Elise owners out there...
 

Just curious but would likely never own one. I am intrigued to say the least why you would be motivated to buy one?

-Is it your daily driver?
-How do you like driving it? What can you compare driving experience to? Miata, Boxster or?
-What are the servicing costs like?
-Does it have enough power?
Do you get overlooked in traffic?
Any other Lotus owners feel free to share your thoughts!

I have one. It is not my daily driver but I do drive it 3-4 times a week. I love this car. I prefer to drive this over anything else on sunny days. I will never sell this. Drove it in the rain for the first time today with no issues except I need new tires. Nothing I have can take a corner like this car.

As far as power, it has plenty of get up for me. It only weighs 1800lbs. It's pretty easy to get that moving.

General maintenance is cheap. It has a Toyota motor in it so you can get the spark plugs, air filter, oil filter, etc anywhere. The only issue I have with mine is that the display is bad and it causes my odometer to jump mileage. Since I have no intention of selling, I don't worry too much. I have asked questions on Lotus Talk but no one has seen theirs do what mine has. Lotus has gotten some complaints but not enough for a recall.

This is a car that requires you to be a defensive driver. You can be overlooked by larger vehicles. But honestly, it is so unique here that people tend to watch you. My husband has said he has had problems with people riding the bumper when he is driving but I have not seen that.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1372784756.jpg

I hope you're short.

I was going to add. This car is not good if you are overweight, much taller than 6' tall or arthritic. I am 5'6" and a size 6; My husband is 6' tall with a 33" waist. We fit very well in here. If you are tall it does take a little more folding of your body to get in and out and if you are overweight you will never get in the seat. But I love the seats. It has the perfect seating position for hours of driving with no pain.

I instructed a fellow with an Elise a couple of years ago at Summit Point. Drove it for a couple of laps as well. At 6'2" and overweight, I agree - getting in and out of that car was not very elegant on my part. But once you were behind the driver's seat, it really didn't matter!

If I weren't so caught up with Porsche, I would be looking at the Lotus brand to replace my 944...

-Z

That is right. My question to people:

Have you ever gotten out of a car at the track, smiling? The Lotus has me smiling the entire drive no matter where I am driving. The grocery store is 5 miles away. It takes me 20-30 minutes to get there because I take the "scenic route". By the way, I can get 5 reusable grocery bags in the trunk.

I daily-drove a friend's '06 Elise for a few weeks while he was out of town but trying to sell it. It was certainly the most fun car I've ever driven.

However:
The fiberglass bodywork is flimsy and of poor quality, hugely expensive if you crack one of the clams. I hit a pothole and put a hole in the front spoiler... it was about a $1600 repair. My friend had already replaced both the front and rear clams due to parking incidents.
That said, it was fairly easy to work on. I was able to remove and reinstall the front clam without too much trouble.

The handling is addictive, but I would like a little more power.

I was kind of surprised, but I was happy to go back to daily driving my 911 after a few weeks in the Elise. It just feels so much more solid, and it sounds better as well.

There is the 220-240hp supercharged Exige S made from 2006-2011, or the 2009-2011 Exige S 260 (257hp). With a 2,000 lb body, that kart can scoot!

-Z

I believe Schumi still has his, hopefully he chimes in. No personal experience but it's on my short list of cars that I would like to own. My neighbor had an Evora and just traded it for an Evora S, beautiful cars.

I have owned one for a little over 4 years and counting.

As I say, its motivational yoga getting in and out of the car, but once your in the Lotus position:):):)

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/qVNroy0p5tU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

The car turns into a corner with such confidence that it almost seem to slow time down. (Do I want to apex there or there? I seem to have time to decide)
Then it apexes with the best of them.
Then you get on the throttle early and grin. (Hmmm... wasn't that big bore car in my mirror much closer going into that corner?)

Mine is normally aspirated, and yes, it can use more HP. (Only car I have ever driven that didn't need more HP was a 600+ HP ZR1 Corvette, it could use more rear tire.). The car is quick, but not fast. 0-60 comes up in sub 5 seconds (good). Top speed is listed as 150 (good). From 100 - 150 is, well, did I tell you it has a 1.8L motor and rotten coefficient of drag?

