First impressions when you walk up to the Lotus Elise is how small it is. It is a great looking car, but when close up it somehow doesn't look right.
With the roof off, getting in and out is no problem, open the door, step in and slide yourself down behind the steering wheel. Once in, it is relatively comfortable, the leather sports seats are supportive, plenty of head room and quite spacious, considering the size of the car. The interior is very sparce, no carpets, stereo, elctric windows, air conditioning etc. Just a race spec instrument panel showing the basics.
On the road, the 118bhp 1.8ltr mid-engined K-series Rover engine is powerful enough to keep you smiling. You do, however, have to make the most of the cars superb handling to keep more powerful hot hatches at bay. The Elise is very short on power when the speed increases, after 80mph, most hot hatches will reel the Elise in on the straights. But when the road gets twisty, not many cars will be able to keep up.
There are some major downsides to owning a car like the Elise. The car is so small that a lot of road users may not see you coming and that low driving position makes it very dificult to see over objects that wouldn't pose any problem in any other type of car, e.g. long grass at side of road or roundabouts. The roof, when the roof is on it is very difficult to get in and out of and you'll end up covered in bruises doing so. The roof is a get you home item and leaks quite badly.
The noise, it is very noisy driving around in the Elise, the engine is right behind you ears (and it's not a nice sounding engine) and the rigid chassis rattles and bangs.
But when you actually drive this car all it's faults are instantly forgotten as the horns push out of your skull and the driving experience leaves you smiling for hours afterwards.
Summary
If you are looking for a Summer toy then there is no better car for the money. It is a great handling car with blistering performance which will make any man into a race driver for the day. It looks great and everyone loves this car.
With the roof off, getting in and out is no problem, open the door, step in and slide yourself down behind the steering wheel. Once in, it is relatively comfortable, the leather sports seats are supportive, plenty of head room and quite spacious, considering the size of the car. The interior is very sparce, no carpets, stereo, elctric windows, air conditioning etc. Just a race spec instrument panel showing the basics.
On the road, the 118bhp 1.8ltr mid-engined K-series Rover engine is powerful enough to keep you smiling. You do, however, have to make the most of the cars superb handling to keep more powerful hot hatches at bay. The Elise is very short on power when the speed increases, after 80mph, most hot hatches will reel the Elise in on the straights. But when the road gets twisty, not many cars will be able to keep up.
There are some major downsides to owning a car like the Elise. The car is so small that a lot of road users may not see you coming and that low driving position makes it very dificult to see over objects that wouldn't pose any problem in any other type of car, e.g. long grass at side of road or roundabouts. The roof, when the roof is on it is very difficult to get in and out of and you'll end up covered in bruises doing so. The roof is a get you home item and leaks quite badly.
The noise, it is very noisy driving around in the Elise, the engine is right behind you ears (and it's not a nice sounding engine) and the rigid chassis rattles and bangs.
But when you actually drive this car all it's faults are instantly forgotten as the horns push out of your skull and the driving experience leaves you smiling for hours afterwards.
Summary
If you are looking for a Summer toy then there is no better car for the money. It is a great handling car with blistering performance which will make any man into a race driver for the day. It looks great and everyone loves this car.
1 comment:
I have to agree, the Elise is a fun summer drive, but modern day living, family, shopping etc... somewhat limits what you can do with the Elise, or rather what you can't do with the Elise.
For starters you can only manage a few items of shopping in it's very compact 'boot', that's if you have the roof on and not stored it in the boot of course.
If you have no passengers in this 2 seater, then there is the passenger seat and footwell, space for shopping.
Only 2 family members can have a day out at any one time, so you need a baby sitter if you want a day out with the other half! And you need to shop around to find an apropriate child seat that fits, and in the same colour, try Halfords for the blue one.
Not for the elegant ladies out there or the more shapely, as it is a bugger to climb in and out of, and I say climb because of the 2ft ledge at either sill. Grrr!
If you're a silly young lad or an old fart trying to regain your youth, then this is the car for you,(if you're still suple) and anyone in between...Forget it!
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