To those thinking of selling their Elise.......
Discussion
Don't do it.
I've had a rare day off work today, so took the S2000 out for a spin. It's a fantastic car, don't get me wrong, it really is good. But it's not a Lotus.
I used to get back from a blat in the Sport 160, and my hands would literally be shaking. I would be on a physical and mental 'high' for a good hour before my adrenaline finally died down to normal levels.
I was told at the time that it was the one car I would forever truly regret selling. Why didn't I listen?
Christ, I miss that car.
I've had a rare day off work today, so took the S2000 out for a spin. It's a fantastic car, don't get me wrong, it really is good. But it's not a Lotus.
I used to get back from a blat in the Sport 160, and my hands would literally be shaking. I would be on a physical and mental 'high' for a good hour before my adrenaline finally died down to normal levels.
I was told at the time that it was the one car I would forever truly regret selling. Why didn't I listen?
Christ, I miss that car.
They do seem to get under the skin, I am thinking what to do with my 111R but 24 months of smiles I am not sure I can part company, if I did I would be looking for something Elise based.
Defently a lot think quick e.g. R26R Megane but nothing quite like the Elise for really giving you that feeling of the open road.
Sorry not helping your case, sell the S2000 and get back into the smile machine !
Defently a lot think quick e.g. R26R Megane but nothing quite like the Elise for really giving you that feeling of the open road.
Sorry not helping your case, sell the S2000 and get back into the smile machine !
I sold mine and replaced it with another Elise and I still miss it in a funny way!
The new one, for us, is miles better but that little car really got under my skin.
Simply wouldn't be without a Lotus and wholly sympathise with anyone thats had to get shot of one for whatever reason.
The old and dearly missed -
The new and dearly loved -
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The new one, for us, is miles better but that little car really got under my skin.
Simply wouldn't be without a Lotus and wholly sympathise with anyone thats had to get shot of one for whatever reason.
The old and dearly missed -
The new and dearly loved -
I miss selling mine.. thankfully, I'm friends with the new owner (who also happens to be the ORIGINAL owner, he bought it back!) and I have visitation rights.
I don't regret selling her to buy the beast, but given that I've not driven the beast for 18 months now, I wish I still had my little silver bullet for sunny Sunday afternoons.
Sorely missed!
Now, must get the beast finished!
I don't regret selling her to buy the beast, but given that I've not driven the beast for 18 months now, I wish I still had my little silver bullet for sunny Sunday afternoons.
Sorely missed!
Now, must get the beast finished!
I miss my first S1 but not my second.
The first was special because it was my first & kinda like breaking in a virgin (not that i would know ofcourse) but it was just special. I still keep in touch with the new owner even though i sold it to him almost 2 years ago & he keeps me updated with mods etc & looks after it very well.
Would i ever get another one, hell yeah but not yet.
The first was special because it was my first & kinda like breaking in a virgin (not that i would know ofcourse) but it was just special. I still keep in touch with the new owner even though i sold it to him almost 2 years ago & he keeps me updated with mods etc & looks after it very well.
Would i ever get another one, hell yeah but not yet.
I'm an oddball then. My first Lotus was an Elan M100, but discounting that, my first Elise was an S1 with a Bell & Colvill Super 160 conversion. It had all the toys - removable steering wheel (ultra cool - and perfect for security as I don't have a garage), harnesses, suspension, better brake pads (though in my newbie state, I didn't know what they actually were... they could have been greenduff for all I know 
). On the face of it you'd expect I'd love it.
But I didn't - I hated it... regardless of adjustment the gearstick would never find a gear cleanly, the cone filter in a resonant plastic box made such a MONSTROUS induction noise that it was painful to drive the car without ear defenders, I was constantly paranoid about overheating (any traffic jam and the temperature would just rise and rise...) and I simply couldn't get on with the brakes. It also leaked - and I'd bought one of B&C's carbon fibre hardtops. I just can't stand leaking cars.
