The day mitsubishi creates a lightweight (preferably something with a aluminum chassis) turbo awd 2 door coupe with awd sporting the 4g63t, is the day I sell my evo.

 

Except the idea of a lightweight AWD turbo car that would be in the same price range as the evo is absolutely impossible.

 

interesting. i believe for the OP, the elise felt like crap because of the fat *** salesman. i read a thread on this board a while ago from someone who just got an evo in addition to his elise. his review was very detailed and informative, and more in line with the reveiws from other people. regardless, i'd take the Evo over the elise even if it's my play toy. i just can't live with the fact that the elise is 40k with so little to offer. just IMHO.

 

I don't really know what you meant by that. When I drove the elise, I spent half a day with it and did about 40miles on (not so great) twisties and in the city. I know it's not a great amount, but it sure was enough to find out that it's not what I wanted.

Anyway, the notion of a 'lightweight', awd car with a similar power level to the evo is a little unlikely for a couple of reasons:
Lightweight is a relative term. With all the tranny, the awd car will always be heavier than a rwd car. There's a transfer box and front diff to add. And while your rear diff can be smaller for the same power, the weight saving is minimal compared to the penalty of adding one at the front.
The elise is so light, mainly because it has so little power. With less power to cope with parts are under less stress so they can be lighter. This one's a little circular, but if you add power to the elise, you'll need a heavier parts to prevent the whole thing from going pear-shaped.

However, as sonicnofadz pointed out, if they get round to using a lot of AL in the chassis, things should improve. However, it is difficult to get an al chassis to be as stiff as a steel one for the same weight. Audi and Jaguar have managed it in very clever ways but I do think this is something Mitsu has extensive knowledge of, but they do have rather clever ways of joining Al to steel (as on the roof of my MR). I hope they develop this technology cos I think a combination of the two materials should make a very stiff chassis at a minimum weight.

All in all though, I think we're forgetting that the evo is actually quite light for what it is. Apart from the interior and the paintwork, they're strong cars. Guys rally them in Gr.N and other leagues and they hold up great without too much reinforcements (the roll cage helps, but the rest of the car seems to cope well also). If you subject a Civic to the same brutality, it will now do so well - i've tried. I know the civic's a lot lighter, but I think the evo wins in the strength/weight ratio. Heck, the Sti's a little smaller, has an Al block engine and still weights roughly the same. I know we can all do with the car being a little lighter and there are bits of it which don't look all that well thought out, but for a car that can hold up almost double the power it was born with on a daily basis it sure is pretty light.

 

I HAVE AND ELISE, and am going to sell it soon probably for an EVO or maybe a S4, although I am not 100% sure.

There is no doubt that there is little to no torque in the motor, and you have to drive the hell out of it to get it to perform. This is fun and all - although it is a little tiring. Different strokes for different folks. However there are a few things you should know, from a corrent owner and the receipent of the 3rd Elise to be imported into this country when they first came over.

1. The repair costs are out of this world. There are no bumpers and everything on the front end needs to be replaced at a 1mph impact. This costs a minimum of 7,000 dollars. My car was backed over again in my apartment complex a few weeks ago, it was another 20K in repairs and there was not even a scratch in the other car.

2. THE ELISE AND EXIGE ARE THE SAME CAR. The EUROPA IS THE SAME CAR TOO WITH DIFFERENT STYLING, but slower. Lotus tried to diferentiate a few different models. In europe where you can get the supercharger the Exige is worth it. Here everything is the same. It is really just a marketing ploy and a bodystyle preference. In most cases the Exige is slower than the Elise and has very limited rear view. US regulations would not allow the supercharger into the country, so lotus/toyota got screwed. They have a "new" car that is exactly the same as the "other" car.

3. The Europa was designed with proton to be an updated Elise as the Elise didn't meet a few headlight regulations and its exemptions run out in 2007. It is the same chassis, same interior same everything, excelt it has a bigger trunk and a "new" motor that meets Us emissions regulations. To "develop" a new model that will sell above the Elise with worse performance and weigh 225 pounds more is just stupid. It is like a compromise Lotus and dont' be fooled it will be going for 60K when it is released. It wil get slaughtered by the Boxter S or Caymen. The new M3 will kill the Europa. It makes no sense to me, without at least 250 hp or a better than 10 lbs to 1 hp ratio it is a step backwards.

CONCLUSION:

The elise is a very veyr focused car and has been fun for me, but the cost of repairs (thanfully my insurance has not had to pay for any of it) it just prohibitive. Any modifications to raise hp is very very expensive even though it is a celica motor that has been out for years and years. The lotus branding means many tuning companies feel they can charge 9000 for a turbo kit....Remember you can get a celica kit for THOUSANDS LESS..

The elise and exige drive the same except the exige is slower except on higher speed momentum tracks.

The europa was a weird joint project with proton and Lotus and an attempt to meet federal laws. I am confused who its target market will me. The true Lotus fans will still want a true sports car. The touring fans (new market) will want something faster and less sparse - that will be on the market very soon...

K thats it. I am off the rant...

-TOM

P.S. I am 6"2 and 210 and fit just fine.

 

Man, that sucks. Thanks TOM, for the info. I didn not know there is so much difference between the EU versions and the US version. Do you happen to know why the US regs don't allow superchargers? Seems strange to me, you would think that it's such a low volume car they can tweek it a little bit to fit within the regulations and perhaps re-gain the performance through a flash or something. (unless, of course that means removing the supercharger totally).

You put it very accurately about it being fun but tiring. Sometimes, you just want something that goes...

 

Are you serious?

 

MeanTT, thanks for straightening everyone out =)

 

The problem as I understand it is emissions. Currently the Lotus designed 240 R has not met us emissions regulations. Therefore it can not be liscenced in the US. It makes 240 HP. There is also an Exige S which has 218 HP. It makes the same power as the Corolla S which is sold in europe. Again this is simply a toyota design nothing different except the Lotus ECU, but it has not been loscenced for sale in the US for emissions or durability testing.

Therefore, these motors which SHOULD have been offered for the Exige to speerate it (that is why the Exige has a roof scoop to feed an intercooler) are not, and the US is left with a heavier version of the Elise. Yes it creates downforce, BUT it is the same exact car. Really Lotus missed the mark with this car. They could have offered it as a super sports car, but didn't.

I will give Lotus some serious applause for managing to fool the entire world by designing and offering the same car with a different body and marketing it as a different car. It seems like the automotive press was asleep on this one. I can't believe I haven't read a report that asks the question (WHAT? You have to be kidding, right?)

 

Sport Compact Car did, after testing the exige they said they couldn't justify the price difference especially when ordering the track pack with the elise.

and that's my insomniac thread resurrection for the night

 

throw a honda k20 in one of those and you will FLY. that 1.8 GTS motor is a POS.

 

Wow....a salesman that knew what he was talking about. Gotta love that. I went to the local mitsu dealer today to see the White IX with SSL they have and i ended up in a conversation with a salesman and the sales manager about the car. The salesman knew a good amount, he has a blue one and ive actually seen him driving around before. I still felt i knew more though. The sales manager knew nothing. Get this...I even knew the prices better than them...lol and the white one i was there to see was sitting right next to us in the showroom.

 

 

My neighbor drives a lime green one, weird color for a car. That thing looks like a go kart.