Carp200

in your opinion which car, elise mk 1 or civic type r, has more performance across the range? thinking of buying but not sure which one or maybe a subaru.

LG John

What kind of driving do you do? What floats your boat? This question cannot be answered till you give us that to go on. If you like the odd track day and a sporty feel take the elise. If you need some practicality and stick mainly to a-road and motorways take the civic and if your a b-road and c-road person that also likes the advantage of practicality and wet weather ability then the scooby is the car for you. All three are good cars, can't go far wrong

chrisp

Elise is basically a road going race car. The CTR well isnt but its a quick little hatch. It would be easier to live with a CTR everyday but if it just for the weekends or summer or trackdays then it has to be the Lotus.

Mega

HMMMMMMMMMMMMm...........I can't beat an Elise on a small track, however i have beaten 2 of them on the Road. The Best was down the Rainford bypass outside St Helens.

Sure he out dragged me to 67 mph than the gap between us closed quickly. By 90 It was all over. Tried to out brake my into a road island but F*cked up and almost spun on the exit. Again i re-took him.

Great fun because i had both my young Nephews with me, they just loved pulling faces at the Elise pilot! Joined the M58 and it was all over went to 140 and the Elise was just left.

Lotus need to understand that the World has moved on since 94. More and more the Hot hatch can match and even beat the wonderful "Elise".

Hot hatchs with very good build Q as well!
Wakey Wakey LOTUS!
Mega

Scuzzlebutt

its almost a motor bike and a car rolled into one... get in!!!! HONDA RULE!

Tractor

An Elise is not about straight line performance - its about the handling. And nothing except a Caterham/Westy comes close. Do you want an ordinary car or a sports car? That's your choice really.

Paulo P

iTrader: (42)

My mate has a tuned elise and he put it up against a brand new civic type r on a runway a couple of months ago and the elise still whooped the type r the only problems being the top speed is only 120 mph in the elise, getting in and out of the bugger & the noise inside It's down to personal choice.

Paul

HamsterWheel

Go and drive n Elise - the decision will be made for you.

SCOSaltire

aye.. depends what u want

i want an elise.. and will get one as soon as i can afford one

i like noise
i like how its a pain to get into (and out! )

but they are so much fun to drive

Paulo P

iTrader: (42)

once inside the car you forget what a pain it was to get in

TopBanana

Be careful with the Elise. The engine is quite far back - it's not a true mid-engine car. This means that once the back starts to go you have to be VERY quick to catch it

Paulo P

iTrader: (42)

I don't agree with that last comment. I find the elise goes exactly where you point it really, the only real worry with the handleing (sp) is the massive understeer you can get if you are too agressive My friend gets this in his but I get nice oversteer, it's all down to how you drive the thing

Paul

Tractor

The Elise is one of those cars that is amazingly responsive to all driver input - which means: if you are a crap driver and don't respect it, it will oversteer, understeer in a way that you find unpredictable if you are pushing it towards its levels of adhesion. If you are a half decent driver, it will do exactly what you want it to, when you want it to. If you don't want oversteer, drive accordingly and you won't get it.

Scaramanga

I'm not too sure about the comments regarding elises being thrashed by hot hatches and being left in the mid 90's. Lotus did wake up and produced some pretty spanky bits of kit including roadgoing 190s and the aftermarket turbo'd and supercharged ones which pumped out 240bhp. This in something weighing 700kgs doesn't sound like getting left behind to me.

I had the use of my dad's old Lotus MK1 elise Super 160 which really was pretty untouchable in the dry.

A lot depends on driver though and in the wet/ice they really do need some respect.

They are the classic mid engined car with near perfect weight distribution. The lift off oversteer does catch many people out though (although this has nothing to do with engine placement) including my father who took his backwards round a roundabout at 60 and bent the chassis.

Personally I have yet to drive a car with better steering feel than an elise. Every drive in it was special and it had a finesse in the chassis that hot hatches and even scoobs can't hope to come close to. Added to the fact that it is RWD which gets my vote every time.

If you appreciate the delicate balance of a car in a corner and drive in a nice smooth style you will love an elise. If you want a very capable point to point car then a CTR would fit the bill better.

Both very tasty though.........

Paulo P

iTrader: (42)

Couldn't agree more with Tractor on this

Midmotorsteve

Been out in a few different elise's and type Rs mates have both, it's a long running joke between them, in the bends you don't really need to try with the lotus, you watch the type R drivers face really putting in effort to keep up. I agree that on motorways etc at high speed the type r can then drive away easily.

scrappydog

Carp - who care what we think just drive both and buy the one you prefer the most!

Speaking from experience, the Elise feels "special" (both in the gifted sense and the retarded sense of the word!). People are interested in them because of the heritage, the rarity, the good looks and because it's a trad sports car. Little kids will come up to you and say "core mista, how fast does it go/how much did it cost". It is a talking point (which can get a bit tedious).

They also are wonderful to drive as people have already said - but they don't feel that quick to be honest. You won't get the kick in the back that a V-Tec or Turbo gives, but what you get back is really enjoyable handling at all speeds - from 5 mph to 120mph it's all fun!

Unfortunatly I've not driven a CTR, but own an Impreza Turbo and I can only guess that the CTR is similar. That is to say, no matter what the weather is you can drive it quickly and it will forgive a lot of mistakes. Also a CTR should be able outrun the average Elise driver (and a lot of other cars) in the wet without too much bother.

How much fun will you have? Well it depends if you get your kicks from "taking" other cars or just the thrill of driving. If you're the type of person that takes the deserted long route back from work because you want some traffic free courtry roads then an Elise "might" suit. If you like dodging between traffic, burning off at lights, driving around like a loon with three other mates in the car then the CTR might be your thang. Have to admit, I like doing both so I'll probably save up for an EVO!

Cheers,

Andy

JaseM

Mega

What kind of muppet are you - your 2 nephews in the car - just do the sane thing & hand your keys in to the cop shop & get a push bike you silly child.

chrisp

Carp your last bit, efinitely worth driving a scoob as it would be different from both the lotus and CTR. A friend of mine had a Elise S1 and then an S2 and my old MY98 UK turbo was slightly quicker in straight line but on a twisty dry road no way I could keep up, maybe me but the elise is an awesome handling machine. If you do drive a scoob drive a classic shape STI import for a laugh and just compare that with the CTR and Lotus. I thought my UK turbo was quick, how little did I know .

kenny.c

how about buying the elise and put in a teg type-r engine into it.
The americans have been doing this conversion for a while now.

chrisp

May as well go for a sport 190 if you intend spend money dropping a new engine in or you could of course have a turbo conversion done.

SCOSaltire

or wait for the next US approved elise...
engine looks to be about 200bhp

thats what the chat is neway