Discussion
Not sure whether to put this in the Elise or the Elan forum, so I've put it here!
I'm looking for a new car in December, around the time of my 21st.
I really want a VX220, but that's just out of my price range. I went for a drive in an Elan today, very impressive, great performance, (this one was chipped to 200bhp). I thought I was totally sold on one, however there's a few things I'd want to change...
Alloys
Seats
Stearing Wheel
Gear Stick/Hand Brake
Brakes
Dump Valve
That's before anything like the the roof seals have been sorted.
That's getting dangerously close to an Elise rice once that is done though, there is a decent one on Autotrader for £8,800
The elise would be an extra £700 per year to insure though. Would it be a false economy to get the cheaper car and end up spending more on it? The Elan driver told me even a stock Elan will be quicker in a straight line than a standard S1 Elise, is this true in practice?
Bit of a dilemma!
I'm looking for a new car in December, around the time of my 21st.
I really want a VX220, but that's just out of my price range. I went for a drive in an Elan today, very impressive, great performance, (this one was chipped to 200bhp). I thought I was totally sold on one, however there's a few things I'd want to change...
Alloys
Seats
Stearing Wheel
Gear Stick/Hand Brake
Brakes
Dump Valve
That's before anything like the the roof seals have been sorted.
That's getting dangerously close to an Elise rice once that is done though, there is a decent one on Autotrader for £8,800
The elise would be an extra £700 per year to insure though. Would it be a false economy to get the cheaper car and end up spending more on it? The Elan driver told me even a stock Elan will be quicker in a straight line than a standard S1 Elise, is this true in practice?
Bit of a dilemma!
c4koh said:
I can't offer any other comment other than the Elan is still - in my opinion - a much, much prettier car than the Elise... but apparently the brakes aren't very good
Indeed, the elan owner today admitted they were shockingly bad!
www.muncher.org.uk/elan this one is without the full leather interior.
Looks in good nick.
Being a
for a minute, I'd say from the handbrake lever and position of the switches, that's a Series 1 Elan M100 which should mean pre-cat. 
The S2 is heavier, has ABS, higher unsprung mass due to the 16" wheels courtesy of the marketing dept finally winning over the engineering dept (the S1 has 15") and a cat. So less power and more weight.
Brakes can be sorted. We've got drilled & grooved discs, fast road pads and braided hoses on ours and braking appears to be fine for road use. However, I haven't had the opportunity to really press on as the car desperately needs new rubber. Yes, I know we've had the car for almost 2 years, but I don't tend to drive it too often.
Being a
for a minute, I'd say from the handbrake lever and position of the switches, that's a Series 1 Elan M100 which should mean pre-cat. The S2 is heavier, has ABS, higher unsprung mass due to the 16" wheels courtesy of the marketing dept finally winning over the engineering dept (the S1 has 15") and a cat. So less power and more weight.
Brakes can be sorted. We've got drilled & grooved discs, fast road pads and braided hoses on ours and braking appears to be fine for road use. However, I haven't had the opportunity to really press on as the car desperately needs new rubber. Yes, I know we've had the car for almost 2 years, but I don't tend to drive it too often.
Some people love the Elan because it corners like it's on rails and it is very hard to get it out of shape. Others hate it because it corners like it's on rails and it is very hard to get it out of shape. 
As for looks, that's dangerous and emotive subject. I think all you can say is that you like it or don't like it. It is only opinion at the end of the day.
Let's not turn this into a Windows vs. Unix religious war, eh?
>> Edited by JonRB on Wednesday 27th October 22:43
As for looks, that's dangerous and emotive subject. I think all you can say is that you like it or don't like it. It is only opinion at the end of the day.
Let's not turn this into a Windows vs. Unix religious war, eh?
>> Edited by JonRB on Wednesday 27th October 22:43
m12_nathan said:
told me even a stock Elan will be quicker in a straight line than a standard S1 Elise
So will a Renault Clio, the elise is about balance and cornering.
*Radical suggestion*
Why don't you drive them both and buy the car you prefer.
Should get to do that tomorrow
Grrrr...will someone please rename this thread 'Elise vs. M100'?
Proper Elans are RWD, and the only way an Elise is slower then an M100 or a Clio is when driven by a complete incompetent.
The 0-60 an 0-100 times for a standard Elise are better than for either car (so that takes care of straight line speed) and I've personally p****d all over both Clios and M100's on twisty roads in a standard Elise.
