Anyone gone from TVR to Lotus
Discussion
Contemplating the Lotus thing,
had a raft of TVRs most of the cars from 2000 onwards and some other cars in the past such as R35GTR and S4, 911 etc
I still need a bit of boot space and raw power ( I know Lotus handle well), but in all my years I have never driven one although sat in a few at the dealers in Preston and thought a bit small for my tall frame.
What do you guys recommend based on the above info bearing in mind I am not keen on going over £28K
Elise?
Exige?
Europa?
and which version/ packs
340R is a no go
thanks in anticipation.
had a raft of TVRs most of the cars from 2000 onwards and some other cars in the past such as R35GTR and S4, 911 etc
I still need a bit of boot space and raw power ( I know Lotus handle well), but in all my years I have never driven one although sat in a few at the dealers in Preston and thought a bit small for my tall frame.
What do you guys recommend based on the above info bearing in mind I am not keen on going over £28K
Elise?
Exige?
Europa?
and which version/ packs
340R is a no go
thanks in anticipation.
Had two Griff 500's, and loved them! Then test drove an Elise R then a Super charged a day later. Bought the Super! Best sports car I've ever had in 23 years of owning sports cars while driving since 1983.
Elise SC is not far off Exige figures but you can take the roof off and see out the back window.
You get a fair bit of kit with this Loti for your cash:
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2880966.htm
You get twin oil coolers, a hard top, armourfend, A048's and a tracker!
1.8 Toyota 2ZZ-GE Supercharged - 218bhp
Black/Red Leather Interior
Air Conditioning
Alpine CD/Radio
Push Button Start
Removable Hard Top
Armourfend
195/50 R16 Front & 225/45 R17 Rear Yokohama A048
Rear Anti-Roll Bar
Tracker
Elise SC is not far off Exige figures but you can take the roof off and see out the back window.
You get a fair bit of kit with this Loti for your cash:
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2880966.htm
You get twin oil coolers, a hard top, armourfend, A048's and a tracker!
1.8 Toyota 2ZZ-GE Supercharged - 218bhp
Black/Red Leather Interior
Air Conditioning
Alpine CD/Radio
Push Button Start
Removable Hard Top
Armourfend
195/50 R16 Front & 225/45 R17 Rear Yokohama A048
Rear Anti-Roll Bar
Tracker
Standard SC Elise is actually faster to 60 than the Exige 220, lighter and less down force.
I had a Chim 450, loved it but got sick of the handling (or complete lack there of) and "niggles". First up I bought an Elise R and it was faster everywhere than the Chim, including in a straight line, but in the twisties it was amazing. Eventually I got sick of lack of overtaking ability of the R (you really have to wind them up to overtake) so I test drove some SC cars. Eventually settled on a Europa S with the 225 upgrade - much more civilised, can hold a conversation easily up to 1.2 leptons+, still handles like a lotus and the turbo makes for effortless overtaking. I love it, guess what I would recommend
Oh, and now that Randy has the ECU issues sorted you can take the Europa to over 400bhp, something you can't do with any of the elise variants due to g'box issues (unless you go mental and spend a huge amount on an Audi conversion)
Marty
I had a Chim 450, loved it but got sick of the handling (or complete lack there of) and "niggles". First up I bought an Elise R and it was faster everywhere than the Chim, including in a straight line, but in the twisties it was amazing. Eventually I got sick of lack of overtaking ability of the R (you really have to wind them up to overtake) so I test drove some SC cars. Eventually settled on a Europa S with the 225 upgrade - much more civilised, can hold a conversation easily up to 1.2 leptons+, still handles like a lotus and the turbo makes for effortless overtaking. I love it, guess what I would recommend
Oh, and now that Randy has the ECU issues sorted you can take the Europa to over 400bhp, something you can't do with any of the elise variants due to g'box issues (unless you go mental and spend a huge amount on an Audi conversion)
Marty
I currently have an Elise 'R' and a Tuscan S.
I love them both but the Elise on the right road really is magic.
However you will need to put an exhaust on to make up some of the defecit in aural pleasure versus the TVR. Both R and SC are far too quiet as standard.
R engine is brilliant for an Elise, feels even more banzai than the SC. It's a matter of taste. Personally I love the high rev v-tech lunacy.
I love them both but the Elise on the right road really is magic.
However you will need to put an exhaust on to make up some of the defecit in aural pleasure versus the TVR. Both R and SC are far too quiet as standard.
R engine is brilliant for an Elise, feels even more banzai than the SC. It's a matter of taste. Personally I love the high rev v-tech lunacy.
The Pits said:
R engine is brilliant for an Elise, feels even more banzai than the SC. It's a matter of taste. Personally I love the high rev v-tech lunacy.
It is a matter of preference as with everything. The power of the SC cars is more accessable, more of the time and you can be lazier with the gears if you are not in the mood but still want to make good progress. Coming from a TVR I would have said the SC cars would be a better bet and probably less of a driving style change from a torquey TVR.I have an Exige S and a Rover V8 engined TVR, love them both for very different reasons. As mentioned by one already, the Lotus will see the TVR off point to point quite easily as the handling is just mega.
