I always felt certain that a well driven 135 Sport would keep the exige honest on open roads.
I did a couple more French Frolics in the exige but I was tiring of the lack of low end power in the exige. I decided to sell it with a view to perhaps trying to pick up another 135 Sport. I found our later that I had just missed the opportunity to own S614 SEL for a 3rd time. I eventually came to the conclusion that it would be difficult to go back to a 10 year old car. I also concluded that owning one could be a frustration as so many parts would likely to need replacing. Whilst not too many of them would be expensive, it would no doubt be a constant concern. I compromised with myself and bought a lowish mileage S2 111S.
This was a great car and I it had that low down power and torque that makes and elise such a fantastic B road car. The “lightness” and agility that I had been missing was also there..
I never quite fell in love with the 111S in the same way I did the 135 – not sure why – and sold it last November and replaced it with an uprated S2 Exige S. Now this is some car! It would really be wrong to talk about it in this post, so I’ll leave that for another day!
Danny, thanks for taking the time to write your report – it brought back a lot of great memories. Below are some pictures of “our” car that you may like.
Stewart
Itsallicanafford said:
...Na MX-5 owner here...would love a series 1 Elise, mustard yellow for me...but it's down to cost in my case, £1500 vs £7-8k + £1000 all in per year will more than cover all running costs of the 5 at a garage....I don't think I would have the time and money to keep ontop of an Elise so the mx-5 works for me...Buy maybe one day...
Same here, I wouldn't mind an Elise either, but its what, 8K for a half decent S1, but I paid less than a grand for MX5. I very much doubt an Elise is 8x more fun, in fact, I'd doubt it was even twice as much fun.Interestingly, when I had my old Eunos, I followed a briskly driven Elise and was able to just about keep up, I was quite impressed. No doubt it'd be a different story on track though, what with the Elises superior grip.
And the thing is, if its speed you want (and a boggo elise isn't THAT fast except off the line), then for 4K you can get a properly sorted MX5 with a turbo or supercharger kicking out 200 - 250 bhp, and that's bound to be MUCH faster than almost any Elise, bar perhaps one with a Honda lump or a supercharged one (which would no doubt cost a LOT more than £8K).
Although to be honest, I'd imagine the MX5 and Elise are very different to drive anyway; I'd say the MR2 was more of a natural competitor.
bernie_eccle said:
I was owner number 3 and also owner number 5 of Danny’s 135 Sport. I bought it from a PHer in July 2003. I paid £13,995. The guy I bought it from lived in Nairn and worked on the rigs. I think he paid £16k for it. He only had a it a short time. He had bought it from a police dog handler who had retired early due to an injury, but found that he was unable to get in and out of the car so he too only owned it a short while.
I believe that the original owner was quite wealthy – he would have to be as I think the car was close to £30k when new in 1999! He had to have a new engine at 10k as it was using/losing oil.
When I bought it I thought that there was something wrong with the brakes. The only thing that was wrong was that they were a little rusty from non-use and me never having driven a car without a servo. Later I came to think that the car had the best brake feel of any car I had ever driven before and probably since.
I kept the car about a year but for some silly idea I decided to sell it – at that point I had only done one airfield day and it scared me. I spun in the wet and nearly wrote it off in to some gates at Crail. I would echo the comment about a www.carlimits.com day. The car was sold to a fellow Scottish Elises member. He kept it about a year and a half before deciding that he would “upgrade” to a NA S2 exige. The car was advertised for less than 2 hours before I had arranged to buy it back. I think that was April 2006. I think I had sold it for £12,300 and bought it back at £9,700.
The car need very little during my combined 4½ years of ownership. I replaced the 4 front ball joints and wheel bearings and also new disks and pads. The rear brake pipes were beginning to corrode so I had these replaced- apparently it is a bh of a job as the tank has to be dropped.
The 4th owner replaced the suspension with bilstiens from an S2. I then had the geometry set and this completely transformed the car. I probably did around 25k in it and about 10 track days. I also did a fantastic French Frolic in the car where it performed faultlessly clocking up just under 3,500 miles in a week, not to mention 3 track days.
Eventually the allure of a chrome orange NA S2 exige was too much and I sold the 135 to chap in Plymouth for £8,700. That was March 2009.
The contrast from the 135 to the exige was huge. I loved the planted feel of the exige but it felt so heavy and less nimble and less agile than the 135. Also there was no low down torque. I always felt certain that a well driven 135 Sport would keep the exige honest on open roads.
