Which would you buy?

[NPG2000]

Hi Everyone,

I am saving up to buy an Elise in January 2004...I currently drive a Mk1 Clio 172, but am looking for something quicker....I am toying between these:

Mk1 111s
MK2 Sport Tourer

I plan to use the car mainly at weekends etc....

I have about £18,500 to spend....what would you guys suggest I purchase? And why?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[DanH]

Drive them and see which you prefer! The differences are obvious!

[Davey S1]

Personally would go fot the S1 111s.

I have an S1 and prefer the looks. Also if it is only going to be a weekend car the S1 has a little bit more rawness to it which is a plus if you dont have to do lots of miles for an everyday car.

[xsaravtr]

I would go for the S2... Looks better and the engine is more tunable than the VVC lump in the 111s...

[aled]

I had a similar choice when I brought mine!!

I went for the S2!!

You can always modify this!!

You cant make an S1 an S2!!!

Just my opinion!!

[bobble hat]

Not wanting to sound to creepy towards them but , JCT600 in leeds have purchased quite a few EX-LOTUS S2 ELISES from the factory , collected my car from service last week and there was a transporter there deliving about 6 of em. Not bad looking motors either. Personally if your buying an elise i would go with the S2 as it is 90% a brand new car not just a mismatch of the old one and it handles better.

[DanH]

Depends what you want. The S2 is more sorted as a road car and has slightly safer handling for the road. On the track it has a bit more understeer than you'd really want. Thing is road and track have differing requirements. You can resolve this by putting on new wheels & tyres & shocks, but its very pricey and it then ends up compromised for the road.

If you plan mostly to use it on the road, then the S2 is a better car in most every way. Standard suspension setup is better, car is better put together, more comfortable and is basically an evolution of the S1. If you plan to be a trackday nutter, then the S1 might be a better choice. The reason they made the changes they did to the S2 was/is the number of S1s that are now hedge ornaments. If you are a great driver you may be ok, but its bloody hard to catch an Elise on a narrow british road (speaking from bitter experience).

As to standard vs VVC tuneability, whilst its true the standard can be easier to tune, with the VVC if you want all that power they can just junk the VVC mech and you then already have the larger valved head (which will still need porting/flowing admitedly).

Thing is a lot of people talk about tuning, but then don't do anything more than exhaust/induction. Tuning the engine properly is pricey, and doesn't do much for the value of your car (tends to make them harder to sell in fact).

[mh1]

Dead simple - everyday car S2, weekend/track day car S1
I got the former and have been impressed at how liveable with it is day to day but still good on track

[elisesport]

Why not look at a Sport 160. Plenty of power so no need to mod and it comes with sport suspension as standard.

Don't believe all the crap that's spouted about 160's either, I had one for 2 years and it was excellent. For an honest opinion talk to someone who has one.

[bobble hat]

well said elisesport but its not really livable day to day it would rattle your teeth out. I would imagine for day to day or reasonable regular use an S2 is probably the way to go.

[DanH]

elisesport said:

Don't believe all the crap that's spouted about 160's either, I had one for 2 years and it was excellent. For an honest opinion talk to someone who has one.

Don't you mean for a biased opinion?

[clanger]

Yep with elisesport on this one have tried all S1 & S2 variants (except S2 sports 190) and a sorted s160 is the best Elise made to date IMHO - but then again, they are all cracking little cars - enjoy whichever model you own - they are all unbeatable value for money

[cuzza]

As you want to use it for weekends only then the S160 should be fine. The best balance for the road and track is supposedly the 135R.

Youir budget will happily get an S1 135R or 160 but won't get you an S2 135R. All these special variants are quite rare though so you may have to travel to get a good'un.

[Nightmare]

personally id still get and S2 cos I think the ergonomics generally are better.

You could drive an S1 and S2 for weeks back to back and pick out a few little differences in their driving and on-road ablilities, but not much more. I am basing this on the fact that either will be so diferent from you 172 (no faster mind you)that everything will seem totally new!

However...overa bit of time, having a sodding shelf and speakers you can actually hear makes more of a 'real' difference than whether it starts to under or oversteer first....

[apprentice]

Chris if you haven't already done so - do the homework so that when Jan comes around you are "tooled-up" with the knowledge. Sift through and get the unbiased facts.

Suggest you start here www.elises.co.uk and then frequent www.seloc.org along with
www.british-cars.co.uk

Once instilled with the know how - drive as many as possible to get a feel for which ones going to suit you. Be careful though as the desire level builds up to the point of no return!

apprentice