2005 Lotus Elise
 

I'm thinking about purchasing a 2005 Elise. I thought I would see what the rest of you thought about them and if any of you had driven one yet.

Let me know what you think and don't hold back. :cool:

They are great cars speed, handling, and looks wise. They lack a few of the comfort features that are normally in cars (ie carpets.. etc) I personally like the styling but I think they are way too small for me to drive as a daily car. The power and everything is great and it is very quick. I thought they were hard to get into until you take the top off. If you dont get one dont hang out next to a semi's tire on the freeway, it makes you realize how small the car is.

what he said....

and

I had the opportunity to sit in a brand new yellow Elise a couple week s ago at the local car show. Great car......but......very small. Kinda like a go-cart. This one had the top off so getting in and out wasn't too bad....but with the top on you'll have to be flexible! Would be a great $50k + fun/week-end car though. Excellent styling and quite a looker! I'd have one.

Hope you don't have any bad winters in your area.

The RX-8 with snow tires can handle most minor to moderate winter weather conditions.

But the shear lightness of the Lotus will make it hard to control even with a good set of snows on them. They can also be quite noisy to drive (but then since my RX-8, I find most cars noisy)

As far as getting in and out. I am only 5'4" and it is no harder or easier to get in and out than my RX-8. However, my 6'5" co worker couldn't get in one without taking the top off first (yes that small).

The Lotus does come with a touring package that gives you some basic luxuries that would be consider "standard" on most cars (e.g. carpets, stereo...) but it would make it a livable daily car for a bachelor who lives in SoCal or the desert.

For me, too impractical with the Northeast winters for a daily car but if I had the money, I'd get the yellow. :)

Ive driven them quite a few times on the street/highway and the track. They are great cars, all of the ones ive drive had the Sports package (tires, suspension, removable hardtop, ect.) They are magic little cars. I would not use one as an eveyday car, but they are great!

Ive also driven its brother the Exige and they are pretty close except for on the limit. Thats where the Exige shines!

=Things to keep in mind. NOT a lot of space other than for you and a passenger!
=The Removable roof (on the removeable hard top, not sure about the removeable soft top) its not like other cars where it just clips in and out, you have to unbolt it in a few locations...and when its off, there is no where to really put it. So dont think youll pop it off at a stoplight and let the sun in and pull over and pop it back in when it rains...its not like that.

Bottom line (IMO) if you want a great weekend car, lots of fun in a small package go for it!

Dont buy it if your gonna be driving it around the city, thats totaly not the point of this car....it wants to be tossed around on some fun back roads, not sitting at stop lights downtown.

I feel a lot of people buy this car as a status symbol...not to use it as intended.

check out www.elisetalk.com I was considering getting one before I went with the rx8. Many people do use them as daily drivers. If you are seriously interested I'd wait for the 2006 model. It will have actual bumpers and with have optional LSD and TC. A minor fender bender can cost around $6,000 - $8000 since there is not a front or rear bumper on the 2004 & 2005 models, only a front and rear clam. It will also require a decent amount of maintenance to keep or running smoothly. It also has quite a sparse interior compared to a typical daily driver, so keep that in mind too.

I've not driven one but I'm posetive it will prove to be a fantastic experience!! Not too hot on the looks though but thats subjective which ultimately means nothing

To me this is car is definetly not a daily driver. This car is made for track days and to be whored on the boardwalk on sunny days.

Other than that, sexy car, I'd hit it 6 times.

if youre a hardcore auto enthusiast, anycar can be a daily driver! :p, neways, an Elise is the best handling car in the US, bar non. It runs circles around the RX8 and accelerate like an EVO/STI. modding potential is also great, a small hp gain can make the car go a lot faster. I say go for it!!! if ure hardcore enough that is.

the car is bad ass. There's a small company out there that manufactures kits to swap the motor out for a Honda K20. He had a booth at the L.A. auto show. Just with a type-r K20 he was able to run high 11's bone stock. He was planning on supercharging the motor as well. Putting him easily in supercar territory.

[QUOTE=crisis]It will have actual bumpers and with have optional LSD and TC.[QUOTE]

your right about the bumpers...it meets US requirements for front and rear crash tests (saftey) but if you get taped by anything other than another elise at more than about 5mph its gonna do quite a bit of damage...

they ALLL have LSD....you couldnt get away with this car not having it. the TC they dont have (yet)

The Elise's are awesome cars, tho i dont know what they would be like out in the US, definately here in the UK they are made for tight windy roads and track use. Not a lot will be able to touch you around a track in an Elise.

Practicality is out the window, so is equipment and driver comfort. Getting in and out is a problem since u basically sit about an inch off the road. But as a driving tool its bliss.

Just avoid the huge SUVs (we are getting them over here now and they take up the whole road lol) since you will probably be about the same height as their wheels. Other than that you cant go wrong.

Exige is like the hardcore/track day elise with all the toys.

p.s also straight line speed is not this cars strength, yeah it has a very good 0-60 time due to its power to weight ratio, but the engine loses steam when compared to other more powerful/heavier cars, so 1/4 runs are not anything to use to judge this car by. But on the track its a different story :)

[QUOTE=KYLiquid]Why would you say such a thing? NONE of them have LSD. This is common knowledge and the biggest bitch amongst Elise owners.

Thank you for correcting him. I was surprised he said I wrong that the 04's and 05's don't have LSD. That is why it's a big deal that LSD and TC will be available on the '06 US Elise.

hmm is that just the US ones? Cos all the track testing ive seen of elise's show them powersliding round corners very well and inside wheel not spinning out of control, which indicated to me they may have LSD, ill have to go check now.

p.s just checked and cant find on spec that the UK ones have a LSD or not, damn that sucks... definately get that upgrade as im sure the ones that are shown on tele come with a LSD.

I'd buy one if I had an extra 50 large and and somewhere to put it.

Right the fact that the elise can handle so well without the LSD is amazing, that's why it is a Lotus. I've read many posts from Elise owners who've had to work quite hard get the inside wheel to spin, or couldn't do it at all. check www.elisetalk.com for the latest info.

ah right, even more impressive. Lotus chassis engineers are genius'

I test drove one a few months ago. My knee jerk reaction was WOW, I want one! The car was just a blast to drive. But after the initial high had passed, reality set in, and I realized the car is really just a big boy's toy. It really is a pure funmobile, but a bit too extreme. I'd have to get yet another car on top of the Elise to keep things practical. So I passed.

The Lotus Sales guy keeps hounding me though whenever a new shipment arrives. He just can't seem to understand the words "No thank you".

wow, im totaly blown away, i didnt realize that at all, the times ive driven then they felt well planted in the rear I should have siad 'I think' my mistake, I appologize.

I shouldnt have spoke fact as what i thought was true, that you for correcting me.

No problem at all, I'm just glad there are people out there who don't over-react when someone argues facts with them. I was regularly posting and reading on the elisetalk forum for about 2 months before I decided the car wasn't practical enough for me. Maybe it will be when I have a house with a garage (currently live in a condo) and also have second car.

Having driven them and visted the NA headquarters for Lotus in Atlanta, GA..and getting to tour the facility and meet Johny English (thats his REAL name, lol) they are a great car, and now sounds like 06 they will just get better. I was lucky enough to get to do all the above since my friend bought 2 of them, one for her and one for the hubby. I tagged along to check it out!

They went from having 4 Miatas and 3 FD RX7s to 1 FD RX7 and 1 Miata and 2 Elises with the Sport Package. One of her miatas (she sold) was the most powerful stock motor (turbo) miata in NA. One of the FD RX7's was one of only a handful in NA with a T88 Turbo. God I wish I was them, lol.

EDIT: As for correcting me, I love it. I always like to learn new infomation, esp. when what I know already is wrong. No problem at all. Thanks, now I dont have to worry about telling anyone the wrong info if they as me anything....about the elise that is...who knows what other bad info i could be spewing out...lol :D

I agree. I got all dreamy and was going to buy one of these as well. But after you get down from that high that blocks out all logic, you start thinking in real life terms. This is a pure fun car, and an expensive and exotic one at that. The RX8 is for the most part a daily driver, well before it's a fun track or summer car. the Elise is as far as you can get from a daily capable car, and as close as you can get to a stricly pure fairweather car. I own an S2K as a pure fun car, and even if I could afford it now, I'd still not trade it in for an Elise. The thing is, I can take the S2K, and drive it anywhere without any fear, whereas the Elise I'd be worried to park it at certain places where I don't mind parking the S2000. That reason alone won't get me to buy one, because it would see such few few miles. Why own a car if you hardly ever drive it. Then, where are you gonna find a nearby dealer to maintain and service it. It's like any other exotic to me, just a dream, only it's not financially impossible, just financially impractical and emotionally impossible for me. :)