[advanracing62]

Going on a trip in a month and am planning on stopping by the Lotus dealer while traveling. Sadly they don't have any Exige on the lot, but seem to have a plethora of Elise SC.
I'm sure this has been covered 11ventybillion times, but searching for me failed.
what's the big difference? Weight? Price? Suspension? Engine? HP?
What would make you buy one over the other, if you went to the lot and had the option to buy either?

 

[serpent]

Do you want a street going track car or a hardcore track car? and are you buying the car for track purposes or is your car never seeing a track?

 

[advanracing62]

I would say it's more street than track- I may track it once or twice in it's life... Living in Idaho there really isn't much here unless I drive 5+ hours to get to a track, etc..
That said, we do have great roads here for spirited driving.

 

[4380r]

Going on a trip in a month and am planning on stopping by the Lotus dealer while traveling. Sadly they don't have any Exige on the lot, but seem to have a plethora of Elise SC.
I'm sure this has been covered 11ventybillion times, but searching for me failed.
what's the big difference? Weight? Price? Suspension? Engine? HP?
What would make you buy one over the other, if you went to the lot and had the option to buy either?

The SC Elise has the same hp as the 07 Exige S, which you can still find new/leftover, or low mileage used for way less than a new SC Elise. The 07 Exige has an intercooler the Elise doesn't have, and a different supercharger, but power is about the same.

So if power is equal, theoretically the Elise would be a tick quicker because it's a bit lighter. The body of the Exige is manufactured differently, is a bit thicker and heavier. There is also MORE body to the Exige, by a bit.

A new S240 Exige is more powerful, comes with track pack, has bigger brakes. All around a quicker car, but way more expensive.

Main thing about the SC Elise to me is that it comes with the narrower wheels and tires, which right out of the box has an impact on its handling.

All things being equal, you're getting more car, at less money, if you can find a new/leftover 07 Exige S. You can always do the soft top conversion to get the top off Elise benefit.

 

[Rhythmaker]

I absolutely love my Exige and you gain some rarity points too.

 

[aschen]

I would prefer an elisesc (with lss and lsd) over an exige S. You can buy decent wider wheels for very reasonable amount anyways. The extra visibility is a bigger plus than the extra downforce for me. The exige S 240 However is a big enough upgrade to swing my ballot to exige if your pocket book allows.

 

[advanracing62]

either way I go, it won't be stock for long... thanks for the input fellas... We'll see if I'm driving home in a Lotus or not depending on how the dealer is.

 

[evilfij]

Other than not seeing out of the back in an exige S/S240/S260 and the higher HP of the 240/260, there is no real difference in driving feel that you would notice on a test drive (other than the difference between base/LSS/track suspensions).

 

[Rondo Fondu]

Elise SC for me. The visibility out the back is slightly better than the Exige but not as good as the base Elise as the rear spoiler does impact vis a bit. The roof off option is the kicker. Yes you can go buy a soft top and do some jiggery pokery to get it on the Exige but why bother. To me if the power is about the same and you are buying a car primarily for the street get the Elise. The SC has 6 inch wide front and 8 inch wide rear wheels so upgrade choices in tires is as good as it gets for our cars. Other mods to the suspension will make the car handle right up there with the full track pack Exiges. Unless you are going to mod for lots more power then the SC is a great choice. If you are going to mod for more hp the SC is limited by how much more you can get out of it. You would be better off then going with a base Elise as there is more headroom to get power out of and you aren't limited by the factory non-intercooled supercharger. I think it comes down to what you are going to use the car for and what kind of mods you are planning. For me it was primarily going to be a streeet car with no more than ten track events per year. I didn't want to be spending $ on power mods just suspension so I went with the Elise SC. Had I been planning on doing lots of engine and suspension mods for a focused track machine I would have gone with a base Elise and gone nuts. If I wanted a track focused car with fewer modifications on my part I would have gone with an Exige S or S 240. At the extreme other end for only a track car it would have been a 211 on a trailer.

 

[VisualEchos]

All things being equal, you're getting more car, at less money, if you can find a new/leftover 07 Exige S. You can always do the soft top conversion to get the top off Elise benefit.

+11tybillion.

 

[bueno]

I would say it's more street than track- I may track it once or twice in it's life... Living in Idaho there really isn't much here unless I drive 5+ hours to get to a track, etc..
That said, we do have great roads here for spirited driving.

either way I go, it won't be stock for long... thanks for the input fellas... We'll see if I'm driving home in a Lotus or not depending on how the dealer is.

I think from everything you're indicating, you're probably better off with an Elise SC. To me an Exige is really more a track car than anything else and the lack of rear visability, the lack of track time and the fact as you'll drive it more on the streets makes you a better candidate for it.

 

[charliex]

here's a dyno sheet i have with a 'comparo' test of the s/elise sc/240/255/gotham.

The S and the Elise SC are pretty close the IC of the S is going to help it though.

 

[MpBrady7]

Nice comparison :clap:

I didn't know the Gotham actually gave that much power.

 

[Iceman-]

Seems that the SC gets more than 220 declared and then all cars are the same until 5000 rpms.

So to the SC owners: the car lost performance when it's hot in track?

 

[Rondo Fondu]

Charliex - Do you have a gotham tune for the SC or is it wrung out as it is?

 

[Moto44]

I would say get the one that you like the looks of better.

 

[300hpMR2]

I would say get the one that you like the looks of better.

+1

 

[Hello Kitty]

either way I go, it won't be stock for long... thanks for the input fellas... We'll see if I'm driving home in a Lotus or not depending on how the dealer is.

Well theres more room for mods in a exige with the fast back.

To me it boils down to soft top vs hardtop. Both are removable, but which do you prefer. I chose exige for hardtop in case of a accident/rollover, it will be more structurally secure.

:shift:

 

[Sideoiler]

Go with your gut, not really a bad choice either way.:shrug: