Lotus Elise 220 Sport
Lotus Elise 220 Sport
Author
Discussion

renmure

Original Poster:

4,840 posts

249 months

Thursday 30th April
quotequote all
No stranger to Lotuses with this being my 3rd Elise following on from 2 Exiges and 3 Esprits a Caterham and a couple of other Lotus 7 type cars.

This is actually taking the place of a Mazda MX5 on the driveway as something to enjoy for simple fun. A 2021 car with one previous owner and 6 Main Dealer stamps in the service book. Collected it a week ago and splashed out on a go-faster stripe, some rear arch protectors, a sun strip, a couple of Lotus keyrings and an incoming 7 inch 2bular sports exhaust for a bit of noise.

I hadn't seen too many orange cars. It's certainly easy to find in the Tesco carpark










Edited by renmure on Thursday 30th April 22:25

Mr Tidy

29,993 posts

152 months

Thursday 30th April
quotequote all
That looks lovely, and I do like a bit of colour!

200Plus Club

13,101 posts

303 months

Thursday 30th April
quotequote all
Stripe works well

renmure

Original Poster:

4,840 posts

249 months

Friday 1st May
quotequote all
200Plus Club said:
Stripe works well
Haha, yeah, I do love a stripe or two biggrin
Probably helps keep them pointing forward I suppose



snotrag

15,523 posts

236 months

Friday 1st May
quotequote all
Thats superb. I do really miss my Elise.

Having owned a few - whats your opinion on the build quality on these last of the line S3 Elises? Is there much improvement over the earlier cars?

Mine was an early Series 2 and whilst it was fantastic, it was VERY rattly and the interior very baggy and hadnt aged well. Not a problem when on it, but the only way I can justify owning a toy/sports car is I use it regularly for the commute etc. The various Mazda/Porsche/BMW etc cars I've had obviously all do this a lot better,

I understand the the last S3 Elises feel a bit better finished, I'd be interested to know if this appears to have held up.

ETA - I am a realist, Im not daft, I know what a Lotus is about. But - does the heater/defrost actually do anything? Have the doors dropped yet? Any bodywork cracks? Window rubbers still sealing? etc...

itcaptainslow

4,566 posts

161 months

Friday 1st May
quotequote all
That looks fantastic in Chrome Orange!

S3 build quality seems very good - I’ve had no issues (touch wood!) with mine.

200Plus Club

13,101 posts

303 months

Friday 1st May
quotequote all
renmure said:
Haha, yeah, I do love a stripe or two biggrin
Probably helps keep them pointing forward I suppose


Out of interest as I've just placed a deposit on a 600LT myself, where or who did you get the stripe done at please

Feirny

2,886 posts

172 months

Friday 1st May
quotequote all
Lovely! Do love an Elise as an ex owner.

Enjoy it.

renmure

Original Poster:

4,840 posts

249 months

Friday 1st May
quotequote all
200Plus Club said:
Out of interest as I've just placed a deposit on a 600LT myself, where or who did you get the stripe done at please
Ahhh, had I known we could perhaps have had a chat.

I had the 600LT stripe and pinstriping done by a local guy, the same one who just did the Elise actually, who has one of these PPF / wrapping / customisation places.

Can’t remember the cost but way less than £200. I just copied the style of stripe on the half a dozen special edition Pikes Peak cars in Colorado





200Plus Club

13,101 posts

303 months

Friday 1st May
quotequote all
Stunning!

SpudLink

7,717 posts

217 months

Friday 1st May
quotequote all
renmure said:
I hadn't seen too many orange cars. It's certainly easy to find in the Tesco carpark
As the owner of two cars, one orange, the other orange & black (with black wheels), I heartily approve of your choice.

Gary29

5,021 posts

124 months

Friday 1st May
quotequote all
I know this is a Lotus thread, but how gorgeous is the Stratos?! cloud9

renmure

Original Poster:

4,840 posts

249 months

Saturday
quotequote all
snotrag said:
Thats superb. I do really miss my Elise.

Having owned a few - whats your opinion on the build quality on these last of the line S3 Elises? Is there much improvement over the earlier cars?

Mine was an early Series 2 and whilst it was fantastic, it was VERY rattly and the interior very baggy and hadnt aged well. Not a problem when on it, but the only way I can justify owning a toy/sports car is I use it regularly for the commute etc. The various Mazda/Porsche/BMW etc cars I've had obviously all do this a lot better,

I understand the the last S3 Elises feel a bit better finished, I'd be interested to know if this appears to have held up.

ETA - I am a realist, Im not daft, I know what a Lotus is about. But - does the heater/defrost actually do anything? Have the doors dropped yet? Any bodywork cracks? Window rubbers still sealing? etc...
Have to confess I’ve not really noticed much difference but that’s not a criticism.

My last Lotus was a 2010 S2 Type 72 Exige with a similar 220 BHP I think. Roof on, I’m not sure this feels much different in terms of general noise but then I don’t really remember the Exige or previous S2 111R Elise being particularly bad for rattles, leaks or the like.

In saying all that, there is no comparison with the sensible, solid, reliable, comfortable, dependable, practical MX5 it has replaced but I knew that before getting it and can regret it at leisure later.