Lotus 160 should i....need all your help!

[mister kevlar]

Hi everyone, ive been checking all these posts here for a while, i am considering buying a lotus elise 160 s reg. Ive been offered a px on my car which is helpful, but the cash side is a bit more than i really wanted to spend. So my question is..should i do it?! ive got some points i need answering and i know you lot love helping others out..

Whats the deal with the service on loutus abc??! how often do they need doing? can someone give me a precise answer!! whats the 160 all about, how does it differ so much from the normal elise, is it a practical everyday and winter car as my girlfriend would have to sell her shopping cart to help fund this car! any lady drivers out there with thoughts on upgradeing from a euro box to a nice car

So thats it i think..oh yes! any good insurance links, im baffled my girlfriend has 5 years ncb aged 28 im 29 no ncb (due to my classic insurance) and my quote for insurance was ruffly the same!!!..ok guys over to you!..thanks

[bogie]

the service intervals are shorter on the 160 - every 6K miles

A service is basically oil/filter change and check everything

B service is same + spark plugs and fluids

C service same as B + cambelt

order is AABAACAABAAC

so biggy every 36K miles

prices around

A £180
B £270
C £550 from either Wilsons lotus or specialist like Sinclaires

lots of differences with the S160 - see my friend Dans site here www.enticknapd.fsnet.co.uk/index.htm

basically lightly ported head, different cams, ECU , sorted suspension, seats etc amongst others

insurance - varies, Im with Barclaycard, but others to try are Esteem (AON), Tescos

HTH
bogie

[mister kevlar]

At last a straight answer!! interestingly car im interested in has 35k on clock so could be that c comeing up, i will find out!

Looked at your friends site-i dont even want to know what happened in that 2nd elise he had

Thanks again for your help appreciate that..

[seanster]

But....

Surely an S reg 160 wouldn't be the Sport 160 but a modified version of a standard elise. Something like the Bell & Colvill super 160 ?

Looked at one of these myself. The Sport 160 was £600 for the insurance but couldn't get a quote for the super 160.

Any thoughts ?

[malbon]

Sean your right. the original 160 AFAIK replaced the 111s in 2000 so I guess the plates will be only on W,X,Y

Does anyone know why the service intervals are shorter ?

[mister kevlar]

Hi all this is interesting! heres the actual car im interested in so what do you all think! www.pistonheads.com/sales/detail.asp?i=12414&sc=UTNX&s=12

[malbon]

looks ok for the money.

don't confuse it with an original lotus sport 160 though.

It's just a standard car with probably the bell and collvill super 160 upgrade. get an insurance qoute first as upgraded cars are often harder or more to insure than standard more powerful cars.

go and test drive it. plenty of people use them throughout the winter.

go for it.

[mister kevlar]

Hi guys! ok seller informed me it was a demonstrator from B & C i presume this was a good thing!! also had 2 lotus owners club members to...any input welcome..oh as its a base model i presume its service only every 9k? sellers informs me this is the case and the big un is at 54k...interested ti hear what you lot say!

[DanH]

Well the B&C 160 didn't ever make 160 bhp IIRC (happy to be corrected but thats how I remember it). As to demonstrators, you'll have to see how it drives. I tend to avoid them as a lot of dealers let people thrash them without a proper warm up. They don't all do that, but I'm wary...

Its no longer a base car when tuned like that, but dunno what that does to the service intervals. Ring B&C and ask?

Obviously you'll need to tell insurers its modded too, which may make it a tad harder to insure.