[Iman]

Mine has never seen the rain. And prob never will.

 

[Dragon]

Mine sits in the rain and gets driven in the rain all the time.. No issues so far and I've had the car for a year and a half now.

 

[badhorse]

no problem

I've driven in some big downpours. No problem.

 

[RoadDad]

My wife pointed out once that it's a British car. Then she explained to me how much it rains in the UK. Then she asked me if I thought that the Brits put the car away on the few sunny days of the year in merry old England.

 

[charliex]

Exactly RD, if you couldn't drive it in the rain, it wouldn't exist, all the connectors are sealed.

don't powerwash the engine bay, but thats it.

leave the TC on tread lightly with a048s

 

[Sideoiler]

I drove mine home 900 miles in the rain the day I picked it up. No problems at all. I drive mine every chance I get, not going to let some pesky rain cloud ruin the fun.:shift:

 

[RoadDad]

Mine gets washed only when it rains and only by the rain actually.

 

[codingparadox]

Yeah, I live in Seattle. My choices are to drive the Elise in the rain or have an expensive garage queen. You can guess which I do. ;-)

Also, yellow turns to dirt-covered yellow real fast around here. Not gonna bother washing it for a few months I think...

 

[Lotusmotion]

Driven in some nasty downpours (not in my travel plans) and even once spent a very rainy day on the track. No leaks, and no 'lectrical issues.

Though, the AO48s are not suited for wet conditions. I recommend that you get tires that have good wet performance for street use....many great choice available.

 

[MickOpalak]

How often do you drive in the rain?

Whenever I need to. The rain doesn't stop me from driving the Exige.

Are you comfortable driving in the rain with rain water going into the engine bay?

Er,... of course. Would they have put a mesh screen over the engine bay if they didn't want water going in there? These cars are designed and built in the country where it never stops raining. I'm pretty sure that they've though of that and have accounted for it. No worries.

 

[Yokozuna]

I had mine out in one "frog floater" (it was raining at about 10" an hour) and I was on I-35 leaving Dallas during rush hour. I felt the front end get kinda weird once or twice and I was only running about 30 mph. I slowed to 25 and got in another lane (less standing water). As for leaks, I did feel a drop or two of water on my big toe, but no window or top leaks. I have no idea why my toe got wet, I checked the floor when I got home, but it was dry.

 

[apk919]

Today was the first day that I intentionally drove my Exige in the rain... and it was on a racetrack (Lotus Challenge Series). I have to say, the car is much better in the rain than I would have thought... very good manners at the limit.

Then, I drove back almost 200 miles from Streets of Willow in alternating downpour, fog, showers, and dry. No complaints at all... well... maybe it could use an intermittent wiper with an adjustable delay.

The trunk is dry...

 

[codymac]

Nope, never...
Somewhere under all that water, there's a track.
:shift:

Most of the complaints about water in the trunk are Elise owners - it's a different shape and drains differently.

 

[Aedo]

Are you comfortable driving in the rain with rain water going into the engine bay?

Like others have already said - no issue.

And water gets into the engine bay of any car driven in the rain - have a look next time you drive in the rain (whatever you drive!).

 

[ads_green]

After driving several track days in what can only be described as "monsoon conditions" the 48's are not that bad really (they are actually based on a wet weather race tyre). They don't lose as much braking as you'd think and can still lean on them hard.

the only time they suffer is standing water and then you're a passenger.

 

[Maggie]

Don't do it on tires with almost no tread left. That's scary! Did that once, didn't drive it in the rain again until I got new tires.

But with reasonable tires it's totally fine. My Elise leaks on me if conditions are just right/wrong, but it's not that bad.

 

[Vampyre]

I don't store or drive my car in the rain, these are not the best fitted cars for that, they tend to leak.

Handling is also compromised in the bad weather, much better to use a DD for bad weather driving.

 

[BobaFettm]

I've drove through some bad storms during trips. I've had to drive the dragon even in some crazy down pours!

Never have had an issue! During one of the storms last year I did lose a turn signal unit. But thats a common problem.

 

[LARRY]

I had that one really weird moment in the heavy pouring rain in the Elise when I lost a $7.00 fuse which made the engine fail.

$115 flatbed tow.

$7 fuse.

Now I carry spare fuses.

No one could tell how the rain got to the fuses.

Aside from that, I always put a car cover on my car ourdoors. Keeps any wayer from going into the car, which apparently is a problem for some Lotus owners.

Oh yeah. Yokohama A048 tires don't much like puddles...