Elise as a daily ?
Discussion
Gaz. said:
kambites said:
Gaz. said:
Can you get a decent S2 for £9k?
I've certainly seen highish mileage ones for around 10k and you can always haggle: http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2368208.htm
This package costs £2995 and includes:
* Cross-drilled brakes
* Black brake callipers
* Front mudflaps
* Sill protection tape
* Alarm system (Cat 1)
* Body coloured door mirrors
* Pearlescent or metallic paint
* Alcantara/carbon seats with lumbar support
* Alcantara trimmed dash, door panels and steering wheel
* Steel blue high tech floor covering (?)
* Aluminium handbrake sleeve, heater knobs and window winders
* Leather and aluminium gear knob
* Passenger foot rest
* Luggage bag
* 2 speaker audio system with CD head unit
ETA as opposed to Spourt Tourer which is:
Sports Tourer
This package costs £3195 and includes:
* Cross-drilled brakes
* Black brake callipers
* Front mudflaps
* Sill protection tape
* Alarm system (Cat 1)
* Body coloured door mirrors
* Pearlescent or metallic paint
* Carpets
* Aluminium gear knob, handbrake sleeve, heater knobs and window winders
* Adjustable passenger footrest
* Centre console with phone/drinks holder (this option was deleted from the specification and dropped from the options list in May 2001)
* Leather seats with lumbar support
* Leather trimmed dash, door panels and steering wheel
* Luggage bag
* 4 speaker audio system with CD head unit
This and more info from http://www.elises.co.uk/models/s2/index.html
Edited by CraigyMc on Monday 10th January 14:05
5 years DD in a VXT, no real issues even with all the snow. Only this year used a yaris which has shown to me how much easier a normal car can be.
Other than in Elise/VX being tailgated something that happens all the time in traffic probably feels worse partly from being so small on the road. The fact any opportunity to overtake is easily taken makes it an ideal commuter.
Do it just so much fun and never need coffee when you get into the office
Other than in Elise/VX being tailgated something that happens all the time in traffic probably feels worse partly from being so small on the road. The fact any opportunity to overtake is easily taken makes it an ideal commuter.
Do it just so much fun and never need coffee when you get into the office
skoff said:
I
Make sure you get good tyres, it makes ALL the difference to the car wanting to kill you at the first sign of anything but a perfect road surface.
Great cars, more practical than you might think. I seemed to get 35mpg out of mine no matter how hard I drove it, which is nice.
+ 1 from me on this, and to add NEVER underestimate the impact of tyre pressures on handling / feel!Make sure you get good tyres, it makes ALL the difference to the car wanting to kill you at the first sign of anything but a perfect road surface.
Great cars, more practical than you might think. I seemed to get 35mpg out of mine no matter how hard I drove it, which is nice.
The key to the choice is thinking about getting in it on a cold wet dark Thursday morning in January with a hangover.
You will likely have to scrape some ice of the windscreen on the inside.
Some water will drip on your leg as you drive along.
You'll feel every bump, and hear every tappet in your thrumming head.
You won't be able to see past the car in front in the slow moving traffic, the dirty spray will all seem to land on your windscreen.
If putting up with that, in turn for those good moments (which are often) when you can throw it round a roundabout, and the smile returns.
Or the joy of winter roof down days when everyone else is trapped in a dull metal box with screaming brats.
I did, for 3 years.
You will likely have to scrape some ice of the windscreen on the inside.
Some water will drip on your leg as you drive along.
You'll feel every bump, and hear every tappet in your thrumming head.
You won't be able to see past the car in front in the slow moving traffic, the dirty spray will all seem to land on your windscreen.
If putting up with that, in turn for those good moments (which are often) when you can throw it round a roundabout, and the smile returns.
Or the joy of winter roof down days when everyone else is trapped in a dull metal box with screaming brats.
I did, for 3 years.
DeadMeat_UK said:
The key to the choice is thinking about getting in it on a cold wet dark Thursday morning in January with a hangover.
You will likely have to scrape some ice of the windscreen on the inside.
Some water will drip on your leg as you drive along.
You'll feel every bump, and hear every tappet in your thrumming head.
You won't be able to see past the car in front in the slow moving traffic, the dirty spray will all seem to land on your windscreen.
If putting up with that, in turn for those good moments (which are often) when you can throw it round a roundabout, and the smile returns.
