i test drove an elise today just for the hell of it. the saleman, who saw me pull up in the evo, said i might be disappointed in the elise...and he was right. i guess i was expecting a lot more from the car.

1. the power: with the fat salesdude in the passenger seat, the elise felt just plain gutless, even above the 6100 rpm cam switch. below the switchover point, the car has zero torque and really poor throttle response. obviously, i didn't race the two cars but i'm confident my evo would easily walk away in a straight line. bear in mind, however, that turbo cars have an advantage over NA cars at this altitude.

2. the handling: honestly, for a real world driver, i'd say it's a tossup with both cars having different strengths and weaknesses. the elise is so light and nimble that it would definitely be huge fun on a roadcourse. but on real streets, the evo feels way more predictable and inspires way more confidence. surprisingly, the evo's steering rack is quicker than the elise's...go figure? both have similar amounts of grip and feedback.

3. other: i have to say that i LOVE the driving position in the elise, in spite of how frickin hard it is to get in and out of. the low stance, the seats, the steering wheel, the gear shift lever, etc. are all almost perfect, although the pedals are a little too close together for my taste.

overall, i'd say the elise fell a little short of my expectations. considering its TOTAL lack of practicality, the elise just seems like an expensive toy (plastic body panels!) more than a real car. if you get a chance to drive an elise, go for it...it will probably make you appreciate your evo even more.

 

but you have to admit...that is one hell of a car considering it has toyota celica engine (1.8 liter i think? i forgot)

 

^^no doubt. if i had a spare $40-50K laying around, i'd probably get one.

 

Nice, good comparison, thanks for sharing!

I sat in an Elise once and I can see what you mean about how it has a killer driving position, and I liked the steering wheel / shifter, etc. too. I can see how the power is somewhat of a letdown coming from an Evo, and I would assume that the two cars handle quite differently. I don't think there are many cars out there that can match the Evo's steering rack!

Haha, sorry if this is a bit off topic, but the other day I went with a friend of mine to pick up his daily driver car at a shop, and he let me drive his '95 Supra Turbo over there to pick up the DD. The Supra was making nice power, and it was fun to drive, but the steering felt so loose compared to the Evo that I am used to driving. On the way back though, hahah, I had to drive this '98 Subaru Outback. That thing felt like I was driving on ice or something the whole way back! As soon as I got back into my Evo to head home, holy hell, the steering felt SO nice.

Thanks again for the comparison, I'd still love to take an Elise out sometime but I know it's not going to replace my Evo since there's no way I could afford it anyhow, hehe.

 

evo is king of all cars nothing compares!

 

people buy the elise because it's a "LOTUS"... evo's are just MITSUBISHI...

 

I also test drove the Elise before buying my Evo. I testdrove one with the sports package and I must say it handled fantastic. I totally agree with the assessment that the lack of power is a deal breaker. I also tried for a year to get them down to $44K for the fully loaded sports one, no deal. I think if the Exige was available at the time it would have been a harder car to pass up. I don't regret getting the Evo instead at all.

 

>.> my girlfriend wants an Elise.... I should keep this thread away from her. lol

Good comparo. =P prolly would have different results if you drove it by yourself tho. lol

 

i couldnt even bother trying to test drive one, because the fact im 6'2 230 lbs. that car is just too small for me, and as for the motor i was somewhat disappointed your paying nearly 40 thou for a toyota motor. not worth it imo.

 

On a race course, stock Elise vs. stock Evo - definitely Evo. But the Exige, now that's another story. The Evo would get a run for its money (with a driver who knows how to drive the Exige - and I think that is the point as the Elise/Exige are definitely harder to drive to extract their maximum performance).

Either Elise or Exige, they're definitely not as all around drivable as the Evo. But as a toy, I think the fun factor might make up for it ;-)

I just bought my Evo (as a weekend car), but if the Exige was a little cheaper, I would have gone for it.

 

by all means, keep this thread away from her! How cool would that be to have both cars at your disposal!

 

evo better

 

If the Elise is underpowered for some of you, why is the Exige any better? They share the same engine and drivetrain.

 

I think it may have also been having the 2nd person in the car. The elise is a 2000lb car. Add one drive and you have made a 2000 lb car now weigh 2180 (assuming 180 lb dirver). Add a 2nd person of say 200 lbs and now it weighs 2380. So basically you just made the car 19% heavier. But if you do the same thing to the 3300 lb evo you only added 12%.

ligthter cars feel the acceleration penalty of weight more than heavier cars

 

Just because it feels slow (and it does - I drove one too several times including auto-x), it does not mean it is. EVO feels a lot faster, but if you take the two cars side by side, you'd be surprized how equal in acceleration they are.

I also disagree about the torque... Elise has more low end below 3500rpm than an EVO. The EVO hits it peak at that point and obviously it then plays catchup on the elise and hence it feels faster. I'd say the EVO wins out in mid range over the elise.