RE: You Know You Want To: Lotus Elise S1
Discussion
f1ten said:
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
1999 VVC car - 45,000 miles, never had a single engine issue. Never had any issue at all in fact other than leaky roof/window join (not bothered about that, I don't use umbrellas when it rains either) and a clutch slave cylinder that failed, but is made by AP Racing, not Lotus or Rover.It is very easy to say K-series and HGF in the same sentence (and very tiresome to hear it so often) but as others have said, if you look after the car properly it shouldn't be an issue and it isn't even that expensive if you do spot it in time.
RemarkLima said:
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.
Oh God, the noise. It's just everywhere - the rattles, wind, road and general mechanical din; quite apart from the de-catted exhaust and induction! The VHPD sounds like a wounded animal under all circumstances but there's something so awesome about tackling a favourite road at a reasonable pace. It feels borderline psychotic the way it darts around, changes direction, and flies higher in the rev range. I desperately hope I'm never in the position where I have to sell mine. It's extraordinary and stupid and wonderful.
Original article said said:
...even if the clutch became inoperable in the midday sun.
I'm surprised this does not get mentioned more often. If i put the car in reverse on a warm day, it would be impossible to disengage it unless i turned everything off and let it cool for 10 minutes. And as it got hotter, the same would happen to 1st.However, I did use it as my daily driver from 1998 to 2000. Wet motorway journeys were tedious, but almost everything else was a joy.
chevronb37 said:
RemarkLima said:
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.
Oh God, the noise. It's just everywhere - the rattles, wind, road and general mechanical din; quite apart from the de-catted exhaust and induction! The VHPD sounds like a wounded animal under all circumstances but there's something so awesome about tackling a favourite road at a reasonable pace. It feels borderline psychotic the way it darts around, changes direction, and flies higher in the rev range. I desperately hope I'm never in the position where I have to sell mine. It's extraordinary and stupid and wonderful.
The other ability I gained was to be able decypher noises inside noises, I managed to get an early diagnosis of a wheel bearing through all the rattles, squeaks, clanks and bangs! Still to this day I have no idea how!
Ah yes the wheel bearings,( and bushes, and ball joints and steering racks, and crashes and clonks and etc..etc..). I replaced the lot on mine but it was still pretty dismal. Agreed it was bloody great on the right surface, in the right weather but lets face it you don't get that combo in Blighty very often! The rest of the time it was just a pain because it was only any good when ringing it's neck. At low speeds it can't show it's talents so all you're left with is torqueless,rattly,uncomfortable,car. I ended up going back to Griff, ( which was absolute bliss on a sunny day ). Agreed the Tiv is no razor like the Lotus but more than makes up for it in terms of pace, looks, noise, practicality, soul, etc..
Looking back I should have bought a red top engined caterfield instead of the Elise. Much nicer engine, even lighter, even more direct, more supple, less crashy, near as damn it as practical/impracticle, easier to work on, faster, more room in garage, etc..
I still have some fond memories of the Elise but no rose tinted glasses.
I desperately hope I'm never in the position where I have to sell mine. It's extraordinary and stupid and wonderful.Full chat, the VHPD is just awesome! And idling, just about is also a fantastic party trick - I'd love to cam up another car at some point just to get that lumpy idle
The other ability I gained was to be able decypher noises inside noises, I managed to get an early diagnosis of a wheel bearing through all the rattles, squeaks, clanks and bangs! Still to this day I have no idea how!
Looking back I should have bought a red top engined caterfield instead of the Elise. Much nicer engine, even lighter, even more direct, more supple, less crashy, near as damn it as practical/impracticle, easier to work on, faster, more room in garage, etc..
I still have some fond memories of the Elise but no rose tinted glasses.
RemarkLima said:
chevronb37 said:
RemarkLima said:
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.
Oh God, the noise. It's just everywhere - the rattles, wind, road and general mechanical din; quite apart from the de-catted exhaust and induction! The VHPD sounds like a wounded animal under all circumstances but there's something so awesome about tackling a favourite road at a reasonable pace. It feels borderline psychotic the way it darts around, changes direction, and flies higher in the rev range. I desperately hope I'm never in the position where I have to sell mine. It's extraordinary and stupid and wonderful.
The other ability I gained was to be able decypher noises inside noises, I managed to get an early diagnosis of a wheel bearing through all the rattles, squeaks, clanks and bangs! Still to this day I have no idea how!
