greido Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 Hi, After 3 years driving a Porsche Boxster S then 3 and a half years in Zed, I'm thinking of getting something completely different and test drove a 2009 Lotus Elise 111R then an Elise Club Racer today, the 111R was much quicker when above 6000 Revs but not much quicker the rest of the time, I much preferred the CLub Racer so had a chat about a deal, I think it sounds pretty good, what do you guys think on the following: 1. What do you think of the Elise? - Club Racer in Particular 2. The car I looked at is 6 months old, 2,500 miles and is £4,500 off list price 3. I was offered £10,000 as a Trade in against my Facelift (296bhp) Dec 2006, 350z GT, 52,000 miles, Sat Nav, Black with Black Leather. 4. I put my car up for sale a few months back both here and on Piston Heads at around £11,500 and never much response, realistically what would I get selling privately? I'm currently doing around 5,000 miles per year (6 mile commute either way to work and usually car travel with my g/f in her car). I'd be interested on what your opinions are on all of the above, I think it sounds like a good deal but the car feels a fair bit slower than the Zed accelerating 60mph+ and my g/f hates it, these are my only reservations! Cheers, G Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vik54 Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 That's a good trade in price Go have a look around http://www.scottishelises.com - they're a pretty friendly bunch and plenty of info. Just check its service history thoroughly and bear in mind that one wee dint and you can be faced with the need for an entire new body Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GT4 Zed Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 As always the choice is finnally yours to make I had a 111R brand new traded against my TVR tuscan and it was the shortest car owenrship i had. Good acceleration and grip but not just enough power. Glorious when the VVTI comes in at 6000rpm though. In the end i got tired of the lotus shuffle to get in and the car is to compromised as an only car even for me and GF then. Let go of it after six months and lost 6K. Bought it 3.5K below "list price" and had a "good" part-ex on my Tuscan I retro spec i realised i was in a hurry to get rid of the tuscan before it killed me and got carried away by the "deal" on offer. I i had to do it again i would have waited and got the supercharged Exige and it would still have to be a second car to make sence So as a second car any lotus will be good fun. the more power it has the better Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 Snatch their hands off for the trade in price, and everyone should own an Elise or derivative at some point in their lives. Bit odd you preferred the 1.6 to the 1.8, given the relative power deliveries up to 6K rpm, but each to their own. Personally I don't like the Special Yellow Bus front end of the S2.5, but each to their own, they're all great cars. I'm not sure I'd want a CR as a DD though, a lightly used 1ZZ S with Touring or Super Touring pack would be a better buy I suspect from that point of view. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rubber Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 As Ekona said it looks like a good trade in deal. Elise may be a bit hardcore as a daily drive but it depends how much you like your creature comforts. My work colleague has a 111R but she finds it pretty tiring when she makes her 100 mile drive home. Make no mistake, it is not a replacement for the Zed; there will be minimal boot space and no real comfort but (from what I've read!) the driving experience should be great! The latest version of Evo magazine had the Club Racer on it's Car of the Year test. I haven't got round to reading it yet but to make it into their top 10 is always a good sign! Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK350Z Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 Would have thought a standard touring pack equipped elise would be more what you wanted. The club racer is more for people who want a proper basic back road and track car thats cheap to run. Although at only 5 miles each way you could put up with it, I'd want the air con! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greido Posted November 12, 2011 Author Share Posted November 12, 2011 Many thanks guys for all of your replies, every one of them is much appreciated. Vic, thanks for the tip on the scottishelises website, seems like a very good site and one that I hadn't found before. I'm pretty confident that the history of the Elise is sound, it's only 6 months old and I've spent a bit of time with the guy who's driven the vast majority of those miles, it will have a full inspection before I get the car so I think it should be cool. GT4 Zed, again thanks for your thoughts, I have not come from such a raw power background as a Tuscan so I can see how you may have felt your 111R was underpowered. I found the 111R to have an irratating noise which is apparantly not as loud as the Club Racer but after 30mins in the 111R I had a headache, admittedly, I had a VERY busy morning and rushed straight to the test drive so possibly wasn't in the best frame of mind. It's very interesting to hear that you had a similar experience with discounts and good trade in deal, sounds similar to mine, however, I have done a fair bit of research and the price on offer for the Club Sport is pretty cheap when compared with all others I've seen. The only new shape Elise I have seen for a similar price is a 2010 model on ebay which is around £100 more expensive (ono), where else should I be looking? - I've looked at Autotrader, Piston Heads, All UK Lotus dealers websites, all Lotus owners website I can find (thanks again Vic). Ekona, I agree, seems like a decent trade in price, they want to put it on their forecourt so I doubt they will lose on it, in my opinion, my Zed looks great and much better than the non facelift cars with similar mileages on the forecourt of the main Nissan dealer in Edinburgh I visited during the week (but I am biased!). As for DD, I'll put a stereo in it and it'll do me for 10-12 miles each day, Thanks for your thoughts. Rubber, I've been following the Club Racer in Evo for a while, the first time it came up they pitched against a Caterham, both got 5 starts but the Club Racer pipped the Caterham. I've found it amazing the number of people who read Evo, once worked with an Icelandic guy who seemed to be quoting the magazine when we chatted about Porsches and when I asked if he read it he replied 'EVO is my bible'. Enough said! AK350z..... You might be onto something, I sold my track car about a year and a half ago (old Civic) and sort of missed the fun I had with that tbh. As for the Air Con, that might well be something I never thought I'd miss until it's gone, I've had aircon for more than 10 years so never really gave it a thought. All in all, thanks for your comments and input guys, it's much appreciated, I've tried to chat about this car to my g/f and she simply doesn't want to know, she refused to get into the Elise and after seeing it her only response was 'That's the most impractical car I've ever seen in my life' so some outside input is very welcome. She has a CR-V so I don't think I need a practical car. The guys at work are not much more help, all they can say is 'Buy it, Buy it'. Thanks again guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK350Z Posted November 12, 2011 Share Posted November 12, 2011 As for DD, I'll put a stereo in it and it'll do me for 10-12 miles each day, Thats part of the weight saving gone then! If you are thinking of having any creature comforts, the CR isn't the elise for you. Not that thats a bad thing, The CR is only 24kg lighter to begin with, so is a "full fat" Elise much of a compromise? As for the Air Con, that might well be something I never thought I'd miss until it's gone, I've had aircon for more than 10 years so never really gave it a thought. And not just in the summer, makes demisting in the winter much faster too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greido Posted February 17, 2012 Author Share Posted February 17, 2012 I meant to do this ages ago but never got around to it; thanks very much to everyone who gave me their opinions on the Elise Club Racer, you guys made some good points and got me thinking! (especially AK350z) I ended up not getting the Cub Racer as it was a little too extreme a move from the Zed however I did buy an Elise with a Touring Pack, Black Pack, Air Con and Traction Control in Carbon Grey. It's a completely different car to the Zed but the more I drive it the more I enjoy it, I find myself popping out of the office at lunch time just to go for a blast whenever I have it with me which I've never really done in the past, so far it's been brilliant, my gf is even coming round to liking it, though she still prefers my Zed! Thanks too to Vik for pointing me in the direction of Scottishelises.com I've attached a few pics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK350Z Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 Very nice, black wheels notwithstanding Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gudzy Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 my gf is even coming round to liking it, though she still prefers my Zed! I didn't really enjoy being a passenger in my brothers Elise, it's a car to drive rather than one to be driven around in. Plus it can be a pain to get in without the roof off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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