LG John

My mate is going to look at an elise tomorrow. Clearly this question would be best suited to an Elise forum but I need a quick response and haven't joined any. Its an R-reg MKI elise with 55k miles and he'd like some pointers about what to look for. The car is based within Dalgety Bay which is a stones throw from Knockhill. A betting man would lay good odds that it has been tracked. I know the Elise is light and can take a tracking but how much would regular track use tire it if that was the case. What would be the telltale signs.

All advice appreciated

chaarl

Have a poke around here...lots of info: http://www.elises.co.uk

The bbs on http://www.british-cars.co.uk doesn't need registration and can be useful tho heavily populated with trolls.

HTH

jfrf

buyers guide here
http://www.elise-faq.info/content/buying/index.php

chaarl

Forgot about that one, a very useful site

CTR

Its pretty much all covered in the buying guide, but quickly

Check for head gasket failure, if it shows no sign of it, ask if it has failed previously. If it has, and been done properly, it shouldnt fail again. They are prone to it though.

Check for knocking suspension, ball joints arent cheap £100 each to be done by a garage, theres 8(So Ive been told). Check for steering play, steering racks arent cheap either, and they dont seem to last long. Geo on top of either of those is another £100!

If it has a red clutch pipe you may have problems changing gear in the summer.

jameswrx

iTrader: (4)

Tell him to drop a civic type r 2.0L in it, went in one a couple of weeks ago and it was fookin rapid

LG John

He got one today, seems nice He had an incident when he dumped it into 3rd hard in the wet but I feel his first little scare will slow him down! Sounds great with K&N and janspeed.

N1 SPAN

If it looks tatty, it has been ragged!

they have nearly all been tracked but most track day goers (especially Elise drivers) drive like pusseys anyway so it doesn't need to put you off.

Elises should be cherished cars and should look that way and have the bills to prove it too.

If he is buying one at that age and mileage in winter it needs to be cheap.

Give the bodywork a good check. If there are any cracks etc then your only real option is a new clam at thousands.

I don't want all this to put him off. They are fab cars and can be cheap to run.

Chris L

The percentage of new Elise drivers who have a pretty major 'incident' in the first few months of ownership is scarily high. I would strongly advise him to book a day with Andy Walsh at 1st Lotus - the best £200 - £300 he'll spend. He'll get loads out of the day and understand what the car is going to do when you push hard.

If he is thinking of doing a few track days (which I hope he is!), then it might be worth fitting an adjustable radiator fan controller - costs about £80 and available from Eliseparts. This should save your mate from any further problems with head gaskets blowing (worth fitting, even if he isn't taking it on track). An oil cooler would also be a very wise thing to fit.

Chris

CTR

I want

Chris L

Or the Audi TT engine version - good for 250bhp

imlach

The best Elise guys on the net in Scotland are on Yahoo Groups - Scottish Elises.

Here you will find Knockhill regulars including the infamous N1 TUT. If you've ever been to a SIDC KH track day, or any track day at KH organised by JohnS, you'll already have met some of the Scottish Elise group I wouldn't be too surprised if they could tell you who owned the Elise he bought!!

He should certainly consider requesting to join this group.....

Jamo

iTrader: (23)

id tell him to read what, what car says about them!

jamo

Chris L

Register on SELOC - very helpful chaps and loads of good information. Pistonheads Lotus section is also a great place to get some advice.

RB5201

LOTUS.... Lots Of Trouble Usually Serious

Dont know how true this is though

CTR

Elise = Lots of fun

Although they do probably require more attention than most modern day cars. Some are lucky, some are unlucky.

And Seloc is an excellent forum.

JohnS

iTrader: (1)

As imlach rightly says - best to join the Scottish Elises mailing list asa p. Not only do they attend all the SIDC events at Knockhill, but also arrange dozens of their own events around the year, from karting, sprints/hillclimbs, crail (private track hire), plus their famous camping trips & bbq's. Great bunch of guys (and girls), very friendly, and always willing to offer advice, help with parts fitting etc.

John

Type R

Agree, 3K's worth of attention to mine recently

CTR

Yeah, you have been particulary unlucky lately with your car.

greg.g

I went to a SELOC track day at mallory park yesterday

Very nice bunch.

Brun

Anyone in the Wetherby/Harrogate/Leeds/York area fancy taking me out for a spin in an Elise?????????????? Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeez