RE: PH Fleet Intro: Lotus Elise Sport 135
Discussion
Donkey62 said:
I don't understand the Yokohama Advan Neova LTS downgrade? i thought they felt squidgy on turn in and stuck like bubble gum until they cooled off then were like worse than crap budgets thereafter. The nitrons be nice though very worth while upgrade!
I think the Advans are pretty good. Have downgraded to AD08 myself as off tracks for a while, but the Neovas had the edge.
and the exige so aggressive 
bigsillyV10 said:
Always find it a bit strange to read about people who talk about doing things on a budget, then can afford to have a 10k "spare car" in the garage. I suppose having a company car would allow you to do that, but the tax is awful on most company cars so it does cost a lot.
I dont have a company car, we have a series 1 Mini Cooper that I use for commuting and a series 2 Cooper D my wife has and also as our general car. I bought the S2 for 10k and have spent a total of 1500 on it since including maintenance and insurance. Because I dealt with some 'issues' I reckon its now worth between 11 and 11500 so about evens. The 14k I put in an Isa has lost value, 2% interest, 5.5% inflation so I reckon the Lotus is a reasonable investment. I certainly dont see it as a bad buy. If I get made redundant again I'll sell it to live off the cash.HereBeMonsters said:
Where are you getting the suspension work done? I need a similar refresh on mine, but not keen on local specialist's prices...
I bought the Nitron streets from a guy in Hull, about 550 I think. If you can take a wheel off you can change them yourself. A bolt at either end which is easy to get at though I put new ones on. I set them at 4clicks from full soft all round and they tightened the car without loosing the normal ride. The spring rat are higher, can't remember the levels though. Also dropped the front 10mm so 120mm to the chasis rail rear, 110 at the front. I've also put the Elise parts thermostat kit on and their fan controller to get the fan on at 95 and a high flow fan though this needs the front to come off so rather more challenging. I went for the much more budget ex-hot-hatch-owners-thing and bought an MR2 (my company car has been largely ignored since), so I'll be following this with interest as an aspirational, might-get-one-sometime-if-I-get-a-bonus-and-it-doesn't-need-to-pay-for-a-new-kitchen story.
My brother-in-law has an S2, completely boggo in red, and it's an utterly beautiful piece of automotive engineering and design.
Enjoy.
My brother-in-law has an S2, completely boggo in red, and it's an utterly beautiful piece of automotive engineering and design.
Enjoy.
mcmikey43 said:
HereBeMonsters said:
Where are you getting the suspension work done? I need a similar refresh on mine, but not keen on local specialist's prices...
I bought the Nitron streets from a guy in Hull, about 550 I think. If you can take a wheel off you can change them yourself. A bolt at either end which is easy to get at though I put new ones on. I set them at 4clicks from full soft all round and they tightened the car without loosing the normal ride. The spring rat are higher, can't remember the levels though. Also dropped the front 10mm so 120mm to the chasis rail rear, 110 at the front. I've also put the Elise parts thermostat kit on and their fan controller to get the fan on at 95 and a high flow fan though this needs the front to come off so rather more challenging. yeh nice article, you're a lucky fella!
i've dreamt of owning an elise since they first came out, and now seriously thinking of buying one.
the things stopping me though are: maintenance and the cost of parts etc.., i have an 11 mile each-way commute (and it'll be my only car!), and that i'd never ever want to sell it!
on the plus side, fuel looks good and i got a ride in one (an S2) last year, it was amazing and i was very surprised how comfy it was. despite the thin seats, the car took bumps and potholes very well, and was no worse than my 05 plate Ibiza. i thort it'd be like falling down the stairs.
even though i'm only after a standard S1 for road use (maybe the odd trackday for a laugh) i'll be following this PH Fleet like a crazy stalker....
i've dreamt of owning an elise since they first came out, and now seriously thinking of buying one.
the things stopping me though are: maintenance and the cost of parts etc.., i have an 11 mile each-way commute (and it'll be my only car!), and that i'd never ever want to sell it!
on the plus side, fuel looks good and i got a ride in one (an S2) last year, it was amazing and i was very surprised how comfy it was. despite the thin seats, the car took bumps and potholes very well, and was no worse than my 05 plate Ibiza. i thort it'd be like falling down the stairs.
even though i'm only after a standard S1 for road use (maybe the odd trackday for a laugh) i'll be following this PH Fleet like a crazy stalker....
4oClock said:
the things stopping me though are: maintenance and the cost of parts etc.., i have an 11 mile each-way commute (and it'll be my only car!), and that i'd never ever want to sell it!
Buy a good'un to start with, that has documented history and all the 'right' things done to it already and the running costs really are quite cheap, especially when you consider the, and I apologise for the phrase, smile per mile. Mine is a damn sight cheaper than my Alfa to run...HereBeMonsters said:
Where are you getting the suspension work done? I need a similar refresh on mine, but not keen on local specialist's prices...
I was actually getting the full works done yesterday. It was carried out by lotus specialists (but they do other stuff like a nice 360cs that was there yesterday :-) back on track Motorsport in guildford. http://backontrackmotorsport.co.uk/I've used them since I got the Elise and they've always been great.
HereBeMonsters said:
...and all the bushes? And the alignment?
Bushes are on the whole fine but can be a pain to fit as access to the top ones is a mix of one end of the bolt in the car and the other on the outside so a two man job. You don't need to change them with the suspension if theres no movement in there. Alignment is a different issue, I set the ride heights with a weight in the drivers seat which keeps it balanced. It will go for laser alignment this summer when it's back on the road though but anyone with that setup will generally have high labor rates so it's a 200 quid saving to do the easy part.On costs the MOT failure was for a handbrake cable failure and that's the only thing it's failed on in two years, getting a service stamp is as any other car and insurance on 3k miles a year when you are an old fa*t is acceptable. Buy a decent set of spanners and most of it is easy. Good parts support from deroure.com and Elise parts with other specialists for performance like DVA power and QED Motorsport, Google will lead you to most of them. Most important of all is don't borrow money to do any of it, hence as above not getting the alignment done until I can pay for it out of the bank account.
Danny Milner said:
HereBeMonsters said:
Where are you getting the suspension work done? I need a similar refresh on mine, but not keen on local specialist's prices...
I was actually getting the full works done yesterday. It was carried out by lotus specialists (but they do other stuff like a nice 360cs that was there yesterday :-) back on track Motorsport in guildford. http://backontrackmotorsport.co.uk/I've used them since I got the Elise and they've always been great.
Red Firecracker said:
Buy a good'un to start with, that has documented history and all the 'right' things done to it already and the running costs really are quite cheap, especially when you consider the, and I apologise for the phrase, smile per mile. Mine is a damn sight cheaper than my Alfa to run...
Thanks for that, i'll have to do my research and keep a lookout...4oClock said:
Thanks for that, i'll have to do my research and keep a lookout...
seconded that they can be a pretty cheap car to run. The good thing is there isn't really much there to go wrong! Engine, gearbox, 4 wheels and a steering wheel and some suspension, same as any car, but that's about it whereas other cars have electric this that and the other, servo brakes, abs etc etcGassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff