I test drove an 05 elise for the first time ever yesterday and I was not disappointed. The car absolutely rocks and I did take it thru some nice twisties. Very composed and the engine can really move this <2k lbs. sucker plus the cam kicks in like a Type-R, except the thing is right next to your ear . The gear box was just the best. Coming out of an evo I totally forgot how smooth a 2wd tranny could feel. Nothing was mushy about it, killer precision with every shift. I'm definitely in love.

The only thing that bothered me was the lack of LSD.

I'm really tempted. I know that this will probably never happen but I was just wondering if I could get some opinions.

 

The LSD isn't needed for those cars. Lotus knows what they are doing.

 

I've never driven an Elise, but from reading the specs it sure does sound like a fun car!!! ... I'm just a little concerned about the safety features ... Haha! like the EVO has the best safety features ... but still the lack of safety features on the Elise kinda scares me ... There was a post here a while back about an Elise getting into a 10mph crash with an SUV in a parking garage and the car looked TOTALLED I think it was 16-20K in damage ...

 

I, one day, will get an Elise, but I am deffinatly keeping the EVO also.

 

Assuming it's not your only vehicle. The Elise is a rare special bird. Definately Elise.

 

06 elise gets an lsd as an option
puresportscar.com

 

That is exactly what Im planning on doing!

 

Test drove it years ago, about 4 in fact. It was fun to drive.

BUT I wouldn't have it as the only car. Yes it handles well, sounds great and just plain entertaining. The thing is while it's all that, it's not as fast as the evo.

Now I'm going to get flamed for saying that, but for me it wasn't. Sure it matters a lot who drives it and how well it is driven. But realistically, I think 8/10 times on normal roads the evo will win.

I didn't time the runs and didn't race it against an evo. The numbers will suggest that the elise is quicker but it just doesn't have the almost stupid level of grip that the evo has. At the time, I actually went for an Integra Type-R (DC5) which is a little heavier but also has a little more power.

Just my thoughts. Besides, the elise only has about 160bhp then.

 

The Elise also weighs in at around a ton with driver. Power to weight makes a car faster, not overall power.

 

Remember you can use the evo in snow,what i cant say about the elise.

 

I sell the Lotus Elise in Dallas. Pretty fun car as a 2nd or 3rd car. I wouldn't trade an Evo for it though.

 

Yeah..but he made it clear it wasn't going to be a daily driver. Plus I'm guessing ATX = Austin, Texas...probably doesn't get much snow.

 

Humm... I might have to take back my earlier post. Just found out that there's a 240bhp supercharged version available.

 

Thanks for all the responses guys. I think I'm slowly coming off the high and experiencing withdrawal symtoms.

I just wanted to say that my evo is my daily driver for now and will be for the next year or so. The thing is, if I sell my evo now I'm positive that I can easily afford the elise in a year's time.

I'll probably keep the evo until next summer and see how it goes. I'm still licking my wounds from a tranny/tcase rebuild and I seriously don't want to deal with another issue like that again. The kicker, I never drag raced at all and I have no idea why it happened.

I really love my evo but I don't think it loves me back.

 

The Elise is an awesome car; very exotic looking and one of the fastest track cars out there. You didn't mention anything about tracking it. If you will take advantage of its track capabilities you can't go wrong with the Elise. However, if you just want a cool convertible I would go with the S2000...less expensive, more comfortable, better support, etc.