Tuscan to Exige 190

[Daston]

Anyone here done it?

Thinking about a change due to the high running costs of the Tiv and my partner (will be wife in 3 weeks) would like a family.

However I feel that I will miss the massive amounts of raw power as well as the noise and drama of the car. However on the flip side I can see lower running costs being a nice bonus for having a car with over 200bhp per ton.

[JACK6284]

Depending upon your budget i would suggest trying the Exige S. After the torque of the Tiv the 190 needs to revved a bit to obtain the best from it.

Mine (190) is very cheap to run with petrol and servicing very reasonable. Great fun and you can still have open air motoring with a softtop conversion which is cheap and easy to do.

Some say, the Exige should stay as a hard top but its easy and quick to swap back and only storage of the roof when off the car can be a small issue.

Try and drive both and see which you prefer. Older, higher mileage 190's from around £16k+ and "S" models from early £20k +

[purpleperil]

Not quite the same but went from a T350 (fourth Tiv) to an Elise and then had to SC the Elise because I missed the torque - still have the Elise 5 years on and don't regret the change. I'm sure there are others that have gone the other way though?

[400SE Dave]

I think you must go for the Exige S or you will miss the mid range punch. The NA Exige has to be revved quite high which is not always practical on 'normal' roads. The Exige S has accesible power pretty much across the whole rev range.

[The Pits]

I currently have both a Tuscan and an Elise with the 190 bhp na engine. I'd say it's entirely doable. Up to around 100 there is noticable difference but it's not enormous, the 190 motor is quicker than you might think, definitely sharp through the first four gears, but it does slow up fairly soon after 100mph. Corners can be taken with reckless abandon compared to the Tuscan at unless it's wet.

However don't think the running costs will be lower. Tax on the Tuscan is £205 a year, £245 for the Elise. Standard services are both around £400-odd and insurance is lower on the Tuscan. Ridiculous but true. Not much in it for fuel consumption either if you're pushing on in the Exige, they are pretty thirsty when driven as their maker intended and have only 18mph per thousand in top gearing too. If you're only doing it for running costs you might be disappointed.

[pthelazyjourno]

The Pits said:

I currently have both a Tuscan and an Elise with the 190 bhp na engine. I'd say it's entirely doable. Up to around 100 there is noticable difference but it's not enormous, the 190 motor is quicker than you might think, definitely sharp through the first four gears, but it does slow up fairly soon after 100mph. Corners can be taken with reckless abandon compared to the Tuscan at unless it's wet.

However don't think the running costs will be lower. Tax on the Tuscan is £205 a year, £245 for the Elise. Standard services are both around £400-odd and insurance is lower on the Tuscan. Ridiculous but true. Not much in it for fuel consumption either if you're pushing on in the Exige, they are pretty thirsty when driven as their maker intended and have only 18mph per thousand in top gearing too. If you're only doing it for running costs you might be disappointed.

'Kin hell, you really pay £400 for a service on an Exige? My last Elise service at a specialist was £150 - fluids, plugs etc etc.

Where on earth is the extra money going, engine and cooling aside it's not like there's anything else to check?