RE: Lotus Exige S Roadster: Review
Discussion
Si_man306 said:
toppstuff said:
Daniel1 said:
Quilted leather in an Exige (the apparent hardcore version of the Elise). I feel this company lacks direction, focus and funding :s
Boxster S / Caymen S would be a better road car (and sporty enough for weekend early mornings) and a caterham would make a better ballistic machine. Not sure who would spend upwards of £50,000 on one of these.
I fundamentally disagree.Boxster S / Caymen S would be a better road car (and sporty enough for weekend early mornings) and a caterham would make a better ballistic machine. Not sure who would spend upwards of £50,000 on one of these.
This car is infinitely more desirable than a Boxster; Any Boxster. It is more hardcore than a Boxster to just the right degree, without doing your head in like a Caterham.
Boxster is nice and rounded and hard to criticise but oh dear, it is like vanilla ice cream. The market can take a more hardcore rival to sell well but in much smaller numbers than the Boxster. I think this Exige is perfect.
I have, and despite the exige's recent tarted up engine and interior, it's still a very similar car in essence to the original S2's, albeit with more capability and desirability. The exige is a gorgeous car and a fantastic feat of engineering and ideas. It is also a brilliant drivers car.
It is not however, in anyway, a better road car than a boxster or a cayman/ insert generic german mobile here. It has a hugely higher NVH, is more technically challenging to drive and less comfortable and less practical for use every day.
I think this Exige has pitched things about right. I wish it were a little cheaper however. Under 50K would have been nice.
Guvernator said:
...too expensive....
There's some phrase about knowing the cost of everything and the value of nothing.What other perfectly useable car for £53,000 can do 0-60 in under 4 secs, 0-100 in under 9 secs AND can pound around a track all day, all the while delivering unrivalled driving pleasure?
It's a f
king bargain (as are the Boxster and Cayman but for different reasons to the Exige).Edit - Or put another way, this car gives GT3 pace for Boxster S money. But it's too expensive....
braddo said:
What other perfectly useable car for £53,000 can do 0-60 in under 4 secs, 0-100 in under 9 secs AND can pound around a track all day, all the while delivering unrivalled driving pleasure?
It's a fking bargain
It's a f
king bargain 
Trouble is its British so people expect it to be valueless unlike their iconic eurocrap....
The "value is relative" comment is interesting and I agree - overall it depends on where your priorities lie.
Could be wrong but I don't think the average buyer for this car will be weighing up a Boxter as an alternative necessarily, even though like-for-like a highly spec'd Boxter will be about the same money. This is (for most buyers I suspect) a 2nd or 3rd car, so you're looking at a different market where you can cope with less practicality and maybe looking at more individuality. The bigger hurdle is that it feels like a leap of faith with buying a brand new Lotus right due to the obvious, and what it might therefore mean for warranty, factory support, residuals etc. Important when spending £50k plus I imagine.
Could be wrong but I don't think the average buyer for this car will be weighing up a Boxter as an alternative necessarily, even though like-for-like a highly spec'd Boxter will be about the same money. This is (for most buyers I suspect) a 2nd or 3rd car, so you're looking at a different market where you can cope with less practicality and maybe looking at more individuality. The bigger hurdle is that it feels like a leap of faith with buying a brand new Lotus right due to the obvious, and what it might therefore mean for warranty, factory support, residuals etc. Important when spending £50k plus I imagine.
kambites said:
I see no reason that you shouldn't stick a standard S2 Elise hard-top onto one if you want to. I can't really imagine why you'd want to though?
As far as I can see, a fabric roof is simply better.
Just never got on with fabric roofs, they always look too flimsy and unsecure to me. Besides I grew up in the 80's so still have a soft spot for metal targa roofs, I just think they look so much nicer. As far as I can see, a fabric roof is simply better.
As for the value proposition I agree that it delivers decent bang for buck in the performance stakes but that isn't the only thing this car will be judged for, I just think making it more expensive than the Boxster S was a mistake.
seem to bee some good comments about the car overall, certainly I like to add mine.
I think the spec sound fantastic, yes its a little expensive but who buys new these days...couple of years old it will be a car I would like to buy, although I recon it probably will hold its value quite well..unlike the mass market boxter's...I have lost more money on porsches than any other car! I do hope this is a success..
I think the spec sound fantastic, yes its a little expensive but who buys new these days...couple of years old it will be a car I would like to buy, although I recon it probably will hold its value quite well..unlike the mass market boxter's...I have lost more money on porsches than any other car! I do hope this is a success..
Heathrow said:
Could be wrong but I don't think the average buyer for this car will be weighing up a Boxter as an alternative....
I did. That Exige is a rocket ship. However, I chose Boxster S because,- You can get in and out without the aid of a shoe-horn and a chiropractor.
- You can see out of the back window. (That Toyota engine sits very high)
- It has a proper convertible roof which goes up and down in 9 sec at up to 30 mph.
- More space for shopping/weekend luggage.
Ozzie Osmond said:
Heathrow said:
Could be wrong but I don't think the average buyer for this car will be weighing up a Boxter as an alternative....
I did. That Exige is a rocket ship. However, I chose Boxster S because,- You can get in and out without the aid of a shoe-horn and a chiropractor.
- You can see out of the back window. (That Toyota engine sits very high)
- It has a proper convertible roof which goes up and down in 9 sec at up to 30 mph.
- More space for shopping/weekend luggage.
Choosing a car because you can see better out of the back and its easy to get in and out of. You'll be having a packet of Werthers Originals in the glovebox I bet.
A Lotus is clearly on the wrong side of the sporty / hardcore dividing line for you.. Lotus really only need to find a few hundred people who are just on the other side of that line.
The Boxster has all the boxes ticked from where you are sitting though. I get that.
I'm a huge Lotus fan ..... And I love my S1 Elise.
This car is probably amazing to drive ..... but it looks like it was designed by a committee and weighs FAR too much.
1166Kgs!!!!!! Just how much does an average V6 weigh?
If I was in the market for a pricier Lotus .... My vote would be for a two year old Evora.
This car is probably amazing to drive ..... but it looks like it was designed by a committee and weighs FAR too much.
1166Kgs!!!!!! Just how much does an average V6 weigh?
If I was in the market for a pricier Lotus .... My vote would be for a two year old Evora.
Heathrow said:
The bigger hurdle is that it feels like a leap of faith with buying a brand new Lotus right due to the obvious, and what it might therefore mean for warranty, factory support, residuals etc. Important when spending £50k plus I imagine.
What's the problem? The residuals stack up well against any comparable car.What are the short comings of the factory support?
I WISH said:
I'm a huge Lotus fan ..... And I love my S1 Elise.
This car is probably amazing to drive ..... but it looks like it was designed by a committee and weighs FAR too much.
1166Kgs!!!!!! Just how much does an average V6 weigh?
If I was in the market for a pricier Lotus .... My vote would be for a two year old Evora.
Isn't the Evora another 200kg heavier again? This car is probably amazing to drive ..... but it looks like it was designed by a committee and weighs FAR too much.
1166Kgs!!!!!! Just how much does an average V6 weigh?
If I was in the market for a pricier Lotus .... My vote would be for a two year old Evora.
Fittster said:
What's the problem? The residuals stack up well against any comparable car.
What are the short comings of the factory support?
I think he's suggesting the whole thing could go tits-up at any time - and he's right, it could.What are the short comings of the factory support?
It's impossible to get away from the fact that the cars are pricey, outdated in many ways and whatever the market may think, cars are nearly-effing-impossible to resell and often sell WELL WELL below the 'market value' as a result.
The cars which do sell through the trade are cherrypicked and often dealers don't even buy a car without a likely buyer in-mind - and so 'the market' looks good.
Reality isn't so clever. When someone I vaguely know recently tried to sell an Elise, the interest level was non-existant, all he got were people offering him crazy-low prices - WAY below any 'book' value - and this was a nice car, good colour, history, everything you'd expect and it was sunny and June!!
Financial abandon really is required here...
Complete and utter hogwash.
Just sold my exige s to buy a new v6. I lost 7k in 4 years. Show me another car you can buy for 34k that does that.
Also the factory is hummingly busy, exports are booming and the owners are investing.
It's uninformed commentary like yours that puts people off, not the facts.
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