RE: Driven: Lotus Exige S
Discussion
k-ink said:
I bought one of the first 111R for around 27k ish from memory. Why has it taken soooooooooo many years for this to come out? Then there is the crazy price just for a different engine. Far too late for me as I now have a family. But even if I was in the market it seems a mad price for an old car with a new engine (ok and some minor new bits).
I paid less than 20 grand for a new S1 in '98 (or "last century" as some call it). The fact is that almost all cars are now massively expensive. With performance cars, it's normal that the price goes up dis-proportionality with performance.
6ft 1" and I'm another who has always struggled with reaching the steering wheel.
Had an Exige for 7 years and that was always the worst aspect, knees up around your ears in order to reach.
More Italian than modern Italian cars. I certainly wouldn't go back to an Exige from a GTR without that aspect of the cabin having been fixed.
Had an Exige for 7 years and that was always the worst aspect, knees up around your ears in order to reach.
More Italian than modern Italian cars. I certainly wouldn't go back to an Exige from a GTR without that aspect of the cabin having been fixed.
otolith said:
Junglehop said:
hmmm but where are they going to drive them/get that "proper" dealership experience? the fact that the dealer network is s
t really puts me off any modern Lotus...
Just buy an Audi and be done with it.t really puts me off any modern Lotus...What more do you want? If you need polished floors and other such pretentious crap, then as suggested your Audi dealer is more suited.
Lotus threads are always the funniest...
"Too heavy"
"Too expensive"
"Not powerful enough"
"Too hard to get in and out of"
"What Lotus should be building is..."
I saw the Exige S a few months ago when one of the prototypes visited our local dealer. If you think of it as a Noble M12 with a boot then you're about there. For the performance it is a bargain, and having seen it accelerate on full throttle, I can confirm it is very, very quick. I can't afford one and in fact rather like my own Exige but if I needed an every day car this would be mega.
"Too heavy"
"Too expensive"
"Not powerful enough"
"Too hard to get in and out of"
"What Lotus should be building is..."
I saw the Exige S a few months ago when one of the prototypes visited our local dealer. If you think of it as a Noble M12 with a boot then you're about there. For the performance it is a bargain, and having seen it accelerate on full throttle, I can confirm it is very, very quick. I can't afford one and in fact rather like my own Exige but if I needed an every day car this would be mega.
SpudLink said:
k-ink said:
I bought one of the first 111R for around 27k ish from memory. Why has it taken soooooooooo many years for this to come out? Then there is the crazy price just for a different engine. Far too late for me as I now have a family. But even if I was in the market it seems a mad price for an old car with a new engine (ok and some minor new bits).
I paid less than 20 grand for a new S1 in '98 (or "last century" as some call it). The fact is that almost all cars are now massively expensive. With performance cars, it's normal that the price goes up dis-proportionality with performance.
Junglehop said:
Turn in looks immense at 58 secs..RichTBiscuit said:
otolith said:
Junglehop said:
hmmm but where are they going to drive them/get that "proper" dealership experience? the fact that the dealer network is st really puts me off any modern Lotus...
Just buy an Audi and be done with it.t really puts me off any modern Lotus...What more do you want? If you need polished floors and other such pretentious crap, then as suggested your Audi dealer is more suited.
Dealership experience:
The dealer network is piddlin... very few sites and those that do exist are not well placed. Not ideal if you experience issues with your car (it is a Lotus afterall..... many early evora owners had issues and where to and fro-ing to dealers) A car requires servicing too....
Many Lotus sites are dual franchise with the Lotus stuff bunged in a corner. Many i have experienced are pretty shabby too. Dealer standards do matter or manufacturers would not stipulate certain requirements and i feel its important to get things right esp if your spending the best part of 50K.
anyone else seen the vidio from Lotus themselves?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&...
cirvy said:
SFO said:
lovely piece of kit. I especially like the wing mirrors, and the fact that it looks slightly awkward, and is not fully designed .. gives it soul and character.
I fully agree. Almost hint of a certain product from Blackpool. This is the first new car launch I've been excited about in years.
Well done Lotus.
SpudLink said:
I paid less than 20 grand for a new S1 in '98 (or "last century" as some call it).
The fact is that almost all cars are now massively expensive. With performance cars, it's normal that the price goes up dis-proportionality with performance.
But we are looking at this being at least 90% the very same car as an early S2. So what if it now has a different crate engine dropped in. Or new lights and spoiler bolted on. It is in essence the same old car. A platform whose costs have been covered many times over, many years ago. These minor tweeks would not have cost much extra on the grand scale of things. Yes some basic costs may have gone up a little but I suspect corporate greed has far exceeded those.The fact is that almost all cars are now massively expensive. With performance cars, it's normal that the price goes up dis-proportionality with performance.
k-ink said:
But we are looking at this being at least 90% the very same car. So what if it now has a different crate engine dropped in. Or new lights and spoiler bolted on. It is in essence the same old car. A platform whose costs have been covered many times over, many years ago. These minor tweeks would not have cost much extra on the grand scale of things. Yes some basic costs may have gone up a little but I suspect corporate greed has far exceeded those.
You could say the same of most generations of 911. The differences between this and an early S1 are probably greater than between an early 996C2 and a 997 GT3 RS 4.0.
Junglehop said:
anyone else seen the vidio from Lotus themselves?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&...
Love the advert for the upcoming Jag F Type at the start!http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&...
k-ink said:
david_b said:
The on-the-road price of my S1 111S would have been just over £30k in 2000 when new, I believe (including the few options it had such as a hard-top etc.)
To be fair you over paid. My far newer and better (imo) 111R was about 3000 less than that.
The 111R is probably a "better" car in some ways, but not all - would happily swap mine for this new one though!
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff