Frequently Asked Questions and Abbreviations!

[Randy Chase]

Confused by the TLAs? (Three Letter Acronyms)

No need to be. Here is the key to the code. Now you too can be hip and cool.

Colors-
BRP Bordeaux Red Pearl.
BRG British Racing Green.
CO Chrome Orange.
COM The Chrome Orange Mafia. A group of EliseTalkers that blackmailed Lotus UK into allowing the CO option.
AR. Ardent Red
SY Saffron Yellow (nto sure how we will handle Solar Yellow)
StTi Storm Titanium.
ST Storm Titanium
KG Kermit..er... Krypton Green
AB Aztec Bronze
AS Arctic Silver
AP Aubergine Purple
NB Nightfall Blue
SB Starlight Black
GG Graphite Gray (also see Golden Gate as in the Lotus Club)
LB Lazer Blue


LSS Lotus Sports Suspension. The Sport Package option.
SP Sometimes used for Sport Package
TP Touring Packing

S1. The first generation Elise. Note round headlights.
S2. Second generation Elise. Includes the Federal car.
Federal. The car designed for, or imported to, USA.
111. The model designation for the Elise.
Croft. The code word for the Federal Elise.
Stage 1 and Stage 2. References to the optional Lotus supplied exhausts.

LCU Lotus Cars USA
CABC Anthony Colin Bruce Chapman, the creator of Lotus

Lotus Lots Of Trouble, Usually Serious. Just kidding. There is NO definitive answer to the origin on the name. Some theories have been made. A good rundown of the name and founder is at-
http://www.gglotus.org/ggrace/ggfaq/general.html

Type 111. Club 111. Sector 111. WTF? Lotus uses types to designate models. The Elise was known as the Type 111, though variations have used other numbers.

[Randy Chase]

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[Randy Chase]

The engine will be the Toyota engine and tranny used in the Celica GTS. It will be tuned by Lotus to put out 190hp and with a higher 8500 rpm redline. The 6 speed tranny will be the one use in the European Celica.

This engine should drive the car from 0-60 in 4.9 seconds (4.7 seconds with the Sport Package) and hit 140mph and do the 1/4 mile just over 13 seconds.

Here are the tech specs;
-Engine; toyota supplied, 4 cyl, DOHC 4 valves per cyl with variable valve and lift
-1.8L
-bore/stroke; 82.0mm /85mm
-max power; 190hp@7800 (DIN 70020)
-max torque; 138lb/ft(181 NM) @ 6800
-Compression; 11.5/1
-fuel cap; 10.5 us gallons
-clutch; 6 speed close ratio with single dry plate clutch
-Ratios; 1st/3.17:1-2nd/2.05:1-3rd/1.48:1-4th/1.17:1-5th/.92:1-6th/.81:1-final drive/4.53:1

[Randy Chase]

Keep in mind that the Elise is a car built for handling, it's ability to carve the streets. Straight ahead speed is not it's main feature. You can buy far cheaper cars with much larger engines to go fast in a straight line.

But the Elise can carry that speed around the corner and outbrake the heavier front engined car.

The US Elise with a Sport Package is reported to do 0-60 in 4.7 seconds and as low as 4.4 seconds with an 8k+rpm clutch dump.

[MattG]

List is $39,985.00 with a $795 destination charge.

A hardtop will be available at $1,475.00

There will be a sports suspension option at $2480. This option includes different lightweight rims that are 1" wider on the front. Special Yokohama tires. Lowered suspension. A steering rack plate to compensate for the lowering. Different springs and struts.

There will be a Touring Option for $1350 that includes full leather seats, carpets, CD + MP3 player, electric windows, insulated soft top and a cargo net.

Metallic paints have a $590.00 charge. "Lifestyle" paints are $1200 more.

Many (most?) dealers are still offering the car at MSRP, not all of them are adding a markup yet.

[Randy Chase]

The official word from Lotus is "under 2000 pounds." Road & Track reported 1975 pounds. Autoweek reports 1965 pounds. The sport pack model is lighter and estimated to be 1930 pounds.


There will be a lightweight option available in fall of 2004. This option is reported to be $500 cheaper and will delete the radio, A/C and perhaps some other items.

[Randy Chase]

Also a difficult thing to say because some of that depends on your torso height vs your leg length.

