New Car Opinions
 

So I used to own a beautiful 2003 Nissan 350Z, 3 years later 2 weeks before I got married I crashed it ( 2nd worst day of my life ). I did 6000$ in damage to it not to mention my emotional pain. So 3 months later my wife decided I didn't need the car anymore :sad:, so I sold it to keep her happy ( absolutely the worst day of my life ). I traded it straight across for a 2006 Dodge Magnum station wagon, custom leather interior, side trim removed and 22" wheels. Ever since then I have had a massive emptiness inside :cry::sad:.

Well my wife being the good woman she is noticed how sad I was ever since she made me sell my 350Z ( 1.5 years ago ). So she said to me one day " I think its time we sold the Magnum. " Whhhhhhhhhat. You have a company truck and don't need a daily driver and I have my Honda so why not get another sports car.

Excellent:biggrin:

So I was originally thinking about getting a new Challenger SRT8 but it looks like the dealers are jacking the price up past the MSRP so I began to think. Whats a car thats original, not too many people have (don't see in front of every Starbucks), will scare the crap out of me and not cost an arm, leg and a kidney.

How about a new Lotus?


I'm thinking about a new Lotus Elise or Lotus Exige S. The difference is a little bit of body styling, the Exige is supercharged. The Elise does 0-60mph in 4.9s and the Exige 0-60mph in 4.1s. and the big difference about 10 grand.

Lotus Exige S ( MSRP 67,750 $ )

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/i...exige_2006.jpg

Lotus Elise ( MSRP 54,500 $ )

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y12...otus_Elise.jpg



So what do you think, good choice or bad choice?

Wich Model?

Color?

I'm thinking about getting something in the next year, so lots of input would be great.

I'm a big fan of the lotus. I prefer the exige myself, better styling and more zip.

It really surprises me that you do not see many of these on the road considring they are cheap and can run circles around corvettes.

Hey,

I used to own an Elise :)

I had an S2 back in the UK.

I was all about the Exige until the dealer let me take one home for a weekend.

The intake for the supercharger gets it's air from ducts in the roof so you have no back window! Not too good when you're driving around in central London!

I went for an Elise R with the Sports & Touring packages.

The thing that always gets me when driving a Lotus is the way it grips & grips (only in the dry though as it had Yoko Advan semi-slicks!).

For driving around Vancouver though? I'd probably give it a miss.

Too much rain even in the summertime to really enjoy it & a little too compromised to use everyday (my commute is 200km each day).

Oh & I'm not he most supple of people so I never found the most elegant way of getting in & out with the roof on! :mrgreen:

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I think its because they are just such a bare bones performance car. No real carpet just floor mats, Exposed aluminum everywhere, Can't get in or out without giving yourself a hernia, No power steering, etc. etc. etc.

This is all ok with me. I just want something that gives me Ferrari performance without the cost or crappy gas mileage.

Maybe it's because 'Lotus' is short for:

Lots Of Trouble Usually Serious!

Having said that... mine never actually broke down. It just had lots of stupid annoying things go wrong with it.

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I hear you, I just want a dry weather summer car not a daily driver. It'll definitely never see rain as I will probably build it a private garage on the side of my house, and I'll sleep with it, tuck it in at night and give it a drink when its thirsty :biggrin:.

Thanx

Sean

The North America model comes with a Toyota drivetrain (same engine as the Celica) unlike the Rover drive train the UK model came with (very unreliable).

The engine was never the problem (mine had the supercharged Toyota engine.)

The problems were silly things like windows being stuck down, alarm systems going off, shaving your knuckles whilst putting the roof on, instrument panel not working etc. etc.

Still despite many annoying little things, I LOVED my car!

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HAHAHA, love the shaved knuckles, didn't know that they made a UK model with the Toyota engine in it. Any pics you can post of your car.

Thanx

Sean

Yeah, all UK models are Toyota based now.

When Rover went bust a few years a ago the K-Series engine was quickly ditched once they got the Toyota deal.

I'll dig up some photo's for you when I get the chance. It's liquid blue & totally stock.

Hey, when I come round & get some frags off you in a few weeks time, maybe you'd like a run in my new 2 seat roadster :wink:

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Sweet:biggrin::mrgreen::smile::mrgreen::biggrin:

Whats your new 2 seat roadster ?

Thanx

Sean

It's a Boxster... not an S model and it's got a Tiptronic gearbox so not as fast as an Elise :(

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/e...e/front_01.jpg

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/e...ie/back_01.jpg

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/e...nterior_01.jpg

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I love those Lotus'. There is one around town here and everytime i see it i drool. It's dark metallic charcoal grey. I actually looked into them last year when i saw it and was very surprised at their 'reasonable' price.

I'd definetly go for it if i were you!

S2000 is nice too ... and cheap ... easy to mod it upwards of 500hp

http://www.wirleo.com/ImageHandler.a...=O&PhotoID=249

Yeah, I love those too! But those engines let go pretty fast if you mod them much past 250-300bhp.

Although, for the ultimate thrill of driving experience the Elise is it.

