Steve asked about a comparison, of S1 to S3 Club Racer and maybe even to the Evora. Well a 3-way is complicated (oo-er, sorry Mods!) but I can pick out the Elise themes easily enough.
Similar:
Driving position
Entry / exit procedures
Fiddly nature of boot release
Core handling DNA and steering
Torquey power delivery
Excited pointing of fingers and waving, generally by small children or grown men
Hand-built patina / foibles
= Just feels like home
Better on the S1:
Wind noise with roof down
Fuel consumption (39mpg vs 32)
Space behind the seats
Main beam (but it had driving lights, Club Racer doesn't)
Heater was warmer
Exhaust tone - quiet on cruise, fruity under load
Strong, firm brake pedal with very positive action
More suited to the road - just the right power-to-weight
Better on the S3:
Wind noise with roof up
Boot access
Bottle holder between seats
4-speaker setup, decent bass from rears, decent higher freq soundstage from fronts
(carried over my nice Pioneer bluetooth mechless handsfree unit though which helps too)
Suspension refinement, despite being on adjustable Bilsteins and rock hard springs
Handling confidence / grip
Banzai torque and revs in any gear if you keep your foot in =8-o
TDI mode - change up at 2k rpm max and it's still pretty swift and nice a nice way to row it along, legally
Plenty fun on the road but clearly more track-oriented...and yet without compromising or "averaging out" too much, which surprises me.
Comparing the S3 to the Evora:
S3 can be enjoyed at lower speeds / Evora was so long-legged you only got a couple of gear-changes before being stripped of your license
S3 is way noisier, even though Evora had de-cat and sports zorst
S3 cruises almost as smoothly as the Evora, classic Lotus DNA. Just needs Cruise Control retro-fitted, LOL.
Evora was a true GT. Blitz through France without noticing, do a couple track days without noticing, bllitz home. I think even with the aircon the S3 would feel more like an Endurance Event to do that. Maybe one day we will find out...
Evora had a genuinely capable boot, further luggage space in rear seat area, and the speaker setup was lovely when you have the right head unit in there. Double DIN means proper Nav. My son has already spotted how Lotus could have designed in double DIN for the S3...they missed a trick.
S3 is more frugal than Evora (32 vs 29 long term) - so not by much, only 10% ish, probably thanks to the supercharger...guess it compares much better against an also-supercharged Evora
But all of the above is kind of clinical, analytical stuff. This weekend, I got to really drive the car over some proper Elise roads - primarily the snaking route from Ringford, near Kirkcudbright, through New Galloway, and Dalveen Pass, to Crawford, and then also our well travelled route from M74 at Rigside all the way home to Linlithgow.
The S3, in this slightly hardened spec, is utterly amazing. Turn in, grip and acceleration in and out of bends feels more Exige-like than Elise. You literally feel like you can wring its neck, but then you arrive at a corner and think sh!t I've overcooked this we are going to die. Then the slightly soft brake pedal starts to work, and you chuck it in on its nose, and it just grips without spitting back. Wow. Let's go back and drive that route again...immediately!!
Well there you go, that's the first impressions. More later in the summer when I've had longer with it perhaps, and definitely more to report next year after a track day or two.
But for anyone unsure if Lotus is still true to its roots with the Elise, fear not. And a supercharged example of some sort is probably the most faithful to the S1, ironically. (Although the 134bhp 5-speed original S2 "S" is also a very, very good effort and may be as much as 10 grand cheaper at the moment...)
Campbell
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