As for dd, I drive mine several times per week, parts are cheap and plentiful on the mechanical side and it's relatively easy to work on

One thing I can say about the eliges is everytime they come up for discussion on non lotus car forums they receive a lot of praise. In general enthusiests really appreciate the car for what it is. Cars like corvettes gtrs and even Porsches are a bit more polarizing

The Elise variants are certainly interesting cars. However, given the prices of used vehicles it seems that a stripped out Boxster would be somewhat similar and more solid for a whole lot less money. Does anybody have a stripped out, lightweight, outlaw Cayman or Boxster to pit against the Lotus? How cheaply could it be done?

If you can get a loan for $33K, you can buy Bill's, full service history, spare wheels, custom trailer, and it is a blast, as it is the factory light weight sports optioned:D

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1394598202.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1394598233.jpg

I have only had the Elise for a little over a year. I don't track it and because of a electronics issue, I have no idea how many miles it has on it(when I bought Dec 2012 the odo read 50K). That being said, my summer project is to replace the clutch (less than $500 for the parts). I just replaced the brake fluid, brake pads and rotors.

Like all cars, service costs will vary the most between you doing the work or paying someone.

Hope that helps.

i think you'd be pretty hard pressed to strip 1000 lbs out of a boxster. getting a car like that down to 2000lbs would be a tough one.

Porsche couldn't even take 200 lbs out when they scrapped the A/C and top.

2011 Porsche Boxster Spyder
Porsche's Lightweight Boxster Spyder Packs a Punch - MSN Autos

its really hard to imagine a modern full bodied car getting close to 2k lbs. If you ever probe around an elise you realize how little car is actually there. Like someone said an MR-S is pretty bare bones and tiny car with a similar drive train. It is at least 200 pounds heavier with much smaller tires and brakes.

There are a couple minor issues that can come up but they are within the scope of a diy'r. Neither my elise or my exige has ever had any real issues. The worst thing I had was I had to replace the AC resistor pack in the elise, which is a terrible awful job. My exige has had exactly zero issues but I have adressed a few small common issues before the had a chance to manifest. For example I replaced the plastic end cap radiator with an all aluminium one. The old one was fine though.

Remember that an entire new engine can be bought for like 2k from toyota. Just don't hit anything and you will be fine. A new set of tires is 500$ and brake pads last a long time.

Amazing that the "lightweight" Boxster was 2811 lbs. A basic 996.1 is around 2950 lbs. Guess that's called progress?

There's a really good weight loss thread on the 6speedonline 996TT forum, where members have documented the weight of removed OEM parts and their lightweight replacements. Around 250 lbs loss seems pretty common from doing semi-sane things - lightweight seats, lightweight wheels, remove spare, remove back seats, lightweight exhaust, etc. After that point it becomes a function of either sacrifice or expense - remove A/C, gut interior, lightweight body panels, etc. I think there's a few guys with 996 race cars that are around 2200 lbs.

I would personally love to have either an Elise or Exige, but I'm not sure my 6'1" 215 lb fat ass could comfortably drive it.:cool:

You could probably drive it just fine. Getting in and out while the roof is on is the tough part.

Here is my current version, and my third Lotus. Not a daily driver but would not trade it for anything else.

Todd SmileWavy

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1394833006.jpg

And my track tool ,

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1394833057.jpg