Scottish Elises

Hi folks,

Martin from Glasgow here. Been a fan of the Elise for many years now and came close to buying one in 2010 but ended up going for a Boxster at the time (I know ) I loved the car in all honesty but had to be sensible and get rid due to a house purchase.

Currently leasing a 2011 corsa vxr which I really like but it will never match the Porsche's 'feel food' factor...which is why I hope to go down the Elise route within the next year. It'll be my daily driver which is only a 30min return trip to and from work but my other half and I also intend to buy a cheaper more practical car for when we need to transport the German Shepherd

I love the look of the new Lotus Elise but pretty shocked at how the prices have rocketed for new models since I was looking a few years ago. I remember you could get a new Elise S for near £23k and I see that the high performance models are now over £40k

Budget-wise...£24k and under really but I'd really like to buy one of the Club Racers - I've seen two being sold by dealers for 23 and 24k, one with only 600 miles on the clock! Any idea why they're so 'cheap' in comparison to other used examples out there?

Looking forward to learning about the Elise on here before I hopefully take the plunge.

I'm off on holidays for 6 weeks so if there are any owners around Cambuslang/Lanarkshire way then it would be great to meet up and have a look round and chat about the car.

Cheers,

Martin

Don't know to much about the newer models so can't help you with that, I'm more of the sheddy S1 type I am sure however someone will more knowledge than is healthy will pop along shortly.

Elise + german shepherds means you will fit in here

Club Racers are cheap compared to the other models because thay are a 1.6 engine and are stripped of all creature comforts ( radio/ roof etc), they are intended as road legal track cars so often wont have extras added.
The Elise is the same 1.6 engine with a nod towards road use by way of roof, seat padding, leather radio/cd etc and new sit just under £30k.
The £40k cars (Elise S) are supercharged so are a big step up in performance and list at about £36k new + most have either the sport and/or touring packs added at about £2k each.

I would suggest looking at 2 year old cars for that budget, although it would also be worth speaking to Brandon at Murrays, there are some very tempting deals on the go!

The Elise S of about 4 years ago was the base model car (with circa 140 BHP IIRC), the elise R (formerly 111R) was the more powerful (170 BHP IIRC) car, and the SC was the supercharged car. Lotus have now changed their naming system, so the Elise S is now the supercharged car at the top of the range. The club racers have a 1.6l engine (compared to 1.8 for the others) and is a striped out more basic car - quite highly regarded as it is light (the original concept) and not too powerful - possibly not quite powerful enough for some. I would suggest a trip to Murrays to try a few different flavours and see what you prefer!

I'm sure someone with a better anorak than mine will be along soon with a better review of the models!

Keep the questions coming!

Happy car shopping! Look forward to seeing you at a meet soon.

Edit: J2LOT beat me to it

Thanks for the info guys. The examples I saw actually had the roof and radio included for that price so if I'm lucky I might be able to go down that route but if not, then as said, possibly go for a low mileage 2 year old example. Personally, I'm not interested in anything more than that but one thing that has got me thinking is how much room I'll have? I'm 6 foot 3 and wondering about head room - really need to get my ass in one!

Martin wrote:Thanks for the info guys. The examples I saw actually had the roof and radio included for that price so if I'm lucky I might be able to go down that route but if not, then as said, possibly go for a low mileage 2 year old example. Personally, I'm not interested in anything more than that but one thing that has got me thinking is how much room I'll have? I'm 6 foot 3 and wondering about head room - really need to get my ass in one!

I have an S1, but have driven most Elise / Exige derivatives, and at 6'1" I have never felt tight for space. There are a few taller on here too who have had elises with no issue. Best go try some I'm on the north side of Glasgow if you want to try my elise for size... although it's an S1, it is not a million miles away from S2 interior dimensions.

Headroom isnt normally an issue in the car - if you can get in it should be ok. Getting in takes some practice and you need to develop your own entry and exit strategy so you arent reduced to crawling out on all fours

j2 lot wrote:Headroom isnt normally an issue in the car - if you can get in it should be ok. Getting in takes some practice and you need to develop your own entry and exit strategy so you arent reduced to crawling out on all fours

I've seen some cracking You Tube vids

PM sent Dominic

Elise S2 with Probax seats,I'm 6'3 and have no probs getting in or out and plenty of headroom.Standard rear view mirror can get in my line of vision sometimes though.

I'm pretty close to you as I'm in Larkhall so welcome to see mine. This weekend or next week aren't suitable but anytime after that would be ok either weekday night or weekend.
Mine is a 2004 111s so would give you an good idea of a S2 model size wise, the 2008 onwards models have a different dash but the overall feel is the same.

Price wise i've noticed the lower powered 1.8S toyota engine model (134bhp) are a lot cheaper than the 111r (189bhp and renamed as the R) so looks like same with the low powered Club Racer. I cant imagine you would find a club racer without soft top, sounded a bit of a sales gimmick saying it had less weight and cost but available as an optional extra which everyone would end up buying.
PM me if interested in meeting up.

Welcome!

You wont have any problems with headroom, I am 6ft 2 and didnt have the seat all the way back in my s1 exige, my mate who was 6ft 7 said its the most comfortable driving position he has tried as he could stretch his legs out straight

Steve.

Thanks guys - pm sent Ian.

Will give you a call over the weekend Dominic