RedRocket1647545505 Posted February 20, 2009 Report Share Posted February 20, 2009 THIS is the point of an Elise: k. That looks like an f'n blast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedRocket1647545505 Posted February 20, 2009 Report Share Posted February 20, 2009 For that price though... id still have one of these instead http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJvwSfWWhF4&feature=related For the motor though, I'd rather have an Atom 500. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SPLN SUX Posted February 20, 2009 Report Share Posted February 20, 2009 You are on freaking CRACK. Checking online, they run trap speeds similar to a stock LT1. They don't have a prayer in hell keeping up with a Z06 in a straight line...PERIOD. So every trap runs the same ET? YOU are on crack. The Lotus, however, would. After a few runs to dial in the launch, the Elise put its 192 hp to the ground with only a squeak from the R-compound Yokohamas and stormed its mid-engine chassis through the traps in 12.6-seconds at 110 mph. - SCC http://www.sportcompactcarweb.com/roadtests/0205_sccp_1999_lotus_elise_vs_2000_ford_mustang_cobra_r/index.html According to my search, i see a lot of 12.7 @112 for the 02 Z06's... but i seem to remember seeing 12.4 @ 114 somewhere in the past. Either way, you're fucking wrong. LT1's are gay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2 Sweet Posted February 20, 2009 Report Share Posted February 20, 2009 did any1 else notice gtp112 posted lol i thought he was banned Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HotCarl Posted February 20, 2009 Report Share Posted February 20, 2009 You look fucking enormous standing next to that matchbox car. No offense of course Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nitrousbird Posted February 20, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2009 So every trap runs the same ET? YOU are on crack. - SCC http://www.sportcompactcarweb.com/roadtests/0205_sccp_1999_lotus_elise_vs_2000_ford_mustang_cobra_r/index.html According to my search, i see a lot of 12.7 @112 for the 02 Z06's... but i seem to remember seeing 12.4 @ 114 somewhere in the past. Either way, you're fucking wrong. LT1's are gay. Pizza boy, can you read? I stated acceleration. Not ET's. I didn't abuse the car launching it, but I'd assume it would launch hard, especially on a soft set of tires. Acceleration would normally represent trap speeds, which everything I've read has stated are in the 100-101 MPH range, which is exactly how the car felt. That car is NEVER going to trap 110 stock without a heavy tail wind and downhill. Period. No way, shape, or form. Then you try to compare the best time you could possibly find for that car (which I don't buy at all), with the most average of times of a C5 Z06. Why not bring up the high 11's @ 119 seen from Z06's?? Oh wait, I just read that article. Are you fucking retarded? That's a different car! That Elise is an older model never sold in the US, with a more powerful motor and over 300lbs LIGHTER. Hmm, wonder why it would be faster. The question is, will you admit how wrong you are? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gillbot Posted February 20, 2009 Report Share Posted February 20, 2009 I think it was a great review Joe. I got the point of it, for $50k you'd expect it to have better fit and finish than a late 80's Dodge Omni. Even if they cut corners on material, you'd think (for the price paid) they'd make it at least seem like a higher dollar car by making everything fit well. You saved me a load of time. I was considering trading in my camaro for one of these but if it's a big rattle trap too, I might as well keep my camaro since it's at least fun to drive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CRed05 Posted February 20, 2009 Report Share Posted February 20, 2009 That was a good review. I agree with you that its a great, cheap, track car that isn't cheap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smokey Posted February 20, 2009 Report Share Posted February 20, 2009 - I have never been in a car so hard to get into. My Formula has a 6-point rollbar, and is WAY easier. I've driven cars with full cages, and still easier. I understand I'm 6'3", 215lbs, but my small 5'2" wife had a lot of problems. The wide door sills were the main problem, but the clearance was so bad I literally had to physically pull my right leg into the car. - Foot well room was cramped, and canted inward. Needed about another 1" between the center divider and the brake pedal; with the shoes I wore on Monday, I could only use the bottom of the gas pedal, as my shoe was too wide to hit the gas anywhere else without hitting the brakes. Of course leg room was limited, but still fully driveable. My right leg did rest against the shifter. can I get a "I told you so"? Sorry to hear you didn't get to have much fun with the car, but hopefully the rest of your trip went well Joe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc1647545523 Posted February 20, 2009 Report Share Posted February 20, 2009 Thanks for the thread, Joe. I was anxious to see what your impressions were and whether or not discussing the Elise would polarize people. I'm glad you had the chance to at least head out to Red Rock for a bit. It sucks that you had bad weather during most of the time you had the car. Almost every contributor to this thread has some valid points. IMHO the Elise is a very good, very bad car -- a bargain and also a waste of money -- the real deal and also at the same time a poseur. I bought a new 2007 Elise Type 72D in April 2008 at MAG. I've put 9000 miles on it in the last 10 months; I consider that a lot of miles since it is seldom driven in rain or snow and has only had two trips out of Ohio. I love it. People who have a lot more driving experience than I do have said it is as close to a