People 6'2" have reported they fit just fine. People around 250 pounds report that they have fit fine. I think if you were really wide though, that may be an issue. Some people that are 6'5" have reported that they fit.

Another consideration is shoe size and width. The pedals are pretty close together. If you have wide shoes/feet, check out the pedal operation.

There is a great thread HERE that shows pictures of the pedals and feet (thanks Craigy!). It mostly comes down to your shoe selection if you have wider feet.

Here is a link on a video showing getting in and out of the Elise with a top on it.
http://www.daveakerman.com/~tchurly/inandout.wmv

[Randy Chase]

We can't say with certainty what the anticipated reliability will be.

But... there are some things one might consider.

1. A small manufacturer of cars, will have far less resources. For example, a company like Honda may have a substantial team of people working on a window crank mechanism. They can build hundreds of them and test them continuously. Statistical analysis is done. They can spend a lot of money because they will use that one mechanism (and maybe slight variations) in different models, perhaps over 500,000 cars. It's easy to amortize your up front costs. And it's smart. Problems with your window cranks on 500,000 cars is expensive.

But Lotus can't do that. They make a lot fewer cars with a lot less resources.

2. Shock and vibration. This has a big impact... no pun intended. A car that has a soft suspension will have less problems. Period. On my stiff racing kart, I have to snug up hardware all the time. Metal fatigues. Bolts back out (we safety wire everything). Stuff gets shaken to death. The Elise is more like my kart, than a soft Buick.

3. Pushing the envelope in design. Any car that is engineered to be light will push the envelope a little. In other words, one can afford a larger margin when engineering, if weight was not a large contraining factor. But with the Elise, weight is one of the main goals. You get everything as light as possible. In some cases, we may find that was too light.

4. Historically, cars from the UK have been known to have more than a normal share of electrical problems, often attribute to the God of Lucas Electronics. The old joke, why do the Brits like their beer warm? Because the refrigerators were made by Lucas. Will this be the case with the Elise?

In reading the forums of UK Elise owners, you can get a sense of some small problems. Leakage around the soft top for example. However, some of those have for sure been dealt with by Lotus, and some will not apply to the new car anyway.

One major difference will of course be the drivetrain. For most people, this is where they have the most concern, because it's the most expensive area should there be a reliability issue. But since the drivetrain is a Toyota that has been develoepd and used in production (see point 1 above), this should be a very good thing.

So.. what does all of that mean? In my opinion, it means that I think the car will be pretty reliable. You can push it on a track and expect not to break down. But you also need to take care of it because it is a performance car, and you may find small problems that will require fixing.

[Randy Chase]

Why not just buy an EVO, Sti, S2000, Miata, Boxster, Mini, Yugo etc?


Well, first... it may seem like an apt comparison to consider the above cars (and others like them) in regards to an Elise. But I want to point why I think they are very different. And even if those cars (well, all but one) are great cars... they are not an Elise.

What makes an Elise different? What attracts people to an Elise? Some of that is based on value judgements. What is important to you. If for example, you like a little sportscar with great reliability, lots of aftermarket surport, and the feeling of belonging to a lage group of fellow car owners... then the Miata makes a lot of sense.

If you are into drag racing and want the ability to go fast in a straight line, perhaps a domestic car makes more sense. If you only talk about speed in terms of 1.4 mile times, then it's a lot cheaper to get a mustang or camaro to go fast. Nothing wrong with that, but that is not the reason for existence for an Elise.

What an Elise has-

1. Weight. The weight of a car is very important in a few different ways. The best way to add horsepower is to remove weight. One can take any car and add more ponies... and that is good for a straight line. But weight has other benefits in making the car nimble and able to stop faster. Making a car lighter is not easy. After a certain point, it becomes quite expensive and involves exotic materials and assembly methods. The Elise uses both exotic materials and an exotic bonding assembly to create a very light weight and yet strong chassis. Many of the cars you mght compare to an Elise are a lot heavier. Some a little, like a Miata, but some much heavier.


2. Handling. Something Lotus has been renowned for. The car can turn very well and stick to the track. The light weight, low center of gravity, and Lotus suspension equal a feeling similar to driving a go-cart or an indy race car. If one has not experienced that, it's hard to describe... but it's the ability to feel like you can toss the car, make fast steering/throttle corrections, and get the car to dance.