Or the joy of winter roof down days when everyone else is trapped in a dull metal box with screaming brats.
I did, for 3 years.
Alternative is to don Lycra, a big yellow coat, helmet, wooly hat, ski gloves, silly shoes that attach to pedals, climb aboard a vehicle with no suspension, a seat designed solely to go up your bum, deal with wind, rain, potholes, snow, ice and Range Rover Sports You will likely have to scrape some ice of the windscreen on the inside.
Some water will drip on your leg as you drive along.
You'll feel every bump, and hear every tappet in your thrumming head.
You won't be able to see past the car in front in the slow moving traffic, the dirty spray will all seem to land on your windscreen.
If putting up with that, in turn for those good moments (which are often) when you can throw it round a roundabout, and the smile returns.
Or the joy of winter roof down days when everyone else is trapped in a dull metal box with screaming brats.
I did, for 3 years.
We have a 67 Fiat 500 and I would imagine any pain a modern-ish Lotus could inflict would pale into insignificance compared to that thing and I have manged to commute in it.
Its a while off, just need to know whether to consider it, i.e. research wise for later in the year, and to work on the missus to convince her a 2 seater sports car is a good idea, we have 3 kids but the times we all go anywhere in my car is minimal but its for the times when we need say three seats, people manage with 1 car so I think we could probably do it with 1 3/4 (Lotus = 1/2, Fiat 1/4)
My dad has a mint Deep Purple S1 Elise - commonly regarded by those in the know as being one of the best in the country!
It started off only being used on the weekends and the occasional track day but turned into a daily drive for a few months due to his other car being written off by a bloke in a van. Needless to say the poor thing suffered! Resulted in a rather large garage bill which I am sure would have come about anyway. All I'm saying is that I don't think the daily driving helped!
As a daily surely you want something a bit more reliable and cheaper to fix.
I say this as a huge lotus fan but
LOTUS - Lots Of Trouble Usually Serious!
By the way, the VVC head on the 1.8 K-Series is a common problem and not cheap - bearings I think!
Daz
It started off only being used on the weekends and the occasional track day but turned into a daily drive for a few months due to his other car being written off by a bloke in a van. Needless to say the poor thing suffered! Resulted in a rather large garage bill which I am sure would have come about anyway. All I'm saying is that I don't think the daily driving helped!
As a daily surely you want something a bit more reliable and cheaper to fix.
I say this as a huge lotus fan but
LOTUS - Lots Of Trouble Usually Serious!
By the way, the VVC head on the 1.8 K-Series is a common problem and not cheap - bearings I think!
Daz
When I say "Daily Driver", I really mean, my main car but I have only done 9000 miles in three and a half years in my current car due to the proximity of work and cycling.
I do my own spannering mostly, suspension and brakes, servicing, my last involvement with a Kseries VVC was in my Rover 200 BRM which had HGF, should put me off but it was a great engine in the relatively (in comparison) heavy BRM.
I think the Elise will potentially go up in value
as fuel continues to skyrocket, people still want a fun drive but ultimate straight line speed will take a back seat for handling and being a bit special with reasonable fuel economy, I am thinking decent S1's wont drop this year as potentially a lot of people will have the same idea as me, leaving a lot of other, thirstier stuff depreciating a lot more so I reckon its a fairly safe place to put some cash compared to say a Focus ST or similar which would normally be on my list.
I do my own spannering mostly, suspension and brakes, servicing, my last involvement with a Kseries VVC was in my Rover 200 BRM which had HGF, should put me off but it was a great engine in the relatively (in comparison) heavy BRM.
I think the Elise will potentially go up in value
as fuel continues to skyrocket, people still want a fun drive but ultimate straight line speed will take a back seat for handling and being a bit special with reasonable fuel economy, I am thinking decent S1's wont drop this year as potentially a lot of people will have the same idea as me, leaving a lot of other, thirstier stuff depreciating a lot more so I reckon its a fairly safe place to put some cash compared to say a Focus ST or similar which would normally be on my list.
slipstream 1985 said:
J4CKO said:
it cant live in a garage as ours is full of washers and stuff.
garages are for cars not household appliances and turning into bedrooms!why not an s2? better looking (imo)
The 500 lives at her mums farm in a barn, tucked up all cosy with the kids Metro field car, the Fiat hibernates all wintre there and then comes back in April, the winter would kill it being made of Italian vintage steel.
