What if....

A 6 cylinder Elise wouldn't change my mind, but if they were to announce a street legal Exige (S1), I would definitely wait for that

Good question. One that worries me a little.

It depends I think on how far out the next car is. Given a choice, I would rather have an Exige. The S1 Exige is my number one choice. But I would settle for an S2/S3 Exige. A V6 may be interesting to me because I like the low end grunt for low speed corners.

But I don't want to wait either. If I had to wait 6 more months, I might lean towards buying the first car and playing with it for 6+ months and then upgrading.

I don't know this for certain but I understand that there is an S2 exige under development (probably based on the S2.5/S3 fed car).

That being the case, start planning guys!

Craigy

Exige

I would most definitely wait if an exige is announced to be coming in short order. BUT, I would doubt that Lotus would premier the Elise and simultaneously tell us that a hotter car is coming soon.

Would bet on a year or two lag at least, and in that case I'll take the Elise now and 'upgrade' to Exige later

Re: Exige

grudkin said:

I would most definitely wait if an exige is announced to be coming in short order. BUT, I would doubt that Lotus would premier the Elise and simultaneously tell us that a hotter car is coming soon.

Would bet on a year or two lag at least, and in that case I'll take the Elise now and 'upgrade' to Exige later

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It's wont take them that long. What is there to change?

cosmetic/aero bodywork, a roof, tuned engine and suspension/brake upgrades.

A lot of that work is off-the-shelf.

Craigy

I have waited 5 years to own an Elise. I will not wait anymore...regardless of the powerplant! I can ALWAYS upgrade later after having fun with the S2 for a few months.

Sure, this is speculation at this point. But if Lotus has the car in the wings, you in effect split the Elise line the std a better more affordable everday car. The exige for those willing/able to spend the extra money and live with a car with even a harder edge ( and the preformance that goes with it). IF the car is close let the word out now, other wise I agree say nothing & release it a year later.

LarryB said:

Sure, this is speculation at this point. But if Lotus has the car in the wings, you in effect split the Elise line the std a better more affordable everday car. The exige for those willing/able to spend the extra money and live with a car with even a harder edge ( and the preformance that goes with it). IF the car is close let the word out now, other wise I agree say nothing & release it a year later.

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It's not idle speculation from me. I find speculation a bit annoying unless there's a bit of fun involved.

I pass along what I hear only when I trust my sources. I've not been let down yet

Craigy

Craigy, the speculation is more of the timing of the car, will it be street legal, or when Lotus will say something about it. I've taken your word that there working on it ... what they will do with it & when is what I'm wondering about.

Re: Exige

grudkin said:

BUT, I would doubt that Lotus would premier the Elise and simultaneously tell us that a hotter car is coming soon.

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I agree. That won't make any sense. When the Elise comes out, you want all eyes to be on the Elise and not the next model or Elise variants.

I'm pretty sure Lotus ended the Esprit line to divert resources to Elise production, but having only one model also refocuses the publics attention back on the Elise. At least no one will call the Elise a "poor man's Lotus." Currently, it's the ONLY Lotus.

Lotus discontinued the Esprit line because to continue to sell in the US market (largest market for Esprits for the last few years) they would have to bring it up to current requirements, as they've been selling under various wavers over the years.

Craigy, I'd dearly love an S2 based exige, but it took five odd years to get the Elise here (over two years even after the initial announcement). I wouldn't want to wait. "Lotus Years" seem to be a bit longer than normal human years, kind of like "dog years"

Chris