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the lotus looks nice but havent you heard that chevy is reviving the 69 camaro? its supposed to have the ls2 6.0L v8 (400cid) pushing an estimated 400 bhp and gas milage is supposed to be really good with variable cylinder technology im not sure of the msrp on this car but i for one will own one BTW 400 bhp is just the starting point because its a chevy the go fast parts will probably be endless! right now i am driving a crown victoria with pi cylinder heads and a compession ratio of 10:1 (my rocket couch) just an idea if you want affordable perfomance and luxury the ford modular motors that have replaced the old pushrod v8s have a ridiculous amount of potential the fastest crown vic ive seen is at 650 hp with a supercharger just a few ideas to toss at you but heck its your dime i think you are probably set on the lotus but remember with a car like that the cops will always be looking in your direction and go fast goodies will probably cost a mint, I for one belive that once you become used to the power your car produces you will always want more :biggrin:

If you want 400hp and not attract too much attention there is always my car ... 2002 M5 I picked up 2 summers ago :wink:

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3..._A_neer/m5.jpg

Hmm
 

Just one piece of advise. When you buy one of these upper elite sports cars you better have a shop and a dealership close to you for service. As a shop owner myself I know the frustrations of having a breakdown and not being close to anyone who can service your car. Doesnt matter what you drive..They break! Nice looking vehicles though..:biggrin:

Sorry, I owned a GM lemon once and will never buy one again. GM is just full of empty promises and heart ache (very un-reliable).

I question your commitment to this hobby. How could you possibly consider a sports car when a tank upgrade could easily suck that unwanted money away just as fast LOLLOL LOL LOL.

I'd be willing to bet that the new Camaro will be de-tuned by the time it hits show room floors. The 2009 Vette is slated to have 430 HP so I doubt GM would let the Camaro get that close in performance numbers to the Vette. I'm talking the base Vette, not the Z06.

Back on topic..

I say go for the Lotus, your not buying it for practacality your buying it for the thrill of driving it, so who cares if it's a bit hard to get in an out of or costs a bit more to maintain. That plus it will be plain cool to have a car that you won't see ten of day in and day out.

Just buy a Nissan GTR :biggrin:

I still think the Viper is the sexiest car. Mmm. But that Lotus sure is a beauty. I also saw a new Audio R8 downtown yesterday, and...umm...YES.

When yer my age, my blue Focas wagon is sexy. :lol:

Not a sexy as my black one.. I take pride in the fact that is says "Sport Wagon" on my registration!

Unfortunately the new R8 is out of my price range at 160,000. Not to mention its slower that the Lotus Exige S. Viper would be nice but I don't like the 11 mpg gas mileage or 100,000 sticker price:lol:. The Lotus gets on average 25 mpg.

Fortunately my new medication is working to keep me sane. :lol:

Any BMW M series car will give you all you could want. Readily available dealership support and a virtually unlimited choice of aftermarket addons to make it as unique as you want.

well you guys can't touch my car its a chysler Breeze with AC or our van the KIA Sedona. that is classy.............. I used to own a MAzada MX 3 with turbo ,and cold air intake it wsa pretty classy with metallic Red paint and custom seating. it was a 2 seater.. love that then the booss said get rid of it its asingle mans car , since we got back together...:redface:

now if you are looking for a car the camaro the one in Transformers that is sexy...............

The Lotus will be a bit of a waste unless you plan to take it out to the track on at least a semi-regular basis where it was meant to be. And I don't mean simply taking it auto-xing, but a real race track.

I'm sure you already know this but the Lotus is simply a barebones street legal go-kart: damn fast and fun, but hard to live with: hernia-inducing ergonomics, back breaking suspension, deafening noise on the highway and shoddy fit/finish for such an expensive car.

A Corvette convertible is probably a better poseur car and a tweaked S2000 is probably a better all around bang for you buck.

A shame they didn't stick a Honda engine in there given their history with Rover. The Toyota one is fine, but it ain't no 8000rpm VTEC screamer.

I agree with all those things except for back breaking suspension.

It's one of the most supple sports cars I've ever driven. The ride was suprising good.

My Boxster is worse over the bumps than the Elise & the Mini Cooper S is much worse than both of them!

The supercharged Toyota engine has a nice dollop of torque low down but will still rev past 8000 rpm & the non supercharged on doesn't wake up until at least 4000 rpm.

Elise's never used the Honda designed, high revving VTEC engines... they used the K-Series which was much better low down the rev range & much more stable when tuned for 200+ bhp.

Anyways, Sean? You know that Elise has your name on it!

(Man I'm a car geek as well as reef geek! - heaven help me!) :mrgreen:

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Is the Ariel Atom available in Canada yet?

Its the simplicity or the Lotus that I love. I would never take it on the track but an nice 220km/h run up the Cocahala Highway would be nice :twised:. Some people are pulling the Toyota powerplant out in favor of a Honda engine but I think I could live with the Toyota engine, its redline is set at 8250 rpm and the variable valve timing dosen't kick in till 6000 rpm :biggrin:.

Lets get a Reef Geek car cruise together when I get one. When you come over in a couple weeks we'll probably spend as much time talking cars as we do corals. :lol::lol::biggrin:

I think you should be a Lotus salesman/person :wink:

Thanx

Sean

Should be available this year, they just opened a plant in the US from what I've read.

I wonder if my little Focus hatchback can keep up....:p

Don't worry, when they stop for gas we will catch up... oh...wait.... My Focus is horrible on gas too.. :-)

I'll stick to first gear. :lol:

Haha. JERK.

My appologies thats my youthfull obnoxious side coming out.