When is somebody too big for an Elise?

[simpo555]

Have a friend looking for an Elise. However at 6'4 inches tall and 15 stone it seems an impossible dream. He had a go at getting into mine and have to say it looked a little 'awkward' to say the least, and thats being polite. Does anyone have experience in this matter. I should add the hard top is on and I'm not sure if the steering wheel can be adjusted for height. But the sight of him sat in the car just made me think its not faesible. Comments and experiences or solutions appreciated.

[Throttle Body]

Is your friend still in the car, or did you have to call the fire brigade?


The answer to that question might help answer yours.

[kambites]

Depends on how he's built - I've known people taller and heavier than that who can drive them comfortably and shorter and lighter who can't.

What dimensions were the problem?

[Throttle Body]

But more seriously, is his difficulty getting in and out, or that he cannot achieve a decent driving position? I would have thought that the former difficulty might be reduced by removing the hood and fitting a removable steering wheel. The latter difficulty is more serious.

[HereBeMonsters]

S1, no.

S2...maybe.

[tertius]

It will depend entirely on the individual car. I'm around 6'4" and was about 14st 7 when I bought my Elise (lighter now).

Some car/seat combos - e.g. S2 with Corbeau bucket - were hopeless; others- e.g. S2 with Lotus Sport buckets - were absolutely fine.

[iguana]

Hardly think your pal is too large, I'm that height have been 2+stone heavier & fit ok, yes getting in & out is not the easiest, but once in it had more room than my caterham by a long way.

Getting bit too big i reckon would be 6ft6+ or 19stone + area, tho have seen far heavier guys owning em no probs.

[Turn7]

Im same height and probably a bit heavier and found the Elise/Exige to be the most comfortable car Ive ever driven. There is clearly a knack to getting in and out of hardtop cars, but even soft tops its not that hard. Loads of legroom once inside.

[turbotoaster]

well im 6ft3 and about 105kg which i think is 16 1/2 stone so rather on the fat side(diet starts tomorrow)

I needed to make some adjustments to my s1 to be able to drive it easier.

My biggest problem was hands hitting my knees when steering.

To change that i fitted a 280mm steering wheel(stock is 320mm) and fitted a spacer boss and a snap off kit which moved the wheel about 100mm closer to me, this cleared my knees and made it easier to drive.

The next issue i had was because the steering wheel is so small, I can only see 50% of my rev counter/speedo, I have modified the seat to drop me a couple of inches but again its not ideal as ive only increased to being able to see 60%

This will either bother your mate or not.

The only thing ive got left to do now is make new seat brackets to drop me another 10mm and get back to my running weight by loosing 3 stone which i would imagine drop me another 10mm.

One other thing that is useful is to remove the little foot brace on the drivers side, this way he can stretch his clutch leg fully out on long journeys, makes it more comfy.

[kambites]

turbotoaster said:

To change that i fitted a 280mm steering wheel(stock is 320mm) and fitted a spacer boss and a snap off kit which moved the wheel about 100mm closer to me, this cleared my knees and made it easier to drive.

I'm skinny and short (well, under 11 stone and six foot) and had to do something similar - I think it's more down to leg/arm length proportions than absolute height. What I really need is to be able to move the pedals six inches further down the foot-well.

[turbotoaster]

kambites said:

I'm skinny and short (well, under 11 stone and six foot) and had to do something similar - I think it's more down to leg/arm length proportions than absolute height. What I really need is to be able to move the pedals six inches further down the foot-well.

Do you have your seat all the way to the back, mines as far back as possible, but i would like my pedals bit further away purely to lower my knees.

For me I dont think my arms have anything to do it, more to do with my leg/back proportions, the longer my torso is the less of the clocks i see and the more 'on the car' compared to 'in the car', by lowering my back i raise my legs closer to the wheel so I cant win in either way.

Ive already stripped all the foam out of the base of the seat to try and help, only thing i have left is to make an alloy subframe.

