Opinions on this S1?

[Stevoraith]

As per the title really.

It looks like my wee bro has sold his M3 to free up some cash to buy a house- but hopefully it will be replaced by an early S1.

I'm sure he'll be along to introduce himself but in the meantime I thought I'd ask about this S1 he's seen on Autotrader. It's near Newcastle so thought there was a chance someone might know of it.
Failing that I've seen you boys appraise cars by photos alone in the past!

Here's the link;
Silver S1 R416ENE

Looks like it may be sitting slightly lower than standard?

Any thoughts would be welcomed

[Corranga]

It's like the twin of mine when I bought it (but lower...)

On an R it's quite an early car so will maybe have some of the issues associated with that. (look for red clutch cable under the front bonnet for example) and it might need the rear toe link upgrade if he wanted to run sticky R tyres.

Check if the anti corrosion has been carried out on the floor pans (It looks like it might have rubber where your feet go, I thought this was removed and replaced with some crummy carpet like thing when the recall was done...)

It looks lower than standard so i'd be interested to find out what it's sitting on. By 55k miles my car had nearly been through 2 sets of Konis so if it's sitting on something else that's maybe for the best.

Are those pirellis on it (they'd probably be wanting changed...)

Someone who knows more than me will be along soon!

Chris

[Stevoraith]

Thanks Chris, thats the sort of thing I'm after.

Floor pan corrosion- can you tell if this is an issue just by looking under the carpet/mats in the footwells? Is it good enough as long as there is no corrosion or should I be looking for something which was changed to stop corrosion appearing in the future?

Any other opinions or general comments on what to look for in early S1's would be welcomed.

[tut]

Steve, if it has had the corrosion treatment package done it will be obvious as you will not have the stuck down thin black rubber sheet on. If it does have this you will not be able to check without ripping it off.

If the disks are original, then they will be MMC's on that reg, which for me would be a bonus, I have them on both my cars, half the weight of steel and work well. Also the five spoke original wheels which were classic.

tut

[roadboy]

Its just down the road from me so if he is seriously inrterested in the car and wants a proper inspection done give me a shout.

Dan

p.s. Snippersgate seem to deal in a lot of Elises but they aren't always the best examples, generally speaking.

[Stevoraith]

Cheers Tut, so if it has a rubber sheet stuck to the floor then this is bad as it has not had the corrosion treatment package and it may be hiding something nasty. If the treatment has been done then I will be able to lift the mat and see the floor. Excellent.

As for MMC discs, any idea when they stopped fitting them? What reasons would someone have for changing them for normal discs as I thought they didn't wear very much at all?

Dan, I was kind of hoping you would post to be honest as I knew it was your neck of the woods. If he does decide to have a look then we'll definitely be in touch. My brother is pretty handy and knows quite a lot about the mechanical side of things but it would be invaluable to have an expert on Elises look over any potential purchase.
Despite having an Elise variant for a year and going on a good few road runs, I've never even sat in an actual Elise so all I know about them is what I've gathered from reading on here.

Thanks for the heads up on the garage too, always good to know these things.

[tut]

Lotus had a deal with American firm Lanxide to provide the disks for the first couple of thousand Elises at a fixed price but after that the price was increased and it became uneconomical, so after August '98 they fitted the steel ones.

I believe Lanxide went out of business not long after. I have stocked up so will never run out, and I have a brand new set which is probably one of the very few unused ones left.

tut

[Corranga]

There are a few that MMCs may have been removed. The pads are pretty expensive (100quid a set, there is only 1 type of pad that should ever be used on MMCs, available from eliseparts) but the discs last forever (my car has 63k miles on it, reckon Tut has a set with more miles...)
They tend to squeal a lot so i've heard of people removing them because of this, and they are fairly poor when wet (though not dangerous!)

I *think* there was a period when pads were hard to get, and I also have a feeling I read somewhere that Lotus either funded the change to regular discs or recommended it when they stopped sourcing new parts.

Another reason could be that a cheap set of crap regular discs and cheap pads would probably cost the same as a set of MMC pads, or that the car (not in this case) is running extra power and needed more stopping power.

MMCs rule, I love that my car has these silly light weight discs that are seemingly indestructible!

Also, if you lift the 'mats' in the foot wells and the metal still looks corroded, it could still have been treated as mine was definitely done and looks corroded.

[scottishselise]

Would the car be due a major service soon also? I always seem to have a negative outlook on every used car unless I know the owner and it's backed up with heaps of receipts and an enthusiastic owner.

[BiggestNizzy]

Another vote for MMC's they take a bit of getting use to when it's very wet so I tend to dab the barakes every few miles

[scottishselise]

ah, I am learning:

http://www.elises.co.uk/components/s1/brakes/index.html I am sure 99% of people know all this info anyhoo..

[scottishselise]

OP

Perhaps this is better value/worth a look.

hmmmm: http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/ ... &logcode=p

just noticed the fcuk is cat d'd so lots of people wont go near it. Might be able to knock him down if he's wanting rid.

cheers

p.s I really like the blue with black wheels as an every day/track proposition.

[tut]

The original pads were certainly good for a laugh in the wet, but the present ones from Geary and Yvo are much better.

tut

[ROSSGR]

Sold my Elise to Snippersgate, easy to deal with. Family run business.

Tristan I think was the guys name.

[Ferg]

If it's any help, this ones been up for several months as I was considering viewing it when I was looking for mine. Might help if you come down to negotiate.