Little old Elise with go faster racing stripes
Discussion
Absolutely love this little old thing already and I only collected it a few days ago! So it was out with the Porsche GTS, and in with the “new” summer toy!
I had really been hankering for something raw and analogue again (with a manual gearbox), and realising that a 2 seater sports car is perfectly suitable as a weekend car for me, I was totally fixed on getting an Elise. I’ve wanted one since signing up to the SELOC forums in 2016.
This is an S2 Elise 111R / R with the reliable 189bhp Toyota engine. One of the things I love most is you can pretty much use all the power and feel fully involved. This is definitely more me. It’s great to be back in something old and manual!
I had really been hankering for something raw and analogue again (with a manual gearbox), and realising that a 2 seater sports car is perfectly suitable as a weekend car for me, I was totally fixed on getting an Elise. I’ve wanted one since signing up to the SELOC forums in 2016.
This is an S2 Elise 111R / R with the reliable 189bhp Toyota engine. One of the things I love most is you can pretty much use all the power and feel fully involved. This is definitely more me. It’s great to be back in something old and manual!
Is this the reason the weather forecast has changed to rain for the next few days?
That looks ace. I presume this is one the sports racer editions? The toyota engined Elises are very easy cars to live with. It's great being able to plan any kind of adventure in them without really having to give any thought to mechanical gremlins. Much as I love my S1 K-series, I did have a few too many AA call outs. My S2 Exige has been boringly reliable! 8000+ rpm is nice too
I presume it's a major contrast from the Porsche? When I had my S1, I had a gen 1 Cayman S as a curtesy car for a short while while the lotus was having some damage repaired. Was really interesting stepping from one straight into the other. The Porsche was a great mix of brilliant dynamics, noise and incredible practicality but after a week, I was desperate to get the Elise back. It had never felt lighter or more involving! Though, being greedy, I'd quite happily have kept both!
That looks ace. I presume this is one the sports racer editions? The toyota engined Elises are very easy cars to live with. It's great being able to plan any kind of adventure in them without really having to give any thought to mechanical gremlins. Much as I love my S1 K-series, I did have a few too many AA call outs. My S2 Exige has been boringly reliable! 8000+ rpm is nice too
I presume it's a major contrast from the Porsche? When I had my S1, I had a gen 1 Cayman S as a curtesy car for a short while while the lotus was having some damage repaired. Was really interesting stepping from one straight into the other. The Porsche was a great mix of brilliant dynamics, noise and incredible practicality but after a week, I was desperate to get the Elise back. It had never felt lighter or more involving! Though, being greedy, I'd quite happily have kept both!
Gad-Westy said:
Is this the reason the weather forecast has changed to rain for the next few days?
That looks ace. I presume this is one the sports racer editions? The toyota engined Elises are very easy cars to live with. It's great being able to plan any kind of adventure in them without really having to give any thought to mechanical gremlins. Much as I love my S1 K-series, I did have a few too many AA call outs. My S2 Exige has been boringly reliable! 8000+ rpm is nice too
I presume it's a major contrast from the Porsche? When I had my S1, I had a gen 1 Cayman S as a curtesy car for a short while while the lotus was having some damage repaired. Was really interesting stepping from one straight into the other. The Porsche was a great mix of brilliant dynamics, noise and incredible practicality but after a week, I was desperate to get the Elise back. It had never felt lighter or more involving! Though, being greedy, I'd quite happily have kept both!
I actually viewed a Sports Racer but that specific one needed too much work so I passed. The differences with those Sports Racers is dark blue colour scheme with painted white stripes, white wing mirrors, some blue stitching on the seat head rests, traction control, and both touring and sports pack, plus hard top.That looks ace. I presume this is one the sports racer editions? The toyota engined Elises are very easy cars to live with. It's great being able to plan any kind of adventure in them without really having to give any thought to mechanical gremlins. Much as I love my S1 K-series, I did have a few too many AA call outs. My S2 Exige has been boringly reliable! 8000+ rpm is nice too
I presume it's a major contrast from the Porsche? When I had my S1, I had a gen 1 Cayman S as a curtesy car for a short while while the lotus was having some damage repaired. Was really interesting stepping from one straight into the other. The Porsche was a great mix of brilliant dynamics, noise and incredible practicality but after a week, I was desperate to get the Elise back. It had never felt lighter or more involving! Though, being greedy, I'd quite happily have kept both!
This one is not a Sports Racer- but has factory applied decals (apparently) and hard top from factory. It also has the Touring plus pack which uplifts the interior even more over the regular touring pack. The colour is Magnetic blue which is lighter than the Sports Racer.
But this one also has upgraded and even nicer Lotus Sports forged wheels. It’s not missing anything and I’d argue this particular one is a better spec
(has A/C and traction control fitted too, which of course I switch off)!Compared to the 981 Cayman GTS I had… completely different! The Porsche sounded biblical, was stupidly capable but I always felt it was doing everything for me. You didn’t really have to work for it. Anyone can drive a fast car fast, but not everyone can drive a car fast- I really enjoy working the Lotus- it reminds me of my old 172 Cup which is not a bad thing at all!
Everyone barks on about how good the steering is in a Lotus, and they really are right. I’ve taken it out on a couple of spirited drives already and I love how when you brake or go round a corner you can feel the load on the wheels.
Edited by Prohibiting on Friday 23 May 09:09
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