Impressions of the new Lotus Elise from an S2K driver

[Hiroshima]

A freind of a friend got to drive the New Elise. Here is was his thoughts:

"SVAG (silicon valley auto group) was kinda enough to let me test drive
their demo Lotus Elise. It is Chrome Orange with the touring package
and standard suspension. Keep in mind I looked at it from a very
critical perspective, because on paper, it sounds like everything I
could possibly want from a car... everything the S2000 wanted to be.

Getting into the car is difficult, as expected; much more so than any
production car, you gotta put your right leg in, put your left hand on
the sill, right hand on the seat, and plog your butt down at the same
time you put your left leg in. Don't do it at the same time as your
passenger, you'll knock heads with the sales guy. Ow.

The ergonomics are great except for the seat. it's shaped well, but
feels like it has almost zero padding, the s2000 has a barcalounger by
comparison, although it doesn't hold you in any worse than the Elise's
seat. The controls fall to hand quite well, except the shifter,
which is really tall and angles away from the driver, curiously
enough. (maybe to facilitate knee touches of your attractive
passengers?) Stereo, A/C, power locks, power doors, check, they're
all there. The built quality was ok, but not up to the Honda, panels
weren't straight, and the little bulges of adhesive around the bolts
looked tacky. (especially because it's orange, it's like when you are
sealing up an oil pan gasket, and put too much RTV on it.) Trunk is
larger than I expected but with a really small opening, grocery
shopping solo would be fine, Target runs would be more problematic
(and I really hope you'd have in house laundry). Definitely more of
a toy car, than my s2000.

I'm 6'1" with a 32" inseam, so I have fairly short legs for my height.
I fit in the lotus fine, over an inch above my head to the softtop,
which is fairly easy to put on, although not even close to as easy as
the s2000. the seat became a bit uncomfortable after 30 or 40
minutes of driving, I don't think I could do long distances in the
car. It squeaked and rattled a lot more than my almost 10K mile old
s2000 does, too. the interior is extremely cheap and I think the S1
Elise had a nicer, more purposeful interior, with it's all aluminum
interior. I think the carpet and body panels look tacked on.

That said, practicality is obviously not what this car is about. The
exhaust note is pleasantly raspy, it's not nearly as smooth or bassy
sounding as the Fujitsubo exhaust on my s2000 and doesn't have that
nice dual exhaust resonance, but it's more racy and quite nice.
Definitely sounds small motor-ish. The pedal effort is heavier than
the s2000, but with great spacing. I can see having issues with wider
dress shoes, but my diesel soccer style shoes were great, and I could
heel and toe, arguably easier than in my s2000, due to more knee room.
The motor revved freely, pretty similarly to the s2000, but I think
the s2000 is smoother, etc. (probably due to more insulation from the
motor) The shifter is clunky, much like a well used Boxster's, and
very long throws for a sports car. The action is vague, and it was
hard to tell what gear you were grabbing, and it made all sorts of
legos falling onto linoleum funky noises. Reminded me of a chopstick
in a cup of building blocks.

Power-wise, the lotus is definitely faster over 4000rpm. it's pretty
similar in terms of low end, which means tepid accord-like
acceleration, enough to get out of it's own way but with little to
spare until the high cam kicks over. Above that, it's definitely
faster than the s2000, probably similar to a 3.2l NSX or so. The
changeover at 6000 rpm is definitely noticeable and it pulls right up
to the 8500 redline. On the freeway, the poor aerodynamics seem to
take more of a toll on the acceleration, I actually think the s2000
could keep up with it from a roll, due to shorter gearing. (my s2000
makes about 220 rwhp, which gives it about a 40-50 rwhp advantage, and
an 800 lbs disadvantage, although it's more slippery.

blah blah, power, space, comfort... the Elise is built for turns.
it's lightweight and huge grip should bring slip angles of joy to even
the more diehard fan of sports car, right? As I anxiously got comfy
in the car and approached my first turn, my heart beat quickened and
my palms flexed in anticipation. I clicked off some Mario
Andretti-ish heel and toes (ok, ok, maybe slight more pedestrian) and
got the car in second, let off the brakes, took a steady throttle and
turned the wheel. What seemed like 2-3 seconds later, the car
turned.

Uhhh... huh? Isn't this the pinnacle of lotus engineering, the
featherweight car willing to change directions at a mere whim?
Isn't this the closest thing to a gokart with turn signals that you
can get? the steering ratio is slower than a Honda Accord's, let
alone my s2000. It feels like I need one of those spinner handles
like bus drivers use to crank the little wheel around. Maybe the car
needed an alignment but I was horribly disappointed in the steering.
It has good feeling and the effort is fine with me, but the action, it
just turned in like the steering rack had a viscous coupling filled
with molasses. Cold molasses.

The steering really took the joy out of the car for me. It was that bad.

Once the car took a set it was very easy to control, you could control
the car with the throttle and it very predictably understeered on
power, until it power on oversteered if you were too silly with the
throttle. It is very light and does change directions easily as long
as you can overlook the slow steering. The suspension is very soft
and compliant, I think my 2000 s2000 rode stiffer, and my 04 s2000
from the factory was similar. (my 04 s2000 has 560/670 lb in springs
on it now, and is definitely stiffer).

the brakes felt lousy, squishy and very little feel, I am going to
blame that one 650 miles of hard test drivers, this little car hadn't
had an easy life.

So, I got back into the s2000, which felt slow, but not super slow,
and felt like it had lightning quick steering and the best shifter in
the world. The lotus rolls less than the s2000 did from the factory
but compared with the latest suspension I put on the s2000, it's a lot
less floaty and takes a set quicker, and is better controlled than the
lotus's base suspension. (I'm sure the sport package would be
better.) the seat felt like a perfectly ergonomic swedish chair,
soft but supportive and grippy.

The lotus would definitely get from point A to point B faster, but at
$10-$15K over the cost of an S2000, I'm not sure it'd be worth it.
Right now, I think it's better than I wait until I can really justify
a truly toy car rather than try to live with the Lotus, and see how
they do reliability-wise over the next few years. They'll make more.
For less than $10k, I can make my s2000 pretty damn fast, comptech
supercharger, big brakes, and a clutch, maybe a larger radiator...
(for about $6-$7K) and probably be just as happy with it.

-(Name Removed), who is having some supercharger thoughts..."

[jgtcnsx]

i went to that auto store in san fran where they shot gone in 60 seconds. they let me go in there and take pictures i got alot of the elise. i didnt like it in the magazine but liked it alot more in person

[NeoNSX]

What? A lotus Elise left an impression after comparison to a Honda?!?! *BIG CHEEKY GRIN* rofl... j/k

Seriously though... very detailed and interesting comparison. I was especially interested in the room despite the driver being 6'1"; being a tall person myself, this is always something i take note of. The Elise looked way too small for me, so i guess i'm surprised a tall guy fitted comfortably.