I have a 10:00 AM test drive scheduled for tomorrow. I feel like a kid on Christmas eve. Probably won't sleep a wink tonight..
I'll post my impressions tomorrow afternoon...
Seems pretty spupid for a 47 yr old....
I think perryeyges is going to drive SF BMG's Elise. I have the end of day appt today, so I'm REALLY interested to get his take before I head over there.
I am, for sure, planning on taking pictures and such, and will try to post them tonight
I drove BMC of San Francisco's Argent /blk touring car this AM.
@50 miles on the odo. The car was finished very well, fairly easy for me to enter and exit even with the soft top on. I'm 200lbs medium build 5'11". Two of the sales staff had to call the SFFD to be extricated If you are overweight or have back pain issues this car is not for you..
The car was a combo of my Fiat 850 spider(lightness and immediate turn in) and a Porsche 993 coupe (chassis rigidity and interior noise level). The quality of the fit and finish really was excellent in and out(C/F brake handle cover needed though).
The E brake mechanism is a little cheesy, I think I almost broke it when I set it hard on one of the SF hills.
We went over to the Presidio and took a few turns deep and the thing just "stuck". The sales guy was very nice but knew very little about the car. I gave him an in depth seminar and he seemed very grateful for the information.
The car was very responsive off the line a little shallow in the mid range but when the cam came in I was very impressed(unlike some others that have tested the car)
Apparently BMC who used to campaign the Qvale Mangusta Trans Am cars is currently working on a Huffaker Engineering supercharger 50hp upgrade conversion kit (factory authorized w full warranty, I am hoping)..
I am soooo looking forward to the car. Everywhere we went people that had no idea what they were looking at were transfixed. "What is that ? Is it a baby Ferrari?" one older woman in a minivan asked looking down on us at a stop light. The Elise is probably currently the safest car on the road since it is the center of attention in any pack of traffic. A guy in a big rig opened his window at a stop light, looked way down and gave us the thumbs up salute... WHAT A CAR!!! WELL WORTH THE WAIT!!
I'm #8 on their list: Laser Blue/Blk Sport Pak only.
And yeah the info on the S/C kit came from the sales guy but he didn't know if they were coordinating with Lotus USA on the warranty issues.
LOTUS USA: If you are monitoring.. Please offer the S/C kit dealer installed and under warranty ala Mini Cooper and most of us will be filing in and opening up our check books a second time for you and the dealers. A car that is this light will not have durability issues with a well engineered upgrade kit..
Did BMG say they delivered any other customer cars (other than that first BRG car) or what they expect to get in the next few weeks? I heard the delay was due to customs at the port, and now something about a port strike?!
Another bay area dealer got a couple of customer cars last week. There demo car is on the transport now. At least for them no other cars, with a bit of luck other dealers will have cars on them.
There is another ship waiting to get into port. They have been seeing delays of 7-10 days to get them unload and on on there way. Just last week, read the LA port was going to hire 3,000 people to cut into the backlog. Hadn't heard of a strike.
Same place. Used to be Ferrari of Los Gatos. Lost the franchise, change the name to Silicon Valley Auto Group (SVAG). If you find them from the Lotus website it's Lotus of Los Gatos. Bentley, RR, Aston Martin, Saleen, Spyker and Lotus are part of the new car line up. Also lots of used exotic sports cars.
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