I did a couple more French Frolics in the exige but I was tiring of the lack of low end power in the exige. I decided to sell it with a view to perhaps trying to pick up another 135 Sport. I found our later that I had just missed the opportunity to own S614 SEL for a 3rd time. I eventually came to the conclusion that it would be difficult to go back to a 10 year old car. I also concluded that owning one could be a frustration as so many parts would likely to need replacing. Whilst not too many of them would be expensive, it would no doubt be a constant concern. I compromised with myself and bought a lowish mileage S2 111S.
This was a great car and I it had that low down power and torque that makes and elise such a fantastic B road car. The “lightness” and agility that I had been missing was also there..
I never quite fell in love with the 111S in the same way I did the 135 – not sure why – and sold it last November and replaced it with an uprated S2 Exige S. Now this is some car! It would really be wrong to talk about it in this post, so I’ll leave that for another day!
Danny, thanks for taking the time to write your report – it brought back a lot of great memories. Below are some pictures of “our” car that you may like.
Stewart
Stunning photos Stewart - is the 1st one Dunveggan Castle? - and Reims?I believe that the original owner was quite wealthy – he would have to be as I think the car was close to £30k when new in 1999! He had to have a new engine at 10k as it was using/losing oil.
When I bought it I thought that there was something wrong with the brakes. The only thing that was wrong was that they were a little rusty from non-use and me never having driven a car without a servo. Later I came to think that the car had the best brake feel of any car I had ever driven before and probably since.
I kept the car about a year but for some silly idea I decided to sell it – at that point I had only done one airfield day and it scared me. I spun in the wet and nearly wrote it off in to some gates at Crail. I would echo the comment about a www.carlimits.com day. The car was sold to a fellow Scottish Elises member. He kept it about a year and a half before deciding that he would “upgrade” to a NA S2 exige. The car was advertised for less than 2 hours before I had arranged to buy it back. I think that was April 2006. I think I had sold it for £12,300 and bought it back at £9,700.
The car need very little during my combined 4½ years of ownership. I replaced the 4 front ball joints and wheel bearings and also new disks and pads. The rear brake pipes were beginning to corrode so I had these replaced- apparently it is a b
h of a job as the tank has to be dropped. The 4th owner replaced the suspension with bilstiens from an S2. I then had the geometry set and this completely transformed the car. I probably did around 25k in it and about 10 track days. I also did a fantastic French Frolic in the car where it performed faultlessly clocking up just under 3,500 miles in a week, not to mention 3 track days.
Eventually the allure of a chrome orange NA S2 exige was too much and I sold the 135 to chap in Plymouth for £8,700. That was March 2009.
The contrast from the 135 to the exige was huge. I loved the planted feel of the exige but it felt so heavy and less nimble and less agile than the 135. Also there was no low down torque. I always felt certain that a well driven 135 Sport would keep the exige honest on open roads.
I did a couple more French Frolics in the exige but I was tiring of the lack of low end power in the exige. I decided to sell it with a view to perhaps trying to pick up another 135 Sport. I found our later that I had just missed the opportunity to own S614 SEL for a 3rd time. I eventually came to the conclusion that it would be difficult to go back to a 10 year old car. I also concluded that owning one could be a frustration as so many parts would likely to need replacing. Whilst not too many of them would be expensive, it would no doubt be a constant concern. I compromised with myself and bought a lowish mileage S2 111S.
This was a great car and I it had that low down power and torque that makes and elise such a fantastic B road car. The “lightness” and agility that I had been missing was also there..
I never quite fell in love with the 111S in the same way I did the 135 – not sure why – and sold it last November and replaced it with an uprated S2 Exige S. Now this is some car! It would really be wrong to talk about it in this post, so I’ll leave that for another day!
Danny, thanks for taking the time to write your report – it brought back a lot of great memories. Below are some pictures of “our” car that you may like.
Stewart
Would love to know locations for all of them?
Edited by Eliser on Saturday 14th January 20:34
As the owner of a 182 Cup I would be very interested to hear how he felt the two cars compared. I intend to make the same move shortly. I find the 182 a breath of fresh air to drive after most other more modern cars. It is light, responsive and very agile, the Elise seems like the natural step forwards, just more of the same I imagine.
Firstly I'd like to say that I'm genuinely surprised and extremely grateful for all the kind comments. Glad to hear so many people have had similar lusts and similar quandaries concerning Elise's. Despite the roller coaster ride I'm still extremely glad I bought it and I can't see that feeling changing anytime soon.
I did think about a caterham, but with no garage or drive at my disposal I thought it was a step too far at this time. Perhaps at some point in the future...
Stewart - thanks for your awesome post! Great to find out all that extra history. I had seen some of your shots of the car before when I was originally researching it, but it's still great to see them again. Hopefully I'll be able to add a few more adventures in its lifetime!
I did think about a caterham, but with no garage or drive at my disposal I thought it was a step too far at this time. Perhaps at some point in the future...