If you search back far enough you'll probably find my tales of woe on this forum (I've been a member here for nearly 7 years). The thing was that everything else was right - small size, light weight, superb handling, and a whiff of practicality (it has a boot). I got rid of it, and I didn't feel any regret - I thought all Elises were like that.
Then came a bunch of madcap ideas trying to get that small, nimble, quick experience (I can only have fun on B roads round here, and big fast cars like Scoobies, Skylines, RS Audis, etc. are a liability). I even put a deposit down on a Grinnall Scorpion (I'd still love one of those). I tried a Noble - great, but expensive and felt a bit too big - and no luggage space whatsoever. So I settled for Porsche (air cooled only) and went through 3 993s, culminating with a supercharged one - again, I loved them as they were small, fast and had good handling. But they lacked the 'light weight' criterion, and cost a lot to run (trackdays in particular are expensive in a 993).
I tried my mate's S2 Elise (an early K engine model) but it was the one with no sound deadening, and the gearbox sounded like it was about to throw a cog. I also had to jump start it twice for him on the weekend he came down to see us.
In a weird streak of fortune, financial trouble meant I had to get rid of the blown 993. I needed a toy - purely for mental health reasons (the OP will sympathise with this! Going out for a blast in a car you love is good for the soul). PPC magazine did a feature on VX220 turbos... and when they pointed out that they were 'more refined' than the Elise, and better built (and I knew the story anyway about Vauxhall getting independent QC on each car and sending them back to Lotus for remediation), I thought I'd try one as they were cheap. I'd know within 100 metres of test driving whether it would be right or not - if the same painful noise and feel of 'not put together well' happened with the VX then I'd have to abandon hope with Lotus.
I fell in love with the VXT within 2 metres of driving it. It was comfortable, small, quick, nimble, handled *very* much like an Elise, and despite the 900-ish kg weight, it still felt like a lightweight. I was deliriously happy as I'd found a Lotus variant that I could live with. I fixed the little niggles that took the edge off it compared to the Lotus badged models - Exige size wheels to allow sticky tyres, proper brake pads, removed the silly font 'VX220' and 'turbo' from the rear (some Novadose Krew scrote stole the huge Vauxhall medallion off the rear, but I kept the Vauxhall badge on the front grille in respect of the engine - whilst the rest of the car was basically a Lotus, I still maintain that the best engines Lotus ever used in their cars were Vauxhall units, and this isn't flamebait). It didn't have the ultimate low weight of an early S1, it didn't handle as well as an S1 Exige. But on the other side of the coin, I regularly did 450 mile round trips in one day in that car and got out feeling fine.
A small bump resulted in the car being written off (which was hugely upsetting) due to the scarcity of clams (which, IMO, will be the death of the VX220 eventually, unless someone starts making aftermarket clams for them) and so I thought I'd try Lotus' newer cars, to see whether I could live with one. The number of hardcores here and on SELOC slagging off the S2 models for being 'soft' and overweight sounded great, so I test drove an Exige S. The quality was astounding, much better than I anticipated, and so that was that - I now have the Exige. But the wait whilst the insurance company messed about was awful.
It's just as heavy (if not more so) than the VXT was, but it has air conditioning, and no leaks, basically it's 90% perfect for me. It's embarrassing but I have to admit that every time I drive it with a passenger, I'll say at least once 'I really love this car'.... The 10% that stops it being the ultimate perfect car is the engine. I've given it a 2bular 'quiet as possible' pipe to release some character but there's sod all torque and it's only really quick when you rev the hell out of it. Most Lotus customers seem to like this, hence the popularity of Honda conversions. If Lotus had dropped the 2.2 alloy Vauxhall engine into the Exige and bunged a supercharger on, it would be awesome (I bet I'm the first person to suggest that, it's a bit off-the-wall).
I'm never going to sell my Exige unless I go bankrupt. If it gets stolen, or destroyed in a crash, then I may consider a Europa with a load of mods, but I'm not going to be tempted by any other sports car. It will be Lotus, or a VX220, depending on my financial condition. I'll eventually do something about the engine in my Exige but I won't be selling it. It's great.
