NeilT

just toying with the idea of buying a Lotus Elise S1 for the summer, so wondering whether anyone else has had one / owns one.

Any opinions? Would only be using it for a few miles each day and a weekend toy.

cheers

Neil

ewanrw

Yeah I got one. Its wicked. Fast, loud, cramped. Easy and cheap to mod. Cheap to run. Dunno what else.

And the early S1s have lost most of the money they are likely to lose although the Norfolk Mustard (yellow) ones are harder to sell on.

I use mine as an everyday car coz the scoob was costing me too much. easily get 40+mpg.

ewan

NeilT

Great, sounds like a great car then! Fast, loud and cheap to run!

Neil

ewanrw

Its a glorified go-kart. No power steering, no servo assisted brakes, you can fling it into corners and if you are in to track days you'll surprise a few Scoobs.

ewan

LG John

They can be a bit of a lottery to be honest. My mate got one as a weekend toy for around £8500. He loved it, fast, fun, lots of admiring looks, etc. Then things went wrong. £200 here, £300 there, £500 over here. It just seemed to be in the garage every month or so having money spend on it. Then the engine went and that cost him several thousand to put right. He's only had it just over a year and he calculated he's spend £18,000 on it including, buying it, fixing it, insuring it, fuelling it, running it, etc.

Some people get lucky and get an S1 with no problems at all. Others get big bills. Research it thoroughly and enter ownership with your eyes open

ewanrw

Several grand to fix the engine ?? what the **** happened ?

ewan

s70rjw

iTrader: (2)

Head gasket problems are common on the K series engine

ewanrw

Use to have an MGF and the head gasket went on that. cost me £400 to have fixed. several grand seems an awful lot for a K-series.

Avoid the 111s as this is the VVC engine and difficult to tune above 160bhp (145bhp as standard).

ewan

LG John

IIRC the head gasket went and the engine hydrolocked resulting in lost of stuff bending. He got the whole engine replaced as the first one was a total write off.

This was him trying to explain to me what happened 2nd hand an he isn't mechanically minded really so I'm not 100% sure what happened but I saw the bill with my own eyes!!

He lives in east lothian and I work in haddington so you might see his green S1 and my orange s2000 taking on the twisties in tandem this summer

wilftwo

Had an S1 for not far off 2 years now and been v happy with it. Mine has been completely reliable in that time and if you research them you will find that most Elises generally buck the trend of the old LOTUS acronym.

HGF can be a problem but most owners are alert to the problem and watch out for the warning signs.

There's plenty of buyers guides about and get yourself over to SELOC forum to find out more.

I would look out for a car that has had the essentials done - floorpan fix under warranty, upgraded discs and pads and an S2 wiper arm fitted. Also watch out for suspension/steering wear. Drive a few different cars to get a feel for them.

If you buy a reasonable one it should hold its value. Was recently offered not far off what I paid for mine.

S1s seem to be on the rise again - being lighter than the S2 makes them preference starting point for track car projects and Honda conversions.

Lastly I wouldnt recommend one as an only car. After a two hour journey in mine I begin to feel like an amputee (but I am 6'2).

Petem95

A mate has an S1 Elise, and its a great little car. The acceleration is much better than you'd expect, and in terms of handling and grip theres few cars that can match it. Sounds great with the sports exhaust, and MPG is excellent, and value rentention great too.

On the downsides its a nightmare getting in and out with the roof up. The hood leaks in heavy rain, and the seats have very little padding. My mate actually has some extra foam padding in this which helps a lot.

Theres no much storage space in the cabin either which is a bit annoying.

Overall I dont think you'd be disappointed if you got one, and its likely to cost you significantly less overall than almost any other sports car.

ewanrw

****.

The first thing I did was have an "A Service" carried out and a full check over by a mechanic I trust. There is a couple of wee things that will need done but not for a while. Unless I track it.

If I see you about I'll give you a wave. Mines is Azure blue with private plate(** NNN) and its gonna have black alloys soon.

ewan

Wish

iTrader: (2)

Ive had one, Great car for little money.... It was a toy for me.
Then sold it and bought its lightweight brother.

Sport160

I used to run a Sport160, great little car.

If you use Lotus main dealers, service and running costs can be very high, far better to find a local specialist.

Agree with the advice above, lookout for ones that have had C service + floor issues fixed under warranty.

They are not that quick and need a sports exhaust before they sound any good, but they are huge smiles per mile and you get a great sense of occasion when driving one. Steering is to die for IMHO

Wouldn't have one as my only car under any circumstances, look for an S2 if thats what your after, just a little more refined.

Overall, great fun as a 2nd car

TopBanana

I don't suppose someone 6'3" would fit in one?

Wish

iTrader: (2)

forgot to add the picture to my last post

ewanrw

am about 6'1" and fit fine. a little awkward getting in and out but I think everyone struggles

ewan

billythekid

If the engine does let go then just get Blink to put a Honda Type R engine in it... will make most other Elises look very slow indeed.

Seriously though, I know a few people with them and they have all been quite reliable. Dont forget there is not much to go wrong on the cars as they are quite basic. My main worry would be buying one with say 20k miles on but its done 15k on the local track and also buying one thats had an off and damaged the tub. Get it inspected is what I would say. Watch out for stone chips too as the gel coat can chip away and look messy.

Dave1980

completely agree with what petem95 said, absolutley cracking car.

seats are not the most comfortable seats ever though, but extra padding in the form of a cut off ground mat was used for a euro trip and worked great.

i am 6ft 3 and managed to fit in fine, not a lot of width them as i am pretty big too but the fun outways the cramped cabin.

acceleration on my mates in particular was very good even at high speeds and the sports exhaust makes it sounds great. turned a lot of heads coming through the tunnel in monaco .

well worth the money for a fun second car, 40mpg and handling is amazing.

Dave_68

Had one for 5 years, only sold it as we had a kiddie and I was doing less than 2000 miles a year in it anyway. Thought I'd buy something I could use for fun & we (family) could use generally..Hence an STi. No problems with mine apart from a steering rack & a couple of track rod ends. Never used mine as an everyday car but perfectly usable & run on fresh air Will miss it when the summer comes....

Contrary to what was said above, mine sold to the first caller..

NeilT

thanks for the info all,

will start looking for a S1 shortly

Its a second car (actuallyu 3rd if you count the wifes) , got a 2005 STI, so only a toy / weekend plaything really

I'll keep you posted

cheers

Neil

CTR

Ive got one which I do about 30k miles a year in, commuting, fun, track days. Had it 2 years, it was reliablish for the first year, then feel apart a lot last year, and I spent LOTS keeping it on the road. I gave up at Christmas(partly cause Ive been told the engine was breaking up inside anyway), and stuck a CTR engine in it, now its silly fast, as well as being lots of fun If you dont have problems, then the running costs are low, especially for track days compared to heavier cars!

SimonGawthorpe

Just bought a series 2 Sport Tourer in Ice Blue.

Pick it up on Monday.....cant wait!!!

Si

NeilT

found this one online, which looks pretty tidy. Have left the chap a voicemail, so if its still available might go see it tomorrow

http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/67460.htm

Neil

ewanrw

Looks nice (just like mine but with a splitter and much cleaner)

ewan

greg.g

Had mine for 16 months and am still smiling


http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/67460.htm

Looks a clean example.

Good hunting

NeilT

Went and had look at the Elise last night (in the link above), great condition, well looked after, full Lotus service history, unmarked alloys and lotus exhaust and panel filter.

Few stone chips on the front, so might need to get that sorted, then armourfended.

Went for a test drive - 'go cart' doesnt quite sum it up! not as rapid as the STI, but probably more fun.

So, put down a deposit and collecting it on Saturday

I'll post up some pics once ive got it home

cheers for all the advice

Neil

ps - was a great drive back cross country from Stanstead to Nottingham at midnight - hardly any traffic, a great reminder of just what an accomplished performer the STI is

ewanrw

Higgs555

went out in one around brands with a racing driver thort it was fast up to about 70 but once it got to 80 was very slow to pick up speed but god it went around corners it felt like it was trying to pull my face off

ewanrw