Lotus Exige S (S2) | Spotted
Discussion
garylythgoe said:
WCZ said:
these have really crept up in price and £30k for an S1 ? I remember them being £9k
You probably haven't seen an S1 Exige for sale for £9k!Maybe a tatty S1 Elise, but certainly not an Exige!
Incidentally, the first S1 Exige off the line, an orange one that featured in most of the early reviews was recently advertised for £45k which I thought seemed quite reasonable for a little snippet of Louts history.
bobo79 said:
??this. And the stress of returning to your parking slot to discover someone has parked next to you slightly too close so you can’t get in. Or worse still if someone has reversed into you (because they didn’t see the car in their mirror) cracking the clam.
Anyone who says they are a great daily is either a psychopath or has never driven one.
Love them, though.
Sorry, but bullsAnyone who says they are a great daily is either a psychopath or has never driven one.
Love them, though.
t.I ran one as my daily driver for 2 years and 35,000 miles. Absolutely brilliant, even on 48Rs on the odd bit of snow. Every commute, every trip to the shop was a 'blast', every roundabout a chicane. Far from the fastest car I've owned, not the rawest, but for out and out fun, it is probably the best.
Anyone that says it's poor as a daily driver is either too dull, or too fat
I only sold it (for £17,500!!) when a family came on the scene.
Not to sound boring, but I daily drove a VX220 NA, in all weathers. I had an uprated heater which made things better, but it wasn't so bad! I sold it - big, big mistake after 30k, but have just got hold of another VX220, this time in the supercharged flavour.
It's not one for daily driving any more, but even with a dodgy knee, overweight and sometimes a bad back it's worth every little niggle.....oh, and tinnitus too!
It's not one for daily driving any more, but even with a dodgy knee, overweight and sometimes a bad back it's worth every little niggle.....oh, and tinnitus too!
herebebeasties said:
I would say this given I own one, but unless you're going to track it and therefore want the intercooler and the downforce in the Exige, I think an Elise SC is the better option for most people. It's even lighter (with the same power), it's cheaper, and it's more practical; you can actually see out of the back, and the nose is fractionally higher. That makes all the difference with driveways, car parks, etc. with nasty approach angles.
That said, the Exige is just cooler, isn't it? Especially in Chrome Orange with black spoiler, splitter & wheels. (It's the only car/colour combo that I think looks good with black wheels.)
I drove an early S2 Elise daily, before I bought my SC. Later ones with carpets, etc. are more habitable on motorways, and if you get on with the seats really long distances are surprisingly fine provided you don't get a droning sports exhaust - I did 1000km in a day once in my early K-series S2 (back to London from Bordeaux in one hit).
The clams are a pain, especially the front one. People can't see/judge it because it's so low and it's pretty fragile. My current SC is parked on the street in London and one just has to cope and not be precious about it. It's not like it affects the handling.
At some point I'll move to the countryside and it'll have a garage to live in, at which point I'll get it all patched up and resprayed. Annoying, but then it's barely lost any value in the eight years since I bought it and it's peanuts to run, so not the end of the world. I can see how it wouldn't work if you're the kind of person who insists on their car being spotless, though.
You get used to getting in and out, although infrequent/older passengers might not appreciate it. If you have a soft top on them, they're so low that if you're reasonably tall you can just wind down the window and step over the door to get in, in really tight parking spaces. The car is quite heavily waisted, too, which helps.
I managed to get out of this one, for example:
Hopefully the RR driver didn’t damage your car whilst getting back in to theirs! Or did you come and go before they returned to their car?That said, the Exige is just cooler, isn't it? Especially in Chrome Orange with black spoiler, splitter & wheels. (It's the only car/colour combo that I think looks good with black wheels.)
I drove an early S2 Elise daily, before I bought my SC. Later ones with carpets, etc. are more habitable on motorways, and if you get on with the seats really long distances are surprisingly fine provided you don't get a droning sports exhaust - I did 1000km in a day once in my early K-series S2 (back to London from Bordeaux in one hit).
The clams are a pain, especially the front one. People can't see/judge it because it's so low and it's pretty fragile. My current SC is parked on the street in London and one just has to cope and not be precious about it. It's not like it affects the handling.
At some point I'll move to the countryside and it'll have a garage to live in, at which point I'll get it all patched up and resprayed. Annoying, but then it's barely lost any value in the eight years since I bought it and it's peanuts to run, so not the end of the world. I can see how it wouldn't work if you're the kind of person who insists on their car being spotless, though.
You get used to getting in and out, although infrequent/older passengers might not appreciate it. If you have a soft top on them, they're so low that if you're reasonably tall you can just wind down the window and step over the door to get in, in really tight parking spaces. The car is quite heavily waisted, too, which helps.
I managed to get out of this one, for example:
Edited by herebebeasties on Sunday 12th January 18:46
And, yes, that is truly awful parking. If you can’t park in a box that is a bit bigger than your car, you shouldn’t be on the roads!
I had an S2 Exige for about two years as a second car. Would echo much of the above really. Amazing amazing cars, fantastic on B roads (the small size is so useful to make roads feel like you have some space to position yourself), even better on track. I'd also agree that while it is daily-able, that's not going to work for everyone depending on circumstances and tolerance. The Exige can be converted to take a standard Elise soft roof. I had one which got put on in the summer.
Only thing to add further is, everyone should put the TRD airbox in. Its cheap, it gives you a few extra BHP, and it makes awesome induction noises.
I think it was this one: https://www.elise-shop.com/trd-airbox-including-fi...
Only thing to add further is, everyone should put the TRD airbox in. Its cheap, it gives you a few extra BHP, and it makes awesome induction noises.
I think it was this one: https://www.elise-shop.com/trd-airbox-including-fi...
Ryvita said:
Only thing to add further is, everyone should put the TRD airbox in. Its cheap, it gives you a few extra BHP, and it makes awesome induction noises.
BWAAAARRRRP!It's really very silly. I literally laughed out loud the first time it went onto the high lift cam after I had it fitted. Love it.
I've had an S1 and a Type 72 S2 Exige S. Kudos to anyone using either as a daily driver. No way could I have done that. The S1 certainly had a bigger sense of occasion when driving it but even the relative "comfort" of the S2 just consisted of less banging and crashing of the suspension andless (or different) engine and exhaust noise. All great fun if you are in the mood.
otolith said:
Ryvita said:
Only thing to add further is, everyone should put the TRD airbox in. Its cheap, it gives you a few extra BHP, and it makes awesome induction noises.
BWAAAARRRRP!It's really very silly. I literally laughed out loud the first time it went onto the high lift cam after I had it fitted. Love it.
Gad-Westy said:
otolith said:
Ryvita said:
Only thing to add further is, everyone should put the TRD airbox in. Its cheap, it gives you a few extra BHP, and it makes awesome induction noises.
BWAAAARRRRP!It's really very silly. I literally laughed out loud the first time it went onto the high lift cam after I had it fitted. Love it.
otolith said:
Gad-Westy said:
otolith said:
Ryvita said:
Only thing to add further is, everyone should put the TRD airbox in. Its cheap, it gives you a few extra BHP, and it makes awesome induction noises.
BWAAAARRRRP!It's really very silly. I literally laughed out loud the first time it went onto the high lift cam after I had it fitted. Love it.
Gad-Westy said:
A bit of googlising suggests it was maybe just the cup cars that got that airbox? If so, would be interesting to find out how it sounds on a standard S. Always valued induction noise over exhaust.
Mine was installed on a standard S and made a very noticable difference. So I think it was just Cup cars that got it as standard. Putting it on got me a slightly higher rolling road figure than stock too (if you put any credence by such things). It added general noise level and a significant induction "cough" (suction / gurgling noise) on lifts.Ryvita said:
Gad-Westy said:
A bit of googlising suggests it was maybe just the cup cars that got that airbox? If so, would be interesting to find out how it sounds on a standard S. Always valued induction noise over exhaust.
Mine was installed on a standard S and made a very noticable difference. So I think it was just Cup cars that got it as standard. Putting it on got me a slightly higher rolling road figure than stock too (if you put any credence by such things). It added general noise level and a significant induction "cough" (suction / gurgling noise) on lifts.Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff