Point me in right direction please
Discussion
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
That thread may help, essentially when i was looking the Standard was good but did not put a big enough smile on my face. Actually there were a couple but they had been modified. The 111s has better seats, rear spoiler, different wheel, carbon dash inserts, clear indicators on the front, headlight covers and some other bits. The main thing are the VVC engine which is 143bhp as apposed to standard 118bhp, and the C/R gearbox, with a short shift fitted this is lovely. Be careful when looking as a lot of people will advertise it as a 111s however some are not, ensure it has VVC on top on the engine!
I could not find one i liked when i was looking a decided to have a look at the Sport 160, which i instantly fell in love with, much harder and rawer that the 111s. I use mine as a weekend car so was not botthered with the ease of use. The 111s is a great car and by far the easiest to live with.
Try SELOC for loads of help.
Cheers
D
That thread may help, essentially when i was looking the Standard was good but did not put a big enough smile on my face. Actually there were a couple but they had been modified. The 111s has better seats, rear spoiler, different wheel, carbon dash inserts, clear indicators on the front, headlight covers and some other bits. The main thing are the VVC engine which is 143bhp as apposed to standard 118bhp, and the C/R gearbox, with a short shift fitted this is lovely. Be careful when looking as a lot of people will advertise it as a 111s however some are not, ensure it has VVC on top on the engine!
I could not find one i liked when i was looking a decided to have a look at the Sport 160, which i instantly fell in love with, much harder and rawer that the 111s. I use mine as a weekend car so was not botthered with the ease of use. The 111s is a great car and by far the easiest to live with.
Try SELOC for loads of help.
Cheers
D
GR4 said:
Hi all,
I'm currently thinking S1 Elise, and am on the base vs 111S debate. I'm sure this has been done to death on here, so can anyone point me at a good thread. I fully intend to drive both, but good to have some learned opinions first.
Thanks in advance.
I have driven both and opted for the 111s to which i fitted a short shift and i think it's pretty much the perfect combination for road use.I'm currently thinking S1 Elise, and am on the base vs 111S debate. I'm sure this has been done to death on here, so can anyone point me at a good thread. I fully intend to drive both, but good to have some learned opinions first.
Thanks in advance.
Happy to help with any questions on the 111s.
I've had a base spec 118bhp S1 for 6 months now and I keep getting tempted by the thought of extra power - then I take it out and remember that its still plenty quick enough for the road. It may not sound like a lot but its enough to get you into trouble.
Since I'm hoping to get it out on track in the the future I can imagine I might be tempted to get some work done to it, I reckon 135-140bhp after some head work would be a nice compromise.
Seems reading around here that the VVC on the 111S can be an extra point of failure/expense, but others would be better qualified to comment on this than myself.
Since I'm hoping to get it out on track in the the future I can imagine I might be tempted to get some work done to it, I reckon 135-140bhp after some head work would be a nice compromise.
Seems reading around here that the VVC on the 111S can be an extra point of failure/expense, but others would be better qualified to comment on this than myself.
Many thanks for useful feedback. It seems from initial searches that there are more low owners, low miles minters out there in base spec, which maybe is the nature of the car now they are approaching 10 years old. People looking for road use sunny weekend toys have been fine over the years with the basic car, where the vvc's etc have tended to be owned and used harder by more 'enthusiastic' drivers. Mine would be a weekend toy, with maybe the odd track day, but I still can't help thinking that if I go for a base car, no matter how lovely, I will continue to hanker after more power and the slightly more exclusive spec. Decisions, decisions !!
GR4 said:
Many thanks for useful feedback. It seems from initial searches that there are more low owners, low miles minters out there in base spec, which maybe is the nature of the car now they are approaching 10 years old. People looking for road use sunny weekend toys have been fine over the years with the basic car, where the vvc's etc have tended to be owned and used harder by more 'enthusiastic' drivers. Mine would be a weekend toy, with maybe the odd track day, but I still can't help thinking that if I go for a base car, no matter how lovely, I will continue to hanker after more power and the slightly more exclusive spec. Decisions, decisions !!
Although part of the fun of owning a weekend toy is the tinkering and adding more power yourself along with upgrading the spec , all very easy to do yourself as the car is quite simple to work on .Thorburn said:
Since I'm hoping to get it out on track in the the future I can imagine I might be tempted to get some work done to it, I reckon 135-140bhp after some head work would be a nice compromise.
you can get to around 135bhp with a decent air filter, big throttle body and a decent exhaust apparantly.I opted for a 111s but it was more a case of 'right car, right time' than a consious decision to go with the 111s. I test drove a couple of standard S1's before going for the 111s.
The engine is nice but I don't think you benefit from the extra power 90% of the time. It all seems to be right at the top end, both engines seem to pull with equal vigour low down and up to about 5500 rpm or so. That said, you can feel the extra power when you're really in the mood.
