Elise (advice)

[hojun]

i will be getting 06 lotus elise soon (linked below)
FS: 2006 Chili red Elise (Canada)

elise will be my only car n even for winter.
does anyone drive their elise with winter tire set-up during winter? any issue?
(willing be only driving around downtown area of toronto)

according to the history of this car, there was a minor accident where rear bumper was partially cracked, but has been fixed properly.
safe to buy a car with a accident history?

i'll be doing alignment check-up to make sure it's still in a good shape.

anyone has any good advice upon this purchase.
any help appreciated.


thank you

[Thomasio]

Do noT ROLLover when you drive it.

[DNA]

Originally Posted by Thomasio

Do noT ROLLover when you drive it.

I LOLed...

[hojun]

any other serious advise??

[Thomasio]

I hope you aren't serious about driving it in the winter... especially a Canadian winter.

[hojun]

Originally Posted by Thomasio

I hope you aren't serious about driving it in the winter... especially a Canadian winter.

wat if i'm going to drive it only in downtown area where snow gets cleared up very well n even with good sets of winter tires on, definitely i wont be driving with heavy snow weather.

[Demonized]

Originally Posted by hojun

wat if i'm going to drive it only in downtown area where snow gets cleared up very well n even with good sets of winter tires on, definitely i wont be driving with heavy snow weather.

wat r u tryn 2 do? kil urself?

[hojun]

Originally Posted by Demonized

wat r u tryn 2 do? kil urself?

i though i could drive RW car with winter tires on fine during the winter.

am i way off from the truth that i'm thinking elise as the same as bmw 335i coupe driving during the winter fine with winter tires on, in fact both are RW

[Thomasio]

Can it be done? Yes. Is it worth the risk? I'd say not. The Elise / Exige can bite you fast, even on wet roads... not to mention snow covered roads. Get a junker for the winter, save the Elise for the summer.

[Demonized]

Originally Posted by hojun

i though i could drive RW car with winter tires on fine during the winter.

am i way off from the truth that i'm thinking elise as the same as bmw 335i coupe driving during the winter fine with winter tires on, in fact both are RW

Except the Elise has a shorter wheelbase, and weighs half what the 335i weighs, and has skinny front rims and wide rear rims...

The 335i also has traction control, and in an 335i you don't die when a soccer mom thinks 4WD means she can stop better.

Oh, and if you suddenly realize you were going too fast in a turn, and let off the gas, you die.

[hojun]

Originally Posted by Demonized

Except the Elise has a shorter wheelbase, and weighs half what the 335i weighs, and has skinny front rims and wide rear rims...

The 335i also has traction control, and in an 335i you don't die when a soccer mom thinks 4WD means she can stop better.

Oh, and if you suddenly realize you were going too fast in a turn, and let off the gas, you die.

u did really had me with last word: " if you suddenly realize you were going too fast in a turn, and let off the gas, you die"

[biffster10]

I'm in Toronto as well and I'll be driving it until the first snow. Sure the Elise will be fairly good in light snow with decent winter tires, but I'm not driving mine through the winter because of the salt, low ground clearance, and the potholes that hide in the slush. We have 130mm of ground clearance - you hit one chunk of ice that's fallen from an SUVs wheel well and you crack the fron clam. Its just not worth it.

[JoshS]

Originally Posted by hojun

wat if i'm going to drive it only in downtown area where snow gets cleared up very well n even with good sets of winter tires on, definitely i wont be driving with heavy snow weather.

I drove mine on hilly roads about 7 times in Snow in our mountain area in Big Bear, CA (former residence) and had no trouble, even without the proper tires, which I realize is stupid because cold can ruin them. But, again no problems. Though other people have stated they slid all over the place. You can put chains, or some such device on the correct tires.

[kestrel74]

Originally Posted by hojun

any other serious advise??

Yep. DON'T call it a bumper. THIS is a bumper:

[lotusforsale]

Originally Posted by JoshS

I drove mine on hilly roads about 7 times in Snow in our mountain area in Big Bear, CA (former residence) and had no trouble, even without the proper tires, which I realize is stupid because cold can ruin them.

It's not that the cold can 'ruin' them (assuming you mean the standard Yokos), its what ruining them means. They can crack, and that can wind up ruining the car, the driver, and the passenger.

[Vampyre]

Originally Posted by hojun

any other serious advise??

Yea.. save for a winter car...

[xtn]

Here's the thing...

Most regular cars have a forward weight bias. Let's imagine there's a little ice on the road here and there, and you're driving slowly and carefully. If you do miscalculate your grip and slide a little bit, it's no big deal. You'll just slide a little bit until you get some grip back. Even in a turn, you'll kind of plow a bit to the outside, catch it, and keep going.

In the Lotus, when the same thing happens, the tail end is going to quickly come around and replace the front end.

xtn

[mrcarcrazy]

Originally Posted by xtn

Here's the thing...

Most regular cars have a forward weight bias. Let's imagine there's a little ice on the road here and there, and you're driving slowly and carefully. If you do miscalculate your grip and slide a little bit, it's no big deal. You'll just slide a little bit until you get some grip back. Even in a turn, you'll kind of plow a bit to the outside, catch it, and keep going.

In the Lotus, when the same thing happens, the tail end is going to quickly come around and replace the front end.

xtn

+1. on light ice I found my car wanting to go in its own direction. I turned around and drove my 350z instead (no issues what so ever.)

Light weight, performance tires, mid engine, etc all have play in this, but the Elise is NOT AT ALL like a BMW 335i