Scottish Elises

With the tvr up for sale and hopefully being replaced with an evora, the plan was just to sell the boxster and pocket the cash. However being a true petrol head I never manage to do the sensible thing. Which got me thinking, what if I used that £10k on an Elise?

I tried a search for other topics about budget Elise's but nothing jumped out, am sure this type of topic will have been discussed at length so feel free just to post links to relevant topics

So my question is £10k or less on an Elise, what would you go for? A leggy S2 or a nice S1. The car would be purely for very occasional use and a few track days. Which would be the most fun, the best ownership prospect.

It's going to come down to the actual car you buy rather than s1 vs s2 I think, there's some very well looked after s1's even though they are a little older but then there's a s2 135 on seloc for £11.5k with most of the mods you'd want for light track use. Don't think you'll lose money on a good S1 or S2 as long as it's been looked after.

£10K will buy you an early std. tourer S2 with a good whack of miles on it but i think it'd be fairly tired.

I think (and I may be wrong) that 10K will buy you a pretty nice S1 which if you're only going to use rarely may deliver a more exciting experience (and thats coming from a 100% S2 man).

I did notice this the other day:

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3965628.htm

Best of the S1's (imo), you'll certainly lose nothing on it and it would be awesome for weekend blasts.

I'd stretch the budget and go for the S2 135r, solid investment!

Something like this looks appealing http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3823562.htm what are best 135, or 111s or pay extra and look out for a 160?

A 135r was the dream car when it 1st came out, surely they are ultra rare and priced accordingly

I think you are right on the dilemma zone with your budget, Gooldie.

S1 has more rarity value perhaps.

S2 is slightly easier to get into.

S2 has various minor improvements especially for old-age service items like exhaust parts design, wheel hub source (Astra instead of Metro!).

S1 tyres are slightly easier / cheaper to source (S2 fronts in 175/16 are a bit goofy although easily changed to 185 or 195 which is easier to source I believe).

S2 roof easier to fit (albeit early "long-tail" models aren't that much slicker than the S1s). Some say the S2 leaks less. Hmm.

S2 is slightly more refined (esp in Tourer spec).

S1 has choice of std or CR box (eg that 135 in the link above is CR, and some had this retro-fitted...the S1 111S had it as std too but that may go above your budget...just). S2 ships only with CR box until (conversely!) you get to 111S models which again are out of budget.

S1 std shocks (Konis) are cheese, S2 shocks (Bilstein) are much better...but you can get fitting kits to put the latter's on the former which sorts that instantly.

S2 might be cheaper to repair on bodywork...I think S1 clams are getting eye-watering expensive, if available at all now

S2 is considered slightly less "Pointy" handling but geo settings can adjust either car to precisely what you want.

Otherwise the cars have...

same engine
same chassis
same basic performance (S2 is slightly heavier which offsets CR box)
same bootspace

I bet none of that helped...!

Campbell
diehard S1 faction

PS - S1 Sport 135 is the S1 to have
PPS - S2 135R is the S2 to have (note - VERY hard sprung, check your fillings first)
PPPS - S2 111S is the S2 to have (note - no need to filling reinforcement, available in pimp and comfort spec)

http://classifieds.seloc.org/ads/lotus- ... sport-135/ is the s2 135 at £11.5k It is far far away ( Cardiff ) but at least with a forum car you know it's probably been well looked after.

The S1 111s looks great too. S1's have to be Azure

Alternatively pick up a standard S1 for a couple of grand less and you'll be able to give the best tyres/pads etc as and when you need them without going over your original budget.

campbell wrote:
I bet none of that helped...!

Campbell
diehard S1 faction

PS - S1 Sport 135 is the S1 to have
PPS - S2 135R is the S2 to have (note - VERY hard sprung, check your fillings first)
PPPS - S2 111S is the S2 to have (note - no need to filling reinforcement, available in pimp and comfort spec)

On the contrary great help, thank you, My 1st Elise was an S2 111s an loved it and would buy it back in a flash, had it in comfort spec and did 3000 miles Europe in it and it was flawless.

VX220

That S1 135 doesn't look right to me, Pictures 4 and 5:
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3965628.htm
- Behind the rear grilles it should be black, this is silver behind there
- There should be a plastic trim round the outside of the rear wheel arches, almost meeting the diffuser and going round to about 11 o'clock.
- Near side has black stone guard film, Offside has clear or no film.

That says to me it has been painted (which isn't always a bad thing) but i'd want to know history (and why they did a half arsed job of not putting the trim back on and stone guard).

Time for me to stop being such a geek

PS- I'm a little biased and have never been in any other Lotus, but I loved my S1 135 and wouldn't think twice about having another

StiflerMR2 wrote:I did notice this the other day:

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3965628.htm

Best of the S1's (imo), you'll certainly lose nothing on it and it would be awesome for weekend blasts.

This is only 13 miles from me but have never seen it

Is that correct about the 145bhp?

KennyT wrote:That S1 135 doesn't look right to me, Pictures 4 and 5:
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3965628.htm
- Behind the rear grilles it should be black, this is silver behind there
- There should be a plastic trim round the outside of the rear wheel arches, almost meeting the diffuser and going round to about 11 o'clock.
- Near side has black stone guard film, Offside has clear or no film.

That says to me it has been painted (which isn't always a bad thing) but i'd want to know history (and why they did a half arsed job of not putting the trim back on and stone guard).

Time for me to stop being such a geek

PS- I'm a little biased and have never been in any other Lotus, but I loved my S1 135 and wouldn't think twice about having another

I never looked at it that closely . Still I remember driving Stewart's 135 and it was awesome. If it was an S1 I was after I'd be looking at putting my money in a 135 - perhaps not that one if Kenny is right though.

KennyT wrote:That S1 135 doesn't look right to me, Pictures 4 and 5:
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3965628.htm
- Behind the rear grilles it should be black, this is silver behind there
- There should be a plastic trim round the outside of the rear wheel arches, almost meeting the diffuser and going round to about 11 o'clock.
- Near side has black stone guard film, Offside has clear or no film.

That says to me it has been painted (which isn't always a bad thing) but i'd want to know history (and why they did a half arsed job of not putting the trim back on and stone guard).

Time for me to stop being such a geek

PS- I'm a little biased and have never been in any other Lotus, but I loved my S1 135 and wouldn't think twice about having another

Had a pax lap of doms 135 at Knockhill last time I was there and it was awesome, think that might have quite a bit to doms driving though, the idea of an s1 is appealing, cheaper, classic looks and have never scratched that s1 itch.

rossybee wrote: Is that correct about the 145bhp?

It could be close.

The std K at "118bhp" was known to offer anything up to 130bhp in reality. Mine, in totally std form, showed 132bhp, for example.

The mild changes for the Sport 135 head were always going to offer 15bhp or so.

It was also rumoured that Lotus played down the badging of this particular edition so as not to deflect attention from the soon-to-be-launched 111S with 143bhp from the much-awaited K series VVC engine.

Euan, the only place an S1 might get boring is on mega tracks like Spa. When we were all there last Nov, of course, it was pelting down, so I had a riot in my lowly wee number

But at places like Knockhill, and - it is alleged - Oulton, Cadwell, etc, an S1 with "about" 145bhp could be right on the money. Not that I have experience of S1s with stacks more power etc, but I know Dave Minter (Elise chassis engineer) always reckoned the 135 kit set the Elise up at its sweet spot.

The magic number is 200bhp per tonne. Not a lot, but you'll like it...