thinking of an elan talk to me

[slipstream 1985]

so... looking to extend my fleet and i realise that id kind of have 2 cars for the same day but that doesnt really bother me.

iv always loved the elan especially in yellow and i even have this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQSsq7HCNHw on cd ready to play. my question is why are there such a variation in price? seems to be from 3k-8k how good a car are they handling compared to a modern hot hatch. do you throw it about or really treat it as a cruiser? ta m4rk

[Forbes82]

They handle better than most modern hot hatches, and are of similar speed. They dont understeer untill you are pushing to the edge of grip, and are fantastically predictable. Some people dislike this as its not a car that gets out of shape easily, there is a review of them on this website somewhere that sums them up quite well, fantastically competent, but perhaps a little 'boring' if you want tail out fun.

There are a few NA's around, but you want a turbo really, a £90 upgrade chip (tried and tested by the fantastic elan community) coupled with a sport exhaust gives you about 200hp (150-165 standard) and makes it a fun and speedy roadster, that is so easy to take to its limits it can surprise people particularly in the wet.

Google Lotus Elan Central for a fantastic website and forum, there is everything you could ever wish to know on there, very friendly guys and a dedicated user fan base for these cars.

The roof goes up and down very easily, most leak a bit (luckily mine doesn't at all), power steering on lock hisses on all of them, creaky dashboards are fairly common, but they are reliable as hell and great fun.

ETA - They take well to cruising or being thrown about, they take ALOT of throwing to get out of shape, very very easy to drive too fast! 3k will probably be a rough one with high miles 8k will probably be near mint with very good miles. I was told to budget 8k if you want mint and you might find one for 6k if you are lucky. Personaly i paid around 8k for a 40k mile mint one and its been brilliant since, there were some lower miles for the same price or less but none that seemed as well looked after. 5/6k and up should get you a great example though, and 8 an excellent one. Less than that there are some bargains about but might need bits here and there. S2's seem to command a small premium (perhaps because they are later and smaller in number- just 800 made) but in truth there is little difference between the two, just ask if you want to know more.

Go out and test drive it, some find the secure but excellent handling a love it/hate it thing. You will probably be surprised at how well a FWD car designed 20 years ago can handle though!

Edited by Forbes82 on Friday 12th March 23:27

[theelanman]

theyre brilliant......
but Im biased......
theyre a quick car both in a straight line and round corners
you can get good ones and bad ones depending on your budget......

as has been mentioned....look at
www.lotuselancentral.com

a mine of information and helpful advice.....

cheers
G

[Moonhawk]

Wicked car - superb handling. They can feel a little underpowered due to their small 1.6L engine especially before the turbo kicks in - but they are still pretty fast. There are various upgrades you can have done to help remedy this - a wider bore exhaust and turbo bleed valve can make a makes a hell of a difference.

I had an S2 up until a couple of years back and loved it. Gutted when I had to let it go.

Edited by Moonhawk on Thursday 18th March 14:08