Am I going to regret this? Elise vs. Exige

[KingOfJericho]

Originally Posted by marcw

slight asthetic differences.

They share only the doors and the changes are drastic to a car enthusiast.

[charliex]

Originally Posted by marcw

They are really essentially the SAME CAR with slight asthetic differences. Laptimes are essentially the same with equal drivers. Compared to the Elise, the Exige is rarer and will probably hold it's value better over the long term. However, it's more expensive (will require you to tie up more of your cash), and the rearward visibility is not as good. Both have topless ability, but I seem to remember a thread regarding warranty issues if you remove the Exige roof?

in the UK you might lose warranty on the rain seal, so if it leaks, but they all leak eventually.

in the usa theres no such restriction

also the big difference for some of us is the extra room in the engine bay.

[Conan]

I had the same delimma. The deciding factor for me was the test drive of an Elise. While the Exige has a little bit better track performance and looks cooler (my opinion), I REALLY enjoyed the top-off driving in the Elise. Not to mention the lower price

[charliex]

I wonder if lotus has lost exige sales to the elise, because people incorrectly think you can't take the top off the exige, or shouldn't.

The only difference is that the two rearward plastic holders that you put the struts for the softtop aren't installed, the front ones are, and they're easily added. you can even do it without cutting holes, i've never done this,if it rains , just don't go too slow

Beyond that i find driving at 80MPH+ uncomfortable with the top off and it doesn't feel as planted.

The exiges manual contains a section on how to remove the hard top, so its fine.

[Conan]

Originally Posted by charliex

I wonder if lotus has lost exige sales to the elise, because people incorrectly think you can't take the top off the exige, or shouldn't.

The only difference is that the two rearward plastic holders that you put the struts for the softtop aren't installed, the front ones are, and they're easily added. you can even do it without cutting holes, i've never done this,if it rains , just don't go too slow

Beyond that i find driving at 80MPH+ uncomfortable with the top off and it doesn't feel as planted.

The exiges manual contains a section on how to remove the hard top, so its fine.

Wow. Wish I would have known. I was told by a dealer that Lotus doesn't recommend taking the top off an exige. They did say you can, just that you shouldn't. Maybe I should have asked "why?"

[RichS]

The Miata being 'too big and heavy' is of course a bit of a joke.

I'm still up in the air a bit. The discussion is certianly very interesting.

Last night I had a dream in which I was driving a black Exige...

[charliex]

Originally Posted by Conan

Wow. Wish I would have known. I was told by a dealer that Lotus doesn't recommend taking the top off an exige. They did say you can, just that you shouldn't. Maybe I should have asked "why?"

Yeah its a common misconception, its in the owners manual, some dealers in europe even supply softtops with it.

For perfomance driving you should definetely have the top on i feel, not only does it feel more stable, it protects you from rocks, the low front end of the car and the air flow pattern makes it especially susceptible to things flying into the cockpit.

As far as I know and have been told, the hard top doesn't add to any stiffness or such, the chassis takes care of all that, I'm sure one of the others can fill in on that.

Lotus are all about performance so they like the top on, plus the lotus people i've talked to just prefer the look of it with it on, and that it looks unfinished off. Plus they're probably trying to keep differences from the elise.

[Obsidian]

In my opinion the Exige looks too rear-heavy to be considered as beautiful as the Elise. With the top off this statement is even more obvious to me. It looks like there is too much mass in the rear half of the vehicle. I realize the weight is essentially the same, and that they are the same chassis. I’m solely commenting on aesthetics.

I’ve never been a huge fan of hatchbacks and this looks more like a hatchback than I care for. To me the Elise looks more nimble and the Exige looks more powerful/track worthy. As was already mentioned however they have almost identical track times (if that statistic even matters to many of us).

As far as color goes, black is horribly difficult to keep clean. Dust, dirt and water spots seem to stand out a lot more on a black car than any other color. When it’s clean it looks amazing but that’s a rarity unless it’s a garage queen. Black cars loose some of the characteristics provided by the air intakes etc since these are black plastic.

I have a magnetic blue 2005 Elise that I use as a daily driver. I thought I’d regret the decision when the Exige was announced. After seeing them I feel that they look like a track-only car, not something I’d want to attempt to drive daily.

