That is true but the S2000 the OP owns weighs c1200kg, the Cayman S c1350kg, the 911 Carrera c1500kg

I know there are different views on it but that is too big, too heavy for me, for a sports car. But those things are very subjective. I would go the other way seeking involvement

 

Off the wall choice but how about a Ginetta? I know not convertible, and probably too slow but I dorve one round Spa, and in the brakes/corners it was bloody amazing.

https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/15033850

 

​​​​​​That's actually a pretty good leftfield shout! I was quite interested in these when they came out. Gut feel says an Elise is probably a better prospect, but I'll have a read around and a proper think about it. Thanks!

 

You can rent them pretty easily for a track day https://want2race.co.uk/car-rental/ though I havent checked the costs lately, so beware!

 

Your search is over https://carsonline.bonhams.com/en/li...05?status=live

 

Haha! Pretty different! Not sure it's for me though. I test drove an Evora and an Elise yesterday, so I'll write up my thoughts later...

 

Always coveted a burbling Cobra rep

Not an Ace though. One in classic cars recently est at £290k ffs!
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They are good looking and sounding things.

 

Had a long day yesterday, drove to Bell & Colvill (well-known Lotus dealer in Surrey) and then to Hofmanns in Henley. Both were lovely places to go, really good dealers. Particularly Hoffmans, which is owned by an ex racing driver and Chris, the guy who I met, was clearly an enthusiast. In fact, another chap had driven from Devon to try the Elise at the same time as me, and the three of us had a great discussion about it, and some other cars.

So, firstly the Evora (a 2010, stock, normally aspirated with Premium, Tech and Sports packs). I won’t repeat anything which is obviously the same compared to the automatic supercharged version I drove in my earlier post. The colour was a metallic red and it had a cream leather interior, a combo I wasn’t totally convinced by, but it was the right spec otherwise.

I had 30 minutes on some A roads with it and it felt pretty decent. The pedal box was compact, and the throttle pedal is offset to the left a little, close to the brake. I had slim-ish shoes on, but not race boots by any stretch, and it was fine to drive in those, although I felt like I’d be wearing away the carpet on the right of the throttle pedal. The steering weight was nice, and the feedback was pretty noticeable straight away, but I’m not sure you get quite as much ‘bum feedback’ as the S2000, or maybe it’s just because it’s drowned out by the steering.

I did like the ‘inboard’ seating position (due to the thick chassis rails along the sills). I almost made it feel half way to a central seat like a McLaren! After 20mins, I became reasonably confident placing the car through narrower sections, too. I suspect that’s helped by the obvious wheel ‘haunches’ you can see through the windscreen and in the mirrors.

It was quick enough for British A/B roads. On paper, not much more power than the S2000 (approx 280bhp vs 240), and in 1400kg rather than 1250kg. But the flatter torque curve of the V6 vs the peaky I4 of the S2000 means it gives more of the power more of the time (from 3k rpm ish). It did still need some revs to get the best out of it though. The noise, as per the supercharged version, was decent outside the car, but ‘meh’ inside. The sport button didn’t do much to help (even with the windows down). I’d have to add a CAI or something if I got one. The engine definitely felt more ‘GT’ than ‘Sports Car’, especially before it fully warmed up. I needed to give it a fraction of a second to rev up when downshifting, so I think I’d prefer a lighter flywheel too.

The gears were very long. I assume this one didn’t have the optional shorter gearbox (therefore is the one that comes straight from a diesel Toyota to deal with the additional torque from the Lotus tuned Toyota V6, without the custom ratios). I couldn’t really use 4th much below 40mph and normal cruising on A roads at 65 was a 5th gear job, not 6th as you might expect. If I could, I'd definitely try and find one with the close ratio box.

The suspension was compliant, but felt purposeful, and as the speed increased, it became very ‘pattery’ over the lumps, bumps and ripples. It gave you the impression it was working well, and giving you feedback about it. I wasn’t able to push it through any tighter corners due to traffic, sadly, but this is the sort of stuff Lotus is famed for, and I can see why.

Sadly, the big shocker that clouded the whole drive was the gearshift. It was, to be perfectly honest, bl@@dy awful! Worse than the S2000, yes, but that’s to be expected. But also far worse than pretty much any car I’ve ever driven (including non sports cars). My Mazda 6 and my wife’s Jazz have a better shift (now I’ve added a heavy gear knob!). When you eventually moved it through the slack, it felt vague and squidgy. Apparently it can be fixed by fitting the gear cables and linkage form a later model (2021 onwards), but it’s a reasonable job to do so. It would be an absolute ‘must’ for me.

So, in short, I think the major shortcomings (noise, gearshift, eagerness of revving) could be sorted to an acceptable level, but I do think it is more of a GT car with sports car levels of steering feedback, rather than an all-out sports car. I think the main things that attract me to it are the mini-supercar looks and associated ‘premium’ aura, but as much as this was top of my list, I haven’t been able to love it. Certainly not as an S2000 replacement, at least. It could be a nice GT companion though!

 

...Aaaand a couple of hours later, I got to drive a series two Elise 111R with custom valved Nitron coilovers. I sat in one last weekend during the Lotus day at Castle Combe, so I wasn’t surprised at the diminutive size and closeness to the ground. Having time to drive it gave even more appreciation for the size and lowness of the driving position, but more about that later…

It obviously looks like...well, an Elise. There isn’t anything out there that it looks like, really. Micro supercar, nice proportions, this one was a bit of a boring silver (I think Lotuses should be in bold colours – they’re not Porches!). It certainly needs some effort and technique to get into the thing, especially if you’ve got a knee that’s previously been smashed and won’t bend fully! No door handles on the inside, just a rubbery plastic groove in the top of the door to practise your rock climbing pinch hold and shut the door. A bucket seat, with no angle adjustment at all, just sliding rails.

But once you’re in, you sit low; really low. The ‘wheel haunches’ were familiar from the Evora, albeit scaled down, but felt even higher, relative to the low driving position. A very small steering wheel, but a nice thickness. The pedal box was compact, but I didn’t notice any awkwardness or odd offset like there was in the Evora. I also had to undo my seatbelt so I could reach across the car to adjust the passenger side wingmirror! Simplify and add awkwardness…!? Haha, I don’t mind really, it’s all in the name of weight saving, and if you’re not swapping drivers regularly, it’s not an issue at all. And the roof was off, thanks to the sunny day, so I didn’t get to try it with it fitted.

Once I got moving, the steering wasn’t too heavy at slow speeds, but this is a later model with (hydraulic) power steering. There was a long stroke of dead travel on the brake pedal, but not overservoed, easy to modulate, and matched the throttle pedal, which had a long throw on it (which would hopefully mean easy heel/toe – I didn’t really get to try it on the short drive). It was a bit rattly (mainly the windows in the doors, I think), but it is a Lotus…! And the air con did absolutely nothing, but this appears to be fairly normal too, judging by the owners forums. I’d feel compelled to fix it if I bought one, but that’s just typical me.

As the speed increased and I started to take a few corners, the low seating position started to make sense. I felt like my seat was hung between the wheels, rather than placed on top of them like most cars, and the size (plus the inboard seating positon – like the Evora) meant I felt like I could pretty much reach out and touch each corner. It made it incredibly easy to place the car on the road, and being so small, I could take nice sweeping lines round fairly narrow corners, even staying on my side of the road.

When I finally got clear of the village, I put my foot down and it was plenty fast enough with the 190bhp (ah, the lightness works)! There was a familiar kick at 6k rpm, too, so properly rapid up top. Noise is there, but nothing as special as the S2000 (with a CAI, as I have). I’m sure a CAI or exhaust would improve things a little from a tone perspective. The gearbox was OK. Far better than the Evora, but still fairly slack and quite a long throw. Plenty of aftermarket kits are available to improve it though, and shortening the throw would place the lever further from the steering wheel, which was something I noticed. Having it within a hand’s span from the steering wheel is very much a Lotus ‘thing’, apparently (I’ve been researching!). The ratios weren’t especially short, but with such low weight, there was enough power for most driving anywhere above 2k rpm.

The steering gave me a level of feedback that was familiar from the Evora, although I found it very slightly less ‘busy’ in terms of vibrations etc, but I still found it plenty talkative enough. It had a nice weight to it, and felt very ‘kart like’ in it’s slight lack of self-centring. In fact, the combination of that, the size of the wheel, the fairly square wheelbase/track ratio, central driving position and the amount of feedback from the tyres, but it felt very familiar from my time in karts. I was very quickly able to push reasonably hard through a couple of slowish sweeping bends and start to feel the characteristics of the mid/rear engine weight bias; slightly ‘pushy’ without throttle, but very balanced and neutral with a little more throttle. I just felt I knew what was happening at both ends of the car, from the outset.

The suspension was particularly impressive. Compliant and purposeful, like the Evora, and very difficult to unsettle. If you shut the rattling of the trim/windows out of your mind, it was noticeable how well the Nitrons soaked up the bumps, whilst not really showing any downsides in handling. One particular corner had a huge pothole, so I deliberately sent the loaded set of wheels through it. I know the S2000 would have had a clunk from the rear (I have rose jointed rear controls arms fitted) and a little shimmy sideways. The Elise just drove through it like it was a far smaller pothole. Very impressive.

Talking to the dealer, his boss (and the owner of the dealership) is an ex racing driver and has worked with Nitron his whole career. The car and owner were well known to them and he’d worked with Nitron to custom valve the coilovers. And it works! Apparently the OEM Bilsteins aren’t too far off them (when new), but I was impressed.

So, in short, from a driving perspective, the best car I’ve ever driven, on a par with the 7s I’ve driven (one Caterham at Mallory Park and one leggy Westfield at Curborough). Quite different feeling to the front engined, rear seated 7s though. I can understand why these are revered by people who genuinely like driving. I can imagine there’s a lot of satisfaction to be gained learning the characteristics of an Elise. But the noise and gear shift are still bettered by the S2000! And the comfort, practicality & build quality are also obviously better, but that’s not what the Elise is about. If I can justify an additional car, then this would be great fun for track days and short blasts out. AND it’s a drop top! If it was a £15k prospect, I’d definitely go there, but a 111R is £25k, which is a similar price to a low end Evora, which is a lot more car in reality.

The Evora and Elise are starting to help me settle on what I want though, so I’ve got some thinking to do. I’ve been thinking more about the Boxster too. Whilst I enjoyed the Cayman, and the Boxster should give me that plus a convertible roof, I just don’t think I’d get enough extra fun/enjoyment to warrant spending the extra on it over the S2000, plus I just can’t get myself over the looks and ubiquity of them, I don’t think. At least, that’s my thinking at the moment. I will go and drive one though, just in case it throws up any surprises.