Elise / Exige Questions?

Is there any difference between the Exige & Elise engine? I know some were supercharged , but on the earlier cars like an 06?

 

Crazy insurance, I know. My Exige costs more than my 430 did (and I am an accident free, ticket free driver). As someone mentioned, the "clams" (front and rear body assemblies) are one piece and eye-wateringly expensive. Plus, very easily damaged in low speed collisions (at least this is my understanding).

 

Try Progressive with low stated miles

 

All Elises and Exiges in the US have the same engine, some are supercharged.

In detail:
There was no 05 Exige in the US. The 06 Exige is not supercharged and has the identical engine to the Elise.
The Exige S is the supercharged version (there are several variants 220, 240, and 260hp)
The Elise SC is the supercharged Elise with 220hp (no intercooler).

 

Today I have a 328 GTB and I used to have a Rover engined Elise. What happened was that I got bitten by the racing bug. Started to mod the car with all the stuff available. All of a sudden I had a full race car! So I actually started racing the car which was a lot of fun. Difficult though to beat the seven replicas with the same power but 150 kg less.
Look for example at www.eliseparts.com then you get the idea of aftermarket products that you just have to have!
Since I wanted even more thrill from the racing I quit racing the Elise and started racing bikes instead. You can NOT beat the feeling of a racemodded super bike on slicks! But that is another story.
The Ferrari in comparison feels heavy, fragile and slow. Still I love it but for different reasons. This is a car I can go out in the garage just to look at, you don't really admire the lotus in that way. It is more like a tool to have fun.
I do not agree what someone wrote about tire wear. Because of the low weight you use a lot less tires and brakes compared to normal cars if driven the same way. Of course you can wear out tires very quickly, but my point is that it would have been even quicker in another car.
At one point I will get another one, until then we only have one Elise in the family since I named my 3 year old daughter just that!

 

can you be a bit more specific? n/a or supercharged? mileage? etc

I bought and sold my car for $23k, it had 27k miles when I bought it and a tick over 30k when I sold it. that's a good data point for an average condition, average mileage 2005 Elise I think. my car was LRG/tan, both tops.

 

Contact user Abe on Lotustalk - he has a great reputation and has been selling and supporting them since 2005.

 

I'd say getting a high mileage Elise for around $25k is a pretty good deal. A lot of 05 and 06 Elise's hover around $30k. 06 Exiges seem to list anywhere for $32-$36k. They do not have supercharger. The 07 Elise's with supercharged are around $35k and up. Those are what I have seen in Lotustalk past few months.

I second Abe who is very knowledgeable as a Lotus dealer

 

I bought my Exige from Abe. Great guy.

 

I hadn't been thinking about Elises for quite a while, but after writing this I did. Yesterday I met up with the guy who bought my car several years ago. Since then it had been converted with a Honda S2000 enginge + supercharger, mapped for use with E85 fuel. I can promise you that 360 hp in a car weighing 820kg is INSANE!

 

I don't know if Rover engined cars have been imported to the US, but you should drive
one, it's a complete different experience! I prefer their gearchange, I find it less bulky
and they carry a lot less weight than Toyo Elises!!!

Apparently a Toyo Elise is not really "alive" under 6000rpm... I had a friend who had a Toyo Elise (190bhp) he said that there is almost no comparision until 120km/h, and then again an Elise is meant to be driven on twisty roads not on the german Autobahn

Everyone who talks about horsepower has missed the point, it's a Lotus! Lotus cars have
never been that powerful, they made it up with their chassis, suspensions and weight!
Take a Lotus 11, it didn't have that much horsepower, but it was very competitive.

My Elise S2 from 2002 has no carpets, no radio, no AC, and no leather on the doors, only a steering wheel and three pedals you don't need more

I don't know if it is possible, quite a few guys have Honda conversions (done on a formerly Rover engined Elise), and they are very happy with it, because it suits more the caracter of the car!

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMyQ9XbCfss&feature=related[/ame]

have you considered a Lotus Elan?

 

The Rover engine was never going to make compliance in the US and also the Rover engined cars don't have airbags or ABS... so they were never imported into the US (other than a few track only S1s).

