Upgrade Elise or all in for Exige?

[Thello]

O.K.
Made the mistake of taking a few track day hits and now I'm addicted. Just trying to see what you track guys would think would cause the least damage for the most benefit. Taking a stock 2006 elise will LSS wheels and LSD and upgrading or go all in for an exige.

I plan in order: better springs, exige style seats for harness, supercharger. I have a dealer who will give me a new (2008) exige for the used elise (with only 5k miles) plus $20k. The cost would therefore be similar, but I am balancing the fun of slow upgrades (like a different car each time, get to enjoy each upgrade) versus the well put together complete package.

Just to taint things, I just witnesses an elise with aftermarket supercharger break gown twice at my last track event.

[Thello]

Oh yeah I forgot spoilers as well.

[MNlotus]

id say upgrade the elise, you can easily make an elise better then an exige. just add a wing, splitter, side skirts and diffuser and you already have better aero then an exige. then just add some power with a S/C or turbo

[BRTHTAKR]

For what I have spent and look to spend, I could have picked up a used Cup Car with all the track stuff like cage, Accusump, fire suppression, etc.
But on the other hand, the process of modifying a more basic car into your custom vision is very rewarding unto itself. Researching, modding, repairing, adjusting can be just as much fun as driving for many car enthusiasts.
Sounds like the modding process interests you. More $$ will be spent, more time trying to get bolts to turn and looking to find that other piece. But the skinned knuckles and collection of new tools may be priceless.

[plastique999]

Agree with above....I modded my Elise, and love it for its unique aspects. I did hit many humps along the road, but its a love/hate relationship.

You can make an Elise easily faster than an Exige on track just by reducing weight and suspension...and of course getting driving instruction.

[texige]

The money you spend on mods to an Elise is like throwing money in a hole when it becomes time to sell.

Aftermarket mods don't always work like they are supposed to. If you like spending a lot of time experimenting, go aftermarket. If not .....

The reliability of aftermarket can be a real issue. Again if you don't mind spending time to fix things, no problem.

If you just want to spend time driving fast and don't want to spend it messing around with parts, get the Exige. If the Elise is your main hobby and you want to spend lots of time babying it, you can make definitely make an Elise that is faster than a stock Exige S.

[...m...]

...you'll definitely get more performance for the money upgrading your elise, but you'll see the greatest performance-per-dollar putting that same money toward track time and driving instruction...

...just make sure that if you decide to play with sticky tires, you upgrade your oil, fuel, and safety systems first...

[Bavarian Motorist]

Get the Exige, and have fun modifying that. It's not like an Exige is so perfect it can't or doesn't need to be modded

The reliability could conceivably be much better as well.

[Thello]

I'm already spending as much money as possible on track time. No question my car is faster now! Funny how that works.

The mod process is without question fun for me. I just get a little nervous with reliability issues.

Seems like most of you are happy with the mod process however. Like I said, it seems like you get five or six different cars when modifying versus one when you simply upgrade.

I cannot completely check my ego at the track however. Granted most of the cars passing me have >400hp, it seems like the weak point is the power. Most lotus owners are telling me suspension first however. Doesn't make sense to address the weak point of the car first (power) than to improve its strength? That being said, I ususally take the advice of experience every time.

[R'elise Me]

At LCS we've witnessed Exige S's, Cups and Elise NA cars running very similar laptimes. Most people who know, say that the Elise is more nimble, lighter, easier to maintain and faster in the turns than an S due to weight and lack of sometimes troublesome SC. The SC also overheats the intake charge on hot days without a lot of money spent to overcome that problem. I'm a relative newbie and I run very close times to my SC and Cup car competitors in the LCS, but in the hands of a real good drive, I think the car could turn significantly better times. I say if you want your car to beat a stock S, just change the dampers and the get rid of a bit of weight (exhaust, battery) - done deal. The rest of the aero stuff is optional, and perhaps a waste of money, trust me. go get em!

[Darth G-F]

Oh yeah Exiges. They make 90lbs of downforce over an Elise. The S makes 30hp more. Really that is all. If you think the extra $ is worth 90lbs and 30hp then do it.

The 20,000$ I saved buying an Elise instead of an ExigeS gave me 240hp and 330lbs of downforce (5000$ SC and 5000$ for Reverie stuff). And I still have 10,000$ left over for tires/wheels/RTD Brace/Swirl pot/baffled pan/exhaust.

For the same price, a well modified Elise will kill any stock Exige. If you care more about resale value than lap times, the 20,000$ is probably better invested in the Exige. But like anything else, the Exige will lose money. And the mods are not wasted money either because you can always sell the parts.

In the end, you probably will modified the Exige so no savings there either. Buy whatever floats your boat but don't forget they are the same cars and the extras the Exige have can be bought and installed on the Elise with similar (or better) results.

[RacyTracy]

Originally Posted by Thello

I cannot completely check my ego at the track however.

Are you spending all this money because of THIS? Be honest. When I had my Elise, I passed cars and cars passed me. If some guy in a Viper was 4 seconds a lap faster than me, fine....but going out and buying mods to shave 4 seconds off my time would have been meaningless to me. We might as well just stand at the starting line and compare our bank accounts.

Now...if I felt there were 4 more seconds to be gained from my car because of my (lack of) ability, THEN I would care. And would do something about it.

[MNlotus]

^^^good point

[sandsmuseum]

Originally Posted by R'elise Me

Most people who know, say that the Elise is more nimble, lighter, easier to maintain and faster in the turns than an S due to weight and lack of sometimes troublesome SC.

It is so difficult to quantify and in fact defies all explanation. The Elise hit a sweet spot, a combination of components that all did what was required and did it well. Changing things for the Exige may have helped but the total package is not as good.

I started with my Elise and drove it for three years and 35,000 miles. I switched to an Exige S 240 and have driven it for 18 months and 14,000 miles. I miss the Elise. I have made two modifications to the Exige, shocks (Ohlins) and wheels (Cup Car). Each of these made the car better but it is still not close to the Elise.

Were I to do it over again, I might stick with the Elise, add shocks and reduce the diameter of the wheels one inch front and rear. Add the factory supercharger. Add Charlie's tune if you must.

I could go on but doubt anyone would believe me. For example, no one understands why I took off the rear wing on my Exige or why I hate the AP brakes!

Originally Posted by R'elise Me

I say if you want your car to beat a stock S, just change the dampers and the get rid of a bit of weight (exhaust, battery) - done deal. The rest of the aero stuff is optional, and perhaps a waste of money, trust me. go get em!

I could not agree more!

Michael

[Thello]

Racy,
Your point is valid, but only to a point. Without a doubt the point of track time is to improve my ability which is priority #1. Clearly there are points on the track where the performance is limited by my equipment however.

By your logic I would not have an elise at all, but instead I would have spent less on any number of cars with good fun factor, but less performance. Miata anyone?

[LotuShii]

If you have not had a Lotus, I would suggest getting an Exige. I just think it looks better. Since you own an Elise, I think the add-on money (Depreciation from selling your Elise + additional money for getting an Exige) can easily upgrade your Elise into a higher performance and better looking car than a stock Exige. I think this Elise looks great. The pictures are from plastique999 in "APR skirts" thread. Plastique999, sorry for borrowing your pictures. I will take them off if this is not appropriate.

APR skirts

[plastique999]

lotushii, np at all...I appreciate it.
I will echo glenn (R'elise me) - he is no newbie. He won today's LCS event in his NA Elise on track, beating cup cars, 211, and a bunch of S/C loti. He has reduced a ton of weight and has aero mods and slicks, but his car is NA.
The $ you can save vs an Exige you can use to mod your Elise, and make it your own.

[Assman]

I'm with the miata comment above. My fast, great handling lotus is simply far more exciting than tracking my MINI which is fine on the track but just not a lotus. The supercharger is great, but get it done by someone who knows what they are doing. My brother and I had ours done by TJ at FVMC (I shipped mine there from Canada) and neither of our cars has missed a beat since. The track pack suspension is dirt cheap used.
I have to say that I was really impressed with the small track wheels (15/16 volk ce28n) Lowers the car handles better and much faster (I can just walk away from the other Lotus SC I see at the track events) Plus wheels almost never break down.
So when I upgrade from my track pack, what do you guys think I should go to?

[plastique999]

Originally Posted by Assman

I'm with the miata comment above. My fast, great handling lotus is simply far more exciting than tracking my MINI which is fine on the track but just not a lotus. The supercharger is great, but get it done by someone who knows what they are doing. My brother and I had ours done by TJ at FVMC (I shipped mine there from Canada) and neither of our cars has missed a beat since. The track pack suspension is dirt cheap used.
I have to say that I was really impressed with the small track wheels (15/16 volk ce28n) Lowers the car handles better and much faster (I can just walk away from the other Lotus SC I see at the track events) Plus wheels almost never break down.
So when I upgrade from my track pack, what do you guys think I should go to?

nitron triples or JRZ triples

[Thello]

The lotus pictured above looks awesome.

O.K. I'm convinced, upgrade the elise. I'm thinking suspension first, SC next. If you guys want to dump your track pack when you upgrade let me know.