The only advantage the front wheel drive cars have is that they are completely idiot-proof, so you need no driving skill whatsoever to go quickly in them!
Proper Elans are RWD, and the only way an Elise is slower then an M100 or a Clio is when driven by a complete incompetent.
The 0-60 an 0-100 times for a standard Elise are better than for either car (so that takes care of straight line speed) and I've personally p****d all over both Clios and M100's on twisty roads in a standard Elise.
The only advantage the front wheel drive cars have is that they are completely idiot-proof, so you need no driving skill whatsoever to go quickly in them!
Martin_S said:
The only advantage the front wheel drive cars have is that they are completely idiot-proof, so you need no driving skill whatsoever to go quickly in them!
Exactly. And if you have half-decent driving skills then you can go even faster.
Which is why the Elan M100 is regarded as a superb real-world point-to-point car.
You can keep your tail-waggy oh-my-god-am-I-going-to-make-it cornering antics for track days. And great fun it is. But for public road driving I think I would probably take an M100 just for the extra confidence and ability to cope better with changing road conditions (I don't just mean grip, I mean other road users, situations, etc.)
When I want scary tail-waggy hoonery I'll drive my Chimaera 500 anyway.
EDIT:
Martin_S said:Well aren't you the driving God then, eh?
I've personally p****d all over both Clios and M100's on twisty roads in a standard Elise.
>> Edited by JonRB on Wednesday 27th October 23:39
JonRB said:
When I want scary tail-waggy hoonery I'll drive my Chimaera 500 anyway.
EDIT:
Martin_S said:
I've personally p****d all over both Clios and M100's on twisty roads in a standard Elise.
Well aren't you the driving God then, eh?
>> Edited by JonRB on Wednesday 27th October 23:39
No, I'm definitely no driving God...whilst I've made a living in the past doing chassis set-up on fast road and competition cars, I've never raced myself precisely because I know my limitations.
Which is why I know that if even I can outdrive an M100 or Clio in an Elise, then the Elise must be a superior car.
If you check my profile, you'll find that amongst my current cars is a Griffith 500...so like you, I know where to find tail-waggy hoonery (in fact, lets be honest, a Chimp is regarded as a little bit of a girly golfers car, in comparison).
The Elise will murder a Griffith/Chimaera on a twisty road, too, though. It ain't about egos or driving skill - in cost/performance terms, the Elise is just plain more efficient as a driving tool than just about any other car on the road.
>> Edited by Martin_S on Thursday 28th October 00:11
Drove the Elan today, it was a J Reg SE Turbo with 124k on the clock, in a rusty red type colour.
Had reasonably nice seats, though I would replace with buckets. The gear box seemed a bit loose, a bit like stirring soup. There was also a occasional noise from the exhaust (i think) which didn't sound too good.
The car had new suspension, a stainless steal exhaust and a brake overhall.
Driving impressions were really good, I think a chip would be in order, but it was swift as standard. It just asked to be pushed round corners, no understear at all.
I think it's just a case of finding a good one, failing that an Elise. The guy said an Elise was not practical as an every day car. Aside from being a bit awkward getting in and out, what else would support that view?
Had reasonably nice seats, though I would replace with buckets. The gear box seemed a bit loose, a bit like stirring soup. There was also a occasional noise from the exhaust (i think) which didn't sound too good.
The car had new suspension, a stainless steal exhaust and a brake overhall.
Driving impressions were really good, I think a chip would be in order, but it was swift as standard. It just asked to be pushed round corners, no understear at all.
I think it's just a case of finding a good one, failing that an Elise. The guy said an Elise was not practical as an every day car. Aside from being a bit awkward getting in and out, what else would support that view?
I know what you mean by straight line speed, after 90mph, Golf Tdi & Audi A4 will fly past you, sure on the twisty stuff, the elise is superior to more expensive exotica,and an elan could never keep up, but to be honest, i wouldnt touch an elise at £8k unless your handy with a spanner and can afford £300 for the headgasket to get fixed when it breaks, because it will and also the occasional part that falls off in the earlier elises.
There are different levels of practical, and it depends how much of a masochist you are, I guess.
In my early 20's, I used to run a Westfield, then a Caterham as my only car, all year round, and enjoyed the experience immensely.
I'm now a fat bastard, bordering on middle age, and I must admit that as a result I found the Elise a little bit inconvenient to get in and out off with the hood up. If you are under 30, not overweight, and less than 6'0" tall, you shouldn't have too much problem getting in and out, though, and topless it is fine unless you are 20 stone plus or geriatric.
