I'm not crazy about it's looks. IMO an S2000 with a hardtop "looks" much better than an Elise.

With that said, if I were offered the chance to get an Elise while having to give up the S2000 I'd do it in a second.

The people making the "I wouldn't pay $40k for a car with a Toyota engine" are just plain silly and apparently do not understand what the Lotus is all about. There's also this car that Toyota used to make once called a Supra Turbo which I'm sure many of you would have gladly paid $40k new for and OMG...it's got a Toyota engine.

 

There's also this car that Toyota used to make once called a Supra Turbo which I'm sure many of you would have gladly paid $40k new for and OMG...it's got a Toyota engine.
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That is a very ignorant statement. I believe there is quite a significant difference between a Turbo'd Supra engine that is only available at the 40+k price range than a Toyota Celica engine that is available at $23k not to mention the performance on the engines are not even close to comparison.

 

Are you one that believes that when you buy a car you're paying for the engine? Kind of like AMG?

The Elise is about the entire package and/or power to weight ratio. It doesn't matter that it uses the 2ZZ-GE, which has actually been tweaked a bit to make more power for the Lotus, it's the shear fact that the car is mid-engined and has a curb weight of under 2,000 lbs. in stock form.

I simply don't understand the disappointment with the Toyota engine. Since when do people not want reliability?

 

probably the same people who like old brittish cars

 

I think you're on to something here.