Gina G-force

Most kewl duuuuuuudes!

Lemmy and I will be attending SELOC events. The Elise will be our shared 'fun' car and we're eager to meet you Elise boys and girls.

Cya
Gina
edited for wrong smilie head....D'OH

[Edited by Gina G-force - 4/1/2003 8:32:03 AM]

Gina G-force

Anybody out there got any thoughts on the pros and cons between S2 111S or S2 Sport 135 models??

I've heard the lower powered 135 is better to drive...unless you know different!
Gina

stevencotton

Only one I've been in is a Sport 190 unfortunately

RB5#295

I drove a mate's early Mk2 standard model... You'd be better going for another Porker IMHO.

Fen

LordLuthor

The "sport 135" was originally named incorrectly. It should be called the "sport 145" because it had 145bhp. They named it 135 so it did not compete with the VVC.

I think that is still the same, hence the 135 being the better option as the VVC is awful.

Get a "classic" with K&N, cat removal, straight through exhaust and Emerald M3d programmable ecu and a pair of Kent 1812 cams, and enjoy 165bhp. All bought, fitted and mapped for under £2000.

Don't fall into the cylinder head con's at QED or Moto-build because they are ****. they only "recondition" the head, and actually fit a new pair of cams!!

BTW, this is a personal gripe of mine and I get irritated by the wild claims made by manufacturers and tuning companies. Do the above, don't go over 170bhp, enjoy the car, if you want more, get another car!!

Rant over!! hehe

wilf

I want an elise

Drove the 111s and wasnt that impressed over the std model for the extra dosh.

Gina G-force

Cheers chaps!

Fen – thought long and hard about Porker No3, but they're getting a bit old (3.2's) and in need of a lot of work. Didn't Gastro have big probs with his?? I missed the threads! Plus, having spent £20K on resto & servicing the last 911, and not getting a bean back for it all at sale, I'm feeling all 'once bitten & twice shy'. The thought of a car with a rot-proof body and ally tub is appealing. However, if I had enough money.....bwahahahahahahaha

To all – thanks for replying

Any Elise S2 owners care to comment??

Type R

I test drove an S2 111S week wednesday ago, and an S2 with the 135BHP kit.

135 for me every time, gearbox feels better, power feels stronger, sounds good, and in general preferred it. Only disadvange is when going up hills, Im not one for luxery items, and although the wheels look good, it seems more of a tourer than an a stripped out racer.

The 111S just didnt give me the smile I thought I would get when getting an Elise, the 135 had me laughing and grinning all the way along the 45 minute test drive.

Im going for an S2 in yellow, and modding it to 135BHP or 160BHP, the Lotus kit is 3K I think, which is way too much, acording to the guys on Seloc.

Hopefully will be doing a deal over the w/e.

The standard one needs a little more poke, and I was quite surprised on the insurance, £880.00 left on the driveway.

Karlos Fandango

Not an S2, but I bought an early S1 about six weeks ago, without doubt the best thing I've done. Try looking on these boards......

www.british-cars.co.uk then go for the lotus section
http://forums.seloc.org/index.php

You will get all the info you could ever wish for from one of these. From my experience you will also receive a fairly unbiased response. Good luck and DO IT!!!

Karl

Gina G-force

Cheers lads, appreciate your taking the time.

Type R - keep me up to date with how you get on with the Elise. And yes, YELLOW is the colour!!

Gina

Type R

Will do, should have signed on monday

MattOz

Matt,

Have just mailed you about a Sport 160 if you're interested. Looking at the thread it looks like you're already there with one, so hope that all goes to plan over the weekend!

Cheers
Matt

FollowThrough

not wishing to cause anyone offence but in my opinion the Elise falls way way short

engine....crappy K series lump
body......plastic
look......like a kit car...is a kit car
all show no go....slow as ****

sorry but that's the way I see it

LordLuthor

bog standard Elise was only 2 seconds slower round the Top Gear test track with "The Stig" driving than the Noble M12GTO, which is the same performance (give or take) as the Esprit 350 V8.

All with 118bhp.

£2,000 gets you up to 165bhp. Do you think that will make up the 2 secs? If so, then it is as fast round a track as the Esprit V8. Still not fast enough?

I expect you are talking about straight line. If that is your thing then I agree, it is fairly leisurely over 100mph, however, owning one is all about it being a second car, going to track days and knowing you don't have to change the tyres/pads/fluid/shocks/springs in order to have loads of fun.

Also, £15,000 gets you a top notch S1.

ALSO!!! they do nearly 40mpg.

really, it is horses for courses, but I have to disagree with anyone who says they are slow!

Furthermore, how is the K-Series engine a bad lump? Very strong to 8,000rpm out the box, twin cam, 1800cc, tunable easily to 100bhp/litre, sounds like a good engine to me? What makes it bad? Not trying to start a fight, just want your opinions )

andy.

FollowThrough

it sounds sooo ordinary though

SJobson

The Elise 135 produces about 135bhp, not 145bhp. PTP's 140 kit produces 140bhp and CCC mag compared them - PTP's was faster.

