[sicksynergy]

i dont see many of them with a great deal of mileage on them.
why is this?
if it was used for a partial daily driver as well as a track car would anything give out?
im thinking of getting an elise sc
how often does it have to go get tuned and maintained in the shop? i.e. first 1500 miles then 4500, etc?

 

[averyrm]

Check out the Uberthread. http://www.lotustalk.com/forums/f221/uberpost-read-here-there-information-uberthread-25131/

From what I understand (soon-to-be owner, but not yet) you'll burn a lot of tires. If you can turn a torque wrench yourself you'll save a ton of money.

As a daily driver, from what I gather if you can daily drive a sportbike, you can daily drive an Elise. (IE harsh ride, limited baggage space, noisy, and hot or cold depending on the weather)

 

[MattG]

The Elise is a lousy daily driver, that's a big reason you see them with such few miles. I'm the original owner of a low mileage '05, had it 4.5 years now, and have had no issues related to infrequent use. I love the car and would drive it more if I could, but I work from home and have a wife and two year old that usually come along when I go places (I need an Evora!).

 

[mrcarcrazy]

If your not a pansy the Elise/Exige is a great Daily Driver. I daily drive mine...and have no issues with it. My wife drives an S2k, so by most people's standards we have no "practical cars" and we do just fine.

Here's a pic of what I did when we still had the 350z...and I had to build a gate
Picasa Web Albums - Ben - Gate

Where there's a will there's a way!


In all seriousness It all depends on you, and what you need out of a DD. I have no kids. and few friends so The Elise is perfect for me.

 

[kestrel74]

Ummm...it's called winter........that's where your part time car comes out a couple of times a week for 6 months

 

[sicksynergy]

well as of right now my daily driver is an 05 sti. i dont have many problems with it, though i notice that the suspension is a bit rough but im used to it. im a college student that has a full ride, well basically... no loans and nothing else to pay off. i have only a handful of close friends so the use of a car with more seats wouldnt really be needed since i have my sti.
the reason for asking these questions is that im currently looking for a car thats mainly for myself. i would be making the payments as well as any maintainence costs, so im wondering how often it needs to be serviced. if its more often than rarely, like ferrari, lamborghini, GTR, etc then i wouldnt buy the car considering that it isnt my idea of a good daily driver. but if its a regular 10k, 20k, etc then its fine for me.

and to mattG, i was looking at the evora and was thinking if i should just wait for a car like that to come out. but it is considerably heavier than the elise (900+lbs). i like the idea of the elise/exige because they are extremely light weight and have considerable power:weight ratio. i havent been able to find much on the lotus website about the evora. should i just wait and decide later when the evora is released? or should i start looking to buy an elise soon?

EDIT: i read the uber thread. it answered my questions about how often the elise needs to be maintained. so now im just looking for personal feel about the lotus from you guys =)
post up opinions! always open!

 

[mjf]

I'm a daily driver with 12k miles so far on the original tires. The rears need changing soon, but I have so much traction with them still that I don't feel pressured.

As mentioned above, if you could daily a bike you'll be fine. I recommend having a second car in case you need to haul cargo or multiple passengers.

 

[mjf]

There's a bazillion threads on "should I get a lotus" try searching for some of them and you'll see a lot of similar questions and answers to what you're looking for. In the end it all boils down to this: take one for a test drive.

Lotus makes cars for drivers, not for passengers. If you like to drive you'll enjoy the responsiveness and handling of the car.

Warning, rambling follows....
If you want fancy electronics to assist your driving, you're better off with an Evo or a GTR. If you just want raw power, there are a slew of American Muscle cars to choose from. If you want something similar to a Lotus but with more creature comforts get a Porsche or MR2. If you're on a budget get a S2000, SKY, or even Solstice. If you're looking for a good value big engine track car get a Corvette. Both the Z6 and Z1 are great deals at their price point.

 

[SweetDaddyD]

I haven't seen a thread started like this in......nearly a half hour!

 

[mjf]

I haven't seen a thread started like this in......nearly a half hour!

maybe an intrepid mod will merge them altogether, or move them all to the "hi, I'm new forum" and make a sticky thread linking them. Doesn't really belong in the powertrain sub forum!

