Looking to get a Honda/Audi Elise. - Advice needed

[Rawhide]

Hi all. I'm keen on building a car that will do a few things for me next year. I was originally intending on building a Audi Exige.

My intended usage is;

Short town driving short shop trips in heavy traffic (no commuting)
Trackdays
Long distance motorway work
Nurburgring trips

My mileage will be quite low as I live in London. I was drawn to the modified Lotus's after having a drive in a NA Honda Exige. I was very impressed but it was a bare bones race car inside, hot and very noisy.

I could live with this but it would be a pain on long distance runs. I had also told myself I'd never buy a car without AC again after driving back from the ring in an S2000 with the sun in my face all day.

I then saw an audi elise at bedford which was very impressive. I've done some research and they are my current preference.

I'm now thinking of buying a high mileage S2 and getting a 300hp audi lump put in.

I see a few pro's and cons;

Audi PROs
Lots of torque - good for motorway and road work
quieter engine noise in cabin?
more power
smoother delivery
unstressed engine

Audi CONs
Turbo power delivery (not ideal for track work)
worse throttle responce
Cost of conversion
Need to cool down engine (not ideal for short trips)
No option of aircon
Extra weight

Honda PROs
Revy engine - exiting drive?
reliability
lower cost

Honda Cons
Need to supercharge to get near Audi power levels (reliability?)
Very loud in cabin

I'm still doing research but wondering what the community though given my spread intended usage. I'm now favouring an Elise rather than exige due to heat buildup in the cabin and lack of aircon. Also this would be a cheaper conversion.

[rfoster]

You could buy Burt's car - already converted
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/227300.htm

No Air Con though. Actually not even sure if you can have air con with the Honda conversions either!

[Rawhide]

Thanks.. If I can't get decent air con I'm ruling out Exiges. With the elise it's not so much of a problem as I can take the roof off.

That car does look stunning. However I should point out I'm not in the market right now as I'm travelling for 6 months round the world. This will be for when I get back after winter

Edited by Rawhide on Thursday 20th September 16:06

[rfoster]

Not to worry - it'll probably still be for sale then

[Scuffers]

Rawhide said:

Honda Cons
Need to supercharge to get near Audi power levels (reliability?)
Very loud in cabin

Not sure I agree with either of these points.....

Yes, NA Honda will not make 250Bhp (in std trim), but in outright performance terms there is little in it...

Also, noise, where have you got this idea from?

[Rawhide]

The car I took a ride in was very loud. It might have had an induction kit though. Is the VTEC lump not much louder than the turbo?

[S Works]

I have an NA converted Elise and the noise is not an issue, far from it. Depends greatly on the exhaust/cat/induction combo. On the motorway at cruising speed it's fine, but when you're 'making time' it's got a lovely sound. When you're really pushing, the 2nd cam just makes you laugh, it's addictive.

Burts car is very, very quick and on track you won't be disappointed. Very little lag, masses of torque etc. I've always thought the Audi is a better road proposition though, the revvy nature of the Honda's always appealed more, especially having had a Sport 160 myself which was similar.

If you're serious, you're better off buying a previously converted car if you can find a good one. Will be cheaper than building one up yourself, unless money's not an issue and you want it "just so".

[kevin ritson]

If it were me making the decision I'd go Honda - with a fair bit of track use intended the nature of the engine makes more sense. Motorways aren't really an issue when it comes to torque either, most of the time it's getting up to a speed and holding it there, the Honda will be great when it's on cam anyway.