Summary, A Elise/Exige is a car you either get, and love, or you dont get it and you should drive a more traditional car. Like Jeremy said, "Lotus doesn't ask what the customer might want, they ask what they can do without, and it seems we can do without quite a lot!"

I strongly considered one a number of years ago. I took it for a test drive and this was my experience. I was thinking of having it as my DD.

The car handed like nobody's business...quite amazing. It was particularly loud, so if I owned one, I would definitely had gone through it with Dynamat (this was a 2006 I looked at). The sound was great but overtime I suspect it would get a little annoying, especially on long trips or when making calls to clients.

Also, the roads where I live outside of NYC are not the smoothest in the road...a lot of pot holes. It made for a rather rough ride and also, I recall on one occasion hard to handle when very bumpy. In the end, I decided to hold off on the car. I will own it one day, but not for a while.

The other B in B&B Track cars owns one, bought it new and loves it, I've driven it as well, and like the rest who own or have driven them, loved it.. It really is a simple, fun car, and I wouldn't mine owning one (I could buy Bill's, as he has his eye on something with 600ph:eek: and needs to sell something to keep the wife happy(he owns a few more cars than a sane person does, and is very keen on proper maintenance), and he is over 6' and I'm right at 6'.
If you are interested, I can ask him if he really is willing to part with it. He has 2 extra sets of rims & a custom aluminum trailer for it as well. http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1372827548.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1372827565.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1372827583.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1372827642.jpghttp://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1372827717.jpg
A better pix of the trailer.http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1372827765.jpg

Former owner. It is a terrific car, but fragile. To be fair, nothing really broke during my ownership, but I never had a ton of confidence in it, other than the drivetrain. I had paint problems from the outset. I was paranoid that I was going to break a front or rear clam. I cringed every time someone got near it (and people ALWAYS gather around an Elise in Canada). Slamming doors. Grabbing the windshield header when sitting in it. GULP!

I stopped daily driving mine. It wasn't pleasurable to drive slowly. I loved driving it on the track, though. I replaced it with my E46 M3, which is a better car all around for what I need (autox, track, travel, bringing my children . . .).

Ownership is an experience -- and everyone who wants one should enjoy one. Sector 111 is a fabulous aftermarket supplier.

Drove one for about 3 months and loved every minute of it.

Can to roof be removed on the exige? Would love the supercharger but really want an open top car.

i have the budget alternative: an mr2 spyder with a 2zz-ge swap and aftermarket suspension.

daily it, even winter drive it, obviously with a different set of wheels/tires

love driving it.

the real problem i've run into with actually buying a lotus, is that they are super easy to total, because of the cost of the fiberglass shells, so most around here are salvage titles for body damage. which is all well and good, i have no problem with that, but i'd need a loan for a 25 grand car, and salvage means no-no.

In Scotland a few years ago, an Elise with two folks aboard caught up to us and overtook on the A68 south of Jedburgh. When we got within sight of the Abbey, they were in the parking lot taking pics. He was about 6'4". When we got ready to go, I watched him fold himself into the car (he didn't bother opening the driver's door, just stepped over it). We left the parking lot first, but they were by again in five minutes.
I'm not sure how he could drive it with the roof panel in place.

Best
Les

Yes but you dont get a soft top with an exige. One can be fit from an elise however. I had an elise and now I have an exige-s. I sort of miss the better visibility of the eilse. The cars are quick enough NA but the supercharged versions have a much nicer powerband. It is simple and cheap enough to aftermarket SC a non S car.

I love these little plastic cars. I always maintain that they are the poor mans 73 RS. They just feel like old light weight cars, with an added measure of absurd stick. Getting into any modern regular car will feel like a boat after.

also I am 5'11 230lbs and I fit fine. I still have one or 2 notches left to slide back on drivers seat.

The subject of can you daily drive one comes up all the time. There are all sorts of philosophical arguments either way, but to me the answer is: "I could but I sure as hell wouldent want to"/

Not an elise, but I have driven some and many things are remarkably similarhttp://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w...psapvlwcu7.jpg
Mine is easier to get in and out, but only because it can go topless...With the hood up it's right on par with an elise...though, I'm a big guy and 6' and have no problems with top Down.
Handling is ridiculous with zero body roll and dang near impossible to lose traction with a good set of rubber. Handling is eerily similar to the elise despite the elise being mid-rear and élan being front front