 

[0o7]

well as of right now my daily driver is an 05 sti. i dont have many problems with it, though i notice that the suspension is a bit rough but im used to it. im a college student that has a full ride, well basically... no loans and nothing else to pay off. i have only a handful of close friends so the use of a car with more seats wouldnt really be needed since i have my sti.
the reason for asking these questions is that im currently looking for a car thats mainly for myself. i would be making the payments as well as any maintainence costs, so im wondering how often it needs to be serviced. if its more often than rarely, like ferrari, lamborghini, GTR, etc then i wouldnt buy the car considering that it isnt my idea of a good daily driver. but if its a regular 10k, 20k, etc then its fine for me.

and to mattG, i was looking at the evora and was thinking if i should just wait for a car like that to come out. but it is considerably heavier than the elise (900+lbs). i like the idea of the elise/exige because they are extremely light weight and have considerable power:weight ratio. i havent been able to find much on the lotus website about the evora. should i just wait and decide later when the evora is released? or should i start looking to buy an elise soon?

EDIT: i read the uber thread. it answered my questions about how often the elise needs to be maintained. so now im just looking for personal feel about the lotus from you guys =)
post up opinions! always open!

Here is the answer to the question you haven't asked yet
http://www.lotustalk.com/forums/f94/05-sc-brg-lots-extras-priced-move-66797/

 

[sicksynergy]

There's a bazillion threads on "should I get a lotus" try searching for some of them and you'll see a lot of similar questions and answers to what you're looking for. In the end it all boils down to this: take one for a test drive.

Lotus makes cars for drivers, not for passengers. If you like to drive you'll enjoy the responsiveness and handling of the car.

Warning, rambling follows....
If you want fancy electronics to assist your driving, you're better off with an Evo or a GTR. If you just want raw power, there are a slew of American Muscle cars to choose from. If you want something similar to a Lotus but with more creature comforts get a Porsche or MR2. If you're on a budget get a S2000, SKY, or even Solstice. If you're looking for a good value big engine track car get a Corvette. Both the Z6 and Z1 are great deals at their price point.

dad has a z06, smart, harley. mom drives a 2.5rs. i drive an sti. dont like porsche much. money isnt an issue, i just dont like the fact that the GTR is priced so high for something, imo, doesnt seem that great.

the reason why i posted here is to ask questions about the engine to those that own one already. i want to daily drive this car in the spring/summer but also want it to be tracked as well. if i do both i just dont want any part of the car to give out going over 100 and lead to a crash.

i read the other posts in the new forum... but most of them werent too helpful... its all flaming and useless things such as "im a highschool student and want a lotus" "is a lotus the right car for me?" "lotus' are expensive but i want one!"... i dont think posting there would help me with specific answers to my questions.

but ill consider taking one for a test drive soon.

 

[jesterbot]

The Elise is a lousy daily driver, that's a big reason you see them with such few miles. I'm the original owner of a low mileage '05, had it 4.5 years now, and have had no issues related to infrequent use. I love the car and would drive it more if I could, but I work from home and have a wife and two year old that usually come along when I go places (I need an Evora!).

Pretty accurate. You see tons of threads about it, and the general consensus is that yes you can daily drive it with no problems (I have), but it's ill advised if you have something else. The harsh ride is the least of my concerns, I enjoy that part - it's the parking and road conditions that are the real problem.

Constantly having to ask yourself:

"Will I be able to find a place to safely park?"
"Will I be able to make it up the entrance ramps of the parking lot without scraping?"
"Will I be able to make it back down?"
"Are the potholes in the road going to explode my car into shards of fiberglass and aluminum?"
"Will I need to carry something longer than two feet long, or larger than can fit in the passenger seat/boot?"
"Do more than two people need to go?"
"Is it going to rain?" (just after having spent half a day detailing it)

Is less fun than you may think. That's why my truck gets about 99% of the usage, and I save the lotus for clear skies. The parking lot ramps to/from the street is the biggest concern. Even with extreme angle-of-attacks, there have been times when I literally had no option but to BACK out of a parking lot and reverse down the ramp and into the street before continuing (scraping badly going forward). And that only works without traffic... and this is with a stock height car.

 

[JoshS]

Ummm...it's called winter........that's where your part time car comes out a couple of times a week for 6 months

winter? Winter? I've heard of it, I seem to have some childhood memories from Levitown PA. Maybe someone can help me out here. BBRRRR. it's 75 here in Pasadena today. But, we manage.

 

[Chris Mackey]

I drive mine daily, no problems at all.