RE: Lotus Elise S Club Racer: Review

[ads_green]

otolith said:

According to the PH article,

"As the Elise developed, Lotus offered a Sport 190 model in 1997 for £33,500 with a 190bhp version of the same engine."

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=102...

Which, adjusted for inflation, is £53,000.

I had an s2 sport 190 (2003) and the invoice was a smidge under 38k.
But it really was a completely different animal to the club racer.
adjustable suspension, sport seats with 4 point harnesses and a custom built engine wrangled to an inch of it's life.
Only car I've had that I'd buy back.

[MichalPH]

Have You driven new 3/6? It's not bad. I hope it will be even better with less assistance due to lower mass.

[kambites]

MichalPH said:

Have You driven new 3/6? It's not bad. I hope it will be even better with less assistance due to lower mass.

Yes, and hated it.

ETA: Actually that's unfair. It's fit for purpose in a budget mainstream car because shopping cars don't need steering feel; I didn't feel that the system really detracted from the cars it's fitted to. However, if I could avoid it I wouldn't buy a sports car with power steering at all, let alone EPAS. Mazda quite rightly have no real interest in the "extremist" enthusiast market - the MX5 is the best selling sports car in the world because it appeals to the biggest sports car market. The fact that it's historically also appealed to the budget conscious enthusiast was, I think, largely a happy coincidence.

The MR2 was a better attempt from a driving perspective, but fell down on mainstream appeal due to lack of storage space.

Edited by kambites on Tuesday 8th July 15:43

[otolith]

I think Lotus could probably take a significant chunk of weight out of the Elise - without compromising usability further - if they had the funds and commercial incentive to invest in doing so.

[Vee12V]

BSC said:

kambites said:

Those figures can't be right? That makes the current supercharged Elise slower to 62 and only marginally faster to 100 than my 160bhp car (I mean than the figures I can achieve in my car, not than the official figures)!

I'm not sure I agree with the "superior car" bit either; that's a deeply subjective thing and whilst the 4C certainly looks impressive on paper, but from everything I've read Alfa have made a bit of a dog's dinner of the handling and controls. Also, again this is purely personal preference, I don't like the drive-train choices they made.

I certainly don't see any reason to say the 4C is "worth" any more or less money than the Elise in terms of what it actually delivers to a driver/owner. They both have their pros and cons. Obviously you've picked reviews whcih have favoured the Alfa, but there have been plenty which have come to the opposite conclusion.


ETA: If anything I think the Elise's biggest problem is that it treads too close to the Exige.

Edited by kambites on Tuesday 8th July 09:02

Those figures are correct. You have to consider that sport-auto tests all cars with two up and full fuel tank, that's the standard on the continent. And the reason why no Lotus manages to deliver the work's figures.

And no, I haven't picked reviews that favour the Alfa. Maybe you have read the reviews of Harris, he was happy with the 4C except the steering wheel as far as I remember. Be a man and accept that the Alfa is the superior car. Re. the handling on the track sport-auto states that the Alfa is better. On B-roads the comfort of the Elise may be slightly better, but where do you find roads in the state of Englands B-roads?

Don't want to spoil the party, but I've driven the 4C on four different occasions now and it's steering (not the wheel, although that's bad too) is by far the worst thing about the Alfa. It's constantly fighting you, inconsistently weighted and even on the border of being dangerous under braking on rough roads. The 4C is more of a poser's car than a pure, unadulterated driver's car. It's definitely nice and has huge presence, but it's just not the driver's tool it could have been. Maybe a few updates will sort it out, though I'm sceptic.

[anonymous-user]

otolith said:

I think Lotus could probably take a significant chunk of weight out of the Elise - without compromising usability further - if they had the funds and commercial incentive to invest in doing so.

They had a titanium rear sub-frame in the office when I was up there recently. Cuts ~20Kg off but at what cost? People already moan at paying £27K for an Elise and there is no margin in them at this price. They can afford a few very expensive parts on an Evora because it costs £52K+

The weight savings claimed for the CR are versus a standard car with options (aircon and touring pack) in addition to omitting the roof and fitting a tiny battery that needs a lot of time on a trickle charger between drives. Essentially the CR weight saving is from not fitting a roof, but at least they have the good grace to charge £600 less for it.

[otolith]

Yes, that's the question, though I suspect the cost of development would be a greater stumbling block than the cost of parts.

[gm77]

gashead1105 said:

http://www.2bular.co.uk/

Jim's exhausts are works of art. Mine makes a proper noise under load but at cruise quietens right down to factory levels, with no drone and no problems with hearing the radio either.

Thanks gashead. I'll look into that.

[pthelazyjourno]

kambites said:

They did back in the old days too. What was the list price of an S1 Sport-190 (probably the closest equivalent to this)?

I know people who spent over £30k on an S1 S160 back in the day. I've seen the 190 VHPD engine listed as a £10k upgrade.

Edited by pthelazyjourno on Friday 11th July 11:17

[pthelazyjourno]

BSC said:

Those figures are correct. You have to consider that sport-auto tests all cars with two up and full fuel tank, that's the standard on the continent. And the reason why no Lotus manages to deliver the work's figures.

And no, I haven't picked reviews that favour the Alfa. Maybe you have read the reviews of Harris, he was happy with the 4C except the steering wheel as far as I remember. Be a man and accept that the Alfa is the superior car. Re. the handling on the track sport-auto states that the Alfa is better. On B-roads the comfort of the Elise may be slightly better, but where do you find roads in the state of Englands B-roads?

"Be a man" and learn to accept and respect other peoples' opinions.

[Composite Guru]

I'm in the market for an Elise and one of these is potentially coming up for sale at Lotus Silverstone. 15 plate with 6k miles on it.

Would it be anyone here that is upgrading?

If its as good as it sounds then I'm having it.

[CABC]

Composite Guru said:

I'm in the market for an Elise and one of these is potentially coming up for sale at Lotus Silverstone. 15 plate with 6k miles on it.

Would it be anyone here that is upgrading?

If its as good as it sounds then I'm having it.

i'd ask on seloc.org but that sounds like a quite short ownership time for a Lotus. owner may have moved on completely. or to an Evora...

[Composite Guru]

CABC said:

Composite Guru said:

I'm in the market for an Elise and one of these is potentially coming up for sale at Lotus Silverstone. 15 plate with 6k miles on it.

Would it be anyone here that is upgrading?

If its as good as it sounds then I'm having it.

i'd ask on seloc.org but that sounds like a quite short ownership time for a Lotus. owner may have moved on completely. or to an Evora...

I think with Lotus doing the 50/50 scheme some like to chop in every 2 years.
I would buy new myself as this car is going to be a keeper. If I had that extra £10k to get a Sport 220 I would do that but the Club Racer S seems a good deal for my budget.

Edited by Composite Guru on Friday 5th May 11:39