I got to drive an Elise!

[swaq]

Today I got to drive an Elise! My fiancee's brother's friend's uncle knows the guy who owns it. He let me take it out for a short spin with my fiancee, saying "keep it under 7000 rpms".

The car is amazing! Kim and I are absolutely convinced we need an Elise or Exige S in our garage in the future. It's amazing what this car can accomplish simply through insanely low weight.

One of the things that surprised me most about the car was how easy it was to drive. The clutch had a really good feel to it. It's practically impossible to kill the car (mostly due to low weight).

Getting in and out of the car was a bit awkward for me, as I'm 6-foot and not used to it. I think if I got in and out regularly I wouldn't have much trouble. My fiancee is 5' 6" and had no problems whatsoever getting in and out. Once inside it is actually quite comfortable, though obviously not much room to move about in.

Here are a couple pictures, I drove the Krypton Green one, a color which looks much better in person, but I still wouldn't want to own that color:

 

[Big Wang Bandit]

Nice!

Im 6'8" and ive been in one. I can get in any car I want, if I want to


Nice car

 

[RazoE]

they are fucking gorgeous..

i used to work literally right next door to the largest lotus dealer in the US (there was a pane of glass separating me and about 3 ferraris, a few vipers and 12+ elises)...

still havent driven one, though

 

[LilMissMkIII]

NO FAIR!!!!!!!!!

I am officially jealous!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Setheroo]

I heart the exotics - and yes, jealousy runs through me now more than ever.

Quite lucky to have driven that beast. The color isn't all that bad, I sorta like it (big yellow fan).

 

[swaq]

It's a real head-turner. I was afraid we were going to cause an accident from all the people staring... A Subaru WRX STi with a couple of guys in it rolled past in the parking lot really slow and were very obviously gawking.

Did I mention I want one?

 

[SilverSupraT]

you lucky bastard! haha

I agree with setheroo, yellow is one of my favs when I saw them in person. Personally I would get a silver one if I had the choice. Exige S FTW!

 

[themadhatter]

lotus makes some of the best cars in the world and just look who they get there motors from lol. For the price of a vet you could buy an elise and the wow factor of seeing a elise is 10x that of a vet of course the vet will smoke it but thats not the point

 

[Gumboot]

My father's uncle had one out in England, said he got rid of it because he was sick of sending it in to the repair shops. No doubt it is fun as fuck to drive at a good price, but the price goes up with each trip to the shop. And you could imagine what parts cost too......but I'd still buy one if I had the coin.

 

[swaq]

lotus makes some of the best cars in the world and just look who they get there motors from lol. For the price of a vet you could buy an elise and the wow factor of seeing a elise is 10x that of a vet of course the vet will smoke it but thats not the point

In a straight line, yes. Though the Exige S will still give it a good run until around 100 mph where all the downforce really starts slowing it down.

My father's uncle had one out in England, said he got rid of it because he was sick of sending it in to the repair shops. No doubt it is fun as fuck to drive at a good price, but the price goes up with each trip to the shop. And you could imagine what parts cost too......but I'd still buy one if I had the coin.

I assume it was an S1 Elise and not an S2? Repairs are generally cheaper and less frequent on the new one, partially thanks to the new Toyota engine. On the Elise forum I'm on it sounds like repairs/maintenance are more expensive on Porsches and Audis than on the Elise. If you crack the fiberglass clam though it will be very expensive to replace. Should be covered by warranty though.

 

[Kai]

Get the one with the Toyota engine if you do get one. And make sure its the supercharged engine!

 

[theKnifeArtist]

My fiancee's brother's friend's uncle knows the guy

ain't that a connection

 

[swaq]

Get the one with the Toyota engine if you do get one. And make sure its the supercharged engine!

Exige S is the only supercharged one. There are turbocharger kits for the NA engine though from ForcedFed. 275 hp for the base level kit, which is more than enough to make a 2000 lb wicked quick.

My fiancee's brother's friend's uncle knows the guy

ain't that a connection

Heh, yep. When I mentioned the connection to him I made it sound like less degrees of separation.

 

[jmanbball]

I was hoping to drive an Elise on an autocross course at the Walter Mitty Vintage races at Road Atlanta this past year. Then I found out you had to be 25 yrs oldicon_evil f@#$%^& insurance). I ended up riding with a guy from Lotus while my dad got to drive one.

I did get to pull one into the shop where I work at though to change tires.

 

[Gumboot]

In a straight line, yes. Though the Exige S will still give it a good run until around 100 mph where all the downforce really starts slowing it down.




I assume it was an S1 Elise and not an S2? Repairs are generally cheaper and less frequent on the new one, partially thanks to the new Toyota engine. On the Elise forum I'm on it sounds like repairs/maintenance are more expensive on Porsches and Audis than on the Elise. If you crack the fiberglass clam though it will be very expensive to replace. Should be covered by warranty though.

Yeah it was an S1, got a quick ride in it before he sold it. I was in England two summers ago when he had it but was trying to sell it. Not sure how much he sold it for though.

 

[MassSupra89]

Exige S is the only supercharged one. There are turbocharger kits for the NA engine though from ForcedFed. 275 hp for the base level kit, which is more than enough to make a 2000 lb wicked quick.

My friend is considering the stage 2 kit in the summer. Nearly 400hp and 1900lbs.:drool:

 

[TRD 83 SupraDrifter]

Not bad man. I got to drive a Porshe the other day but it was the boxter and I also drove a 300M on 22s also. More to come soon.

 

[swaq]

My friend is considering the stage 2 kit in the summer. Nearly 400hp and 1900lbs.:drool:

This one? http://forcedfed.com/elise/turbokits/forcedfed380.html

Not bad man. I got to drive a Porshe the other day but it was the boxter and I also drove a 300M on 22s also. More to come soon.

I drove an early 90's 911 convertible once. The Elise was much much more fun to drive.

 

[MassSupra89]

This one? http://forcedfed.com/elise/turbokits/forcedfed380.html

I believe so. I thought the thing was ridiculous stock, I can't wait until he starts modifying it.

 

[ChadMKIII]

Nice!

I'm 6'3" and squeezed into one at the autoshow. Def NOT something I'd wanna do on a daily basis!

I wanna drive one tho!