Running Costs of Elise R
Discussion
So, I currently have a Ford Focus ST-3 Mountune that on a standard, relaxed 6 mile drive to work does about 20mpg. Equally, on a motorway cruise I can get about 28 mpg. Hardly the most impressive figures eh?! Let's not talk about "spirited" driving!!
I was wondering what sort of running costs an Elise R would attract (2-3 years old at most) and whether, when the "good" weather comes next year, it would be a reasonable choice to look into the Elise as my day-to-day car?
So what sort of mpg figures are reasonable for the Elise R and what flavour petrol do your cars prefer (personally, I only put the posh stuff in my ST)? Also, anyone with pence/mile (or at least a "it costs x to do y miles") information would be great.
I appreciate that insurance is not cheap for these beauties and having the Mountune kit fitted to the ST boshed up my premium a bit (despite it still being covered by manufacturer warranty) and this also needs to be taken into account. Finally, what are the service costs like with the Elise?
Having driven the Exige S a couple of times at Silverstone, I cannot help but fall in love with the Elise/Exige look. Now, I know track driving is a very different kettle of fish compared to our pot-hole ridden stretches of broken tarmac we call "roads" and obviously need to extensively test drive one first, but we all need something to aspire to eh!!
All/any help most humbly appreciated!
Cheers,
Neil
I was wondering what sort of running costs an Elise R would attract (2-3 years old at most) and whether, when the "good" weather comes next year, it would be a reasonable choice to look into the Elise as my day-to-day car?
So what sort of mpg figures are reasonable for the Elise R and what flavour petrol do your cars prefer (personally, I only put the posh stuff in my ST)? Also, anyone with pence/mile (or at least a "it costs x to do y miles") information would be great.
I appreciate that insurance is not cheap for these beauties and having the Mountune kit fitted to the ST boshed up my premium a bit (despite it still being covered by manufacturer warranty) and this also needs to be taken into account. Finally, what are the service costs like with the Elise?
Having driven the Exige S a couple of times at Silverstone, I cannot help but fall in love with the Elise/Exige look. Now, I know track driving is a very different kettle of fish compared to our pot-hole ridden stretches of broken tarmac we call "roads" and obviously need to extensively test drive one first, but we all need something to aspire to eh!!
All/any help most humbly appreciated!
Cheers,
Neil
You come here with your Maud focus and expect us to figure out how much our actual sports cars cost to run?
You cheeky, lousy bar steward. Isnt there a forum for people like you? Pie and pissed off?
For gods sake, dont you understand that we have been denying ourself the truth throughout our ownership and lying to our wifes about all the costs and "little mods" while squirreling away the funds for the odd supercharger here or ohlins there.
If we were to start publishing this sort of data .... do you have any idea the cost of a divorce and my wife is just mean enough to leave me with the kid and take the car.
I know guys with secret bank accounts and secret jobs to fund thier habit. You want to expose this to thier loved ones? This man has a beautiful family (and a house next to Swiss Tony), he is a respected member of the medical community.
There are respected members of this community who buy a lotus every year, they have even tried a proker to limit the cost. We all know he is crazy, ill advised and a salesman's best friend but we refreain from calling him too his face (at least till the second pint)
Will your attempt at humiliation and destruction know any bounds. At least do a search and stop trying to rake up our dirty laundry.
Go on - bugger off to foccerST.com, I am sure they will love you.
You cheeky, lousy bar steward. Isnt there a forum for people like you? Pie and pissed off?
For gods sake, dont you understand that we have been denying ourself the truth throughout our ownership and lying to our wifes about all the costs and "little mods" while squirreling away the funds for the odd supercharger here or ohlins there.
If we were to start publishing this sort of data .... do you have any idea the cost of a divorce and my wife is just mean enough to leave me with the kid and take the car.
I know guys with secret bank accounts and secret jobs to fund thier habit. You want to expose this to thier loved ones? This man has a beautiful family (and a house next to Swiss Tony), he is a respected member of the medical community.
There are respected members of this community who buy a lotus every year, they have even tried a proker to limit the cost. We all know he is crazy, ill advised and a salesman's best friend but we refreain from calling him too his face (at least till the second pint)
Will your attempt at humiliation and destruction know any bounds. At least do a search and stop trying to rake up our dirty laundry.
Go on - bugger off to foccerST.com, I am sure they will love you.
Edited by Gooby on Thursday 19th November 13:31
I ran two Civic Type-Rs prior to buying my 111R. You will find running costs won't be dramaically different. The main issue you may find is little niggles - an Elise will likely allow a little water ingress, given heavy rain, I've had a minor electrical glitch and a window winder mechanism problem. These are only very minor issues, but if you use the car every day might bug you slightly, coming from a reliable, mass-produced car. Servicing isn't too bad - about £250.00 annually or every 9,000 miles. Fuel consumption should be comfortably over 30mpg in all conditions and you'll find rear tyres about £250.00/pair. Membership of an owners' club will help with insurance and likely servicing/parts costs.
My personal take on Elise ownership is that they work best as a second car. I adore mine more than you can imagine, which is why I don't like using it for short journeys, parking in town or for work. For all of the aforementioned I use my rubbish Clio. Today it's very windy and I am genuinely elated that my beloved is tucked up in the garage and that my Clio is at risk of having something blown over onto it. As I do about 15,000 private miles a year visiting friends, pleasure drives and 20+ motor racing events annually across the country, it still gets used plenty. I can also honestly say that I get a heart flutter every time I go near it. When I used it every day (I did for about 3 months), I used to get guilty about sitting in queues in it every day or risking it in heavy traffic on the motorway in the rain and the dark.
How this affects you, only you can answer, but you can easily use an Elise 111R/R daily and will most certainly find it an entertaining and bidable friend. Running costs should be the same as your ST given careful ownership, but the rewards far greater. Keep us posted and good luck with your quest!
My personal take on Elise ownership is that they work best as a second car. I adore mine more than you can imagine, which is why I don't like using it for short journeys, parking in town or for work. For all of the aforementioned I use my rubbish Clio. Today it's very windy and I am genuinely elated that my beloved is tucked up in the garage and that my Clio is at risk of having something blown over onto it. As I do about 15,000 private miles a year visiting friends, pleasure drives and 20+ motor racing events annually across the country, it still gets used plenty. I can also honestly say that I get a heart flutter every time I go near it. When I used it every day (I did for about 3 months), I used to get guilty about sitting in queues in it every day or risking it in heavy traffic on the motorway in the rain and the dark.
How this affects you, only you can answer, but you can easily use an Elise 111R/R daily and will most certainly find it an entertaining and bidable friend. Running costs should be the same as your ST given careful ownership, but the rewards far greater. Keep us posted and good luck with your quest!
Gooby said:
You come here with your Maud focus and expect us to figure out how much our actual sports cars cost to run?
You cheeky, lousy bar steward. Isnt there a forum for people like you? Pie and pissed off?
For gods sake, dont you understand that we have been denying ourself the truth throughout our ownership and lying to our wifes about all the costs and "little mods" while squirreling away the funds for the odd supercharger here or ohlins there.
If we were to start publishing this sort of data .... do you have any idea the cost of a divorce and my wife is just mean enough to leave me with the kid and take the car.
I know guys with secret bank accounts and secret jobs to fund thier habit. You want to expose this to thier loved ones? This man has a beautiful family (and a house next to Swiss Tony), he is a respected member of the medical community.
There are respected members of this community who buy a lotus every year, they have even tried a proker to limit the cost. We all know he is crazy, ill advised and a salesman's best friend but we refreain from calling him too his face (at least till the second pint)
Will your attempt at humiliation and destruction know any bounds. At least do a search and stop trying to rake up our dirty laundry.
Go on - bugger off to foccerST.com, I am sure they will love you.
LOL! Very Good Sir,You cheeky, lousy bar steward. Isnt there a forum for people like you? Pie and pissed off?
For gods sake, dont you understand that we have been denying ourself the truth throughout our ownership and lying to our wifes about all the costs and "little mods" while squirreling away the funds for the odd supercharger here or ohlins there.
If we were to start publishing this sort of data .... do you have any idea the cost of a divorce and my wife is just mean enough to leave me with the kid and take the car.
I know guys with secret bank accounts and secret jobs to fund thier habit. You want to expose this to thier loved ones? This man has a beautiful family (and a house next to Swiss Tony), he is a respected member of the medical community.
There are respected members of this community who buy a lotus every year, they have even tried a proker to limit the cost. We all know he is crazy, ill advised and a salesman's best friend but we refreain from calling him too his face (at least till the second pint)
Will your attempt at humiliation and destruction know any bounds. At least do a search and stop trying to rake up our dirty laundry.
Go on - bugger off to foccerST.com, I am sure they will love you.
Edited by Gooby on Thursday 19th November 13:31
I've owned 3R’s (111R) now, I've found them very reasonable to run compared with say a Porsche Cayman or a Bmw M3, they are a lot better on Petrol, don’t forget the only way around 850kg’s with a 1.8 engine
servicing same price as my Wife's Vauxhall Corsa, say around £250 - £300 per year
The main Issue is Insurance, it's a group 20 Car so check before you buy, Tax is around £118 per 6 months and providing you get a warranty repairs shouldn’t be too bad, in my view it's the best proper sports car on the road
Boggy
Boggy said:
Edited by Gooby on Thursday 19th November 13:31
I've owned 3R’s (111R) now, I've found them very reasonable to run compared with say a Porsche Cayman or a Bmw M3, they are a lot better on Petrol, don’t forget the only way around 850kg’s with a 1.8 engine
Boggy
But the Doctor's car was an S and is now a different type of R
I don't have an R (I'm a true believer and have an S1) but expect day to day costs to be less than with your Focus. Insurance? Easy enough to check for your individual circumstances? Can't help on the fuel but I'm pretty certain most of the guys just chove regular unleaded in.
When I was running my car purely on the road it was as cheap as chips to run and the R will probably be the same. Once I started tracking the car regularly then costs rose considerably (apart from increased wear and tear I found an ever increasing list of needs and essentials!!).
I don't have an R (I'm a true believer and have an S1) but expect day to day costs to be less than with your Focus. Insurance? Easy enough to check for your individual circumstances? Can't help on the fuel but I'm pretty certain most of the guys just chove regular unleaded in.
When I was running my car purely on the road it was as cheap as chips to run and the R will probably be the same. Once I started tracking the car regularly then costs rose considerably (apart from increased wear and tear I found an ever increasing list of needs and essentials!!).
With regards to petrol (I only have an s) I asked this question to the dealer when I bought and the reply was along the lines of just chuck anything in it as it's not a highly stressed engine and loves happily in cars where the owners wouldn't consider what petrol is going in. I know the r is more powerful but believe the same basic principle is valid
Drive mine every day, costs next to nothing to actually run. Get between 30-37MPG in my R commuting to and from work (about 20 miles each way) - depends what mood I'm in. All it has cost me (apart from upgrading bits) in 2 years is a pair of rear tyres, a bulb and a pop rivet, other than normal servicing costs (which are cheaper than my parents Honda Civic both done at a main dealer!).
mrbluefox said:
Guys thanks for your very informative responses - even yours Gooby!
Yeah I appreciate the 2nd car point and wouldn't want it to lose its special feel - alas, I'm not in a position have two cars at the moment...although nothing a lottery win wouldn't fix!!
Thanks again guys
Loads of people use their cars every day, so you will still love it. It's an entirely personal thing; I used mine every day for a few months and it was great, but driving it through traffic in Leeds felt a bit like keeping a tiger in a cage. It felt like a waste and led to guilt on my part. I am also fortunate that I have a 6 miles commute these days so wouldn't even give the Elise time to warm up properly. Keep us posted on what you end up buying. Yeah I appreciate the 2nd car point and wouldn't want it to lose its special feel - alas, I'm not in a position have two cars at the moment...although nothing a lottery win wouldn't fix!!
Thanks again guys
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