im trying to make it do everything =P

 

BTW that yellow one on the previous page, not sure if you guys are getting the old shape elise, but that IS the old shape, here is the current version which i thought you would of got (much nicer)





the only elise and i mean the only elise i would consider buying for the track is this baby, i think its pretty nice! (but i would much much prefer the old lotus esprit!

 

I took this at the '03 LA Auto Show.

It has... erm... character. I wouldn't mind having one to park next to the FD though.

 

my dad compared my fd to his friends (older) lotus once, he said "if he wasnt driving it, it was in his garage...with something broken"

maybe lotus has gotten better sinc ethen, but from what people are saying it seems to be nothing more than a fast, expensive toy with no practical use.(of course, according to my dad, the fd is no better-hes a VW guy)

 

Anyone else see a resemblance to the MR2?

 

If it's fast, that's a practical use right there.

Isn't a sports car supposed to be fast?

Mission accomplished.

 

I guess I will retire from this argument. You see, the Elise is a POS that is built from old Porsche 914 parts and has skinny tires

Once again the RX-7 Club members pull their heads out of the sand just long enough to remind me "The -7- Can't Lose!". .....And that is how it will be until the end of time.

 

 

i wont lose once i get my 86 with a 20 valve!

 

perhaps when you have a light car you dont need as much hp to get a high power/weight ratio... but since weight is so low, it doesnt take as much weight of the driver to affect the ratio a lot.

in a heavier car with a lot more hp, the same driver would not reduce the ratio as much.

 

Thats not what most of us were saying...

All i was saying is that, while its a fabulous car, it isn't without some significan't limitations IMO, and limited potential beyond how it will be delivered from the factory, so, refering to the subject line of the thread, no i'm not scared, yet.

 

someone has a stick in their *** about how great they think the lotus is.

i know you know alot about tight handling driving, but aren't you over defending the lotus just a little bit? have you even driven one?

i've never even seen one in person, but i've seen a highly prepared one get owned by a vette on nurburgring. no car is perfect. from what i know it will have problems getting past ~130mph. and alot of us will simply not fit in it.

even a stock fd will most likely own it on top end, and it will own in tight corners -that's what it's good at.

see, they -7- can lose. just because i don't bow down to the holy lotus doesn't mean i'm all that ignorant man.

chill, you're getting too damn worked up man.

-so do i fear it? no. the zo-6 is still my priority.

 

How about this Damon, If you truly believe that this car is better then your seven then go right ahead and buy one.

Also, when you do acquire one, let me know, I will leave my seven at home and bring my 914 for comparison purposes.

Fact remains that Lotus has not built a better or faster car then the seven.

Now back to the original question, am I scared of it, Hello NO. This little Toyota hybrid will not be a concern of mine anytime in the future.

Be careful otherwise that bird of your that is stuck with its head in the sand might just lay an egg that you aren’t quite happy with.

The moral of this thread:

Don't believe all the hype that you read and see on TV.

 

First off, you don't know that either. Have YOU driven the new Elise? I've test driven the 111 Elise (with the 135HP Rover engine). I KNOW the car will outhandle an FD .... even on skinny tires. The chassis is extremely stiff and there is little to zero body roll. The car does not pitch in quick transitions and it is very well behaved even when you're rough with it. The Elise has TONS of lateral grip. With an extra 55-60 horsies, the car will flat out fly. Is it faster than an FD? Stock-for-stock .... HELL YEAH, it is. But, that is not to say that there are not situational advantages to either car. On a track, where the FD can really show its legs, the difference is small. On an auto-x course, the Elise will lay the smack down. On the street, who knows? And forget about playing the modified game .... with enough money, I can make a brick run circles around you.


That's your opinion and you're entitled to it. Fair enough. Damon has stated his, and that's that. I happen to agree with Damon ..... and being that he and I are both out there practically every weekend pushing our cars (and watching others push their cars) to the limit, I happen to think we know what we're talking about. As they always say .. opinions are like a$$holes, everybody's got one.

 

I like how a lot of people who are comparing the two cars have never even been to an auto-x or the track....

No, I'm not SCARED of the Elise. Why would I be SCARED of another car? I'm a little more secure with myself than that....

DamonB's point, as well as others here, is that so many people on this board think the FD is the best car ever invented and still is. Well, it's not. It's a damn good, pretty pure sports car, with great looks and several significant character marks (flaws to those less generous).

So many people on this board bench race when they've never even been to the track. Put up or shut up.

 

I don't personally know Fabian, but I know he has much more experience than I do on a roadcourse and his CYM was a trick track car...

 

If you ask me I say it looks like a tart cart. I dont think that many people will have one anyway. 50 grand?! I would rather get and M3 not some car that looks like its got a weggie.

 

Well, i've been to the track, and autocrossed, and done so in an FD, FC, front-drive Volkswagen, and open-wheel formula Ford (less than half the weight of an Elise).

Whats everyone getting upset about? We're COMPARING the two cars. Comparing does mean identifying strengths and short comings of both and measuring them against the other. You can no more get upset about someone identifying the Lotus' shortcomings (which I believe are considerable) than anyone else can about the RX7s (also considerable).

 

That is the truth brother...

Built from old 914 parts? Huh?

 

I dont run my car on road courses, I'm more of a 40mph kick on the highway kinda person.

That being the case I personally wouldnt be scared at all of a 190hp Elise

My real point being this.....The reason some people think the car is Gods gift to the automobile and some people dont care about it at all is due to what people want. Not everyone on here is a road racer and not everyone is a drag racer. Different people like different things which is why we wont all agree on the elise being the best performing car on the road. In my eyes if "performance" doesnt include low 12's at a minimum it doesnt even hit my radar screen of what I consider good performance. ESPECIALLY since it tops out barely over 100mph.

STEPHEN

 

quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by FormerPorscheGuy
Lets get some facts strait here before we go on.

No one has mentioned this but the Lotus Elise is an updated version of the old Porsche 914 unibody mid engined chasis. The chasis is an almost a direct copy of this 30 year old design.

 

I didn't read through all the other replies, but no, why car about another car? I like FDs.

Historically the Lotus has not been a real winner for fit and finish. Look at one up close some time. It speaks volumes that they are putting a Toyota engine in the car as to how good the Lotus engines are.

The cool points about the little Lotus are that it's light, and has a nice looking style, but with the Toyota engine being in there why not get the full high quality package and buy a new 2100 lb MR2? The 2100 lb MR2 with driver is going perform about as good as a 1900 lb Lotus Elise with driver and passenger. I wouldn't worry to much about the Lotus being a big performer unless they drop the compression and put a turbo or supercharger on it.

 

well i've driven plenty of elises since they came out in 1995, and had many on the track.

for small little tracks they're very good, handle well, but top out easy, so on a proper track like nurburgring, the fd owns, and i have been on with both so i know what im talking about.

the only lotus elise variant an fd will have to worry about on a proper track is the 340r, as it is even more down to earth than the normal elise and more powerful.

as a car overall i prefer the fd, its more of a daily driver etc
and if you want a good lightweight track car, i would buy a caterham, i've driven one almost every month for 4 years, and had several on small nippy tracks against elises and they will hand them their asses everytime

but you are all entitled to your opinion even though most of you havent seen one let alone driven one.
i mean no offence by that, just simply most of this is just speculating and once the hype wears off and you have first hand knowledge like i do, you wont be as impressed as you may imagine

 

You're telling this to the wrong person, as I have very little excuses when it comes to the FD. It's an excellent car, but it's not invincible and I'd actually own a Z06 over the FD if I could. The original thread starter though, simply asked if we feared the Lotus, and in the speed department, which is where most of my competition will take place should I decide to race, I stated no. Some people like the nimble handling characteristics of the FD, I like the feel of speed- while it's other performance abilities come secondary. In the auto-x or road race realm, the elise would be something to fear, but neither apply to me as they don't really hold my interest as much.

 

I don't disagree with you at all, it just seems that anything around here that is not rotary powered or an RX-7 is automatically poo-poo.

I am a car enthusiast who happens to drive an FD. I like my FD and enjoy driving/racing it, but there are certainly a lot of other cars out there in the world I would enjoy too.