After test-driving the Elise, I was disappointed. The performance was great, but a couple things bothered me enough to hold off. First was the infamous entrance/egress problem with the top up. I really can't believe they felt the door sill had to be that high. IMO, some folks with deposits are going to change their minds when they try to get in the car. Then there was the use of plastic trim, both interior and exterior. A thin plastic center console that moves with each shift? The black plastic trim on the hood and around the side intakes just really hurt the look of the car, IMO. Almost anything else, including brushed aluminum or color-coded trim, would look better on a car in this price range. The rear engine noise seemed magnified by the cockpit. I realize these are minor points considering the car's performance, but I'm hoping they can be improved upon next year.

 

Bear in mind that the Honda S2000s back bone frame concept comes from "pa-dum-pum" L O T U S.

Lotus has used the steel backbone frame since the early 60s. But now they are changing over to the bonded, extruded alloy frame concept. This type of frame needs high side rails. In a low car, this presents ingress/egress concerns. They lowered the sills a bit for the US market but they cannot go lower without losing frame stiffness. Once you are used to a car like this, gettin in and out is not that bad. It's just that ya gotta be into it. If you're not, things won't work out.

FWIW there is a video showing one good way to get in with the soft or hard tops in place. (It's easier with the top off)

http://www.cpdserver.com/elisetalk/video/inandout.wmv

Stan

 

That double foot entry reminds me of Duke's of Hazzard. I'm just waiting for that dude's hand to slip off the floor sill and him wiping out face-first and breaking a hip... looks like quite a pain in the a$$ to get in and out.

Hope your girlie never wears long skirts or boots... she'll either have a tough time getting in or scuffing up her boots.

Hope your girlie never wears short skirts... or hope you don't mind other guys getting a free lookie.

 

If the waiting list for the Elise is 2 yrs or longer, she could get on the list now, and get a S2k to drive for 2+ yrs. If she takes a liking to the S she could always keep it.

 

FWIW, I've yet to see a fast Elise at a track day. The couple that I have seen were slower than S2k. It could be because the car sux or the driver sux or a combination of both. At this point I would be a bit skeptical of forking over $40K+ for an Elise when there is no proof that it's faster on the track than S2k but it's a fact that it's a less useful/comfortable car.

 

If she can wait. Go for the Lotus. It will be more unique and probably fill her midlife crisis thing you mention.

 

The original Elise was an oversteer monster. The one being sold in the US market has had the handling detuned to understeer to make it more "safe". The Lotus fix for this is to put wider tyers on the front!

Check out the BBC car show called "Top Gear" for details. I think racingflix has the segment on the US spec Elise for download.

The Rover K series motor in the older UK spec models is a piece of junk with 120HP at the flywheel and a plastic intake manifold that you wouldn't even think of going FI with.