Thursday 30th August 2001

Britain's Best Driver's Car

Autocar name Elise as the best of the bunch

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[potetf]

Elise : very good choice ....

[timraven]

I would love to think that the new Elise was the "Best Drivers Car" of the group tested, but because the "journalists" at Autocar have a proven track record of not being wholly truthful about Lotus products, I find the result hard to believe. But I agree it would be great to have an affordable, British made sports car as a world beater, I fear the Elise is not it........I'd love to see a little more journalistic time lavished on the GTM Libra, which just might be as good as the Elise, and is truely British, is lighter, stiffer, and much less common, but of course they don't have a lavish PR machine to woo the likes of the the Autocar "celeb journalists". Regards, Tim.

[Sparks]

quote:I would love to think that the new Elise was the "Best Drivers Car" of the group tested, but because the "journalists" at Autocar have a proven track record of not being wholly truthful about Lotus products, I find the result hard to believe. But I agree it would be great to have an affordable, British made sports car as a world beater, I fear the Elise is not it........I'd love to see a little more journalistic time lavished on the GTM Libra, which just might be as good as the Elise, and is truely British, is lighter, stiffer, and much less common, but of course they don't have a lavish PR machine to woo the likes of the the Autocar "celeb journalists". Regards, Tim.

Tim, Do you have a Libra? I would love one, hoping to build/buy one eventually. The V6 is a supercar eater for less than £20K! Sparks

[Don]

Well. Whether or not the Elise is "the" best Driver's car or not it clearly gives its owners a great deal of joy... I was driving in my car of german origin down the A339 last Tuesday and a bloke was driving the other way in his brand new Elise 2. His grin was actually visible several hundred yards away! Ear to Ear it was! Nice seeing someone *so* happy... Cheered me right up seeing it.

[pikey]

I think the Mini Cooper being at 7 kinda invalidates the survey somewhat. It's very cute 'n all and lots of people love it, but look what else in in that list....

[hoganscrogan]

Pikey, if you read the article it's not about outright speed it about how the car handles - very different. I've driven the mini and was amazed what fun it was to drive, feels beautiful being hussled around corners. I'd have to agree with the elise verdict 'from what I know' not driven Lambo or ferrari

[smeagol]

I don't own an Elise but I find that getting into it is fine BUT there is a knack to it. One leg, a**e, other leg. I have also driven an Exige which has a roof again its a knack. Most sports/racing cars are not renouwn for there ease of entry and once you're in your comfortable.

[Gio]

Getting in and out of the Elise is easy enough. It just takes a bit of agility and thought. Anyway my Elise 2 is absolutely brilliant to drive. I suggest the yank sticks to easier modes of transport. He's obviously missed the point completely.

[jpf]

Hey, they didn't even consider the Corvette or the Viper! There is no way the Lotus is the UK's best drivers car. Top 10, yes. What about the M3--it isn't better than an M3! What about the Boxster? The Vauxhaul 220? Better than a Zagonda? What about a Dare G4? Sorry dudes, yous guys got it all wrong!

[Gio]

There's a good reason they didn't include the vette and viper. They ain't drivers cars-Just muscle cars

[hoganscrogan]

>>...What about the M3--it isn't better than an M3! What about the Boxster? The Vauxhaul 220? Better than a Zagonda? What about a Dare G4? Sorry dudes, yous guys got it all wrong! ...>> Have you read the issue of Autocar? 'We' didn't produce these rankings. The M3 was tested and written about (others I can't comment except boxster, old elise ran rings around it) The cars were all driven by a load of journo's and motor industry types from ford, TVR, etc. driving them on and off track and scoring them, that's how the rankings were arrived at.

