A&Q about Lotus
Q:
Just WOW!
I rented an elise this weekend. Picked it up Friday afternoon at enterprise on sunset.
I test drove one last weekend at lotus of BH, and was thoroughly impressed. Quick, nimble, surprisingly quick and even prett fast. You can't get a true feel for a car though on just a test drive. Especially around Downtown LA.
So I called up enterprise and reserved an elise for this weekend. Picked it up showed at up home with it and my wife said that she could believe I had done that. She wasnt too thrilled with the car at the dealership because it was so difficult to get in an out of , and how close you are in the car.
Saturday morning we left from Santa Clarita to go to Newport Fashion Island. ( She wanted to go shopping ). About 70 miles or so, we took the freeway because I had never been there. ABout 3/4 of the way down there she looks at me and says " I really like this car ALOT!". I was very happy to say the least because if she liked it on the freeway then she would definatly like it in the canyons. So we spent the day in newport.
Talked to a friend of ours who has a '01 Diablo 6.0 and we met him and a couple of friends in manhattan beach for dinner.
Had dinner and my friend asked me if I had been able to really drive it yet ( He is a certified instructor and is probably the best driver I have ever been in the car with. ) He said that I should really go through mulholland drive just to really get used to the car.
So we leave manhattan beach and head toward PCH, drive PCH for awhile, then we get to topanga cyn.
With the Lambo Leading M3 behind him and me and my wife in the elise in the back, we hit topanga cyn and then old topanga cyn for what has got to be the most fun drive I have ever been on. This car is the MOST exciting car I have ever driven. I have driven alot of different cars, owned mustangs that were 600rwhp , driven a lamborghini Gallardo hard, been in a couple of diablo's , I have never driven something that was this much fun. My wife was giggling the entire time we were driving the canyons.
We are both sold on the car and the $200 a day for the rental was worth every penny.
I do want to see what some of the FI elises are like. I would be worried that with the extra power that the FI adds it would upset the balance of the car. I think if the car had 30-40 more hp then it would be unbelievable.
Thanks also for all the info that I have learned in this forum over the last month or so that I have been lurking. Hopefully soon I will be the proud owner
Ryan
A:
Glad to hear it was enjoyable! Two things:
1) You can get a 2006 Elise for "blow out prices" :
2) If you really want forced induction, some dealer are getting the Exige S right now and some still have spots openned. There aren't going to be many (300) coming to the states so if you decide you really want one, talk to a dealer soon. I think the 218hp Exige S would be comparable to a Gallardo in a straightline.
You could always go with a ForceFed 275hp kit but then you'll loose the warranty. I think the FF kit is worth it if you've had an Elise for about a year or two.
A:
I just saw in the paper that Enterprise is doing this - that is way cool. Do they make you sign some paper that you won't use it on the track or in an auto-x? I hope not (but then agian, how would they prove it?). I was thinking maybe I'd rent an Elise in Denver (if they do it there) when the next LOG comes around. Certainly cheaper than shipping my car there and the drive back and forth is a bit too lengthy for me (although I know Bob Wells did it).
I find it interesting your wife didn't mind the freeway. Frankly, I think thats the weakest part of the Elise. It really is not meant to be a cruising car as its quite noisy and you get a bit, uh, comfy with your passenger. I think its much more meant for around town jaunts, carving canyons, and of course auto-x and track. If you think the driving you did was something, just wait til you take it for an auto-x. Just about blows all other normal cars out of the water. Track is a lot of fun too but the best part for me is that the damn thing feels like a race car even when just driving on the street (which is why the freeway is not the best environment for it - ever try to drive a race car on a street?).
Scott
A:
Originally Posted by srwhitman
I just saw in the paper that Enterprise is doing this - that is way cool. Do they make you sign some paper that you won't use it on the track or in an auto-x? I hope not (but then agian, how would they prove it?). I was thinking maybe I'd rent an Elise in Denver (if they do it there) when the next LOG comes around. Certainly cheaper than shipping my car there and the drive back and forth is a bit too lengthy for me (although I know Bob Wells did it).
I find it interesting your wife didn't mind the freeway. Frankly, I think thats the weakest part of the Elise. It really is not meant to be a cruising car as its quite noisy and you get a bit, uh, comfy with your passenger. I think its much more meant for around town jaunts, carving canyons, and of course auto-x and track. If you think the driving you did was something, just wait til you take it for an auto-x. Just about blows all other normal cars out of the water. Track is a lot of fun too but the best part for me is that the damn thing feels like a race car even when just driving on the street (which is why the freeway is not the best environment for it - ever try to drive a race car on a street?).
Scott
No , they don't make you sign anything about use, but you must prove full coverage insurance and you cannot buy insurance from them.
My wife didnt mind the freeway at all. Given my 03 cobra had a much more noisy suspension setup and was much stiffer. To get a mustang to handle you loose alot of comfort and you get a ton of road nosie transfer. And then after all that it still a mustang and was always meant as a straight line car.
I am definately buying one used after seeing the price drop of the current ones for sale. Losing the warranty is not a big deal to me. The forcefed kit seems like an awesome setup but I would want to see one in action and possibly find a board member willing to give me ride in one to see how the car reacts to throttle. The other kit I was looking at is tripoints SC kit.
Thanks again guys
-Ryan