It says the OP location is in france, is that the case, if not I was going to say if your mate is near the midlands he can have a sit in mine and see if it suits better

[rb5er]

A mate of mine tried to fit in one at the motor show. He is about 6`6 or so but quite slender. It wasn`t happening, funny to watch though.

[scatty72]

I'm 6ft 4 and 14 stone. Removable steering wheel and a 40mm spacer help no end regarding hitting knees.

[kambites]

turbotoaster said:

kambites said:

I'm skinny and short (well, under 11 stone and six foot) and had to do something similar - I think it's more down to leg/arm length proportions than absolute height. What I really need is to be able to move the pedals six inches further down the foot-well.

Do you have your seat all the way to the back, mines as far back as possible, but i would like my pedals bit further away purely to lower my knees.

Nowhere near. My legs would be comfortable with the seat right back but I can barely even touch the wheel without leaning forwards. The problem is simply that the wheel is too close to the pedals.

[tertius]

kambites said:

turbotoaster said:

kambites said:

I'm skinny and short (well, under 11 stone and six foot) and had to do something similar - I think it's more down to leg/arm length proportions than absolute height. What I really need is to be able to move the pedals six inches further down the foot-well.

Do you have your seat all the way to the back, mines as far back as possible, but i would like my pedals bit further away purely to lower my knees.

Nowhere near. My legs would be comfortable with the seat right back but I can barely even touch the wheel without leaning forwards. The problem is simply that the wheel is too close to the pedals.

Spacer on the wheel boss then? I have that setup.

[Lefty]

Depends more on shape than size. I'm 6'4" and 15 stone and owned a vx220 a few years back with no probs. Elise s1 a bit trickier to get out of but still perfectly usable and comfortable enough.

[kambites]

tertius said:

Spacer on the wheel boss then? I have that setup.

I've got it spaced out about 5cm. Any further and I wont be able to reach the indicators or gear stick. Next job is to get some longer, more angled stalks and a gear stick fabricated.

[grumpy]

6' 2" and 17 1/2 stone. No problem. I fitted a removable steering wheel from a security point of view and I find it easier to get in and out of the wheel fitted to the boss.

[turbotoaster]

kambites said:

I've got it spaced out about 5cm. Any further and I wont be able to reach the indicators or gear stick. Next job is to get some longer, more angled stalks and a gear stick fabricated.

Mines spaced out about 11cm, makes a big difference, you should try it, by a £20 snap off kit off ebay, ive used them before and they work well, it will bring the steering wheel much closer to you and you will benefit from it as the closer the wheel is, the more control you have over it.

For £20 its worth trying it out, unless you have stumpy arms you will be able to reach the stick and stalks, if you need to stretch for the stalks its nto the end of the world as they dont get used every 5 seconds.

Also im going to buy an eliseparts short shifter, on the forums they say you can adjust it so will be moving it to the left slightly, but you could adjust it closer to you, another option for you!

[kambites]

turbotoaster said:

kambites said:

I've got it spaced out about 5cm. Any further and I wont be able to reach the indicators or gear stick. Next job is to get some longer, more angled stalks and a gear stick fabricated.

Mines spaced out about 11cm, makes a big difference, you should try it, by a £20 snap off kit off ebay, ive used them before and they work well, it will bring the steering wheel much closer to you and you will benefit from it as the closer the wheel is, the more control you have over it.

For £20 its worth trying it out, unless you have stumpy arms you will be able to reach the stick and stalks, if you need to stretch for the stalks its nto the end of the world as they dont get used every 5 seconds.

Also im going to buy an eliseparts short shifter, on the forums they say you can adjust it so will be moving it to the left slightly, but you could adjust it closer to you, another option for you!

The problem is I don't like having to take my hands off the wheel to use the indicators.

I've got some of those aluminium indicator stalks, which I intend to increase the bend of to about 45 degrees to see how that works; if not I'll get some custom fabricated. The gear stick I can just bend through about 30 degrees near the base.