Elise or Westfield
Discussion
Has anyone had any experience on how a Lotus Elise compares (handling wise) with a modern'ish Westfield. I am selling my TVR Griff. to make way for something I can enjoy on B-roads and for the odd track-day. It was going to be an Elise, but having owned an old (live axle 1994'ish) Westfield I'm thinking save some money and get a similar driving experience . . . any advice / opnions out there??
I can only offer a comparison with a test drive in an elise but personally I found that on the road the elise was comparible with my old xflow westfield. What this meant to me was that it was a pain in the arse because it didn't have enough power to overtake but the handling was lovely. I can't comment on what the elise was like on the limit as it was a test drive and the westfield was lovely and progressive but the feel and turn in were quite similar. I have to suspect that the westfield would be more progressive because of the layout but it's only a guess and the elise is supposed to be superb. The elise was a very very nice place to be. I decided to go for a westfield with a lot more power over a standard elise but I would be tempted with an elise with the same power to weight ratio as my westfield has but I suspect that firstly I'd have to build one and secondly it would cost a lot more than my westfield did.
Regards,
Mark
>> Edited by dern on Tuesday 2nd May 14:29
Regards,
Mark
>> Edited by dern on Tuesday 2nd May 14:29
Rich (Jackal) has compared the handling of Caterham and Elise (or 340R) on his site. If you haven't looked at the site before it's well worth a visit.
[url]www.jackals-forge.com/lotus/[/url]
[url]www.jackals-forge.com/lotus/[/url]
was considering both...
until i looked at the gtm libra v6 - as much torque as a exige 240r (if not outright bhp)- insurance of £270 a year - and no silly lotus dealer costs.
porsche 993 3.8 replaced with cheaper faster (well up to a certain speed well above the national speed limit) kit car - i really love teh little thing to bits
theres a 1.8 and a v6 in the classifieds if you cant be bothered building one (in my case no time or space so factory built) not much between the two engines on track but v6 feels much quicker on the road IMO.
Ferg on here may also point you the same direction but 1.8? ferg?
Marc
until i looked at the gtm libra v6 - as much torque as a exige 240r (if not outright bhp)- insurance of £270 a year - and no silly lotus dealer costs.
porsche 993 3.8 replaced with cheaper faster (well up to a certain speed well above the national speed limit) kit car - i really love teh little thing to bits
theres a 1.8 and a v6 in the classifieds if you cant be bothered building one (in my case no time or space so factory built) not much between the two engines on track but v6 feels much quicker on the road IMO.
Ferg on here may also point you the same direction but 1.8? ferg?
Marc
You're doing similar to me. My main car was (still is) a TVR Griffith. Plan was to sell it and buy a toy and a sensible. Bought an MK Indy Fireblade and haven't bought the sensible yet because I haven't brought myself round to selling the Griff 
Anyhow the choice may be made for you by how tall you are. I'm 6'4" and simply can't fit in an Elise with the roof on, and believe me I've tried! This rules out any practicality over a seven for me.
Also having been taken around track in an Elise (111R with the roof off!), whilst it was certainly very stable round the corners it just didn't give me that kick in the back that say "this is fast". You'll know that feeling owning a TVR. The Indy on the other hand delivers this by the boatload (though admittedly not as much as the Griff) and there's something about 11,000+rpm that just makes you want to attack every corner!
Don't make any decision until you've at least been in a bike engined kit car. You'll hear stories of how they're not nice in traffic etc, which to an extent is true - but if you're going out for a fun drive or track day who goes through towns?!
Anyhow the choice may be made for you by how tall you are. I'm 6'4" and simply can't fit in an Elise with the roof on, and believe me I've tried! This rules out any practicality over a seven for me.
Also having been taken around track in an Elise (111R with the roof off!), whilst it was certainly very stable round the corners it just didn't give me that kick in the back that say "this is fast". You'll know that feeling owning a TVR. The Indy on the other hand delivers this by the boatload (though admittedly not as much as the Griff) and there's something about 11,000+rpm that just makes you want to attack every corner!
Don't make any decision until you've at least been in a bike engined kit car. You'll hear stories of how they're not nice in traffic etc, which to an extent is true - but if you're going out for a fun drive or track day who goes through towns?!
the height problem was an issue for me when i was looking at exiges :-(
gtm has no such problems - and left me with £15k left over to play with!
the lesser engined elises as other people have said - lacking oommpph and the sensation of speed on the road.
I took a tvr owner out in mine the other week - he was impressed (after he had gone very white at the first corner!)
The other good thing is realatively easy engine swaps - v6 - I4 k series, VAG 1.8T, honda 2.0 vtech, duratec? plenty of space loads of scope
marc
gtm has no such problems - and left me with £15k left over to play with!
the lesser engined elises as other people have said - lacking oommpph and the sensation of speed on the road.
I took a tvr owner out in mine the other week - he was impressed (after he had gone very white at the first corner!)
The other good thing is realatively easy engine swaps - v6 - I4 k series, VAG 1.8T, honda 2.0 vtech, duratec? plenty of space loads of scope
marc
I went from an elise to a dax rush with a hayabusa engine.
What I will say is that although the elise did handle extremely well, I had the car polyflexed and coil over suspension, it does not and will never give you the handling or speed of a bike engined 7.
although the dax is completely impractical..it is a second car and is only used when i'm not out on my bike and it's sunny. there is nothing better than caining bikers full stop, only last week, i took 6 within a few miles, and there faces were pictures when i pulled up at the next junction to wait for them... I reckon that you should have a go in both the elise and a new 7, but also look at the bike engined option. it costs you nothing to look at the end of the day.
What I will say is that although the elise did handle extremely well, I had the car polyflexed and coil over suspension, it does not and will never give you the handling or speed of a bike engined 7.
although the dax is completely impractical..it is a second car and is only used when i'm not out on my bike and it's sunny. there is nothing better than caining bikers full stop, only last week, i took 6 within a few miles, and there faces were pictures when i pulled up at the next junction to wait for them... I reckon that you should have a go in both the elise and a new 7, but also look at the bike engined option. it costs you nothing to look at the end of the day.
Hi martin
i have hired a caterham and an elise for the day on a track
the standard elise is a little limp wristed
so unless you are coing for something that has been played with i would say a westfield is better
however i drove a honda engined elise around bedford for the day
twitchy and fast the sort of thing a tvr driver loves
the caterham by contrast had more grip in the corners and made the speed by keeping the speed up
however the elise still has car roots is not as fast as bike engined or sorted caterhams but is usiable everyday
hope this helps
Sean
i have hired a caterham and an elise for the day on a track
the standard elise is a little limp wristed
so unless you are coing for something that has been played with i would say a westfield is better
however i drove a honda engined elise around bedford for the day
twitchy and fast the sort of thing a tvr driver loves
the caterham by contrast had more grip in the corners and made the speed by keeping the speed up
however the elise still has car roots is not as fast as bike engined or sorted caterhams but is usiable everyday
hope this helps
Sean
This may help, road legal fireblade engined kit car at Cadwell, featuring several Lot(ii?) More fun than you can shake a stick at, not ideal to take the wife to Tescos in.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?doc
http://video.google.com/videoplay?doc
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