Exige practicality as a daily

[Havoc856]

Hi everybody,

I've been toying with getting a Lotus in one way shape or form for the last 6yrs. I've currently got a Ford Focus RS Mk2 that i've owned from the off and keep defaulting back to it as being rather good at everything. I've decided after a fairly hefty uprooting recently that i should stop procrastinating as i'm not getting any younger and life is decidedly unpredictable.

I'm in the Army and have a German Shepherd so i normally have at least a big bag or a big dog in the passenger seat... This burning drive for a Lotus isn't going away though. I've driven all of the Elise/Exige cars and found every one from a 111S to a 260 RGB to be a riot. They're.... well, they're just a little small - this would be my only car... and i'm sure you can see where this is going...

So my RS is 1450kg with 400bhp... the Evora (apparently) is 1400kg with 276bhp... Exige is circa.900kg with 260bhp... The Evora does have ample space for aforementioned furry and bag, the Exige.. well i see it as a choice between the two. I can't stretch to a supercharged Evora. Dare i say on paper it seems a little slow - i'm yet to get in one (although this is coming shortly). Whereas the Exige is bang on in everything except space.

I'm not overly bothered about paper stats.. its how it drives that is important to me, but i do want decent performance.

Basically i'm posting this for both Evora and Elise/Exige forums to try to put together a balanced view on things from owners opinions.

[Jonty355]

As a pure driving experience, you cannot beat the Exige. I've driven a Evore Sport Racer and it was very nice. Quick car that handled well and feels great fun to drive, but no where near as much fun as an Exige.

If I want a blast I would always go for the Exige over the Evora. I can potter along in the Exige and still be excited by it. Apart from the lower stance and driving position, at normal road speeds the Evora probably wouldn't feel that much more different to the Focus, except, slower.

However, if I were to choose one to drive as a daily, I dare say the newness of the Exiges thrill may get a little tiresome. Getting in and out of it is a pain, mine is even worse having the harnesses and I'd probably opt for the Evora. If you're not driving it every single day though, then if stuff will fit, the Exige. More of a buzz at any speed, better handling, better looking and more economical!

[LimaDelta]

I used an Exige as a daily for 2 1/2 years. No problems at all, however I was a lot younger back then (2006-2008), and didn't have a large dog to consider... You can squeeze a surprising amount in the boot though, the opening is small but it extends right into the rear flanks.

[mario328]

My Exige V6 is a daily driver - well 3 days a week -every week, had sleet and hail stones on it yesterday.

[Havoc856]

Cheers for the info.

Pretty much sums up my previous thoughts of it is a good daily just that i need to work out if i have enough space to house the woofa.

[Mark83]

I couldn't live with my Exige as a daily.

It's little things that would annoy. Someone parks too close to you in a car park and you can't get in it. You need the doors wide open to climb into the car, and out (or maybe that's just me). You'd probably need two sets of wheels for normal driving as my A048s don't like the cold or wet or run a proper road tyre. I drove mine to work once (London). It's not good in stop start traffic, visibility is limited and the hard ride doesn't suit broken roads. Mine has harnesses so that can be a pain if I want to adjust the a/c or radio. It was also built in Norfolk so don't expect German build quality.

On the right day though, I love my S2 Exige S.

[RYH64E]

It's not so much a case of could you, more a case of why would you? My Elise hasn't left the garage since October, it's coming round to the time of the year when there's no better car to drive, but for the last few months that's been far from the case.

[simpo555]

Forget the dog. It won't work.

Other than that Elise/ Exige are usable as a daily. Just depends on your tolerance levels.

Still best as a back up car. Cheap hack for the boring stuff and the Lotus when you want to enjoy yourself. There is nothing like it, but it's not for everyone. Once you're hooked, it's for life.

[gashead1105]

When I use the V6 as a daily, I can't hack seeing the fuel gauge visibly drop every time I start it. Whereas when it's being used for fun I don't care!

[John D.]

A German Shepherd in the passenger seat

[denisb]

Drove my Exige S2 for over a year round the M25. No problems and a lot more practical than the motorbike!

Best two memories were -

Driving sideways up a hill on the M25 in the snow...car is so short it still fitted in the lane...I think...couldn't see any road really
Parking in a parent and child spot, getting a load of abuse from women about "typical man" etc, getting 4 year old daughter out of passenger seat, suddenly getting a different level of interest from aforementioned women

The ONLY 'reliability' issues I had were -

Air con radiator sprung a leak
Rear clam developed a couple of cracks for no apparent reason

So, more reliable than my very expensive BMW motorbike then.