[Nightmare]

oh, god , here we go again.... Chaps - it was just a test in a magazine...as we all know its never going to convince everyone on here that they're right, or wrong, or whatever...! personall though, I agree with Mr Raven...Autocar, aside from being spectacularly innacurate a lot (and by that I mean facts, not opinions) also sem to be very chummy wth Lotus.... BUT! VX220? Lotus built it...before they built the elise 2 - seriously, which do you think will be a better drivers car?????? N

[PascalBuyens]

Why can't you believe that the Elise is thé best handling car in the world? Power, speed, all fine, but goddamn it... There's no way any other car can get the feel of just looking at where you want to go and actually go there!!! IMO I think this is what the test is all about, not just to say how comfy you feel, how hard it is to get in or out, or how much power the Elise lacks. 993 Turbo S, Lambo Ferrari, all very fine and expensive, but hell, if I can stay in front of a 993, F360 and even a Yamaha R1 with an Elise S1 on twisty roads, then the improved Elise S2 should definitely be able to cope with all of them... Oh, and as for the VX 220/Speedster: nice gearbox inthe one I drove, that's the only positive thing I have to say (no clonking like the Elise). For the rest it's just a plain Vauxhall/Opel...

[Sparks]

quote:Why can't you believe that the Elise is thé best handling car in the world?...

Because it isn't maybe. In that group it probably is... BUT... The Seven boys will disagree (at least it is a lotus). Also, several magazines said (if you want to believe everything you read in them) that the Noble M10 was better than an elise. I think they said it was capable of going around the *outside* of and elise on the bends. There are also many other 'minimalist' cars (read kit cars) that are probably better. Sparks

[Nightmare]

and there you go...hourses for courses (or something ) beter minimalists...yeah probably...but too compromised for the road often - go try a Cat R500 and tell me you think thats a realistic everyday handler rather than just a track tool... hey - who cares? read mag reviews, pay a bit of attention, then drive and make your own judgements! N

[hoganscrogan]

I agree night - try before you buy, liked the elise but ended up getting an S2000 (engine swung it)

[rob.ellis]

Nightmare - a voice of reason, at last... You can never win an xx car is better than yy car argument. People choose cars based on lots of different criteria, which is why we don't all drive vectras! Lets celebrate the fantasic choices we've got for performance cars today, rather than spend the whole time trying to 'win' arguments. :-) One good thing about the article was that they got peter wheeler and a few other non-journalists to give their opinions. ps "xx"'s are totally sh*t and a "yy" would p*ss all over it ;-)

[jpf]

Glad PW gave his opinion, but it doesn't change my opinionn that the Elise could not possible be the best drivers car in the UK! Don't knock the Corvette and Viper when you consider their LeMans results...

[kojak]

Hmmmm. Confusion abounds. Certainly there were 9 other cars with faster lap times, but they all fared worse in the handling stakes. To illustrate, I've seen a chap with a supercharged Elise at a trackday developing 215bhp. It was extremely fast on the straights but his cornering was a bit pedestrian (no offense). So although his lap times were faster than anyone else, his cornering was not. I think that this illustrates what the article was trying to put across. I love TVR but I do confess to owning an Elise. On several trackdays I have always respected how powerful the TVR's are. But it should also be noted how much an Elise could close up on a TVR through the corners, only to see them pull away on the straights. It was only because of the non-competetive nature of trackdays that I didn't attempt to overtake them through the corners, and I'm talking all recent TVRs. It would be an interesting to limit all the cars to a particular speed and see how they all fare on a circuit. Only then would we see track times which more closer relates to ride and handling.

[smeagol]

What always gets me about these rants about the "best drivers cars" is that it all depends on what you want. I live in a "country lane" area where handling is THE thing. Chuck a corevette or viper on these roads and they could be overtaken by a vw golf! Top speed is irrelevent as you would never get there. I had an M3 follow me (m100 elan) and it struggled on the corners following me. The chap was very friendly, pulled up later next to me at a junction and said "wow that car can handle" my responce was "wow that car can shift!" seeing as he caught me up like no buisness on the straights. We both left happy and content. Which is the "best drivers car?", both. In the USA you can drive 100's of miles without a corner the Lotus would be dull and boring. I like lotus cars, because on the kind of roads I drive its the ideal drivers car. The review in autocar is one persons opinion its not the be all and end all. No manufacturers are going bust because of it. Whats the problem?