[Ryephile]

Hello Everyone

I am a long time Lotus fan and recently decided to take the plunge and find myself a good Elise. The search ended with RenoElise's '05 Graphite Grey with Sport, Red Touring, Hardtop, Starshield, and a Katana supercharger.

My favorite way to learn a car is to take it on a roadtrip, and I was hoping I could time the trip so the weather wouldn't be too bad. Thankfully last week and weekend had fantastic weather and the trip went without any real problems.

RenoElise was a friendly fellow and a fantastic guy to work with. His straightforwardness was an enormous help in making a sound decision about the car. It also helped he took very good care of the car.

My trip started at the Metro Detroit Airport. I was able to convince my friend Jayson to join me for the trip for companionship and to help with driving duties. He didn't really hesitate when I told him what kind of car I was buying. rotfl

I scored acceptably priced airline tickets from DTW to RNO. The crew aboard Southwest were an absolutely hilarious RIOT. We were practically holding our sides from their "buckle your seatbelts" speech.

We stayed at the Siena casino/hotel in downtown Reno. It was a very nice hotel, but seemed pretty empty as far as customers. I suppose this time of year isn't too conducive to being jam packed.

At RenoElise's garage, we checked out the car in the flesh for the first time. It was everything he advertised, which brought relief and joy to my butterflied stomach.

We then set off on our trip! From Reno we took I-80 East. Nevada is a very beautiful state, with gorgeous mountains and valleys. There weren't many tunnels, but they were still fun to go through:

After a few hours, we decided the Elise's seats, while supportive, lack padding! Time for a photo-shoot in the Nevada desert:

Random interior shots:

....more to come!

 

[...m...]

...very nice - congratulations!..

 

[Ryephile]

We drove through Nevada, and as Dusk approached we stopped at the Salt Flats in western Utah. I've visited here before but it's always an amazing sight in person, but really difficult to photograph. We pressed on, but not before attempting to snap a picture of Venus next to the Moon:

We cruised through Salt Lake City, which seemed much more under construction than I remember, and called it a night in Evanston, WY. The next morning we bundled up against the 15 degree weather and headed off again on I-80:

I have family in Denver, so part of the plan was to stop by and spend the night there.

The fam loved the Elise; the whole household ran out when I pulled up!

My brother is 6'1" and was very amused with how tiny the Elise is. Nevertheless he was impressed he was able to fit in the car.

The next day we pressed onward. Eastern Colorado still takes my award for "the most nothing". There are no trees, no animals, and no civilization for miles and miles. The only life is tiny fuzzy grass that coats the rolling hills. Western Kansas wasn't much different, but did evolve into farmland quickly. At least we were able to entertain ourselves by counting the sections in the huge rotating crop sprinklers.

Not a whole lot to look at in Tornado Alley except this:

Somewhere in eastern Kansas, maybe near Topeka. :shrug: At this point we were pretty knackered, with sore butts, knees, heels, and stiff muscles.

We pressed on! The end of Day 3 stretched past midnight as we approached St. Louis.

Whew, a good nights sleep makes everyone feel better! We stopped at the Gateway Arch for a photo-opportunity and a quick stretch of the legs.

"I know I put it in my backpack, now I just have to reach it!"

I have a long-time friend that lives in Ft. Wayne, IN, so we planned on stopping and having dinner with him. We did have to make a bit of fun of him, because he has a Smart car. It's pretty much thematically opposite to the Lotus; short and tall versus low and sporting.

That's it! We made it home about 11pm last night, without a scratch to the Lotus, which is amazing in its own right. I just pulled the tape off and gave the car a quick detail to remove the dust and bug guts. Overall we traveled about 2,600 miles, and averaged about 29 MPG, with the range being 26.8 going up the mountains to 31.2 on the way down from the Rockies. Overall the car is amazing, and I'm really pleased with the purchase. It certainly isn't the best for cross country roadtrips, but now I feel I can do it in any car!

