'06 Elise - test driven one? fly-by-wire throttle

[RobM77]

I'm buying a used Elise, so this won't concern me for another few years yet; but nevertheless I'm interested to hear if anyone has driven the new '06 Elise with the drive-by-wire throttle. What is it like?

In most modern cars, this produces at worst a delay (all modern saloons from Vauxhall, Peugeot, Renault etc - hideously undriveable), a lack of connectivity between driver and car (many new performance cars that I've driven), or just a very strange and unnatural action (Nissan 350Z! a joke!).

The cable actuated throttle, along with the non servo brakes and non-assisted steering, is one of the main reasons I'm about to buy an Elise, and I wondered what people thought of the new setup? Please tell me Lotus have done a cracking job!

[simonk]

My Exige has the new fly-by-wire thingy. It feels fine to me, I cant tell the difference between it and the MY05 car I test drove. It doesnt cut the power when you use the brakes or anything daft like that.

Simon

[speedyellow]

I've driven both and there is very very little difference between them, the FBW gives a marginally softer response when hard on and off the power (which is not surprising as it's there to make sure the car passes all emissions and not dump more air/fuel into the engine than it's ready for) but I think this is a benefit as it seemed to help with the balance as there is less 'jerk' when going suddenly between wide open/closed positions.

[RobM77]

Thanks very much. I can see myself buying a FBW throttle Elise in the future, and I had visions of me calling the factory and trying to arrange to have the proper throttle and brakes put back on it!

My BMW has about half to three quarters of a second's delay coming on the power, and about a second's delay coming off the power. Turns it from a potential driver's car into purely an A to B car, as it completely removes the interaction with the chassis.