RE: You Know You Want To: Lotus Elise S1

[Captain Muppet]

I use my S1 Elise as a daily. My other car is currently a mk1 MX5 and I find neither of them more or less practical than the other. The MX5 has bucket seats and when I had an injured shoulder it was easier to get in the Elise.

One of my two fabric roofs for the Elise leaks and the other didn't (when fitted properly), but now I have a hard top which also doesn't leak. If I did more motorway miles I'd use ear plugs or swap back to a standard exhaust, but other than that it's lovely. Every journey is still an event, even after 4 years. I love it.

[neil-f]

I have a 1998 S1 with a few upgrades to brakes and suspension, it is an absolute hoot to drive, use it sometimes for my 100mile commute

[Shnozz]

Davey S2 said:

I also had an Azure Blue S1. Great car until the head gasket went and fell out of love with it after that.

Pick of the bunch for me now would be the Standard S2 'S' with the 140 bhp Toyota engine.

Just enough power to have fun without taking the spotlight away from the chassis. It also has a really nice linear power delivery unlike the 190 bhp Toyota in the S2 Exige with the second cam.

Mate, you need to drive one with a supercharger. You're welcome a go in mine when we next hook up.

I too had an azure blue S1 some time ago. Great little car.

[suffolk009]

willld said:

kambites said:

Purple is lovely, but oddly rare.

I gave up on trying to find a purple S2 and bought a green one instead.

Aubergine if you don't mind

But "Aubergine and Cream" sounds like the start of a bad recipe.

[otolith]

suffolk009 said:

But "Aubergine and Cream" sounds like the start of a bad recipe.

Mmmmm moussaka...

[Captain Muppet]

PaulM12 said:

Hmm, retains it's MMC brakes does it...

They look suspiciously like steel drilled/grooved replacements to me...

Yep.

It also has the aluminium inlet manifold too, and an aftermarket filter. And the engine cover looks like a later GRP one, rather than the aluminium panel the early cars had.

[RemarkLima]

otolith said:

I think most of the problem on the motorway (in a standard car) is tyre and wind noise.

Absolutely! I had a S1 Exige, and even with the VHPD sounding like a barrel of spanners, the airbox being vast and cacophonous, and an aftermarket Ti exhaust, at cruise, the road noise was a killer! My wife and I became experts at different road surfaces, from your nice smooth asphalt to the deafening light gray concrete stuff. Add a bit of wind noise and really ear plugs were the only option for long journeys.

[Tin Hat]

RemarkLima said:

otolith said:

I think most of the problem on the motorway (in a standard car) is tyre and wind noise.

Absolutely! I had a S1 Exige, and even with the VHPD sounding like a barrel of spanners, the airbox being vast and cacophonous, and an aftermarket Ti exhaust, at cruise, the road noise was a killer! My wife and I became experts at different road surfaces, from your nice smooth asphalt to the deafening light gray concrete stuff. Add a bit of wind noise and really ear plugs were the only option for long journeys.

Indeed - and the minute you pull out the ear plugs, your first reaction is that it must have run out of oil, it's so noisy!

Great cars,after 12 years of ownership, I hope never to sell mine.

[suffolk009]

otolith said:

suffolk009 said:

But "Aubergine and Cream" sounds like the start of a bad recipe.

Mmmmm moussaka...

Surely, you'd use a bechamel thickened with egg yolks for that?

[TameRacingDriver]

Captain Muppet said:

I use my S1 Elise as a daily. My other car is currently a mk1 MX5 and I find neither of them more or less practical than the other. The MX5 has bucket seats and when I had an injured shoulder it was easier to get in the Elise.

One of my two fabric roofs for the Elise leaks and the other didn't (when fitted properly), but now I have a hard top which also doesn't leak. If I did more motorway miles I'd use ear plugs or swap back to a standard exhaust, but other than that it's lovely. Every journey is still an event, even after 4 years. I love it.

I do like the Elise, lets get that of the way, but I did always wonder whether it was worth the extra over an MX5. I mean, you can get the focused RS Limited model for £2K (which I owned), complete with buckets etc. That versus £8K of a tatty S1. Better to drive no doubt, but 4x better?

[wevster]

Here is the car in the original video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjwCApxxDRc&fea...

It comes 3rd beaten by a Ferrari 550 and a Pug 106!

[Davey S2]

Shnozz said:

Mate, you need to drive one with a supercharger. You're welcome a go in mine when we next hook up.

I have and it was fast and very good but the N/A remains the best all rounder and the closest to the original S1 concept but with a better engine, reliability and build quality.

[Shnozz]

Davey S2 said:

Shnozz said:

Mate, you need to drive one with a supercharger. You're welcome a go in mine when we next hook up.

I have and it was fast and very good but the N/A remains the best all rounder and the closest to the original S1 concept but with a better engine, reliability and build quality.

Fair enough. I disagree. I think the stepped power delivery of the NA 111R and Exige makes it very different from the S1. I would say the S Toyota model is more along the lines of the original - underpowered but good fun when spanked like a ginger step son down a country lane within sane speeds.

And I'm right because you are Welsh.

[otolith]

suffolk009 said:

otolith said:

suffolk009 said:

But "Aubergine and Cream" sounds like the start of a bad recipe.

Mmmmm moussaka...

Surely, you'd use a bechamel thickened with egg yolks for that?

Some people put cream in the bechamel. I like that idea.

[RobCrezz]

A S1 with a Honda k20a engine and 6 speed gearbox would be simply perfect.

[Sivraj]

I love the idea of the S1 but me and the K series fell out a long time ago (and Rovers generally).
Would love to drive but I’ll pass on the ownership!!

[RemarkLima]

Tin Hat said:

RemarkLima said:

otolith said:

I think most of the problem on the motorway (in a standard car) is tyre and wind noise.

Absolutely! I had a S1 Exige, and even with the VHPD sounding like a barrel of spanners, the airbox being vast and cacophonous, and an aftermarket Ti exhaust, at cruise, the road noise was a killer! My wife and I became experts at different road surfaces, from your nice smooth asphalt to the deafening light gray concrete stuff. Add a bit of wind noise and really ear plugs were the only option for long journeys.

Indeed - and the minute you pull out the ear plugs, your first reaction is that it must have run out of oil, it's so noisy!

Great cars,after 12 years of ownership, I hope never to sell mine.

LOL! So true!! Or wondering if the undertray is scraping along the road! I miss it, but would need different circumstances to really enjoy one again... A proper double gaarge to fix it in, and keep it under wraps. Been there and done the using it as a daily.

[ceebmoj]

kambites said:

willld said:

kambites said:

Purple is lovely, but oddly rare.

I gave up on trying to find a purple S2 and bought a green one instead.

Aubergine if you don't mind

That's the one.

deep purple for an S1 surly?

[GregorFuk]

I threw away the bad bits and kept the best bits. They are great, but better without the K.

[f1ten]

only question i have is - are the engines still reliable (given they werent perfect when new ) now since they are 14-16 yrs old? My friend had one when they came out, black with cream leather, it was a thing of beauty, motobuild exhaust and k &n airfilter and it sounded pretty good