white98ls

Thanks! I found it on eBay, but luckily it was local to me (10mi away). Had Buy It Now for $34k and got it for $32k. It's an '07 which has a few minor improvements (quite rare, only 294 of them vs. 3,300 or so '05s and 1,100 '06s, clearly all the people who wanted them got them and then that was it, haha). Had only 25k and in great shape, some key maintenance done incl. new radiator which is a pricey job, and came with hard top.

CosmosMpower

Get the blower now, you won't regret it. Make sure you get an intercooled solution though. The torque bump below 5k makes the car SO MUCH more drivable.

GH89

love the color, red british cool

Justapickup

Reviving an old thread, as I'm about to pick up an 06. OP, that's a gorgeous color. Glad to hear you don't have any issue DD it, and it's been reliable. I'm checking out a gray one.
What's the number above the odometer reading? Also, what dealership did you use for the oil line fittings recall?

Thanks!!!

white98ls

Awesome, best of luck with the purchase! Still love it - the sensation of speed and unfiltered feedback makes for an intense drive. Just need more nice days to drive it - it's been an unusually wet winter here in NorCal. I did get caught in the rain once, but the soft top didn't leak at all. I mainly want to avoid rain because of the ancient Yoko A048s currently on it.

The number above odometer is just the trip odo. It's funny, a completely unmarked button on the steering column resets the trip odo, or if you hold it down, it cycles through the instrument lighting brightness. So very Lotus, haha.

I did the oil line fitting recall at Los Gatos Luxury Cars. Took 3-4 days IIRC, but no issues. They had to check with the factory beforehand to make sure the car was still covered under the recall, which took a few days, but I think they were just covering their asses because I've heard of folks getting it done recently with '05s.

My insurance premium did get adjusted down from $88/mo to $61/mo, probably because they calculated that I am not driving it that much (about 1,500 miles since I bought it 7 months ago). I'm hoping to drive it as much as I can this spring/summer because we have our first kid due in a couple of weeks, and come September I'll have to do daycare drop/pick-up which means no more Lotus during the week

mosesbotbol

The insurance and excise tax on my Evora was way lower than our Volvo's and Jaguar's.

TsukubaCody

white98ls....why aren't you replacing the tires? That seems like a disservice to the car & your own safety.

white98ls

I plan to this spring. I want to install aftermarket rear toe links (stock ones are prone to failure) and get it aligned before throwing on brand new tires. I've been wanting to go ahead and do it, but between hardly driving it due to weather and various prep stuff for baby due in two weeks, it hasn't been a top priority.

Surprisingly, it still sticks quite hard and breaks away very progressively. I wouldn't dare venture onto a track on them, but I don't think they're dangerous for temporary street use. I can't wait to get it fully dialed in on fresh, modern rubber.

Justapickup

Big congrats on your upcoming kid! It'll be so fun, you'll love it. I'm hoping to pick up my 06 Elise this coming weekend. I have a few basic questions if you don't mind:

[1] What motor oil do you recommend?
[2] Do you drive around slowly for a little bit to allow the engine to warm up before really driving it? I heard this is due to the 2nd camshaft coming on at the upper rev range.
[3] I've also read that some people did the coolant bypass, so their engine can get warmed faster. Some removed one or both oil coolers? Did you do that for your car? I'm not sure I want to.
[4] Being in NorCal, I suppose you don't need AC that much, but is it pretty weak like I've read?
[5] What tires do you recommend? No track days planned yet. Mostly mountain roads driving and commuting of course!

Thank you!!

white98ls

Thanks man! Cautiously excited. Just hope the little guy emerges healthy!

1) I haven't changed the oil yet (was just changed prior to me picking up, planning on doing all fluids this spring) but a lot of people like Mobil 1 5W-40 synthetic (factory recommended weight).

2) I warm it up like any other car, driving normally, not exceeding 3-3.5k, no lugging, etc. until warm. Unfortunately it only has a water temp readout, which tends to stabilize around 180F. Since oil tends to take longer to heat up than coolant, I wait until coolant temp has been at 180F for at least 5 minutes (per recommendations on LotusTalk), so about 10min of driving typically.

As for camshaft wear, a common belief is this is due to the Sport Pack's dual oil coolers not letting the oil get up to a proper temperature, while others think there were some batches of cams made of soft material (which I find harder to believe since this Toyota engine is shared with the Celica, Matrix, and *shudder* Pontiac Vibe and Corolla XRS). Some people even delete the oil coolers. However, only a minority of people ever experience cam wear, and at 26k miles, I'm not worried that it will start occurring now as long as the oil is sufficiently warmed before romping on it.

The nice thing is, even in the absolute worst case scenario of total engine destruction, a 2ZZ is... $1,500? Haha.

3) Haven't done a coolant bypass. I find it gets up to operating temp (as described above) in about the same time as my M3.

4) I got mine in mid-August, so had a few dry 90-degree days. It's enough to stay comfortable in that weather, but probably not much more. I've read that if you blast the A/C too aggressively, it will start to freeze and you begin to lose cool air. It's never been an issue for me, but it might be if you frequently have 100+ degree days or lots of humidity.

5) I plan to go with RE-71Rs. Unfortunately they don't have the stock Sport Pack front size of 195/45/16, so you have to go 205/45/16 and pair them with either the stock rear size (225/45/17) or go to 235 to match the 30mm stagger front to rear, but with a slightly taller tire. They both fit, so up to you. I haven't decided yet, but leaning toward 225s.

Some people also like R888Rs, but I read that they tend to "age out" faster than RE-71Rs (makes sense given compound/treadwear) while providing minimal dry grip advantage.