Cheers,
Ryan

 

[Demonized]

Great write-up, and congrats on the car ^^

 

[Hartz]

Ryan! Holy Cow!!! Fellow MMMC member 1pt6LitresofFury here! Congrats on the purchase. Beautiful car. Looks like it was a fun trip. I just picked up a 2005 Elise a little while ago myself. I am sure you're going to love the car. Best of luck!

 

[Ryephile]

Hey dude! Thanks, and congrats on your Elise too! Where did you get yours, and do you have any pics of it here on LT? Still have your MINI?

Thanks ...m... and Demonized for the compliments

 

[alil'britdifferent]

Congrats :clap:
Enjoyed the write up - thanks.

Total opposite of my drive home. Brought mine in Philly and drove south thro' DC, Virgina and NC - 9 hours and it rained the whole time!

:shift:

 

[shay2nak]

you picked the best color.

 

[Hartz]

Hey dude! Thanks, and congrats on your Elise too! Where did you get yours, and do you have any pics of it here on LT? Still have your MINI?

Yeah, still got the MINI. (and the Monster Miata, and '67 Camaro. I guess I'm good at buying cars and not so good at selling them. LOL!) The Elise was just an addition to the fleet. I might try to cull the herd in a year or so.

No good pics yet. I've gotta get her cleaned up a bit and then I'll go find a nice day and do a photo shoot.

Anyway, hope to see you around and check out your new toy. I'd be curious to hear your thoughts on the supercharger vs. stock!

Take care,
Mike

 

[Randy Chase]

Nice write up and pics, thanks for sharing.

Watch out for those Detroit potholes!

 

[Ryephile]

Watch out for those Detroit potholes!

The Lotus is a piece of cake to avoid potholes, plus I've had many years experience with my MINI's with limited suspension travel and really low profile tires [we're talking 0.6" compression travel with 235/30-18 tires]. That said, New Jersey's roads take the cake for biggest craters in my experience! -eek-

In-lane slaloming! rotfl

 

[charliex]

Watch out for the water hazards though! Nice pics and nice car, welcome to the club.

 

[Appleseed]

you picked the best color.

+1

 

[shadowhusky]

Welcome to the club !!:shift:

One of the best times in my Elise was the trip home when I bought it. It's good to see that you didn't have it shipped to your house. That takes all the fun out of it.

I actually just brought mine out for a quick ride when I got home from work today. It felt good to get back into it.

 

[CXRK]

Hey Ryan!

Congrates!! I heard from Christian and Richard you bought a car "just like mine! lol Well seriously it IS really close!! Even right down to the wrapped center console and (you never did see it ) dual exhaust.

Great color I must say! And too bad you picked one up a few months later after I left....It would have been great getting confused for one another since we lived so close together!

-C

 

[Ryephile]

Yo Chris! Great to hear from you I hope things are going well for you out west.

Your Elise is looking great; love the wheels, and the exhaust is great isn't it! Let's keep in touch. :up:

Cheers,
Ryan

 

[The_Bishop]

Nicely detailed write-up, Ryan! I did the same thing 2yrs ago and would recommend it to anyone. It's an unforgettable experience. I'd do it again in a heartbeat!

http://www.lotustalk.com/forums/f135/extrodinary-weekend-planned-38772/

- Allen.

 

[CXRK]

Yo Chris! Great to hear from you I hope things are going well for you out west.

Your Elise is looking great; love the wheels, and the exhaust is great isn't it! Let's keep in touch. :up:

Cheers,
Ryan

Hey Ryan,

Sorry it took so long to get back to you. I thought I had subscribed to the thread so I could keep up things.

Anyway, working a lot on the portfolio so I was under a rock for a while! Definitely keep in touch and if I come in town to check on the house etc, I'll have to check out the car!

Attended Symbolic's event (San Diego) last week. You would have really liked it. Great event! I'll try to post some pics.

Still have the MINI??? I figure you DO but I had to ask!

-C