3. Performance. Obviously the light weight and higher horsepower engine will mean the car accelerates. With a 0-60 under 5 seconds, the car is a screamer. Not many street legal factory stock cars under $40k will do 0-60 in under 5 seconds. Because the car is lighter, the brakes have a LOT less work to do, so the car can brake a lot faster and in a shorter distance. On a track, this means you can go in deeper. Since the car is lighter, there is less mass pulling sideways, so you can corner faster.

4. Midengined and Rear Wheel Drive (RWD). It's discussed elsewhere (insert link Randy!). But in a nutshell. A true sportscar is either AWD or RWD. Not FWD. A FWD car has problems because the front tires are asked to do too much work. A tire can only do so much. In the case of a RWD car, the fronts are turning and the rears can be applying torque. When coupled with a midengined car, some neat things happen.

Under acceleration, weight transfer applies more load to the rear tires. This allows more grip on the rear and better cornering under acceleration. The rear weight also means that the car brakes better in a straight line.. because braking shifts weight to the front of the car. If the car is already front heavy, the front tires end up doing almost all the work. In a midengined car, the rear tires/brakes can get more involved.

The car maintains a more cental polar moment. That is, it rotates easily about it's center because the mass of the car is more to the center. This is good for performance near the edge.

5. Exclusive/unique. You will own a car that is very different. It will attract a lot of attention (that can be good and bad). You will probably drive a lot without ever seeing another one where you live. Some people like that. It's different. It also means that the car can hold it's value to some extent. If they made 100,000 Elises, you would see more depreciation. I am expecting that the numbers being imported will not support the demand and the used cars might even be going for higher than list for a while. In any case, the car will maintain it's value well, as long as you maintain it.

6. Styling. Of course this is subjective. But for me, and others, the styling of the Elise is incredible.

Now some of the above may not matter to you. If you want extreme reliability. If you want interior luxury, heated seats and cupholders. If you want to have a dealer down the block from you. If you only want to use the car to get groceries and never take an offramp a bit fast. Perhaps almost all of the above do not matter to you. That is cool, that is why there are so many different cars.

Every car represents compromises IMO. This is a car that does the best at not comproming performance, for a relatively good price. All of the above is just my opinion and reflects my reasons for selecting an Elise instead of some other car.

[Randy Chase]

A hardtop will be available at $1475.00

There will be a sports suspension option at $2480 (often called LSS). Sports Pack; forged clear anodized alloy wheels by Rimstock, 7 twin spoke design with 1" wider front 6.5x16 and rear 7.5 x 17. Track tuned suspension with ride height adjustable. Yoko A048R tires(front 195/50/16 and rear 225/45/17. wheels provide "significant" weight savings.

There will be a Touring Package for $1350 that includes full leather, electric windows, upgraded radio (blaupunkt Los Angeles MP72), interior stowage net, thermal noise insulated soft top, aditional sound deadening on body and chassis, full carpet set(extends partially up on door sills)

Metallic Paint will be $590.00. Lifestyle paint is $1290.00.

They will also have sport exhaust options in the future.

And there is a Radio/AC delete option for people more interested in weight starting in fall of 2004 (for $500 less).

Dealer fit accessories include driving lamps, HID lights, stone chip protection, sport exhaust, alloy sill kick plates, and front lower lip poly guards.

[Randy Chase]

Hard question. I highly recommend you take a test drive if at all possible. This car is not for everyone.

Assuming you are here because you know some of the positives, let us take a look at some of the negatives. All cars are compromises. This car goes towards performance and some minor sacrifices are made along the way.

1. It's low. Very low and small. You are lower than the SUVs in the next lane. You have to stay alert. There is something to be said for accident avoidance ability by being nimble, but if being smaller and lower makes you feel to vulnerable, this may not be the car for you.

2. Getting in and out. It's not that bad really, but if the top is on, it's not that good. It helps to be a little athletic or limber, but in any case, the ability to get in and out is a learned thing. You may be willing, but is your significant other?

3. Unusual body sizes. If you are very large or very tall, the fit may be an issue. See a few posts above. There are not a lot of adjustments in the seating.

4. Suspension. It's stiff. How stiff? It's a very firm ride. Mush firmer than most cars on the market now. You will feel the road. That is good and bad. You will feel every bump, every pothole, every road blemish. Does that bother you?