). On the face of it you'd expect I'd love it.But I didn't - I hated it... regardless of adjustment the gearstick would never find a gear cleanly, the cone filter in a resonant plastic box made such a MONSTROUS induction noise that it was painful to drive the car without ear defenders, I was constantly paranoid about overheating (any traffic jam and the temperature would just rise and rise...) and I simply couldn't get on with the brakes. It also leaked - and I'd bought one of B&C's carbon fibre hardtops. I just can't stand leaking cars.
If you search back far enough you'll probably find my tales of woe on this forum (I've been a member here for nearly 7 years). The thing was that everything else was right - small size, light weight, superb handling, and a whiff of practicality (it has a boot). I got rid of it, and I didn't feel any regret - I thought all Elises were like that.
Then came a bunch of madcap ideas trying to get that small, nimble, quick experience (I can only have fun on B roads round here, and big fast cars like Scoobies, Skylines, RS Audis, etc. are a liability). I even put a deposit down on a Grinnall Scorpion (I'd still love one of those). I tried a Noble - great, but expensive and felt a bit too big - and no luggage space whatsoever. So I settled for Porsche (air cooled only) and went through 3 993s, culminating with a supercharged one - again, I loved them as they were small, fast and had good handling. But they lacked the 'light weight' criterion, and cost a lot to run (trackdays in particular are expensive in a 993).
I tried my mate's S2 Elise (an early K engine model) but it was the one with no sound deadening, and the gearbox sounded like it was about to throw a cog. I also had to jump start it twice for him on the weekend he came down to see us.
In a weird streak of fortune, financial trouble meant I had to get rid of the blown 993. I needed a toy - purely for mental health reasons (the OP will sympathise with this! Going out for a blast in a car you love is good for the soul). PPC magazine did a feature on VX220 turbos... and when they pointed out that they were 'more refined' than the Elise, and better built (and I knew the story anyway about Vauxhall getting independent QC on each car and sending them back to Lotus for remediation), I thought I'd try one as they were cheap. I'd know within 100 metres of test driving whether it would be right or not - if the same painful noise and feel of 'not put together well' happened with the VX then I'd have to abandon hope with Lotus.
I fell in love with the VXT within 2 metres of driving it. It was comfortable, small, quick, nimble, handled *very* much like an Elise, and despite the 900-ish kg weight, it still felt like a lightweight. I was deliriously happy as I'd found a Lotus variant that I could live with. I fixed the little niggles that took the edge off it compared to the Lotus badged models - Exige size wheels to allow sticky tyres, proper brake pads, removed the silly font 'VX220' and 'turbo' from the rear (some Novadose Krew scrote stole the huge Vauxhall medallion off the rear, but I kept the Vauxhall badge on the front grille in respect of the engine - whilst the rest of the car was basically a Lotus, I still maintain that the best engines Lotus ever used in their cars were Vauxhall units, and this isn't flamebait). It didn't have the ultimate low weight of an early S1, it didn't handle as well as an S1 Exige. But on the other side of the coin, I regularly did 450 mile round trips in one day in that car and got out feeling fine.
A small bump resulted in the car being written off (which was hugely upsetting) due to the scarcity of clams (which, IMO, will be the death of the VX220 eventually, unless someone starts making aftermarket clams for them) and so I thought I'd try Lotus' newer cars, to see whether I could live with one. The number of hardcores here and on SELOC slagging off the S2 models for being 'soft' and overweight sounded great, so I test drove an Exige S. The quality was astounding, much better than I anticipated, and so that was that - I now have the Exige. But the wait whilst the insurance company messed about was awful.