Having said that, I've only got a 120bhp Elise and I love it. Torquey, proper throttle response, and if anyone says it's slow then they probably have different priorities and would rather get to the other end of a road quickest instead of enjoying the journey.

The biggest difference between 135 and 111S is that the 135 has the close-ratio gearbox (like the standard Elise) while the 111S has higher gearing. 111S has better fuel economy and lower CO2 emissions as a result, but it's barely any faster and the gearbox makes more of a difference than you'd think.

LordLuthor

Sorry SJ, I have to completely disagree with you.

1) 135 kit that Lotus put on the standard elise *IS* the PTP 140ps kit.. The reason the PTP was faster in CCC is that the 135 has the close ratio box. lso it has te sport suspension.

2) 111S has the same box as the 135, the close ratio one.

For more info, and confirmation, call Haydon Lotus dealership in Salisbury and ask to speak to Cos...




[Edited by LordLuthor - 3/28/2003 3:02:10 PM]

jfrf

on top gear if was definitely a green 111 version they had round the track (156 bhp) not the bog standard 118bhp model




[Edited by jfrf - 3/28/2003 3:52:21 PM]

LordLuthor

Damn, I take it all back!!!

Elise's are dog slow and don't handle!!

hehe..

chris p1

Ask on the SELOC site they are a friendly lot and will give you some good advice.
www.seloc.org

Type R

Still aint put me off, the box in the S2 111S is definetly different to the 120BHP model, mine will be staying standard for all of about 1 week , needs a power hike to 135 IMHO.

After thrashing a Honda for 5 years I don't expect it to be as reliable, but then I will be only using this for fun, and is a lot cheaper to insure, service, petrol, tyres.

Chris L

I have to say I prefer the Mk1 for both looks and handling. I know they don't have the torque of say a Scoob, but in every other performance dept they will equal or better a Scoob - simple fact (ultimate grip aside).

Try an Mk1 Sport 160 and tell me it is slow I've been round several tracks including Nurburgring and they never fail to amaze me. What you lose in top end speed and grip you more than make up for in feed back and precision handling (neither of which are Scoob strong points).

Matt - have you still got details of the Sport 160? I'm interested

Chris

andym172

Before you buy any Elise definitely try out a Vauxhall VX220!

I bought one this weekend after trying out a couple of Elise's (both mk1 admittedly) and I prefer the VX quite a lot more (especially with 0% finance! )

Andy.

JKJ2

As posted earlier the 135 is 135 not 145, it's a std conversion to Supersport spec as fitted to the Caterham, very nice and probably the best balanced of all the K series engines, especially in the ower weight cars like the Cat and Elise. The 111, named after the original Elise project code name, is the VVC engine with the very tractable variable valve engine, cannot be easily tuned from its 150 BHP, but the head minus the VVC gubbings is the basis for the VPDH 190 bhp engines. The best of the lot is the 1690 bhp derivative, but if I was going for one I'd definately plump for the 111, gives you high PTW ratio from an eccentially a std engine + all the go yop need without upgrading to the Exige, all with std warrenty.

JKJ2

Argghh !!! Vauxhall badge vs Lotus badge, mega depressiation vs Icon, what were you thinking of.

S111ONF

JK

"1690 bhp derivative" .... bloody hell, I bet that eats tyres :-)

As for BHP - don't be guided by the '135' and '160' names - they all differ. At an Emerald rolling road recently most std S2's we putting out around 130 ... quite a bit more on some.

The S1 111S is supposed to have 143bhp - but with a diff manifold, decent induction kit, exhaust + trophy TB you can be looking at 165bhp - plus it has the CR box.

On the S2 111S as stated above - no CR box.

For more info on upgrades see www.dvapower.com it also has a link to DVA's k-series page so you can learn lots.

Simon

Gina G-force

Thanks to all who replied. Seems that the way to go is the standard car with the 135bhp upgrade. Does the 160bhp version suffer anything in reliability?

I'll be keeping my modded Turbo Wagon (99MY) so I won't be shy of a bit of power when I need it, so I guess the 135bhp would be a sensible power level. Or is there a more cost-effective way to 135bhp?

Ta Lads
Gina G

Type R

Im doing exactly the same as you buying a std S2 and upgrading to 135 ish, but not using the official 135 kit.

When I get round to it I will be phoning Dave at DVA for his thoughts.

Got to sign on the dotted line first thou

BT52b

Just to tidy up the confusion about the 135
The S1 135 used the PTP 140 kit and resulted in about 145 when used with a sports exhaust. As already mentioned, it was badged 135 so as to avoid treading on the toes of the 111S

The S2 135 was NOT using the new PTP 140 kit, and does only produce 135bhp compared to the PTP's 140bhp.

And anyone who thinks a 135 with a sports exhaust sounds 'ordinary' is on another planet! My old 135 sounded better than my Exige once it starts screaming and howling over 5000rpm.

All varients of the Elise are great cars, driving my Scoob afterwards feels like my hands and feet have pillows wrapped round them.

Mark

Chris L

This was the garage featured in Evo last month. The guy does know his Elise's. I know they rate the MK1 160 very highly - future classic - so I don't think you would lose a lot on depreciation.

Chris