5. Noise. It's not that bad, but don't expect a luxury car with dead quiet noise levels. The engine is right behind your back. It's a light aluminum car. You will hear some noise. With the top down, you will get some wind noise.

6. Spartan interior. No heated leather seats. No automatic climate control. No cupholders. No satellite navigation and DVD. No bunches of padded and covered surfaces. A lot of exposed metal and minimal nods to your comfort. The seats are thin.

7. Rare and built in small numbers. Maybe a little more character in terms of reliability. It might be quirky. You won't have the feeling one gets when you are among 100,000 other owners. No giant dealer network. No scads of aftermarket parts suppliers. Your dealer may be far away.

8. Attention. It can be like driving in a fish bowl. You will get attention. A lot of it. You may draw crowds and get people asking questions of you, when you are just trying to go to the bank. You will get some people that are jealous of your car.

9. Parking. You will want to park in prime spots where it can not get dinged. You will walk more since you found that prime spot at the end of the row a block away.

10. Insurance. Unknown. May be a little higher.

11. Storage and hauling. The space is pretty limited. You can throw a couple of small soft bags in the trunk. But not much more than that.

12. Seating position and passengers. You will be close to your passenger. Like how close you are in coach class in an airplane. Elbows touching. Not a lot of room.

13. Fuel costs. They will go up because you will want to drive a lot more.


Now, having said all that. The best judge is yourself as to how you are impacted by those things. The positives on this car are huge and far outweight those points. But it's smart to be aware of them.

[Randy Chase]

What about color? I can't tell which color looks like what.

That is a tough one without actual paint samples and cars. Here are some attempts at putting up pics of the Elise in the colors we think are available in the US.

http://www.elisetalk.com/colors.html

colors, ardent red, saffron yellow, starlight black, bordeaux red pearl, arctic silver, storm titanium, aztec bronze, magnetic blue, aubergine.
optional colors/racing green, nightfall blue
lifestyle colors/chrome orange, krypton green, graphite grey

optional leather trim; biscuit leather, red leather, black leather, blue leather with center of seats in perforated leather(only available in touring package).

interior color option availability per color;
black cloth(available in all exterior color options)
biscuit leather(ardent, bordeaux, magnetic, nightfall, racing, starlight, storm)
black leather(available in all color options)
blue leather(arctic, nightfall, starlight, storm)
red leather(silver, nighfall, racing, starlight, storm, graphite)

[AutoXr]

Does anyone have expected pricing on the LSS option? I saw references to pricing of $1000 for the touring package and $1500 for the hardtop in the SCC article. Not sure how accurate they are.

[LarryB]

The price I've been hearing is in the $3k range. Prices should be offical in about a week.

[Randy Chase]

Yep. $2500

[dodgy_01]

I recently rented an Elise in London - didnt get above 25MPH!!

One of the difficulties I had was opening the door. There is the door button you press but how do you leverage the door to open it.

I had to put the key in and use that for levarage - not fun.

Let me know if I was missing something.

Thanks
Stephen
Elise Magnetic Blue/Biscuit Touring Pack and hardtop
#12 (maybe higher) Overseas Motors Dallas

[Knute]

The outside door handle is hidden under the button- see this photo, borrowed from another thread:

http://www.gotapex.com/images/apex/e...ake_yellow.jpg

I don't know if the car you rented in London is different, but this is how the Federal Elise will be... (according to the models at the LA show)

-Knute

[dodgy_01]

If only I had known - ha ha - I spent two days cursing the bloody doors

[happytrails]

I have a few questions you seem to know alot.

Is this car driveable or is it more like a sunday drivers car?

A meet someone who drove it in England and said the seats are uncomfortable and after an hour or two driving it becomes a real pain. any truth?

He also said if you drive with the top on it gets really loud in the cabin. True?

[Randy Chase]

Harry, those are very subjective questions. What may seem intolerable to one person is enjoyable to another. A couple of points.

The old seats from someone in England are probably different than the new seats on this car. I have also read many people that don't mind longer drives in the Elise. 8 hour drives? 14 hour drives? I will find out.

I have also heard that the hardtop can make the car louder inside. Loud is again very subjective. I drove an S2 European version Elise with the top up. It was not loud at all to me. With the padded top and extra sound insulation with a touring pack, it would be even more of a non-issue.