Purchasing a new Elise and giving up your S2K? The S used to be my "affordable" dream car, but more and more I'm dreaming of an Elise with an F20C (the 195HP 1.8 TEG engine would do as well), anyone else dreaming the same? I know it's 55K, and square in M3 territory, but I don't think any BAD-A$$ luxo-sports coupe could ever promise me what the Elise does in my dreams...

* still dreaming...

 

The guy that cuts my hair used to have a Lotus about three years ago. It was a turbo and I think it was called an S4 but I could be wrong. He let me drive it a few times on the tollway and it rocked. He eventually got rid of it because previous to that he owned an NSX and he said the Lotus couldn't touch the reliability of Acura/Honda and that the oil changes on the Lotus were sickly. Something like $100 a change. If I were to drop down $55k on something new it would have to be a new M3 or Z06. If I really were going to spend $55k though I think I might have to go the Supra or RX-7 route and make it downright beastly. Good luck with the decision.

 

I've played Gran Turismo 2 with a tuned-up Elise. Man, they have great acceleration, but low top speed. Now compare it to tuned-upToyota Supra-big engine, quickkkkk acceleration, HIGH TOP SPEED!!!

 

S2Kguy - no not really. As much as I think the Lotus is a bad ass car on paper, I'm not really interested in owning one. For one, they aren't even remotely cheap to buy let alone own. For two, you think Honda dealers are a pain in the ass to deal with wait until you try getting you car serviced at one of the very few Lotus dealers in the USA. Finally, an Elise is truly just a toy. As much as the S gets bashed for lacking amenities and/or trunk space you oughta see how the Lotus is. Talk about a tiny cockpit! Cool for a toy, not so cool to live with on a daily or semi-daily basis. Did I mention the cost?

Honda 606 - The Lotus you were thinking of was likely an Esprit and not an Elise. A highly capable car for sure, but one that is pretty crappy when compared with today's supercars. Maybe that's because the basic design is more than a couple decades old. Remember the Bond flick where the car turns into a submarine? That's one of the early Esprit's. And yeh... maintenance is a nightmare.

 

Thanks for the input guys. I wasn't sure about the Lotus reliability, and maintenance...well, I planned on doing it all myself. I live 2.1 miles from work, so the commute would not exactly break my back, and I can handle plastic windows and no A/C no probs... I suppose the car is just a toy like you say Da Hapa, but my heart has always been in go-cart type cars, I just love the way they feel, my first car was an '84 RX-7...then an MR-2, you get the picture. When I first got my Miata I thought to myself, this is the funnest car on the planet...if it just had a little more power and didn't look so much like a girlie car (sorry, it's beautiful, but round). When the S2K buzz from the mags started humming, so did my pocketbook, it took me a while...but I got one..YAY! Now all I dream about is the Elise, but it's probably better in my dreams than in real life.


'84 RX-7
'86 MR-2
'87 Conquest TSi
'97 MX-5
'01 S2000
'02 Elise....?

 

You know that Lotus has announced plans to bring the Elise to the US and it should be under $40k. Rumor has it that it may have the Toyota GT-S engine to pass emissions as the current Rover powerplant would not meet US EPA limits. Lotus pretty much has to start importing the Elise to replace the Esprit, whose production run is ending and is the only Lotus brought to the US right now.

 

Cool, so Lotus imports it for $39,999.99 and then the dealers scalp us for another $15K...hmmm...lets see...$55 for the car, $5K for the mods and I toast everything on the road, tempting.....