Stewart - thanks for your awesome post! Great to find out all that extra history. I had seen some of your shots of the car before when I was originally researching it, but it's still great to see them again. Hopefully I'll be able to add a few more adventures in its lifetime!
TomTVR500 said:
As the owner of a 182 Cup I would be very interested to hear how he felt the two cars compared. I intend to make the same move shortly. I find the 182 a breath of fresh air to drive after most other more modern cars. It is light, responsive and very agile, the Elise seems like the natural step forwards, just more of the same I imagine.
I went from 172 Cup to S1 Sport 160, even had them both for a month or two. The Clio felt like driving a bus after a few days in the Elise! Best thing about it was the steering feel and response. Closely followed by throttle response. All of which are far, far better than a Clio; as you would expect.
Don't try and take it by the scruff of the neck like a hot hatch (at least not initially!). Requires quite a different driving style more flowing with a looser grip on the wheel. I never felt I could really go nuts in the Elise as much as my 172 Cup
(did cover far more miles in the latter though). So it kind of is more of the same and it isn't.You don't get small children waving at you in a Clio either
Fantastic cars. I really want another.
cullen said:
The original Sport 135 (50 made) did not come with 111s wheels. Lotus made a second batch of 35 cars with 111s wheels, these cars are not as desireable as the first 50!
Why are the first S135 more desireable than the better equipped and rarer second batch of 1999? Please explain.Tonyringtone said:
Great article reminds me why I have continued to own my s1 111s since new. As far as reliability is concerned I have never had anything go wrong in 32000 enjoyable miles, regular servicing with a specialist ( sinclaire / aka Essex ) keeps the car tip top and always have dampers and steering and suspension geometry checked and adjusted annually.
I have a stock VVC engine with larger throttle body and straigt through silencer, but the real performance gain is the 888 Toyo semi slick road legal tyres on exige s1 alloys together with adjustable gaz dampers. Been to the alps and on to Italy in the car many times over the years, will probably never part with it!
Also owned a s2 exile, but kept the s1 Elise (no contest) having both hard top and soft top option is more attractive and also love it's classic shape and fast becoming rarity.
I'd echo that after 7 years with an S1 111S and nothing going wrong with it either. The write up doesn't remind the reader that these are very simple cars so there isn't much to go wrong really. Perhaps it is because he is DIY'g all the time that might be the cause? A specialist has looked after mine for me at similar rates to the author's, makes a lot of sense really and he can spot things before they go wrong. Roller coaster describes what it is like to drive on a hilly b road, but for me the ownership experience is a sweet one, especially as they are climbing in value, which few cars of its relatively young age are.I have a stock VVC engine with larger throttle body and straigt through silencer, but the real performance gain is the 888 Toyo semi slick road legal tyres on exige s1 alloys together with adjustable gaz dampers. Been to the alps and on to Italy in the car many times over the years, will probably never part with it!
Also owned a s2 exile, but kept the s1 Elise (no contest) having both hard top and soft top option is more attractive and also love it's classic shape and fast becoming rarity.
Very interesting reading all these comments ... and the article was great.
I bought an S1 Elise in 1998 (silver is definitely the best colour!) and still have it 14 years later. Can't see me ever selling it.
The driving experience is just so pure ... but I would echo what other guys have said about the way you need to approach driving one. More Jenson Button than Lewis Hamilton would kid of sum it up for me. It's fun to be a hooligan in a hot hatch ... or anything front wheel drive ... but the Elise demands just a little more respect.
Having said that I am surprised at the comments about unexpected over steer on the track. I wouldn't be surprised if this was down to the crap worn Hancooks ... or a question mark over the suspension geometry and set up. Elises can be quite sensitive to geometry problems ... but when you get them right they are a complete joy.
As for tyres ... well .... some tyres (including the original equipment P-Zeros and probably the Hancooks in the article) can lead to relatively "snappy" oversteer tendencies. I ran some Dunlop Direzza AO48 equivalents for a while .. which were ultra sticky when hot ... but completely horrible and unprogressive and tramlined when not. But the best rubber by far are the Yokohama AD08s which I have fitted now. Smooth, progressive, grippy and completely transformed the car overnight.
Reliablility? Well unless I have been very lucky .... and I don't believe I have .... I think the idea that Elises give trouble on a regular basis is well overstated. In the last 14 years I have replaced one battery (yeah OK this IS a knuckle stripping task!) one clutch master cylinder (due to a short period of enforced non use) .... and that is pretty much it .... apart from the usual servicing and replacement tyres etc. I'm even on the original clutch and exhaust.
If you're thinking of buying one ... well .... stop thinking ..... just do it!! I promise you won't regret it.