I agree with you on all your points though - my daily driver is a 2002 111S

 

Correct. For the reason Lotus developed the ' Federal Elise' with withe The 4L 2ZZ-GE Toyota.
The Elise mk1 was love at first sight .... I have owned a 111s with K-Rover VVC version too, curb weight 760 kg (1675 lbs) and the only Mk1 version with close ratio gearbox (hitting speed max over max power rpm peak)

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I hope you can see the picture ...

 

Interesting. I find myself thinking about picking up an Elise from time to time, as sort of a "half-way" car until I decide to pull the trigger on a 355/550/AM V8V/E-Type/whatever other car has my attention that day. Like you, I assumed they were bulletproof with the Toyota engine. I have to say I am pretty disappointed to hear this!

What are the cliff notes on the camshaft issues? What percentage of cars seem to be affected, and are there any tell-tale signs to look for? What is the fix? Any good links to Lotus forum threads about it?

Good luck in your search!

 

I had none of these problems you mention with my car and the sport upgrade is the racing model.

I did have two freinds who had this problem on there Elizes but they both raced their cars. I did not race mine but I did drive it with enthusiasm, Mine was very reliable and in fact perfect.

They are great cars.

Lee

 

Good info. I have never been to Lotus Talk but will check it out. Sounds like essentially the same old game of Russian Roulette people play with Testarossa differentials and iffy sodium valves. I just don't want a "fun part-time" car to be one I worry about every time I go for a drive. Now, if a given car is a life-long dream car (for me the 355), I can look past these issues (God knows the 355 has its share) and just accept the risk, and fix it if it breaks. But for a car like the Elise that I really LIKE but don't LOVE, it makes the decision harder.

So I assume the fix is just an aftermarket cam and maybe springs? Does it affect both the intake and exhaust cams, or just one? Are there many people swapping out cams in good cars as a preventative measure?

Also, do the 2007 and newer cars have the same issue?

 

I was thinking about this one....looks clean, and I believe all British cars look best in proper British Racing Green! But it is a 2005, and I'm thinking low $30's is a bit high? Where would y'all peg the value of this one?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/?cmd=ViewItem&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649&item=271049519394&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT
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Same experience here. 06 Exige, driven vigorously, but certainly not flogged. 30,000+ miles and counting. Nothing but oil changes. No issues. If I'd have started reading lotus forums prior to buying I probably never would have. Are there some problems? Sure. Name a car that has no issues...

A quick read on the forums would have anyone convinced that all the cars have issues, running over a soda can will total the car and that it's so fragile/special you best not let anyone over a size 2 drive/ride/lean on/touch it.

My own personal reality has been this.

Yes, it sits low, but really not ANY lower than most other high performance sports cars. Have I ever scraped the front before? Yes, I have and no it didn't crack the clam nor total the car nor lay waste to the splitter.

Reliable. 30,000+ miles with nothing but oil changes and tires. The mill still eagerly churns to 8,500 rpm and still runs/sounds amazing. I had an RMS/IMS issue on a Boxster once...while it wasn't pleasant, it didn't ruin my life and I didn't throw myself off a bridge because of it. I figure my chances are way higher of getting killed riding my motorcycle than blowing up the lotus engine. Yet I still ride... Risk/reward. There's a reason those two are not mutually exclusive.

Drives fine as a daily driver. Would I choose it as my only car? No, hell no. But, as a daily driver for weeks at a time, yes. Drives great on the street. Yes, visibility is limited, but I always drive defensively anyway, I always drive like I'm on my motorcycle so it's really not much of an issue. It even drives fine in the rain. 90mph on the highway in a pouring rain? No, I wouldn't do that, but then again I wouldn't do that in one of my big trucks either...that's just stupid driving. I've driven the Lotus in the rain, for days at a time....no issues if you pretend you're not really a race car driver and that the public street really isn't your own personal track.

Fragile? Maybe, but I haven't seen it. I've had it covered wheels to roof in dirty finger/hand prints from little kids when parked at soccer games. Hasn't hurt it yet. I've not witnessed it, but I've seen photos of people leaning against the car to get their picture taken...no damage that I can see. Getting in and out isn't that big of a deal once you've developed your own method, I even have 5 point seat belts and it doesn't bother me a bit for daily driving. Seats are super comfortable(road trip comfortable) and I gotta tell ya, I'm no GQ model. My 6'1" 235lb fat ass hasn't put any wear marks on the seat yet and if it will withstand me, I'm not too concerned about someone else doing worse.

Bottom line, it's a car.