choices

[dan2000]

i currently own a 190bhp rs2000, and am shortly buying an Elise, but im not sure what model to go for.
is there a big difference between S, 135R, 111s, performance wise. if i brought an S would i be dissapointed??? any help would be great

[bogie]

The S is 120bhp, 135R is 135-40ish and the 111s is 156bhp.

Add the usual bolt ons for noise improvement like exhaust, manifold, cat pipe or sports cat and induction kit and you get something like:

S 130/135bhp
135R 145bhp
111S 160-65bhp

The S will be quite nippy up to 80mph, and after that about as quick as an avg 1.6 or 2L car at motorway speed....after driving your RS it may not impress you enough as far as straight line speed goes.

The 135R pulls better to the redline and has a bit more torque....but is the fastest on track as it comes with the Lotus Sport Suspension, OZ wheels and Yokos as std

The 111S has the VVC engine and if you dont want to modify further than a few bolt ons and will use it a lot on the road then its the one to go for IMHO

Figures for them are something like

120bhp - 0-60 in 5.8 0-100 in 18secs
135bhp - 0-60 in 5.4 0-100 in 15.5secs
156bhp - 0-60 in 5.1 0-100 in 14secs

so as you can see 0-60 dont change that much...but the extra power makes most difference 60-100mph.

On the new cars the 'S' pack signifies leccy windows, carpets, central locking, sun visors, leather trim etc.

Are you keen to buy new? if you are looking at getting an S2 to mod and use on track IMHO youd be better off buying one for £18-20K and then spending the spare dosh on sorting it

There are some great cars out there - see the classifeds here and on www.seloc.org...as well as the usual Autotrader

HTH

bogie

[dan2000]

thanks mate, i looking for a used mk1(prefere the look) but want to keep it standerd apart from bolt ons, moddded my rs and its a bit of a pain to drive on normal roads.

[bogie]

Depending on budget then Id go for as new an S1 111S as you can afford then ...you get loads of extra bits on them like comfier seats, close ratio gearbox, spoiler etc

[funkygamer]

I thought 111S models already had CR gearbox as standard??

[bogie]

Yep - thats what I meant - the 111S has a cr box...the S2111S dosent though - it has a longer box whereas teh std S2 and 135R have the CR box..just to confuse matters !