It's just as heavy (if not more so) than the VXT was, but it has air conditioning, and no leaks, basically it's 90% perfect for me. It's embarrassing but I have to admit that every time I drive it with a passenger, I'll say at least once 'I really love this car'.... The 10% that stops it being the ultimate perfect car is the engine. I've given it a 2bular 'quiet as possible' pipe to release some character but there's sod all torque and it's only really quick when you rev the hell out of it. Most Lotus customers seem to like this, hence the popularity of Honda conversions. If Lotus had dropped the 2.2 alloy Vauxhall engine into the Exige and bunged a supercharger on, it would be awesome (I bet I'm the first person to suggest that, it's a bit off-the-wall).
I'm never going to sell my Exige unless I go bankrupt. If it gets stolen, or destroyed in a crash, then I may consider a Europa with a load of mods, but I'm not going to be tempted by any other sports car. It will be Lotus, or a VX220, depending on my financial condition. I'll eventually do something about the engine in my Exige but I won't be selling it. It's great.
cyberface said:
A small bump resulted in the car being written off (which was hugely upsetting) due to the scarcity of clams (which, IMO, will be the death of the VX220 eventually, unless someone starts making aftermarket clams for them)
I had someone reverse into my VX220 about 4 weeks ago, its a 2002 n/a so not the highest value VX220 the insurance Co. didn't bat an eyelid and said fine, new front clam. Apparently ones being shipped from Germany as we speak. The lower front and rear sections can be had off ebay aftermarket now.Herman Toothrot said:
cyberface said:
A small bump resulted in the car being written off (which was hugely upsetting) due to the scarcity of clams (which, IMO, will be the death of the VX220 eventually, unless someone starts making aftermarket clams for them)
I had someone reverse into my VX220 about 4 weeks ago, its a 2002 n/a so not the highest value VX220 the insurance Co. didn't bat an eyelid and said fine, new front clam. Apparently ones being shipped from Germany as we speak. The lower front and rear sections can be had off ebay aftermarket now.Sounds good if there coming from Germany
Edited by Stu_00 on Tuesday 8th September 13:20
Stu_00 said:
Herman Toothrot said:
cyberface said:
A small bump resulted in the car being written off (which was hugely upsetting) due to the scarcity of clams (which, IMO, will be the death of the VX220 eventually, unless someone starts making aftermarket clams for them)
I had someone reverse into my VX220 about 4 weeks ago, its a 2002 n/a so not the highest value VX220 the insurance Co. didn't bat an eyelid and said fine, new front clam. Apparently ones being shipped from Germany as we speak. The lower front and rear sections can be had off ebay aftermarket now.Sounds good if there coming from Germany
Edited by Stu_00 on Tuesday 8th September 13:20
but I'm not complaining about the replacement Exige (other than it cost twice as much as the VXT)...Gutted for you. I remember when I put the Exige up for sale, I was actually really depressed about the thought of not having a Lotus in my life, I just loved it so much for many reasons.
I thought I'd look at cheaper alternatives, something to track and generally have fun in - maybe an MX5 or something. Nothing quite fitted the bill though and 2 days after handing the Exige over to Sinclaires I picked up an S1 Elise!
Addictive little buggers!
I still REALLY miss the Exige though and I don't think the Elise will ever quite fill it's shoes, but that's probably because it was my first and the whole experience carried such a huge load of new emotions and brought me together with a bunch of great friends!!
Tipper - sorry to hear you're selling up - WHY? You've only just done heaps of work on it too!
I thought I'd look at cheaper alternatives, something to track and generally have fun in - maybe an MX5 or something. Nothing quite fitted the bill though and 2 days after handing the Exige over to Sinclaires I picked up an S1 Elise!
Addictive little buggers!
I still REALLY miss the Exige though and I don't think the Elise will ever quite fill it's shoes, but that's probably because it was my first and the whole experience carried such a huge load of new emotions and brought me together with a bunch of great friends!!
Tipper - sorry to hear you're selling up - WHY? You've only just done heaps of work on it too!
riwiho said:
I am now 18 months into life without my Elise 111R and there is not a day that goes by without thinking about it and the next one.
Here she is before a run up to Hawes and off into the dales:
Got a picture of my 111s looking this dirty, never looked better imho. Wish id never sold it...Here she is before a run up to Hawes and off into the dales:
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