The standard S1 Elise seats result in 'numb-bumb' after about 100 miles, but otherwise the comfort and driving position is excellent. Seats on the S1 111S and S2 cars are much better. Heating and demisting work fine, and the hood is pretty weathertight (you can get the occasional drip from the front of the cant rails, depending upon the individual car). You can also get hardtops, of course, which I can't ever recall seeing for the M100.
Elise luggage space is pretty poor, but again it depends on your lifestyle. If you go shopping on your own, the passenger seat and footwell can accomodate a surprising number of carrier bags. I did Derby to the Scottish Highlands and over to Skye for a week with my girlfriend and enough clothes for us both, travelling light, with the only problem being the aforementioned numb bum.
My Elise was a second car, but I enjoyed driving it so much that I was doing as much or more mileage in it than my company tin box - 300 miles per weekend wasn't unusual - but my girlfriend complained about the poor seats on these long distances, hence I part-ex'd it for a Griffith. I'm not a huge fan of the Griff (bit or a lorry - a very, very fast lorry, but a lorry never the less!), so I'm seriously considering a going back to an Elise (possibly supercharged, definitely with 111S seats!).
>> Edited by Martin_S on Thursday 28th October 19:31
In my early 20's, I used to run a Westfield, then a Caterham as my only car, all year round, and enjoyed the experience immensely.
I'm now a fat bastard, bordering on middle age, and I must admit that as a result I found the Elise a little bit inconvenient to get in and out off with the hood up. If you are under 30, not overweight, and less than 6'0" tall, you shouldn't have too much problem getting in and out, though, and topless it is fine unless you are 20 stone plus or geriatric.
The standard S1 Elise seats result in 'numb-bumb' after about 100 miles, but otherwise the comfort and driving position is excellent. Seats on the S1 111S and S2 cars are much better. Heating and demisting work fine, and the hood is pretty weathertight (you can get the occasional drip from the front of the cant rails, depending upon the individual car). You can also get hardtops, of course, which I can't ever recall seeing for the M100.
Elise luggage space is pretty poor, but again it depends on your lifestyle. If you go shopping on your own, the passenger seat and footwell can accomodate a surprising number of carrier bags. I did Derby to the Scottish Highlands and over to Skye for a week with my girlfriend and enough clothes for us both, travelling light, with the only problem being the aforementioned numb bum.
My Elise was a second car, but I enjoyed driving it so much that I was doing as much or more mileage in it than my company tin box - 300 miles per weekend wasn't unusual - but my girlfriend complained about the poor seats on these long distances, hence I part-ex'd it for a Griffith. I'm not a huge fan of the Griff (bit or a lorry - a very, very fast lorry, but a lorry never the less!), so I'm seriously considering a going back to an Elise (possibly supercharged, definitely with 111S seats!).
>> Edited by Martin_S on Thursday 28th October 19:31
The odd bang and fart from the exhaust is nothing to worry about - Elans run very rich when on-boost and unburned fuel vapour can sometimes ignite in the exhaust. This seems to be more common with stainless exhausts.
Elise vs Elan is really chalk vs cheese IMHO I wouldn't consider an Elan for track days and I wouldn't consider an Elise for daily commuting in bad weather.
The number of S1 Elise owners who have crashed at 20MPH on wet roundabouts is quite worrying. There was a spate of this on the British Cars BBS a year or two ago.
Regarding chip tuning - do not waste your money with Superchips, their chip has been proven to do NOTHING of value. BBR do a boost increase kit which costs hundreds of pounds It isn't a chip and it consists of about £15 worth of components, which you can get yourself from Maplin. A chap on Lotuselancentral has produced a genuine performance chip which may be still available.
Rob.
Elise vs Elan is really chalk vs cheese IMHO I wouldn't consider an Elan for track days and I wouldn't consider an Elise for daily commuting in bad weather.
The number of S1 Elise owners who have crashed at 20MPH on wet roundabouts is quite worrying. There was a spate of this on the British Cars BBS a year or two ago.
Regarding chip tuning - do not waste your money with Superchips, their chip has been proven to do NOTHING of value. BBR do a boost increase kit which costs hundreds of pounds It isn't a chip and it consists of about £15 worth of components, which you can get yourself from Maplin. A chap on Lotuselancentral has produced a genuine performance chip which may be still available.
Rob.
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