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145 Posts
To all,
Long-time lurker, first-time poster...My wife and I are currently on vacation in the UK, and made the pilgrimage to Hethel for the factory tour. And what better way to travel from London to the factory, but in a Lotus Elise 111R!
We hired from Chartoake, who conveniently delivered the car to our hotel. We figured, since we have yet to get a test drive in the States, we might as well take the car out for a day while on vacation and see what we thought...And what did we think?
AMAZING! All of you lucky owners have a wonderful car on your hands. After quickly mastering the art of "donning" the Elise, we found it surprisingly comfortable once situated. You do need to be friends with your passenger, however, so no driving after a spat with the Mrs! Very quick throttle response, even outside of the hot cam. Gas mileage and range was great, as we made the trip on only one tank of gas. Excellent feeling through the steering wheel, you really feel connected to the road thru the car, rather than in spite of the car.
Our favorite moment on the road trip - A stop at Mildenhall AB, where a Security Forces sergeant motioned us to approach the gate, only to exclaim "Where are you?" when we stopped to show our IDs...about 4 feet below his eye level! Yes, the car sits low, so be careful about driving near those lumbering SUVs.
We were very surprised at the number of looks we received in the car's home country, and confess that was also an appealing aspect of the car. Every onlooker had a smile on their face, no doubt matching ours!
If only the dream could have lasted longer! It took a lot of self-control to return the keys. Must....wait....longer....
Cheers!
MikeVR4
P.S. Factory tour was outstanding, and we highly recommend it. And while we were there, they were batch-painting/building at least 7 bordeaux red cars, in the queue one right after the other, so cheer up those awaiting BR cars!
Long-time lurker, first-time poster...My wife and I are currently on vacation in the UK, and made the pilgrimage to Hethel for the factory tour. And what better way to travel from London to the factory, but in a Lotus Elise 111R!
We hired from Chartoake, who conveniently delivered the car to our hotel. We figured, since we have yet to get a test drive in the States, we might as well take the car out for a day while on vacation and see what we thought...And what did we think?
AMAZING! All of you lucky owners have a wonderful car on your hands. After quickly mastering the art of "donning" the Elise, we found it surprisingly comfortable once situated. You do need to be friends with your passenger, however, so no driving after a spat with the Mrs! Very quick throttle response, even outside of the hot cam. Gas mileage and range was great, as we made the trip on only one tank of gas. Excellent feeling through the steering wheel, you really feel connected to the road thru the car, rather than in spite of the car.
Our favorite moment on the road trip - A stop at Mildenhall AB, where a Security Forces sergeant motioned us to approach the gate, only to exclaim "Where are you?" when we stopped to show our IDs...about 4 feet below his eye level! Yes, the car sits low, so be careful about driving near those lumbering SUVs.
We were very surprised at the number of looks we received in the car's home country, and confess that was also an appealing aspect of the car. Every onlooker had a smile on their face, no doubt matching ours!
If only the dream could have lasted longer! It took a lot of self-control to return the keys. Must....wait....longer....
Cheers!
MikeVR4
P.S. Factory tour was outstanding, and we highly recommend it. And while we were there, they were batch-painting/building at least 7 bordeaux red cars, in the queue one right after the other, so cheer up those awaiting BR cars!