There are two main things that I would say are well worth having on the 111s, the seats and the close ratio box. The seats look very similar to the standard ones but have a little extra padding just where its needed. I honestly couldn't live with the standard ones using my car eveyday and for long trips. The 111s seem pretty good. Only after several hours driving to I start to ache.
The C/R box is a big plus point and works very well with the VVC though I can see that for long distance cruising the standard ratios may be a better bet.
So to summarise I think the 111s is better in some important areas however, if you're not bothered about the C/R box then the seats aren't something I'd get hung up over as they'd be easy to upgrade. Obviously it widens your choices a lot if you're not too caught up on one particular model.
The engine is nice but I don't think you benefit from the extra power 90% of the time. It all seems to be right at the top end, both engines seem to pull with equal vigour low down and up to about 5500 rpm or so. That said, you can feel the extra power when you're really in the mood.
There are two main things that I would say are well worth having on the 111s, the seats and the close ratio box. The seats look very similar to the standard ones but have a little extra padding just where its needed. I honestly couldn't live with the standard ones using my car eveyday and for long trips. The 111s seem pretty good. Only after several hours driving to I start to ache.
The C/R box is a big plus point and works very well with the VVC though I can see that for long distance cruising the standard ratios may be a better bet.
So to summarise I think the 111s is better in some important areas however, if you're not bothered about the C/R box then the seats aren't something I'd get hung up over as they'd be easy to upgrade. Obviously it widens your choices a lot if you're not too caught up on one particular model.
Edited by Gad-Westy on Wednesday 22 October 13:35
111s all the way - as others have said, the CR gearbox is reason enough.
I can take or leave the cosmetic enhancements and actually it's probably not that much quicker in the real world.
It's just so much more drivable. (and a little exclusive which is nice)
Don't rule out the Sport 135.
Not VVC but ported (and a VVC plenum). Good ones with sports exhaust, filter, etc can make 145bhp. very handy. Only problem, quite rare and not so much colour choice if that is important to you. I'll be honest and say it was for me, hence the chrome orange 111s - sweet!
As others have said - get out there and test the different models. You'll quickly make up your mind.
Dunc
I can take or leave the cosmetic enhancements and actually it's probably not that much quicker in the real world.
It's just so much more drivable. (and a little exclusive which is nice)
Don't rule out the Sport 135.
Not VVC but ported (and a VVC plenum). Good ones with sports exhaust, filter, etc can make 145bhp. very handy. Only problem, quite rare and not so much colour choice if that is important to you. I'll be honest and say it was for me, hence the chrome orange 111s - sweet!
As others have said - get out there and test the different models. You'll quickly make up your mind.
Dunc
Something I'm curious about and which might be relevant to the OP:
Does the standard box have a longer 5th gear which makes motorway speeds a bit more relaxing? Mine's got a close ratio box (s1 135) and from memory the engine is turning 3500-4000 at 70-80mph, so motorways are bit tiresome and loud. Not sure if lower revs would make that much difference to the noise anyway....
Brad
Does the standard box have a longer 5th gear which makes motorway speeds a bit more relaxing? Mine's got a close ratio box (s1 135) and from memory the engine is turning 3500-4000 at 70-80mph, so motorways are bit tiresome and loud. Not sure if lower revs would make that much difference to the noise anyway....
Brad
Yep, the standard box effectively has a longer top dropping the rpm by about 500 compared to the C/R box. Dependant on exhaust/induction fitted to your car it may or may not make much difference to noise levels.
I can't remember the exact details (Seloc techwiki is your friend) but I think from memory the C/R box has a different final drive and some of the gear ratios are different. When I went from a boggo box to a C/R box in my 120 S1 I noticed a difference in 3/4th and you get some meaningful acceleration in 5th at Mway speeds rather than just gathering speed.
I've no idea if the C/R box makes any difference against the clock in terms of straight line speed but the car feels much more urgent.
I can't remember the exact details (Seloc techwiki is your friend) but I think from memory the C/R box has a different final drive and some of the gear ratios are different. When I went from a boggo box to a C/R box in my 120 S1 I noticed a difference in 3/4th and you get some meaningful acceleration in 5th at Mway speeds rather than just gathering speed.
I've no idea if the C/R box makes any difference against the clock in terms of straight line speed but the car feels much more urgent.
boobles said:
I personally beleive that unless you are going to thrash the car every single time you drive it, you wont really see much of a difference between a standard S1 & 111s.
Mmm.. not so sure bobbles.Maybe not in outright speed, but having driven both the fact that the VVC revs higher and the next gear is always closer, it just seems easier to keep it "on the boil". Driving the standard car, I have found it "bog down" on occation.
Probably marginal but enough of a difference for me.
Dunc
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