Here's mine ... which the eagle eyed will notice was still sporting it's original P-Zeros!
I bought an S1 Elise in 1998 (silver is definitely the best colour!) and still have it 14 years later. Can't see me ever selling it.
The driving experience is just so pure ... but I would echo what other guys have said about the way you need to approach driving one. More Jenson Button than Lewis Hamilton would kid of sum it up for me. It's fun to be a hooligan in a hot hatch ... or anything front wheel drive ... but the Elise demands just a little more respect.
Having said that I am surprised at the comments about unexpected over steer on the track. I wouldn't be surprised if this was down to the crap worn Hancooks ... or a question mark over the suspension geometry and set up. Elises can be quite sensitive to geometry problems ... but when you get them right they are a complete joy.
As for tyres ... well .... some tyres (including the original equipment P-Zeros and probably the Hancooks in the article) can lead to relatively "snappy" oversteer tendencies. I ran some Dunlop Direzza AO48 equivalents for a while .. which were ultra sticky when hot ... but completely horrible and unprogressive and tramlined when not. But the best rubber by far are the Yokohama AD08s which I have fitted now. Smooth, progressive, grippy and completely transformed the car overnight.
Reliablility? Well unless I have been very lucky .... and I don't believe I have .... I think the idea that Elises give trouble on a regular basis is well overstated. In the last 14 years I have replaced one battery (yeah OK this IS a knuckle stripping task!) one clutch master cylinder (due to a short period of enforced non use) .... and that is pretty much it .... apart from the usual servicing and replacement tyres etc. I'm even on the original clutch and exhaust.
If you're thinking of buying one ... well .... stop thinking ..... just do it!! I promise you won't regret it.
Here's mine ... which the eagle eyed will notice was still sporting it's original P-Zeros!
richyd said:
Having owned both an Elise and a Seven, I found the Seven to be the far purer and honest car. The Elise actually felt too compromised (can you believe that!). It was too skittish on the road, and too heavy on the track. The Seven with it's front engine, rear wheel drive, was a blast on the road, over-steering with ease and control, and cracking fun on the track. Although best suited to short twisty tracks due to a total lack of aero, and therefore not great at accelerating much beyond 120 or so....
Still love the Elise though. It's a beaut to look at, but sadly too much of a handful on the roads for my limited driving ability....
Have to say, I built/owned a Caterham for 12 years, tried an Elise as I thought it would be more practical and came away deciding there were no difference.Still love the Elise though. It's a beaut to look at, but sadly too much of a handful on the roads for my limited driving ability....
Later bought a Chimaera which was the perfect car, comfortable, quick, reliable etc
TomTVR500 said:
As the owner of a 182 Cup I would be very interested to hear how he felt the two cars compared. I intend to make the same move shortly. I find the 182 a breath of fresh air to drive after most other more modern cars. It is light, responsive and very agile, the Elise seems like the natural step forwards, just more of the same I imagine.
The difference is huge! It's quicker to list the similarities (4 wheels/engine etc) than the differences. If the 182 feels light, responsive and agile, just wait til you get in an Elise!johnpeat said:
Lovely car - but I need to take task with your car history...
There's nothing wrong with (original 1.3 pushrod) Ford KAs - esp if they're non-PAS - a proper, lively, fun car which costs nothing to buy or run, where's the problem with that??
Nowt, you're right. I really enjoyed the Ka despite the constant p*ss taking from mates; "no it's not my mum's car". There's nothing wrong with (original 1.3 pushrod) Ford KAs - esp if they're non-PAS - a proper, lively, fun car which costs nothing to buy or run, where's the problem with that??
So am I being completely ignorant and I am sure someone will tell me I am.
Its mid 8k for an early S1 which runs a K-series 135bhp engine. The same engine that’s in a MGTF? The MGTF is also a fantastic handling car and have a much higher spec. I paid 2k for my wives 2002 MGTF four years ago and have had many years trouble free motoring, in fact aside from a new battery and a regular service it has never needed anything. I know it’s a Lotus but is the extra cost really worth it? I admit they are great looking little cars but no prettier than a top of the range TF.
Might be a very viable option for those that cannot afford an Elise
Its mid 8k for an early S1 which runs a K-series 135bhp engine. The same engine that’s in a MGTF? The MGTF is also a fantastic handling car and have a much higher spec. I paid 2k for my wives 2002 MGTF four years ago and have had many years trouble free motoring, in fact aside from a new battery and a regular service it has never needed anything. I know it’s a Lotus but is the extra cost really worth it? I admit they are great looking little cars but no prettier than a top of the range TF.
Might be a very viable option for those that cannot afford an Elise
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