Would do it all over again without a seconds hesitation.

[Autopilot]

To be fair, I could use my V6 as a daily driver. Yes, the getting in and out thing is a little tiring, but when you're in the fun starts so it's not that big a deal. I have an electric garage door so dare say I'd get a bit more tired of it if I had to get in the car, out the car and then back in before I went anywhere.

On the dog front, it categorically won't fit in the car. I dropped my male Dobermann off at the vets one morning in my old S2 and while he did manage to clamber in, he couldn't actually sit down and kind of had his butt resting against the back of the seat and his face in the windscreen and had to stand. He wasn't fully grown and is fairly small by male Dobe standards anyway and he was in the car for literally 5 minutes while I dropped him off (on a lovely sunny day) before doing a few client visits. I wouldn't put him in the car again.

[EliseNick]

Havoc856 said:

I'm in the Army and have a German Shepherd so i normally have at least a big bag or a big dog in the passenger seat.

I used to give my sister's sadly missed rough collie a lift in my Elise from time to time. Roof off, he loved it, because he was a complete poser. So we would drive down the high street with him bolt upright, smug as smug can be. But once we hit the dual carriageway, and got over about 55 mph, he would try to sit on my knee, which wasn't ideal. I'd only be able to select odd numbered gears. Not really recommended.

[Si_man306]

Ran a 2006 exige S2 for 2 years, daily driver, 70 mile commute + weekends. Pretty much standard.

Pro's
Awesome looking
Best driver position i've had
Boot is fine for almost all shopping
Getting in and out I also found fine (i'm 6/3") and enjoyed the drama
Coming back to the car having people taking pictures of it and kids saying things like 'wow! a racing car!' Never got old.
The noise/ pops/ bangs (With a lotus track exhaust on)

Cons
A048's are not a daily tyre- wet and cold performance close to unusable (IMHO)
Poor driver visibility- especially rear quarter for pulling out/slip roads etc
Probax seats I found insanely uncomfortable (6 hours of driving first day I got it and I actually has sores all over my back)
Tinnitus (with the exhaust to be fair)
Knee pain
You will feel a jolt every time you so much as drive over an ant.

Overall, it never gave me confidence on the road. I found the rear end twitchy and the engine felt too high up- which it is really. My 306 rallye track car and later modified 350z felt a much better place to be on a B-road, which doesn't agree with the reviews- but was my own opinion.

Everything creaked and squeaked and i'm a bit too OCD not to let that get to me. Things improved dramatically with traction control (can only be retrofitted to the 2006 model on), road tyres, ear plugs for long journeys and a walshy day (carlimits.com) which was invaluable and should be supplied as standard when you buy the car!

I'd have another and am even hankering after an S3 but there are more comfortable and faster and safer ways to get about the UK- but none of them are quite as 'cool'.....

[walm]

I used an Exige S2 S daily for just over a year or so.

For the dog, I would seriously try to borrow some sort of Elise variant for a decent drive and put the fella in it.
Then you will find out what he gets up to.
I believe there are some sort of doggy harnesses you can get to help restrain him in case he tries to change gears or help with handbrake turns or something.

The only advice I would have is:
- Get a 2bular and TRD airbox.
- AO48s are a joke in the wet. I was happy with Toyo T1Rs.
- DO NOT JUST HAVE A HARNESS. You want to be able to look out the left hand side. Make sure there's a regular seat belt.
- Get PDC/rear camera - if you have a supercharger.
- Make sure the aircon works before you buy - it's a clam off, nightmare job.

I still miss that car.

[otolith]

My GSD used to fit in my Elise when he was a pup.



No chance at all now.

[blueg33]

Evora is more comfortable and is fine as a daily. I have had Exige's as loan cars and as a daily they would be bloody annoying, just getting in and out was irritating

[otolith]

The ingress and exit are only really annoying if you are an occasional user. If you use it regularly, it becomes as easy as anything else, assuming you are able bodied and not too large.

[blueg33]

Fair enough, I guess, but I found it much harder than the Evora especially when wearing a suit. I am 6ft tall if that's a factor

[otolith]

Tallness won't help, but it's mostly "the knack". I find it difficult to get in the passenger side, because I hardly ever do it - as difficult as I found the driver's side when I first bought the car.