Buying a Lotus - who would check it out?
Discussion
My wife is thinking of buying an Elan M100.
As a TVR owner, I wouldn't bother using the RAC to check out a TVR as its too specialised - I'd use a good independant.
Is this also true of the Lotus Elan? Would we be wasting our money for an RAC engineer to check over a potential car or would that be sufficient? (Obviously I'd also do an HPI check as well)
Thanks in advance
Jon
As a TVR owner, I wouldn't bother using the RAC to check out a TVR as its too specialised - I'd use a good independant.
Is this also true of the Lotus Elan? Would we be wasting our money for an RAC engineer to check over a potential car or would that be sufficient? (Obviously I'd also do an HPI check as well)
Thanks in advance
Jon
waste of money .... sorry but several people who have bought elises have paid for a rac inspection - in each case they have not removed the undertray - which is amazing since many elise have potential problems with steering rack and also exhaust mountings/manifold cracks.
so not a lot of point in my view. Honest john on the Daily Telegraph website often has a buyers guide for each model with what to look for.
if not try www.britich-cars.co.uk - there is an m100 forum and they may know/be someone who can help !
cheers
so not a lot of point in my view. Honest john on the Daily Telegraph website often has a buyers guide for each model with what to look for.
if not try www.britich-cars.co.uk - there is an m100 forum and they may know/be someone who can help !
cheers
If you want to be certain, get an expert opinion!
Any lotus dealer or specialist will do a safety inspection for the cost of an hour's labour. Even at the factory (£65 per hour IIRC) this is cheaper than AA or RAC and will give you all the information you need to know. You just need to ask for a safety inspection as done in an A service - basically a service without fluids.
Any lotus dealer or specialist will do a safety inspection for the cost of an hour's labour. Even at the factory (£65 per hour IIRC) this is cheaper than AA or RAC and will give you all the information you need to know. You just need to ask for a safety inspection as done in an A service - basically a service without fluids.
Well, call me a mug, but the car was in superb condition, the owner had a fully stamped service book and a stack of receipts, and was also a thoroughly good bloke and appeared very trustworthy, and the HPI check was clean, so we, er, well, kind of bought it.
Oops, I must stop doing that with cars.
Oops, I must stop doing that with cars.
quote:
Now all my wife & need to do is justify owning 4 cars.
When you work out what it is let me know. I tell myself that the combined worth of all my cars is less than the depreciation over three years of the one new car I could have bought if I hadn't bought four older cars. The combined cost of two of them is less than one years depreciation on any worthwhile new car.
Well, we picked it up last night. Was meant to be this Saturday but Cosmic couldn't wait! 
I drove it back as she didn't want to drive a strange car for the first time in the dark (fair enough) and I have to say that everything you've read about them is true - stunningly competetant chassis, unreal grip and handling round the corners. Deeply impressive.
I can see why EVO magazine describe it as one of the fastest real-world point-to-point cars around.
I feel that our Corrado VR6 would have it in a straight line as the Elan suffers from a little bit of turbo lag and doesn't have enough torque even when on boost, but its still a very fast little car and inspires even more confidence in its handling than the Corrado, and believe me, that is saying something!
Now if I can just convince Cosmic to go have the boost turned up a bit - I'm told that it is fairly straightforward and reliable to turn to boost up from 165bhp -> 210bhp. That would be more like it!
Cosmic is planning on having a drive today whilst I'm at work, so doubtless part two of this mini-review will follow after that.
I drove it back as she didn't want to drive a strange car for the first time in the dark (fair enough) and I have to say that everything you've read about them is true - stunningly competetant chassis, unreal grip and handling round the corners. Deeply impressive.
I can see why EVO magazine describe it as one of the fastest real-world point-to-point cars around.
I feel that our Corrado VR6 would have it in a straight line as the Elan suffers from a little bit of turbo lag and doesn't have enough torque even when on boost, but its still a very fast little car and inspires even more confidence in its handling than the Corrado, and believe me, that is saying something!
