Thanks for the tips. Glad to hear 32k w/ no rattles. The SELOC board makes it sound like the cars become rattle-traps the minute after you pull onto the road from dealer delivery.
Some points from a UK S2 owner
Guys, looks like the excitment is building, it's one hell of a car
Reading some of your threads I thought I would offer my experiences with the UK S2 I own. A few points in no particular order.
The carpet on the sills can be easily removed, it's attached with velcro. As is the bit behind the seats in my Sports Tourer model.
The revised front speaker placement looks neater, the sound quality as standard in the Elise is average to poor, even with an upgraded headunit. You can improve on it, but you need to spend some $.
The manual window winder mechanism is prone to failure, we have only recently had a powered window option. By most accounts the powered window mech is lighter than the manual version.
Central locking is also a recent addition. My doors lock individually, you cannot lock the doors from the inside. If you need to drive with boths doors locked, you will need to open the door and then turn the key to lock it again before getting in. May cause problems later by locking the keys in the car
The A/C system seems to work well, it is an option in the UK for around £1200. The whole system is upgraded and works better with the A/C off than the standard system fitted in my car. The heating/demisting in my car isn't great.
Radio reception is poor. I think they have tried to address this by fitting foil to the underside of the engine cover. In the UK we can buy a grounding plate from a 3rd party http://www.autostylesolutions.co.uk/ helps a bit but not perfect. Autostylesolutions also make ventilation filters, these are very useful. The airflow into the cockpit is open, this means that you can end up with flies, leaves etc coming into the car through the air vents, not pleasant The US Elise may not have this problem. Not sure if A/C cars suffer this.
The sports exhaust will likely to be a costly option. Obviously the exhaust system is different for the Toyota engine. It may be worth waiting until aftermarket suppliers bring out their own versions. I can only speculate on this.
The sports package as described with probably be LSS ( Lotus Sports Suspension), which is updated dampers and springs, probably ride heigh adjustable. Possibly OZ light multispoke wheels, like the ones we get, but may be a different style. Finally Yokohama AO48 tyres or similar. This package through Lotus in the UK is around £3.5-4k. By most accounts it is a good upgrade. The ride will be stiffer but not too harsh. Depends on the state of your road surface In appaerence, the car looks alot better with the lower ride height and OZ wheels IMO. The handling of the car is improved significantly.
My S2 doesn't leak and is well built, little or no rattles etc after 32k miles and 2 years ownership.
If I think of anything else I'll stick it in this thread. I hope this is useful to some. Obviously I don't know the final spec of the US Elise therefore my comments are all in my opinion.
If you buy this car it will be a serious risk to your friendships/marriage etc, you will always take the long road home
Enjoy ......................
Reading some of your threads I thought I would offer my experiences with the UK S2 I own. A few points in no particular order.
The carpet on the sills can be easily removed, it's attached with velcro. As is the bit behind the seats in my Sports Tourer model.
The revised front speaker placement looks neater, the sound quality as standard in the Elise is average to poor, even with an upgraded headunit. You can improve on it, but you need to spend some $.
The manual window winder mechanism is prone to failure, we have only recently had a powered window option. By most accounts the powered window mech is lighter than the manual version.
Central locking is also a recent addition. My doors lock individually, you cannot lock the doors from the inside. If you need to drive with boths doors locked, you will need to open the door and then turn the key to lock it again before getting in. May cause problems later by locking the keys in the car
The A/C system seems to work well, it is an option in the UK for around £1200. The whole system is upgraded and works better with the A/C off than the standard system fitted in my car. The heating/demisting in my car isn't great.
Radio reception is poor. I think they have tried to address this by fitting foil to the underside of the engine cover. In the UK we can buy a grounding plate from a 3rd party http://www.autostylesolutions.co.uk/ helps a bit but not perfect. Autostylesolutions also make ventilation filters, these are very useful. The airflow into the cockpit is open, this means that you can end up with flies, leaves etc coming into the car through the air vents, not pleasant
The US Elise may not have this problem. Not sure if A/C cars suffer this.The sports exhaust will likely to be a costly option. Obviously the exhaust system is different for the Toyota engine. It may be worth waiting until aftermarket suppliers bring out their own versions. I can only speculate on this.
The sports package as described with probably be LSS ( Lotus Sports Suspension), which is updated dampers and springs, probably ride heigh adjustable. Possibly OZ light multispoke wheels, like the ones we get, but may be a different style. Finally Yokohama AO48 tyres or similar. This package through Lotus in the UK is around £3.5-4k. By most accounts it is a good upgrade. The ride will be stiffer but not too harsh. Depends on the state of your road surface
In appaerence, the car looks alot better with the lower ride height and OZ wheels IMO. The handling of the car is improved significantly. My S2 doesn't leak and is well built, little or no rattles etc after 32k miles and 2 years ownership.
If I think of anything else I'll stick it in this thread. I hope this is useful to some. Obviously I don't know the final spec of the US Elise therefore my comments are all in my opinion.
If you buy this car it will be a serious risk to your friendships/marriage etc, you will always take the long road home
Enjoy ......................
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No problem MW, hope you've tried punting in Oxford, on the Thames?
JD, the build quality on the S2 is a lot better than the S1, some of the early S2's had a few issuses with wing mirrors falling off etc, but that was quickly fixed. I've had a few things done under warrenty, but nothing that you wouldn't get on any other car. Problem with reading boards like Seloc is that you only really hear about problems, not many go on and say 'my cars great'
JD, the build quality on the S2 is a lot better than the S1, some of the early S2's had a few issuses with wing mirrors falling off etc, but that was quickly fixed. I've had a few things done under warrenty, but nothing that you wouldn't get on any other car. Problem with reading boards like Seloc is that you only really hear about problems, not many go on and say 'my cars great'
1 - 7 of 7 Posts
