New Elise SC Owner

[Y11 LTS]

Hi all,

Never created a thread before but wanted to give it a try:-

It’s been a tough 4 years to totally set up a new life for me and my kids buying a house that needed much more refurbishment than I thought ha ha!

But by the end of 2018 I was in the position where I could get back into my number one passion of Lotus ownership again!

It’s not until you aren’t an owner of a Lotus that you realise how much this brand gets under your skin, I mean driving a diesel A5 company car isn’t the same thing threading it through a series of bends on a country road ????!!

Tbh in the past 4 years there hasn’t been a day that has gone by where I haven’t been looking on pistonheads and reading the threads on SELOC day dreaming of the day I can finally get back into a Lotus!

I’ve always had a passion for high revving engines, previous owner of an Elise 111R, S2000 and a bonkers yet unreliable Westfield Megablade.

Even though I loved my Elise 111R I always wanted a bit more power but wanted to keep the amazing yet redundant due to emissions 2ZZ engine.

The exige has too much of a premium over the Elise SC, even though it does look more aggressive paying an additional £4-£5k doesn’t make sense. And there wasn’t any around at my price point.

After speaking to many of the specialists most notably Jon seal Sports Cars and many months of looking, I found a near perfect Elise SC 09 plate with touring and sports pack. The latter bringing forged alloys, sportier suspension set up and beautiful bucket seats all from the exige!


Today was the day after years of dreaming where it would finally become reality when I visited the enthusiastic and passionate Lotus dealer Williams Autombiles in Bristol.

The setup they have is amazing, greeted by a court yard with 3 purpose built oak barn conversions split into the 3 brands they look after Lotus, Morgan and Caterham.

I was greeted by Lindon the main sales person who I had previously spoken to on the phone, he and the other members of staff were very friendly, passionate about what they do and spent several hours with me showing me around and generally talking to your tlike minded car enthusiast that were there.

Then came the test drive spending 30mins getting used to an Elise again, the power and acceleration over an Elise 111R is the difference between night and day 0-60 in 4.2 seconds it was fantastic.

Not only this but the feel and handling through the steering was sheer wonderful after 4 years driving a diesel company car!

No selling was needed I bought it there and then, other than a few little things that need doing I walked away with some discount, MOT and 12 months warranty!

I have provided a photo but I can’t wait until next Wednesday when I get to collect ‘MY’ Elise and drive her back home to Cheshire!

Thanks for reading my blog will update once purchased

Kind regards

Duncan

Edited by Y11 LTS on Tuesday 22 January 23:43

[Y11 LTS]

[Y11 LTS]

[Leggy]

Nice choice, had an SC a couple of years back. Best Elise IMHO, genuinely proper fast and nimble.
Switched to the Exige V6 which I sold in the Summer as I need some garage space.
Like you I just keep thinking about another- they do get under your skin.
I’ve resisted revisiting SELOC though, as that would be too traumatic!

[Y11 LTS]

Leggy said:

Nice choice, had an SC a couple of years back. Best Elise IMHO, genuinely proper fast and nimble.
Switched to the Exige V6 which I sold in the Summer as I need some garage space.
Like you I just keep thinking about another- they do get under your skin.
I’ve resisted revisiting SELOC though, as that would be too traumatic!

Thanks Leggy!
I have better photos but they are screen shots from the dealer site and this site won’t upload as says it’s too big

[Fonzey]

Welcome back! Great spec car, I think you've landed on a cracker there.

[Y11 LTS]

Fonzey said:

Welcome back! Great spec car, I think you've landed on a cracker there.

Cheers 🍻 dude

[Darryl H]

Nice one! I bet that will be a lot of fun

[Y11 LTS]

Darryl H said:

Nice one! I bet that will be a lot of fun

Certainly was Darryl, I was really worried the engine would lose its characteristics (very similar to a VTEC system in the way it delivers the performance and feeling) with the addition of a supercharger!

But I needn’t to have worried!

You don’t get the kick as it changes cam like you used to (which was fun) but it still revs to 8750rpm and the whine from the supercharger isn’t too harsh!

Just so fast I could only imagine what Kyles 260 feels like!!! ??????

Edited by Y11 LTS on Tuesday 22 January 23:44

[Fonzey]

The interior looks great in that colour, actually looks a bit classy which is amazing going for an Elise based car!

Also that dealership is fantastic, seen it on a few car programmes/magazines now and would love to find an excuse to visit.

[Y11 LTS]

HAHA can you find a way to take me to collect the car next week???!!

I’ll pay fuel?

[Stu-C123]

Brilliant car, nice colour.

I had one of these a few years ago and had to sell it to move abroad. When I came home again I decided I wanted an S2 Exige and found a nice one. In the end I actually preferred the Elise as it was more usable and a bit less conspicuous. You've made a good move - I'd have another in a heartbeat. As it happens I also came across that dealership in my hunt. I didn't buy from them but they were great.

[Y11 LTS]

Stu-C123 said:

Brilliant car, nice colour.

I had one of these a few years ago and had to sell it to move abroad. When I came home again I decided I wanted an S2 Exige and found a nice one. In the end I actually preferred the Elise as it was more usable and a bit less conspicuous. You've made a good move - I'd have another in a heartbeat. As it happens I also came across that dealership in my hunt. I didn't buy from them but they were great.

UPDATE & COLLECTION....

So Wednesday 16th I travelled down to Williams Automobiles from Cheshire documenting the whole process (As I want to get into Instagram and YouTube is something I want to get into more as a bit of fun when I go on drives/ events and car updates)

Once I got down to Yate, Williams automobiles greeted me with an Evora 410 which they picked me up in, that car is amazing, so fast and loud. Never been in one but was so impressed

I got to the showroom and was greeted with my car taking centre stage under a nice cover which once all the formalities has been completed was revealed to me, WOW it looked amazing!! ***Photos below***

Edited by Y11 LTS on Tuesday 22 January 23:47

[Y11 LTS]

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As it was late in the day the idea was to do the formalities, then stay in a hotel and pick it up early for the 4hr drive home via Caffiene and Machine!

Well that was never going to happen ha.. with her looking so shiny and it being 4 years since owning a lotus I had to take her for a drive around the local country roads, within 5 minutes it was filthy haha.

After booking into a terrible hotel where the bedroom included a shared bathroom ?? I had a terrible night sleep and was up at 4:30am sat in the car engine running with a Costa coffee to wake me up!

Before I headed off home I called into Williams automobiles to thank them for everything they had done and have another coffee, whilst there I and them also planned a trip for me to come down to go on a road trip in April with them trying out some tasty cars!!

I then set off towards home via caffiene and Machine in Stratford Upon Avon, I made the mistake that for my first journey the roof had to be off... this was in 1c weather freezing no matter how much the heater was on lol.

I stopped off and even had to buy a bobble hat!

I called in at lunch time to Caffiene and Machine who at the time where visited by some AC car owners and took the below photos:-

Edited by Y11 LTS on Tuesday 22 January 23:51

[Y11 LTS]

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