Now if I can just convince Cosmic to go have the boost turned up a bit - I'm told that it is fairly straightforward and reliable to turn to boost up from 165bhp -> 210bhp. That would be more like it!
Cosmic is planning on having a drive today whilst I'm at work, so doubtless part two of this mini-review will follow after that.
Nice pics, sounds like fun, I look forward to seeing Cosmic in it at the next Lady PHers meet! I remember being taken for a ride in a friend's Lotus Europa years ago, cockpit covered in stray wires and dodgy transmission linkage faded away when it started going round corners - on rails really is the only way to describe it!
Told you Jon 
great car and nobody belives you until they've been in one or driven one. One other thing you'll notice is how comfprtable it is. I found that I could easily drive the range of the fuel tank, fill up again and carry on driving and stil feel really refreshed when I arrived.
One pointer for you/your wife: watch your speed until you're used to the car. Its so comfrotable and quiet (esp compared to a Tiv) that you can be belting along at licence losing speeds without noticing. Enjoy
great car and nobody belives you until they've been in one or driven one. One other thing you'll notice is how comfprtable it is. I found that I could easily drive the range of the fuel tank, fill up again and carry on driving and stil feel really refreshed when I arrived. One pointer for you/your wife: watch your speed until you're used to the car. Its so comfrotable and quiet (esp compared to a Tiv) that you can be belting along at licence losing speeds without noticing. Enjoy
Two things I've noticed so far
1) Not enough torque - but I'm used to a 2.9L VR6 and a 5.0L V8
2) Not enough lateral support on the seats. But that's because within 15mins of driving the car I was already cornering harder than I would in the Corrado or Chimaera.
I think its a stonkingly good little car. Its just a pity I'll hardly ever get to drive it now that it's Cosmic's.
1) Not enough torque - but I'm used to a 2.9L VR6 and a 5.0L V8
2) Not enough lateral support on the seats. But that's because within 15mins of driving the car I was already cornering harder than I would in the Corrado or Chimaera.
I think its a stonkingly good little car. Its just a pity I'll hardly ever get to drive it now that it's Cosmic's.
Congrats!
Remember the other sites for M100 owners.
www.british-cars.co.uk
www.lotuselancentral.com
Happy Elaning!
Remember the other sites for M100 owners.
www.british-cars.co.uk
www.lotuselancentral.com
Happy Elaning!
Quite agree on the torque but that is Lotus they always seem to underpower their cars (apart from V8 Esprit). You can get it tuned to 200bhp without any changes to the chip, so I've heard.
The lateral support I found was fine for me in the drivers seat but I'm very skinny and seemed to fit the seat perfectly. Certainly a friend commented that the lateral support wasn't very good when I went round a sharp corner at
MPH 
An amusing anedote: When I first bought the car, a friend said I was mad spending that much on a car. So I decided to take him for a drive, I arrived he looked at the car and said "I see why you spent the money" I replied "no you don't, not yet", we travelled along with the roof down and zipped past a few cars (turbo kicking in nicely) he said "thats why you bought this car", "no not just that" I replied. Travelling along he says "big corner coming up mate..." me traveling fast no reduction in speed "no mate really big corner....." we then go round the corner like its on rails at that point I said "THATS, why I bought this car!!" his face was a picture best described as 'shocked manic grin'
Enjoy.
The lateral support I found was fine for me in the drivers seat but I'm very skinny and seemed to fit the seat perfectly. Certainly a friend commented that the lateral support wasn't very good when I went round a sharp corner at
MPH An amusing anedote: When I first bought the car, a friend said I was mad spending that much on a car. So I decided to take him for a drive, I arrived he looked at the car and said "I see why you spent the money" I replied "no you don't, not yet", we travelled along with the roof down and zipped past a few cars (turbo kicking in nicely) he said "thats why you bought this car", "no not just that" I replied. Travelling along he says "big corner coming up mate..." me traveling fast no reduction in speed "no mate really big corner....." we then go round the corner like its on rails at that point I said "THATS, why I bought this car!!" his face was a picture best described as 'shocked manic grin'
Enjoy.
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