Well, I know there are a bunch of you that have driven the Fed Elise already.....Well, this weekend was my turn....
I can tell you this. Everything that everyone has posted about the car is true....
First the bad stuff....Yes, the center plastic piece of crap moves when you are shifting and your leg will move it as well during spirted driving.....but you know what......I am not looking at the shifter when I am driving so I did not care. If it breaks....thats what warrenties are for....
The pedals....My wide feet worked fine....Heel / toe was a breeze...very easy compared to a Z06...Those that said the brake pedal went down to far never really tried to heel / toe while the car is moving. When the brake is applied with authority, the motor requires a large blip to make the RPM....the pedal height matches perfectly.....also, I could left foot brake the car with running shoes on....it was tight....but it could be done.
Believe it or not....the window rattled on the demo....With the touring package....I put it up and it stopped rattling.... OH well...somethings will never change.
NOW THE GOOD STUFF,
The seats are to die for....but you better not get FAT.... You could FEEL everything without being abused. The steering wheel is the same way.....just like the video...YEP, there a bug....6 legged....
The interesting part....from the outside the Elise is VERY quiet.....on the inside its LOUD....but its excellent. The sound of the intake and the motor is too cool.....It reminded me of my old MR2 ( which I loved) only loader.
I can tell you this, the car does not feel seat of the pants quick....In a Z06 you know your halling the mail....In an Elise you do not...In fact, it feels a little slow....BUT.....before you flame me...it is very deceptive. You are haulling....The car is SO STABLE and SOLID that it is begging you to run it harder. It is almost as if the chassis is saying, Yah, some day you will drive it hard enough to make me work.....
I can not wait to autocross this car....I think that will be the point where the Elise really can show itself....This car can be driven harder than even I imagined....
The motor, it is funny how a motor that when its in the celica feels like a pig can be so alive in the Elise. The bottom end was pretty darn good in a 5th gear pull from 30 mph......The Cayanne next to me ( trying to check me out) could not keep up...hehehee..
BUT....when the motor hits 6500.....thats when the fun starts...it is very linear...it does not smack you like an S2000....It just starts pulling harder....I promised the dealer that I would not run his demo hard so I only took two pulls in the VVTI and I bailed at just about 7500 RPM.....I can only imagine the last 1000 RPM.....Can you say fun....
Man I could go on for the rest of the day...but I will not....
Later,
I can tell you this. Everything that everyone has posted about the car is true....
First the bad stuff....Yes, the center plastic piece of crap moves when you are shifting and your leg will move it as well during spirted driving.....but you know what......I am not looking at the shifter when I am driving so I did not care. If it breaks....thats what warrenties are for....
The pedals....My wide feet worked fine....Heel / toe was a breeze...very easy compared to a Z06...Those that said the brake pedal went down to far never really tried to heel / toe while the car is moving. When the brake is applied with authority, the motor requires a large blip to make the RPM....the pedal height matches perfectly.....also, I could left foot brake the car with running shoes on....it was tight....but it could be done.
Believe it or not....the window rattled on the demo....With the touring package....I put it up and it stopped rattling.... OH well...somethings will never change.
NOW THE GOOD STUFF,
The seats are to die for....but you better not get FAT.... You could FEEL everything without being abused. The steering wheel is the same way.....just like the video...YEP, there a bug....6 legged....
The interesting part....from the outside the Elise is VERY quiet.....on the inside its LOUD....but its excellent. The sound of the intake and the motor is too cool.....It reminded me of my old MR2 ( which I loved) only loader.
I can tell you this, the car does not feel seat of the pants quick....In a Z06 you know your halling the mail....In an Elise you do not...In fact, it feels a little slow....BUT.....before you flame me...it is very deceptive. You are haulling....The car is SO STABLE and SOLID that it is begging you to run it harder. It is almost as if the chassis is saying, Yah, some day you will drive it hard enough to make me work.....
I can not wait to autocross this car....I think that will be the point where the Elise really can show itself....This car can be driven harder than even I imagined....
The motor, it is funny how a motor that when its in the celica feels like a pig can be so alive in the Elise. The bottom end was pretty darn good in a 5th gear pull from 30 mph......The Cayanne next to me ( trying to check me out) could not keep up...hehehee..
BUT....when the motor hits 6500.....thats when the fun starts...it is very linear...it does not smack you like an S2000....It just starts pulling harder....I promised the dealer that I would not run his demo hard so I only took two pulls in the VVTI and I bailed at just about 7500 RPM.....I can only imagine the last 1000 RPM.....Can you say fun....
Man I could go on for the rest of the day...but I will not....
Later,
