I agree. The Elise has long been on my radar as a car I will own, but they should been down in price, and if they were, I doubt the GTI would have been the car I bought. When I hear reports that they sold only a handful last year, I do wonder how long they have left. In a world where Ferrari and Lambrghini only get more expensive, but sell more than ever, Lotus are really doing something wrong. JMHO of course.
Yes but what is it EXACTLY? Every time I see an Elise, I think, WOW great car but I just don't hanker to own one like i do for a G-styled Esprit or old school Lotus.
easy, just drive one around the block. Everything about the driving position is wrong (unless you're 5' nothing tall) then you've got heatsoak, heavy clutch and shift, etc. OK for 6 laps in a historic race but hopelessly underdeveloped as a road car. Detomato was perennially broke and the Pantera was initiated by Ford with plenty of oversight by their accountants. They make you realise how good mid engined Ferraris are, not to mention Bizzarrini, whose ideas Detomaso essentially copied. ps the Pantera is fugly compared to the Mangusta - now that is the car they should have developed properly.
I can't comment on the driving position but when I was teenager in Adelaide in the late eighties, I had a ride in a pink Pantera GT5 (not the Edelsten car but I think it must have been the SCW test car) and that thing went like stink and gripped liked gum on carpet. Ok handling and grip are different things but still, on the road it was ferocious. That car left some impression on me. I hated the colour but still looked damned good. Its the same gearbox as the Bora and BMW M1 so its possible to get it sorted. Clutch? Ditto for Countach etc. Is the clutch heavier then that of a Daytona?Heatsoak? Could it be any worse then a Boxer? Driving position? Is it any worse then a Stratos? TBH, I really don't know the answer to these questions, so I defer to your judgement. As for looks, yes I do prefer a good Mangusta over a chrome bumper Pantera but I do love the appearance of a GT5. I never really got into the Mangusta because I read it was really crap to drive. Read once it oversteered and understeered at the same time because the backbone chassis flexed so much. Even if you do sort a Mangusta out, driving position is even worse then that of a Pantera.
Not a good day is it for me? Well, Boxers are reputed to have a lot of cabin heat. Just look at the BB forum on this website. Isn't one of the reason the Testarossa had side mount radiators was to provide a much cooler cabin? For me, even my 308 has a lot of heat soak, so I imagine a Boxer is even worse. I think its time for me to go to the gym and visit my g/f.
shocking car in the heat,radiator pipes running under a glass floor WAFJ. Only time I've never been able to drive in one day Melbourne to Sydney. Got Goulburn and had to stay overnight. photos of that shocking day. And when I had a Sydney office I would drive up once a month over about 3 years,not as if I'm a poor long distance driver. Only good thing about the drive was visit to my grandfathers old holiday home in Bowral. Final photo of it lunged in the Swiss hotel baement,it was to hot to drive the OHOS. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Oh yeah, heavy clutch, gearbox. one of the Panteras had an 8.0 litre NASCAR motor in it - **** did it go in a straight line. Trouble was it had that much torque that the body felt like it was made out of rubber. it had nearly as much flex as a Chopper Daytona! The Mangusta was a beautifully restored white car that i barely drove around the block.
Well, yes, there's a huge windscreen and the radiator pipes running down the guts, but you spend a couple of bucks to make sure your air conditioning working properly and the problem is gone. The trouble is making the a/c work properly. Most people, including blackjag, wouldn't have a bloody clue. Same with the 308...sure if the a/c doesn't work properly it can be a nightmare, but otherwise, no problem. I can count on one hand the number of Ferraris of that age I've seen where the a/c works properly. I can only think of 3, actually. and Rob's white boxer isn't one of them.
and what about the 2 pipes running hot water under your feet,with all that heat rising in the cabin,as i said shocking car in the heat,nice to look at nice sound little elso going for it. shocking car on dirt roads. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
so the question to all that crap answer was "why did you sell it". AND no one believes any of that answer. shocking on dirt roads......what a joke. It's a BOXER, not a bloody rally cross 4 wheel drive piece of english crap
sold it ,got sick of the front screen fogging up when the water radiators had water on them. plus locals thought i was a drug dealer.
yep. I've got it down pat. ask what I hate:- i hate my Ferrari hand book for the F40 telling me that I need to put 10 KILOS of oil in the car. why can't they just tell me that in litres. ANYway I have AGIP all over the garage floor
oh really. There's only one idiot in the world who would drive a BOXER on a 100k piece of dirt road...............GUESS WHO
