Porsche Vs. Lotus

[onebad911]

I must need my head examined, after lurking in the lotus forums, i was contemplating trading my 911 in on a exige. I went to my local lotus dealer and test drove one on saturday.....what a joke! You almost need an intructional manual just to even get in one..once your pried in the lack of quality is readily apparent...the thing rattled so bad i was afraid parts were going to come flying off as i test drove. I thought my 915 was balky in shifting..it's a dream compared to the lotus..it's amazing how the people in the lotus forums dog our porsches i don't think they have a clue..the engineering and the quality is simply night and day...needless to say when i got home i fell in love all over again with my car....props to german engineering!!!!!!

[NICKG]

i dunno..the elise i drove was miles ahead of my 02 boxster..

[JeremyD]

Go drive another one - the elise I drove on an autocross last year was solid - shifted better - made good power - was very tossable - more in the vein of an early car.

(but yes, I agree it was a pain to get in an out of one - especially with the top on)

[onebad911]

drove an elise today, still sucked!!!

[RWebb]

Last month's Rod & Truck had articles on the famed Lotus Elan and on de Tomaso (vintage articles). You read them and yes, the cars are exciting in certain ways but they all just fail overall.

Porsche really got it right with the 911. Nothing can stand up to it. No other car unites the feel and performance of a great sports/GT car with the ability to actually drive the car & the practicality to carry 2 adults and a lot of luggage (or 2 adults and 2 kids) on a trip. It's not just a car for track use, it is actually a great trip car.

There was nothing even close.

Today, the field has narrowed somewhat, but Porsche still offers something you just cannot get anywhere else. esp. with the Boxster & Cayman. You really have to hit Lambo territory to get better handling feel and performance.

[Seric]

Reminds me of my ex-neighbor. He drove an Exige when they first came out. He was at a track event and when he got in it, he was adjusting something or other and broke some bit of interior off. He just tossed it at the rep and said, "Just savin weight."

[1fastredsc]

I'm kind of surprised at the shifter feel. I thought they used toyota drive trains?

[dd74]

The Lotus has a Toyota engine. I don't know about the drivetrain.

I've driven an Elise and wasn't that taken with it. On the track, it seems they require a lot of work to get to the same level as a 911. I also tend to think a stock SC can easily stay with an Elise on a race circuit. Build quality? I think the 911 is a better built car. Also, the 911 is much more a dual purpose car than the Lotus.

Of course, YMMV.

[Komenda Fan]

A couple of Lotus Elise's were at the PCA autocross in our region. The Porsches might as well not have been there, for how competitive they were. Lotus has always been much more of a drivers car. The 911 is fast, but more something you would drive everyday. I actually like my 911 because it has been modified to the point it more closely resembles a Lotus than a modern Porsche.

[Tobra]

There is no substitute for light weight, newer Porsches have gone away from that some, if you ask me

[dd74]

+1 Tobra.

Possibly a more appropriate question would be Porsche 997 vs. Lotus.

At that rate, and for how I want to use a performance car, I'd take the Lotus, hands down.

[Z-man]

The Lotus Elise/Exige are completely one-dimensional cars. If you want a car that can turn - the Loti are the pinnacle of that task.

The Lotus Elise is a 914 on Crystal Meth.

I instructed in one -- and the car was freakin' telepathic when it came to turning. Actually had to get my student to slow down the steering inputs to almost a stop -- that's how quickly it would react to the turning of the wheel.

That said, the car does lack in power. I assume the Exige is a bit better in that department, but still not up to 996/997/Boxster S / Cayman S power.

If I were to choose between a Porsche or a Lotus, I'd have to pick the Porsche. Why? While the Porsche has 8/10ths the turning ability that the Loti do, it's got at least 25% more power. And while we all live for the corners, a modern Porsche will blow by the Elise (and probably the Exige) on the straights every time.

-Z-man.

[Komenda Fan]

If you do need more power, you could order one of these,

http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Drives/FirstDrives/articleId=124459

217bhp and a weight of 1918lbs sounds like a proper sportscar to me. If I were in the market for a weekend toy for spirited driving/autox/track, its no contest. On the other hand, if I wanted a car to do that and take me to work everyday, then a modern Porsche makes more sense.

[motion]

Exige S!!!! Sign me up!

http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Drives/Followup/articleId=119741

[MOMO3.2]

I test drove an Elise a few months ago. For reference I have a lightened (2,460 lb) Carrera 3.2 with 7's & 9's and Bilstein Sports all around. My car has been lowered and corner balanced by a Porsche Pro.

THE ELISE ABSOLUTELY *****S ON MY CARRERA IN EVERY PERFORMANCE CATAGORY--IMO.

Turn in and cornering are not even in the same stratosphere. Acceleration felt about as good until the VTECH cam kicked in on the ELISE @ 5,800 RPM. Then, it felt like a freakin turbo lit. The car I drove had the Sport exhaust and sounded BETTER than my 3.2 with an M&K GT3 style muffler.

For me, the Lotus could not be a daily driver. I really had to shoehorn into it. But, for a fun/weekend/track car, the Lotus absolutely destroys my G50 Carrera in driving dynamics. It really is a street legal race car.

Porsche and Lotus are not even attempting to build cars for the same purpose. Porsche now builds high dollar, high prestige GT cars (with the exception of the GT2, GT3). The Lotus Elise is a no holds barred SPORTS car.

If I could justify the expense, I would have an Exige sitting in my garage in a heart beat.

Mike

[911Rob]

I went to test drive one at Weissac's.
All I had to do was just stand beside the thing.
Some other rather large lady was there getting into one of them too.

IMO, rice.

[stomachmonkey]

Love to get an older Esprit. Classic look.

[dd74]

Originally Posted by Komenda Fan

If you do need more power, you could order one of these,

http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Drives/FirstDrives/articleId=124459

217bhp and a weight of 1918lbs sounds like a proper sportscar to me. If I were in the market for a weekend toy for spirited driving/autox/track, its no contest. On the other hand, if I wanted a car to do that and take me to work everyday, then a modern Porsche makes more sense.

Sweet!

[Jeff Alton]

I drove an elise and was pretty close to righting the check. Even took my 5 year old down to pick the color.... But up here they are 20 grand more than they are in the USA and I could not justify it.

It rocked though, I laughed out loud for the 20mins I was driving it. It feels faster than it is, but it was a hoot. Anyone who thinks a close to stock SC or Carrera has a chance against this thing on the track should put the crack pipe down. I am pretty sure I could out run one in my carrera, but it is 2250lbs has huge brakes, 300hp and track ready 935 suspension.

The funny thing is that the elise would make a better DD than my particular 911...

Cheers

[porsche930dude]

plus their oh sooooo sexy