If you want to get something that sounds like a TVR then don't get one, doesn't matter what exhaust you put on it won't help! Personally, I prefer to hear the SC whine over the exhaust note.
I guess for me the Elise is not a lazy driving style sort of car.
If I'm out in the Elise I'm out to give it a bootful, it's not a car I'd contort myself into just to go for a gentle lope.
I suppose the SC gives you the option of making decent progress in a more relaxed and relaxing manner. So it has a broader repertoire.
However I find with only 840kgs to push around the lower cam on the R engine feels decently torquey to me. And I love motorcycles so the high revving thing is part of the pleasure. After back to back test drives I went for the 'R' over the SC but being honest that was taking the extra money into account. The SC is faster of course and feels more solid on the road but when the R is 'on it' it's very satisfying and feels, briefly, just as quick. That's 'feels' not claiming it is actually as quick.
And I have to admit to be considering getting an Elise SC too!
You can make the toyota sound amazing for a four cylinder but it'll always be a four cylinder. I agree the supercharger whine might add a little something too. But no four can compete with a V8 or Straight Six for noise. I fitted a quicksilver titanium on my Elise and it sounded amazing, it's exciting and race car like but it was painfully droney on the motorway, so much so I had to get rid of it.
Going from TVR to Elise/Exige means just accepting the drop in the noise department. But the Loti make up for it in other areas.
I love them both and I'd struggling to decide which to get rid of, if I had to. The TVR is way better than most cynics might imagine. It's super fast, agile, responsive, light (only 1100kg) and being quite narrow great for british roads. It also has great steering, lovely pedals and a fantastic gearchange.
Both are ear to ear grin machines but for really attacking your favourite road the Lotus is hard to beat.
If I'm out in the Elise I'm out to give it a bootful, it's not a car I'd contort myself into just to go for a gentle lope.
I suppose the SC gives you the option of making decent progress in a more relaxed and relaxing manner. So it has a broader repertoire.
However I find with only 840kgs to push around the lower cam on the R engine feels decently torquey to me. And I love motorcycles so the high revving thing is part of the pleasure. After back to back test drives I went for the 'R' over the SC but being honest that was taking the extra money into account. The SC is faster of course and feels more solid on the road but when the R is 'on it' it's very satisfying and feels, briefly, just as quick. That's 'feels' not claiming it is actually as quick.
And I have to admit to be considering getting an Elise SC too!
You can make the toyota sound amazing for a four cylinder but it'll always be a four cylinder. I agree the supercharger whine might add a little something too. But no four can compete with a V8 or Straight Six for noise. I fitted a quicksilver titanium on my Elise and it sounded amazing, it's exciting and race car like but it was painfully droney on the motorway, so much so I had to get rid of it.
Going from TVR to Elise/Exige means just accepting the drop in the noise department. But the Loti make up for it in other areas.
I love them both and I'd struggling to decide which to get rid of, if I had to. The TVR is way better than most cynics might imagine. It's super fast, agile, responsive, light (only 1100kg) and being quite narrow great for british roads. It also has great steering, lovely pedals and a fantastic gearchange.
Both are ear to ear grin machines but for really attacking your favourite road the Lotus is hard to beat.
The Pits said:
If I'm out in the Elise I'm out to give it a bootful, it's not a car I'd contort myself into just to go for a gentle lope.
You can make the toyota sound amazing for a four cylinder but it'll always be a four cylinder. I agree the supercharger whine might add a little something too. But no four can compete with a V8 or Straight Six for noise. I fitted a quicksilver titanium on my Elise and it sounded amazing, it's exciting and race car like but it was painfully droney on the motorway, so much so I had to get rid of it.
The TVR is way better than most cynics might imagine. It's super fast, agile, responsive, light (only 1100kg) and being quite narrow great for british roads. It also has great steering, lovely pedals and a fantastic gearchange.
Both are ear to ear grin machines but for really attacking your favourite road the Lotus is hard to beat.
Totally agree with most of your points. I also don't cruise around in the Lotus, it comes out to be driven in a spirited way on suitable roads and I have yet to find a better car to do it in. I have also driven, and been driven, in NA cars and for sure they are great and plenty quick enough but you do need typically in a gear lower than the SC cars to get the same poke out of the corners. I know however that there is sometimes nothing more satisfying than wringing the neck of what you are driving You can make the toyota sound amazing for a four cylinder but it'll always be a four cylinder. I agree the supercharger whine might add a little something too. But no four can compete with a V8 or Straight Six for noise. I fitted a quicksilver titanium on my Elise and it sounded amazing, it's exciting and race car like but it was painfully droney on the motorway, so much so I had to get rid of it.
The TVR is way better than most cynics might imagine. It's super fast, agile, responsive, light (only 1100kg) and being quite narrow great for british roads. It also has great steering, lovely pedals and a fantastic gearchange.
Both are ear to ear grin machines but for really attacking your favourite road the Lotus is hard to beat.
Great comment on the exhaust, I have heard that before but having not changed mine I didn't know for sure.
Also agree with your TVR comments. The handling is better than they are given credit for.
Think I would have to sell a leg before selling either of mine
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