RemarkLima said:
chevronb37 said:
RemarkLima said:
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.
Oh God, the noise. It's just everywhere - the rattles, wind, road and general mechanical din; quite apart from the de-catted exhaust and induction! The VHPD sounds like a wounded animal under all circumstances but there's something so awesome about tackling a favourite road at a reasonable pace. It feels borderline psychotic the way it darts around, changes direction, and flies higher in the rev range. I desperately hope I'm never in the position where I have to sell mine. It's extraordinary and stupid and wonderful.
The other ability I gained was to be able decypher noises inside noises, I managed to get an early diagnosis of a wheel bearing through all the rattles, squeaks, clanks and bangs! Still to this day I have no idea how!
Dave Hedgehog said:
one of the few cars i hate with a passion, along with the beetle, the original mini, the MGB and anything with a rover badge
I'd have to agree with you on all of those, except the Elise. What is it that makes you hate the Elise? I can understand the complete lack of room in the car, & getting in & out is a pain in the arse. But I can't blame the car for me being tall(ish), they're great fun in small bursts, but long drives I would imagine could get tiresome..SpudLink said:
Original article said said:
...even if the clutch became inoperable in the midday sun.
I'm surprised this does not get mentioned more often. If i put the car in reverse on a warm day, it would be impossible to disengage it unless i turned everything off and let it cool for 10 minutes. And as it got hotter, the same would happen to 1st.Shnozz said:
SpudLink said:
Original article said said:
...even if the clutch became inoperable in the midday sun.
I'm surprised this does not get mentioned more often. If i put the car in reverse on a warm day, it would be impossible to disengage it unless i turned everything off and let it cool for 10 minutes. And as it got hotter, the same would happen to 1st.thewheelman said:
Dave Hedgehog said:
one of the few cars i hate with a passion, along with the beetle, the original mini, the MGB and anything with a rover badge
I'd have to agree with you on all of those, except the Elise. What is it that makes you hate the Elise? I can understand the complete lack of room in the car, & getting in & out is a pain in the arse. But I can't blame the car for me being tall(ish), they're great fun in small bursts, but long drives I would imagine could get tiresome..chevronb37 said:
Some mornings it decides to idle at 1,800rpm. You can feel the garage walls shaking, your eyes are watering from the fumes and all the neighbours hate you. That angry, lumpy idle and the manic thrust at high revs are enough to make me love the VHPD. In fact the challenge of driving it smoothly is a major characteristic of the car for me. The throttle response is so severe that you need to be so precise with it. I've got an Emerald waiting to go on so hope that makes it a bit more tractable and cures the cough at 3k rpm as well.
Not sure if the fix is the same as in the others, but if you switch ignition to position 2, then press the accelerator pedal 5 times, then switch it on, it will probably idle at the normal level. My S1 does this every now and again, but this is the official way to reset it.LewisR said:
Yep, I'm not a fan of the Elise either, made even worse when almost everyone seems to be. If I lived at one end of a race track and worked at the other, it'd be a great commuter car but I just found it incredibly annoying. It seemed so ill-thought out. Mine didn't even have sunvisors!
Elise really is too soft as standard for track workzebedee said:
chevronb37 said:
Some mornings it decides to idle at 1,800rpm. You can feel the garage walls shaking, your eyes are watering from the fumes and all the neighbours hate you. That angry, lumpy idle and the manic thrust at high revs are enough to make me love the VHPD. In fact the challenge of driving it smoothly is a major characteristic of the car for me. The throttle response is so severe that you need to be so precise with it. I've got an Emerald waiting to go on so hope that makes it a bit more tractable and cures the cough at 3k rpm as well.
Not sure if the fix is the same as in the others, but if you switch ignition to position 2, then press the accelerator pedal 5 times, then switch it on, it will probably idle at the normal level. My S1 does this every now and again, but this is the official way to reset it.Mr E said:
LewisR said:
Yep, I'm not a fan of the Elise either, made even worse when almost everyone seems to be. If I lived at one end of a race track and worked at the other, it'd be a great commuter car but I just found it incredibly annoying. It seemed so ill-thought out. Mine didn't even have sunvisors!
Elise really is too soft as standard for track workMine has LSS so I can't comment on standard cars, but I'm pretty sure they are all great fun on the track, light, responsive, great feedback, not the quickest thing by a long way but great fun. And they don't cost the earth even when you are thrashing them.
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