My New Car

[hueandcry71]

I had no intention whatsoever of changing my Elan as i loved it UNTIL i got one of those marketing letters from Christopher Neills advertising certain deals. Purely out of curiosity i went there and had a look and liked the look of the Elise Club Racer although the sky bkue was a little too "gay" and i felt it needed some additional colour adding to it. A front splitter and "go faster" stripes immediately sprung to mind.

Incidentally, if you are looking for an Elan, TrACK v ROAD bought mine and i dont think you will find a better one on the road. It is absolutely immaculate with a recent B service and new rear discs and pads.

Picked the car up yesterday, after Steve had picked me up from Northwich station in one of the Evoras. What a magnificent car to see actually on the road and indeed sit in. Sitting in the showroom does not do this car justice. As usual the service from CN has been excellent and if im being honest i probably wouldnt have had so many Lotus` over the years if it wasnt for the fantastic, friendly service from sales, parts and service at CN.

I had prearranged with Track V Road for some stripes to be fitted so had a nice drive up there. If you havent used the services of Track V Road before i would highly recommend doing so. You will not find nicer people offering great service at excellent prices. I really cant thank them enough as they had arranged for a third party to put the stripes on and let me use their premises to do so. This work started around 6pm and finished close to 11pm and not once did the lads look at their watches and wish they were home watching Big Brother.

If you like the stripes and like the look of the standard of work (im very happy with it) give Chad a call on 07743647764, i shopped around and his prices were excellent. He was also very patient as i changed my mind a few times with what i wanted.

I have put a few before and after pictures below, im crap at photography so im not really doing the car or the work done justice. My hardtop hasnt arrived yet either so will need to fit that when it does arrive.

A piece of advice that i wouldnt mind would be what should i do now i have taken LOTUS off the back. The letters didnt look right with the stripes. Is there a round Lotus badge avavilable that would go in the centre of the black stripe?

Hope you like the pics

[hueandcry71]

riwiho said:

Really nice looking car there. I think the stripes are a great addition and really like the red link from the air intake on the side.

Am I correct in thinking the Club Racer is a S underneath?

Its Gulf Orange not RED !!! Im an Everton fan and would never have red on my car (apart from the first Lotus i had which was red cos you bought the silver one before me) It does look red on the photographs though.

Yes mate, basically its an S.

[The Bandit]

Very nice mate

Exige Club Racer striped theme?
Great little car made even better with a decent exhaust(Larini Sport here)

[hueandcry71]

The Bandit said:

Very nice mate

Exige Club Racer striped theme?
Great little car made even better with a decent exhaust(Larini Sport here)

I did use the Exige Racer as my blueprint but wanted a little bit of orange thrown in the mix. I was going to have the thinner stripes in orange but didnt like it when i tried them on.

The exhaust is on my list of things to do, the one on now is very very quiet. How much can i expect to pay for a decent exhaust?

[kazste]

Car looks fantastic. For badge at rear I'm not sure of you can get them but what about the black lotus badges both front and rear. Would almost look not there until closer look against the black stripe. Keep wondering about getting some for my elise but not sure how easy it is to remove the current badge.

Do you have a rough guide to pricing as I have vinyl sections on my car and could do with replacing the front vinyl due to wear, was put on in the showroom and not paid for by me so don't know what it cost.

[anonymous-user]

For a while Lotus did do a round badge at the back rather than the lettering, think it was about 2003-4. Given that the back panel is a curved surface and the badge is flat it can look odd on some colours.

[The Bandit]

hueandcry71 said:

The Bandit said:

Very nice mate

Exige Club Racer striped theme?
Great little car made even better with a decent exhaust(Larini Sport here)

I did use the Exige Racer as my blueprint but wanted a little bit of orange thrown in the mix. I was going to have the thinner stripes in orange but didnt like it when i tried them on.

The exhaust is on my list of things to do, the one on now is very very quiet. How much can i expect to pay for a decent exhaust?

I paid about £450 inc VAT for the exhaust and £40 to get it fitted.
Elise Shop is a better bet than from Larini direct http://www.elise-shop.com/larini-sports-system-eli...
Its loud enough with plenty of pops,bangs and farts

If you want something quieter then look at a 2bular 8" system

[hueandcry71]

riwiho said:

hueandcry71 said:

riwiho said:

Really nice looking car there. I think the stripes are a great addition and really like the red link from the air intake on the side.

