scoobynutta555

Just bought meself a Lotus Elise S1. A fantastic car! Have done about 200 miles since 2.30 pm yesterday and from a full tank there's still 25 litres left! Only ever been in one once about 6 years ago as a passenger, so I was thinking what did a wet and windy 170 mile drive home had in store for me in something so light and rear wheel drive. (I've never driven rear wheel drive before either)

The thing was great on the motorway at any speeds. Even localish wet roads aren't too bad. What surprises me is how easy it was to drive at lowish speeds, thought it would be a proper pain. The only thing that took getting used to was the non servo'd brakes.

A '99 T reg with Full Lotus history, 6 months tax, MOT passed the day before, serviced 200 miles ago along with a new set of boots, nothing wrong with it at all, 36k miles cost me a whopping 8,500 quid. That surely must be a very very good price for one of these.

Would be interested to see if anybody else has one as a daily drive. The guy I bought it from filled it with Optimax all the time and said it could run on the normal stuff ok. Is there any performance gain etc for using Optimax in an Elise as I'd have thought they weren't mapped for this?

Now all I have to do is learn how to get in and out of the thing without looking like a comedy act

SimonGawthorpe

Now then mate,

I bought a 51-plate Series 2 Elise Sport Tourer at the beginning of the week. Ive covered about 300 miles so far and I love it. FYI it is a 1 owner car with FLSH and 25,000 miles on the clock and I paid £13,500.

I am / will be running it as an almost daily car throughout the summer. Getting in and out is a task best suited to a Russian gymnast but I have got used to it already. Its a lot easier with the roof off!! I find that swinging both my legs out and then placing one hand on the top of the seat and the other on the side of the windscreen is the best way to do it.

My fuel consumption is good but not quite as good as yours. The tank holds 32 litres which I guess is roughly £30. The first tank did me about 250 miles. I will save a fortune compared to the Scoob.

As for fuel types, I read the manual yesterday and it states that the car will run on high octane fuel but it will give "no advantage." I have spoken to other Lotus owners and no-one seems to bother using the expensive stuff.

Enjoy!!

Heres a photo of mine (from the advert on Pistonheads because my digi camera had an arguement with the floor when I was drunk!)



Si

ewanrw

I use an S1 as my daily drive. leaks a bit but its wicked.

Think I'll be going or an S2 Exige come September time.

And £8500 is a really good price. I know of someone who was offered £10500 on trade for the same age and mileage against a VX turbo. You could sell that car in June/July for £11k.

ewan

scoobynutta555

I know, it needs a wash! So I should just bung in NUL instead of Optimax, I guess petrol from sainsburys and that would be ok?

ewanrw

will put some pix of mine up next week. having some toys fitted on monday

scooby_matt

I've seen a few threads about these lately and they're becoming more and more tempting.

Always been a fan of the looks

HankScorpio

Get youself signed up on SELOC http://forums.seloc.org/index.php and the get over to http://www.lotus-on-track.com/ and get signed on for some trackdays.
Two at bedford in the next couple of weeks, ideal for you..!

Petem95

Always wanted an Elise - a mate has one and its fantastic - the only downside is getting in and out really is not easy, so unsuitable for my daily commute

£8.5k for that 99' model (in pretty much the best colour) with only 29k sounds almost too cheap!! - is it cat D?

Theres a new Elise out in the Autumn, but Ive yet to see any pics of it. Apparently more expensive than the current one - more like a Boxster rival, so it shouldnt hurt the values of the old ones I wouldnt think.

mw2655

nice, but not as classy as your neighbour's nova saloon

ewanrw

New Elise ??

There is the Europa S due out in the Autumn, but its an additional model over and above Elise and Exige which will start from £33k.

It uses a similar chassis and layout, but its a "luxury" GT model and uses the 2 litre turbo from the VX.

http://www.grouplotus.com/car/car_pr...hp?id=7&mid=19

ewan

Petem95

According to 4car.co.uk theres a new model - now listed as being released in 2007 (was previously late 2006). Bigger and more comfortable apparently - has the US market in mind.

ewanrw

Aye, you be right. Bigger defeats the purpose tho'

NeilT

good stuff Scoobynutta - got mine too yesterday - still grinning!

T-gro

I'm looking to get an Elise soon, and I wondered the same thing.

I can't confirm this myself, but I'm told the K series has no knock sensor, which is why not many bother with Optimax/super, as there is no noticable performance increase.

Some claim there is a tiny fuel economy benefit, but just as many think there isn't. Try it and see i guess.

ewanrw

Makes no difference in my experience.

NeilT

filled up with Optimax today and didnt notice any difference over the standard unleaded petrol.

scoobynutta555

About the everyday driving aspect. I know Ive only had a few days with the car, but I have the use of a "normal" saloon, and I never want to get in the thing, just want to drive the Lotus everywhere

On getting in and out, yes it is a pain, but your technigue improves a thousand times for when you first try to get in and out, and it's not that bad really.

Car wasn't a Cat D as was HPI clear, but the previous owner has to sell up to fund a move to Florida.