Am I right in think the Elise is fairly simple in terms of suspension and brakes, in terms of replacement if not setup ?
Doesnt have to be an S1, was just thinking thats was more what my budget runs to, potentially could go a little higher if I convince myself the depreciation is going to be reasonably light, have lost perhaps six grand (nine when I got it, worth three, perhaps a bit more now) on my Saab in three and a bit years, would hope that it would be nearer a grand a year or less.
Not ruling out the VX either.
You can use an Elise every day; whether you should depends on the sort of person you are. If you only use an Elise occasionally, you may be willing to overlook some of the shortcomings - you need to ask yourself if that would be the case if it was your only car.
I'm not saying they're all like this but...I kept an S2 outside and used it as a daily driver. While it never broke down, the accumulation of small irritations grew to the point where, despite the great drive, I grew to hate it and got rid of it. A lightweight, simple car is a great idea but there's no excuse for flaws when the technology is so basic.
Aside from design flaws (e.g. filling the screen wash reservoir required you to undo 3 Allen bolts and remove a bodywork panel - not much fun on a dark winter night) the roof leaked, the heater controls jammed, the windows fell out of their runners, the door lock mechanism fell apart, the air vents blew crap into the cabin, the paint began to blister, the lights and alarm came on at random, the speedo went haywire, etc, etc. This was a well cared for car with full service history too. I suppose I should have been grateful the head gasket didn't go.
They're fun to drive, and the philosophy of adding lightness is a good one - just be aware that the execution of that philosophy was a bit hit and miss at times.
I'm not saying they're all like this but...I kept an S2 outside and used it as a daily driver. While it never broke down, the accumulation of small irritations grew to the point where, despite the great drive, I grew to hate it and got rid of it. A lightweight, simple car is a great idea but there's no excuse for flaws when the technology is so basic.
Aside from design flaws (e.g. filling the screen wash reservoir required you to undo 3 Allen bolts and remove a bodywork panel - not much fun on a dark winter night) the roof leaked, the heater controls jammed, the windows fell out of their runners, the door lock mechanism fell apart, the air vents blew crap into the cabin, the paint began to blister, the lights and alarm came on at random, the speedo went haywire, etc, etc. This was a well cared for car with full service history too. I suppose I should have been grateful the head gasket didn't go.
They're fun to drive, and the philosophy of adding lightness is a good one - just be aware that the execution of that philosophy was a bit hit and miss at times.
Edited by Risotto on Monday 10th January 16:02
Risotto said:
irritations
^ This, is one of the reasons I got rid of my s2 towards the end of last year, felt like I was in the workshop week in / week out getting niggles sorted. None of them catastrophic or bank-breaking, but collectively were becoming annoying.To answer the opening post I did use it daily for around 4 years though, so I did stick it out a while.
kambites said:
sato said:
Risotto said:
the air vents blew crap into the cabin,
O/T, but does anyone know if there is a fix for this?Edited by kambites on Monday 10th January 16:09
I used my S2 111S as a daily driver for three years. The S1 hood would wind me up I think, as would the lower NVH. The only real problem I had with the Elise as a daily driver was carrying stuff now and then and the noise on the motorway, which wound me up on longer journeys. I now use the Elise as a second car, and am very happy with the arrangement.
sato said:
kambites said:
sato said:
Risotto said:
the air vents blew crap into the cabin,
O/T, but does anyone know if there is a fix for this?Edited by kambites on Monday 10th January 16:09
sato said:
Risotto said:
the air vents blew crap into the cabin,
O/T, but does anyone know if there is a fix for this?Personally I found it quite irritating that Lotus seemed to get away with murder in terms of quality and design - and the buyers just let them get away with it. As long as the cars were good to drive, the customers seemed prepared to put up with all manner of flaws. Other car companies would kill for customers like that!
Edited by Risotto on Monday 10th January 16:20
Risotto said:
sato said:
Risotto said:
the air vents blew crap into the cabin,
O/T, but does anyone know if there is a fix for this?Personally I found it quite irritating that Lotus seemed to get away with murder in terms of quality and design - and the buyers just let them get away with it. As long as the cars were good to drive, the customers seemed prepared to put up with all manner of flaws. Other car companies would kill for customers like that!
Not much you can do about that to be honest.
C
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