Formula 1 experience as you can get in a mainstream production street car. Yes, it seems as though you are driving faster than you are, perhaps because you're quite low. The Carrera 4 Cabriolet I bought new and traded after 5 months seemed to float and bob like an ocean liner compared to my Elise. The Elise seems to defy the laws of physics in cornering, frequently frightening passengers and onlookers. A number of CR members can attest to this. It sounds as though your rental had worn/non-recommended tires on it and often wet surfaces, so it doesn't surprise me that you didn't have a very impressive handling experience. There's not a lot of horsepower in a stock Elise. I wanted to remedy that and yet keep the factory warranty, at least for a few more years. So MAG installed the performance chip and competition exhaust. The chip changed the timing and fueling maps, which dramatically improved torque below 6000 rpm and improved the everyday performance of the car. Supercharge or turbocharge it and it becomes a supercar. You're quite right about difficult ingress and egress and lack of comfort. A number of posters tried to point that out to you in your thread before you left for LV, but you were rather determined that it would not be a problem. http://www.columbusracing.com/forums/showthread.php?p=874989#post874989 I am far from being athletic, limber or svelte; in fact I am obese and have three herniated lumbar discs and arthritis. And yet I manage to drive mine a lot without assistance. As you pointed out, the wide door sills are part of the problem, but were necessitated by safety standards (the early Elises didn't have them). It's hard to argue aesthetics-- we like what we like. The interior appeared cheap to you and not worthy of a car of this price. I guess I see the car as having the expense and effort put into other areas (suspension, aerodynamics). They did change the instrument cluster pod for 2009, but it's far from being Lexus-like. On my Elise, the interior remains somewhat Spartan but has nicely-stitched alcantara and beautifully embroidered headrests .... no one has complained that it looked cheap, whereas my Maranello often drew attention to its poor fit and finish in the interior. http://i355.photobucket.com/albums/r445/martyr65/July%20cars/Lotusinterior.jpg http://i355.photobucket.com/albums/r445/martyr65/July%20cars/Lotusseats.jpg The car is a rattle-trap. It's made of extruded aluminum that's bonded (glued) together. Squeaks, groans and rattles are a given. I haven't found poor fit or craftsmanship in my car. Lotus doesn't put radios and car alarms in their Elises. These are added by the U.S. importer. The Elise dash is made to accept aftermarket head units and speakers, but that's their concesssion. For a long time Lotus claimed they would NEVER put air conditioning in their cars. The A/C and heating units are marginal. It sounds as though your car alarm was the Cobra unit, which disarms when you push the button, but has a passive partial/re-arm if the car is not started within just a few seconds. It also rearms the boot alarm. The procedure is not intuitive, but once you get used to it, doesn't make for a problem. A couple of things that make a Lotus even worse than you indicated: 1) The hard top actually decreases headroom by another 1.5 inches. The hard top does not store onboard. 2) Lotus instructs that you not drive the car in rain! The soft top is designed to only protect during a brief shower, and the engine louvers and boot will not keep water out if the car sits in the rain. 3) There is not even enough room in the boot for a full-face helmet. It's either worn or in the passenger's lap. Good points? Well, I think there are many: 1) a very low purchase price for an exotic 2) mileage regularly in the 28-32 mpg range even with aggressive driving 3) Toyota engine/drivetrain reliability and part availability 4) the lowest depreciation of any production exotic I know of 5) handling that is nearly telepathic 6) low insurance costs 7) you'll make a little kid's whole week if you let them sit in it 8) beautiful women you don't know will introduce themselves and ask if, please , you'll take them for a ride I suppose I wrote way too much in your thread, but I hope the information is of help/interest to some members. Many here have ridden in/or driven my Elise, and most seem quite pleased. I often repeat what I once read, that the Elise is the world's least practical production car, but the most practical motorcycle. I've never regretted buying mine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ImUrOBGYN Posted February 20, 2009 Report Share Posted February 20, 2009 Stuff you said.[/QUOTE] I completely agree with the above but without the amount of xp you have w/the lotus, I couldn't quite figure out how to put it. He may also want to keep in mind that it's a rental, so it's been abused and you know it probably hasn't been serviced like it's supposed to have been. Hell, out there, it's probably actually been driven into the desert. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6 Speed S4 Posted February 20, 2009 Report Share Posted February 20, 2009 good reviews, I've never had the chance to drive an elise but my celica had the same engine and weighed about 500lbs more. I really liked the 2zz-ge motor even though it lacked tq, the gas mileage made up for that 28/40. I would buy an mr-s for cheap and swap the 2zz in that like Christian said instead of spending the cash on an elise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ry_Trapp01647545522 Posted February 20, 2009 Report Share Posted February 20, 2009 It's fiberglass, NOT carbon fiber. oh darn, your right. thats what i get for drowsy posting. oh well, the rest of my post still stands, lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nitrousbird Posted February 20, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2009 Doc, THANK YOU for the clear headed response. Looking at your interior, it has some significant differences than the one I drove: - Your seats are WAY better than my rental's had. Not even a comparison - The center console on my rental didn't have the stiched leather on it; just silver plastic. That makes it look nicer, but also probably makes it a bit more sturdy too. - Door panels on yours look nicer as well, and the overall interior condition is nicer...but it was a 31k mile rental, after all. I could honestly live with the difficultly of entering/exiting the car. I daily drove my Formula with the 6-point rollbar for a few months, and it wasn't an issue. Trunk space, though limited, wasn't what I would even consider an issue. A couple other complaints I did have, that haven't been mentioned yet: - Gas pedal was too stiff; I found it difficult to match RPM's on downshifts. I found that odd, because the clutch and brake pedals felt spot-on. - Light switch (err...button) setup is kind of poorly designed. I found you had to individually turn the parking lights and headlights on and off. That's fine, except you had to turn the parking lights on to activate the headlights, instead of the headlight button activating both. Didn't make much sense to me, but whatever. I didn't get to try the A/C, but I thought the heat in the car worked very well (considering the car is a bit drafty at freeway speeds). I wasn't expecting that after the rental agent said the heat didn't work well in this car, and it was chilly the day it was raining. I didn't find the fuel mileage to be all that impressive; but wasn't a gas guzzler by any means, and good enough that I couldn't imagine that being a pro or con for the car. Gas tank is rather small, as expected. Your description sounds like the alarm I had on mine. I'm glad the car didn't have the hard top, but I was actually impressed with the head room, and expected less. Leg room is what I expected. As was the shoulder room. I've always been big on bang for the buck in cars, so that probably hurts the Elise in my book. I WOULD like to drive the supercharged version. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc1647545523 Posted February 20, 2009 Report Share Posted February 20, 2009 You're welcome. You're also welcome to drive my Elise anytime you'd like. I think you'd find it an improved car over the non-chip one. I suspect that the rental had had a pretty rough 31,000 miles, and handling/performance might very well have suffered as a result. The factory supercharger is small and only adds around 20-30 hp, depending on the year of Elise. Aftermarket turbocharging packages can make this car scream. It's a dream in the twisties, but a slow, agonizing torture on the freeway. You're so right about the light switch foolishness. I suspect it has something to do with running light/headlight-always-on type of legislation in some countries where they sell these cars. It ends up just being weird in the U.S. version. Certainly a poor all-around sportscar for the money, but a great special-purpose vehicle. In that respect, very much like owning a motorcyle .... Hope to see you at a meet soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ry_Trapp01647545522 Posted February 21, 2009 Report Share Posted February 21, 2009 http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y62/jonnythejackass/eliseposter2.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nitrousbird Posted February 23, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 23, 2009 Oh yeah Doc, I mean to ask: - There was a little switch on the front of the center console (not the hazard button on the top...further forward, on the angled portion). What is that for? - Switch on the lower right side of the steering column. Not sure what that was for either. They were both the same kind of switch. Hopefully I will have the Formula together and out this year. The parts are all there, just need to put it together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc1647545523 Posted February 23, 2009 Report Share Posted February 23, 2009 Oh yeah Doc, I mean to ask: - There was a little switch on the front of the center console (not the hazard button on the top...further forward, on the angled portion). What is that for? - Switch on the lower right side of the steering column. Not sure what that was for either. They were both the same kind of switch. Hopefully I will have the Formula together and out this year. The parts are all there, just need to put it together. The switch on the forward side (towards motor) of the center console is for the optional power locks. The button on the right of the steering column, when pressed very briefly, resets the odometer. If pressed and held, it slowly dims, then slowly brightens the dash lights. If you press both buttons simultaneously and hold your mouth just right, the VTEC kicks in. :zoom: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hpfiend Posted February 23, 2009 Report Share Posted February 23, 2009 Great review Joe thanks- Good info Doc... Acceleration akin to a stock lt1 is impressive for an inline four but def not an LS6 or LS7. FWIW the Lotus Elise is the ONLY car I consistently read about on corvette forum that people with prior ownership of a c5 z06 do not have buyers remorse about and sell what they have to get another c5 z- I have read that more than a few times about the lotus elise and a lot of people on that forum get ferraris, vipers, c6/c6 z06s, bmw 6s, M3s, etc before returning to a c5 z. It doesn't sound as if I am hardcore enough for one but I do think they look wild. EDIT: In that c6 z06/elise comparison video on youtube- did anyone else notice how many times that stock car driver let his arms cross mid turn? Laters, Andrew Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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