saw a elise in person for first time at PIR in Portland at the Rose Cup Races. The car was from Park Place in Seattle in Artic Silver/red.
While I knew going in this was essentially a racecar/kart posing as a passenger car, until you see, feel and sit in the car, there is no way you can fully appreciate this.
First of all, I was surprised how cheap the interior was. I know I didnt buy a luxury car but until you see it and touch it you cannot fully appreciate this. Im small so it wasnt too bad getting in car but I could see this being abit tough if top was on and a person was tall/big. The plastic interior was on the flimsy side but Im sure this was done to save weight. Even the metallic looking housing the shifter sits on was actually plastic and moved when you shifted gears(didnt make me happy). The leather seats were actually pretty nice but I laughed when I shifted to 5th and 6th(while not moving) and it kept hitting the passengers knees! The passenegers seat didnt seem smaller to me as some have described in past. There was no way to adjust pass's side and the cushin was riding on the floor!. The seats and steering wheel felt just like a go kart(I really liked this feeling). Kinda felt like a Rotax 125cc!. The money definitely went into the suspension and chassis.
I knew full well the car was very small but once again, I couldnt actually believe how small it was until I saw it today. The entire ext shell felt like fiberglass and felt light and plasticy. God forbid if you wreck in this thing. The trunk might carry 1 carry on bag. Surprisingly, the softtop could be placed in 1 minute flat and I know this cause I timed the guy. I looked at the headlights and was thinking it would be hard to swap over to xenon HID's cause the hood doesnt open. All there is is a radiator in there and there are bolts holding hood on. Despite my previous whining about diffuser and exhaust in rear, it didnt look too bad in person. I did laugh when I saw sign near trunk/engine bay saying "50lb limit".
The bottom line, this is a racecar/go kart posing as a passengers car whereas my current car(M3) is a passenger car posing as a racecar. I took pics with cell phone but cant download them to my computer...sorry. I wouldnt buy this car if luxury and solid interior look/feel was a priority and I personally wouldnt use this as daily driver. As a no frills pure sports car for weekend/trackuse, this car is perfect!
While I knew going in this was essentially a racecar/kart posing as a passenger car, until you see, feel and sit in the car, there is no way you can fully appreciate this.
First of all, I was surprised how cheap the interior was. I know I didnt buy a luxury car but until you see it and touch it you cannot fully appreciate this. Im small so it wasnt too bad getting in car but I could see this being abit tough if top was on and a person was tall/big. The plastic interior was on the flimsy side but Im sure this was done to save weight. Even the metallic looking housing the shifter sits on was actually plastic and moved when you shifted gears(didnt make me happy). The leather seats were actually pretty nice but I laughed when I shifted to 5th and 6th(while not moving) and it kept hitting the passengers knees! The passenegers seat didnt seem smaller to me as some have described in past. There was no way to adjust pass's side and the cushin was riding on the floor!. The seats and steering wheel felt just like a go kart(I really liked this feeling). Kinda felt like a Rotax 125cc!. The money definitely went into the suspension and chassis.
I knew full well the car was very small but once again, I couldnt actually believe how small it was until I saw it today. The entire ext shell felt like fiberglass and felt light and plasticy. God forbid if you wreck in this thing. The trunk might carry 1 carry on bag. Surprisingly, the softtop could be placed in 1 minute flat and I know this cause I timed the guy. I looked at the headlights and was thinking it would be hard to swap over to xenon HID's cause the hood doesnt open. All there is is a radiator in there and there are bolts holding hood on. Despite my previous whining about diffuser and exhaust in rear, it didnt look too bad in person. I did laugh when I saw sign near trunk/engine bay saying "50lb limit".
The bottom line, this is a racecar/go kart posing as a passengers car whereas my current car(M3) is a passenger car posing as a racecar. I took pics with cell phone but cant download them to my computer...sorry. I wouldnt buy this car if luxury and solid interior look/feel was a priority and I personally wouldnt use this as daily driver. As a no frills pure sports car for weekend/trackuse, this car is perfect!