Am I correct in thinking the Club Racer is a S underneath?

Its Gulf Orange not RED !!! Im an Everton fan and would never have red on my car (apart from the first Lotus i had which was red cos you bought the silver one before me) It does look red on the photographs though.

Yes mate, basically its an S.

Haha. Sorry, I should have known better. It does look quality though, very unique. Do you plan to keep her a while?

I'm at the start of a S1 hunt, when I manage to get it sorted a NW run will have to be on the cards.

Enjoy the motor.

My 5 year old daughter asked if she could have it next year when i get fed up with it, says it all about me and my cars really!!

Instead of an S1 wouldnt you consider an Elan? Very under rated car the Elan. If i had two garages i would have kept the one ive just sold. Superb car.

[hueandcry71]

kazste said:

Car looks fantastic. For badge at rear I'm not sure of you can get them but what about the black lotus badges both front and rear. Would almost look not there until closer look against the black stripe. Keep wondering about getting some for my elise but not sure how easy it is to remove the current badge.

Do you have a rough guide to pricing as I have vinyl sections on my car and could do with replacing the front vinyl due to wear, was put on in the showroom and not paid for by me so don't know what it cost.

I paid £170 for my stripes. I got quoted upwards of £250 from two other places so i consider that quite good.

To be honest, i may leave it without a badge on the back. Ive been to Birmingham and back today with quite a few traffic jams and its amusing to look in my rear mirror and lip read people asking each other what type of car it is.

[hueandcry71]

The Bandit said:

hueandcry71 said:

The Bandit said:

Very nice mate

Exige Club Racer striped theme?
Great little car made even better with a decent exhaust(Larini Sport here)

I did use the Exige Racer as my blueprint but wanted a little bit of orange thrown in the mix. I was going to have the thinner stripes in orange but didnt like it when i tried them on.

The exhaust is on my list of things to do, the one on now is very very quiet. How much can i expect to pay for a decent exhaust?

I paid about £450 inc VAT for the exhaust and £40 to get it fitted.
Elise Shop is a better bet than from Larini direct http://www.elise-shop.com/larini-sports-system-eli...
Its loud enough with plenty of pops,bangs and farts

If you want something quieter then look at a 2bular 8" system

Just been listening to a few on Youtube and think i prefer the Lotus Stage 2, perhaps its the quality of the recordings but it didnt sound that loud??

[Jasandjules]

That is a very tasty looking toy. Congrats!

[kazste]

I listened to a stage 2 for my elise s at local dealers, admittedly it was on an exige s bit man o man was it loud. Was having a listen to see of the wife would kill me and decided that it was too much. Can't even begin to think what stage 3 is like. Listen to it on a car not just recordings as could be a costly mistake. I've kept mine standard and whilst not ruling out a change I quite like the way it sounds as standard.

[Grinnders]

mmmm. Gulf colour scheme would have been nice with a subtle adjustment to the logo.

[Carlique]

I'm loving the stripes !!! Really transforms the look of the car

[Carlique]

I'm loving the stripes !!! Really transforms the look of the car

[hueandcry71]

Carlique said:

I'm loving the stripes !!! Really transforms the look of the car

I have some spare in my garage if you want them!!

[Carlique]

hueandcry71 said:

Carlique said:

I'm loving the stripes !!! Really transforms the look of the car

I have some spare in my garage if you want them!!

I'd absolutely love them, But I'll need to buy a Elise first ... Thanks for the offer though.

I'm currently looking for an awesome looking/sounding/performing sports car on a £15k budget so I've been scouring the lotus forums for info on s2 Elise's looking for the best model for a lotus noobie. How are you finding it ? any regrets?

[S Works]

That looks cool, nice choice. Let's have a look at the interior. How are the seats?

Re: the badge, I'm sure any decent vinyl company near you should be able to take a Lotus logo and do you one in B&W or Black & Silver, and you can just stick the roundel on (and take it off if you don't like it!

[hueandcry71]

S Works said:

That looks cool, nice choice. Let's have a look at the interior. How are the seats?

Re: the badge, I'm sure any decent vinyl company near you should be able to take a Lotus logo and do you one in B&W or Black & Silver, and you can just stick the roundel on (and take it off if you don't like it!

The seats are great, i find them really comfortable.

Not taken too many pics of the interior.