250buggys
Well-known member
Every time I drive up the A140 in Norfolk it is either really early or really late and the Lotus dealership is usually closed. I have always wanted to pop in and have a good climb in and out of the elise's. My work buddy had a S1 and that was really good fun although not very refined.
I am not interested in the Exige as they are stupidly priced for what they are and the Evora design doesn't look as good as it should.
Managed to get over there last weekend and have hopefully convinced the engineering manager at work that we need to organise a Lotus factory tour for our department!
The 250 cup (toxic green) absolutely blew my mind, every finest detail (even to the body colour interior leather stitching) was outstanding.
The club racer was really nice if you could look past the colour, don't get me wrong this would be awsome for track days.
The plain old entry level S model series 3 is the beast I am after 134 bhp, 0-60 6 seconds (my 2 litre, 200 bhp tomcat turbo was the same 0-60). The probax leather seats were super comfy compared to the 250 cup and club racer which were really only fibre glass with some leather in places. I am sure this would be perfect as a daily driver although you would probably want to keep it for the weekend!
When you get in an elise it is quite an art and getting out is even harder, you kind of fall out. There is a big sill which is tough to negotiate. That said being a tall chap there was ample head room and leg room. Radio is an optional extra, could be retro fitted on the older models but apparently no wiring loom in the newer models. Once you get in and out a few times it becomes second nature...
I was looking at a Focus RS S3 and couldn't believe that these are now £35K, as soon as the S4 is out it will depreciate so much and the same with the new VW GTi
One of the bonuses with an Elise is these motors don't really depreciate, you can buy one and keep it for a couple of years and if you decide to sell you can almost certainly get your money back, just watch out for the insurance write offs, there seem to be many of these knocking about, I think it should be the sellers obligation to provide an HPI check to prove the sale is legit.
I was soooo tempted to take the gun metal grey S3 Elise out for a test drive but didn't want to fall in love with this one, what I didn't realise was that the front clam shell really suffers with stone chips, as the gell coat on the fibre glass is white underneath this really shows up on the grey. This model had done 30K and needed a front end re-spray. I know you can get the protective film to put over the paint but probably makes sense to get a white variant, shame as the gun metal grey is amazing.
This is the closest thing to a super-car I will likely ever be able to afford, with my 15+ years no claims is almost the same as my hatch back to insure and I have a drive way that can accommodate 3 cars, so enough room for the buggy too....
I am not interested in the Exige as they are stupidly priced for what they are and the Evora design doesn't look as good as it should.
Managed to get over there last weekend and have hopefully convinced the engineering manager at work that we need to organise a Lotus factory tour for our department!
The 250 cup (toxic green) absolutely blew my mind, every finest detail (even to the body colour interior leather stitching) was outstanding.
The club racer was really nice if you could look past the colour, don't get me wrong this would be awsome for track days.
The plain old entry level S model series 3 is the beast I am after 134 bhp, 0-60 6 seconds (my 2 litre, 200 bhp tomcat turbo was the same 0-60). The probax leather seats were super comfy compared to the 250 cup and club racer which were really only fibre glass with some leather in places. I am sure this would be perfect as a daily driver although you would probably want to keep it for the weekend!
When you get in an elise it is quite an art and getting out is even harder, you kind of fall out. There is a big sill which is tough to negotiate. That said being a tall chap there was ample head room and leg room. Radio is an optional extra, could be retro fitted on the older models but apparently no wiring loom in the newer models. Once you get in and out a few times it becomes second nature...
I was looking at a Focus RS S3 and couldn't believe that these are now £35K, as soon as the S4 is out it will depreciate so much and the same with the new VW GTi
One of the bonuses with an Elise is these motors don't really depreciate, you can buy one and keep it for a couple of years and if you decide to sell you can almost certainly get your money back, just watch out for the insurance write offs, there seem to be many of these knocking about, I think it should be the sellers obligation to provide an HPI check to prove the sale is legit.
I was soooo tempted to take the gun metal grey S3 Elise out for a test drive but didn't want to fall in love with this one, what I didn't realise was that the front clam shell really suffers with stone chips, as the gell coat on the fibre glass is white underneath this really shows up on the grey. This model had done 30K and needed a front end re-spray. I know you can get the protective film to put over the paint but probably makes sense to get a white variant, shame as the gun metal grey is amazing.
This is the closest thing to a super-car I will likely ever be able to afford, with my 15+ years no claims is almost the same as my hatch back to insure and I have a drive way that can accommodate 3 cars, so enough room for the buggy too....