S2 Elise - challenge grill - opinins please!

[rainmasterb]

Afternoon all, hope you don't mind me posting here. I don't have an Elise but I am an enthusiast with a different track car. Anyway, I like to tinker with design ideas and came across one for the S2 Elise the other day. You'll have to forgive the images, I don't have photoshop currently!

My idea is basically to change the rear end styling to give a 'challenge' rear grill look - similar to Ferrari 355/360 and McLaren F1. At this stage it is purely aesthetic, but I suppose it could be functional by aiding engine cooling if the product was fully integrated.

The first image shows the basic idea, followed by the second image where the number plate is moved into the space between the lights, and the final image showing how you could make all sorts of modifications to the diffuser area if you had the number two arrangement. The product would be black plastic and would 'sit' in the concave section between the lights, held in place by the lights themselves when screwed back into position.

Would appreciate some feedback. Many thanks, Ben.

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Edited by rainmasterb on Thursday 12th March 14:02

Edited by rainmasterb on Thursday 12th March 14:04

[Chris49]

Hi Ben,

A few of the American owners have done this mod.

Not to my personal taste but wouldn't say it was terrible.

[TOENHEEL]

Sorry not a fan, its a Lotus not a Ferrari plus would it not weaken the rear clam?

[Cuzza]

Think the OP's idea is something stuck on rather than cutting the clam - looks best with the plate left in the original place IMO. The cut clam pic isn't my cup of tea but the number of different Elise mods since the car came out in the States is amazing even if some of them look a little questionable

Edited by Cuzza on Thursday 12th March 14:56

[SeanyD]

Each to your own and all that, but not for me, Loti are always best kept original looking, in my opinion anyway.

[rainmasterb]

The yanks always get there first! Although Cuzza is right, the first stage of my idea was a simple bolt-on plastic item to give the challenge look. It would also be pretty cheap. Cutting the rear clamshell was my next idea, I think full width though rather than just the central section, but it would be very expensive and could reduce structural rigidity. My plastic product could be made in carbon fibre quite easily?!

[TOENHEEL]

Carbon fibre, sheesh i would rather spend that sort of money on some R888's or Ao48s

[bogie]

ive seen quite a few race elises like that...for real cooling purposes ....wouldnt do it on a road car though...well i wouldnt want my laptop getting soaked in the boot on the way to work LOL

[TOENHEEL]

bogie said:

ive seen quite a few race elises like that...for real cooling purposes ....wouldnt do it on a road car though...well i wouldnt want my laptop getting soaked in the boot on the way to work LOL

yeah didnt think of that, on a wet day the rear tyres throw loads of muck up onto the back, makes an already unpractical car even more unpractical lol.

[bogie]

TOENHEEL said:

bogie said:

ive seen quite a few race elises like that...for real cooling purposes ....wouldnt do it on a road car though...well i wouldnt want my laptop getting soaked in the boot on the way to work LOL

yeah didnt think of that, on a wet day the rear tyres throw loads of muck up onto the back, makes an already unpractical car even more unpractical lol.

remember the cool looking LeMans style race cooling vents on some cars a la TVR Sagaris ....then road testing revealed that windscreens and generally the whole car got covered in crap thrown up when it was a bit damp ....so they didnt makre production ....funny that

lots of these "racer look" mods look cool, if thats what you want to achieve, but are hardly practical ....cut vents to let water in, 90mm ride height on 700lb springs to take your fillings out, a huge wing for extra drag and worse fuel consumption, slick tyres to catch you out in the snow ...what else will make your Elise even more impractical LOL ?

[Gad-Westy]

I actually quite like the look of the American cut out one on the pic above. However what happens to the boot?

[TOENHEEL]

bogie said:

TOENHEEL said:

bogie said:

ive seen quite a few race elises like that...for real cooling purposes ....wouldnt do it on a road car though...well i wouldnt want my laptop getting soaked in the boot on the way to work LOL

yeah didnt think of that, on a wet day the rear tyres throw loads of muck up onto the back, makes an already unpractical car even more unpractical lol.

remember the cool looking LeMans style race cooling vents on some cars a la TVR Sagaris ....then road testing revealed that windscreens and generally the whole car got covered in crap thrown up when it was a bit damp ....so they didnt makre production ....funny that

lots of these "racer look" mods look cool, if thats what you want to achieve, but are hardly practical ....cut vents to let water in, 90mm ride height on 700lb springs to take your fillings out, a huge wing for extra drag and worse fuel consumption, slick tyres to catch you out in the snow ...what else will make your Elise even more impractical LOL ?

Lol true in saying this i never bought my Exige to be practical or in fact any of us for that matter.

[Cuzza]

Gad-Westy said:

I actually quite like the look of the American cut out one on the pic above. However what happens to the boot?

Well given the fact you can see the engine..........;)

I've seen this done with vinyl but it didn't go into the light wells so it looked a bit crap, very colour dependant too. The main proble I can see with using plastic is disguising the edges well enough.

If it came in gold, bogie'd like it

[dsquires]

this is quite commonly done on exiges. back on track do a great job, using a black vinyl "wrap". IMHO it looks great with a round Lotus badge in the middle