Whatever car you decide on I don’t believe you’d tick off the dealer if you purchased a higher priced car … and know that both of the cars have insanely knowledgeable enthusiasts on these forums. If there’s something you don’t know about the car you will most likely find your answers here.

You'll turn heads in either choice ... just enjoy the drive.

[Ken Wright]

Is it possible to have the same options on an Elise that are available on an Exige? I'm aware of the supercharger thats coming and not interested.

Thanks,

ken

[Imolas54]

"In my opinion the Exige looks too rear-heavy to be considered as beautiful as the Elise"

please pass me whatever u r smoking!!!


j/k! they are both beautiful in their own way and we are all blessed to own such fine machines.

[Allan Gibbs]

The Exige also has a trunk release handling behind the drives seat.

Sure it sounds minor until you accidentally leave your keys in the trunk (fortunately, when that happened to me, I was a Scottsdale Lotus).

[charliex]

You could add that pretty easily, its not a complicated mechanism at all, its basically a bicycle brake. you'd have to heath robinson the unlock a little bit, but it already has the right bits in the locking mech for the 'help a midget is stuck in the boot' release.

the exige doesn't have a lock/key for the boot, which is why it has it.

[DealMan]

Rich,

I owned an '05 AR Elise prior to buying the '06 AW Exige. If the Exige had been available when I was looking at the Elise, I would have bought it instead, as I prefer the aggressive look and believe that I will eventually benefit from the increased down force when driving at DEs.

As many others have said, the Exige rear styling also makes it easier to add a S/C, especially with an intercooler.

As far as colors go, that is almost as personal of a choice as the body style, so follow your heart on both of these.

Bottom line in my opinion, is if you will be tracking the car at all, you might prefer the Exige.

[gte229h]

It has been noted that the Exige is actually SLOWER than the Elise...

"Which brings us to an allied issue. We were disappointed with the Exige's acceleration times, which were much slower than the Elise we tested in July 2004 ("Extreme Sports"). We measured a 0-to-60-mph time of 5.2 seconds compared with 4.4, even though this 1946-pound Exige weighed in just 16 pounds heavier than that Elise. Part of this disparity we put down to tricky launch conditions at Atlanta Dragway."

http://www.caranddriver.com/comparis...tus-exige.html

In my opinion:

(1) If you are mostly tracking the car on longer road courses, then the Exige's downforce at 110 mph is more beneficial than the Elise.

(2) If you are mostly autocrossing the car, then the Elise with equivalent performance parts is the way to go (See LSS, or even Ohlins, Nitrons).

(3) If you are mostly driving the car as an everyday head-turner, then a base Elise with the top down can't be beat.

[charliex]

this thread needs more Ric Romero.

[Obsidian]

Originally Posted by Imolas54

j/k! they are both beautiful in their own way and we are all blessed to own such fine machines.

Come on now, I did say 'in my opinion' ... and you don't have to put much stock in that opinion, I'm not going to slight someone for thinking the opposite! Everyone has their tastes. And as we all know due to Mr. Bondo S1 Elise ... there's no accounting for taste!

[LARRY]

Originally Posted by charliex

this thread needs more Ric Romero.

Is this why? I have no idea what this sh*t means:

Romero became a FARK cliché in October 2005 after his article effusing about the phenomenon of blogging was posted to KABC's site, several years after blogs became widely popular. (It is assumed the article was a transcription of an actual on-camera report presented on KABC.) When the article was linked from Fark.com, the vacuity of the article combined with the friendly headshot photograph resulted in a new cliché.

In current usage on Fark, Romero's headshot along with a Captain Obvious-type message relating to the thread topic is added to various threads on Fark, often tagged with "More at 11!" to connote the flavor of Eyewitness News and similar local TV news formats. Some on Fark claim that Romero's usage doesn't necessarily indicate an "obvious" topic, but rather one that had entered the mainstream long before Romero came across it.

Romero also bears resemblance to the character "Tom Tucker," a shallow news anchor, on the animated TV series Family Guy.

[charliex]

yep, More News at 11.

(3) If you are mostly driving the car as an everyday head-turner, then a base Elise with the top down can't be beat.

my exige gets way more attention than either of my elises did.

[gte229h]

agreed, but I bet it's not as easy to drive "everyday" as the elise.

[charliex]

no difference for me, the base exige has a slightly harsher ride than the base elise, but we're talking harsh to slightly harsher and soon as you equip the elise with the same suspension/tyres its no different