Elise or turbo Mini ? Help
Turbo Mini Forums

Ok possibly they wrong place to ask this but we shall see.

Right now I am running out of time/room with the turbo mini project, nothing has happened for a while and I really want to go and do track days. All the issues surrounding the towing laws etc as kind of made this project more hassle than it's worth as well as the spiraling costs. (I would like to think I am capable of building the car myself, sadly it is becoming more obvious that this is not the case).

So with this budget build I had in mind I have been looking around the net and noticed for what it is going to cost me to build to quick turbo mini I could have something that its (reasonably ) quick and I could use every day i.e. a Lotus Elise

Talk me out of why I shouldn't but one like this

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/131828.htm


And before anyone jumps up and down and says you can build a car for far less than the cost of an Elise, I am just facing up to my own limits, e.g. spraying a car, welding in a roll cage building an engine are all out of my comfort zone and beyond my skill levels. And when you are paying for each of those items to be professionally done that is the sort of budget you will be looking at.

Edited by Stig on 28th Feb, 2007.

Sounds like you dont have the time to learn the skills you need to finish your mini so i'd say go for the elise. especially as you mention driving it daily

Matt

sorry for daily driver read second car

Have a look at a VX220 as well, seem as good as the Lotus but without the badge premium

Elise (or VX) all day long!

Minis are alright, but they are so shonky.

Well I had an elise for three and a half years and it was fantastic. I would have another tomorrow. A slightly tatty 97/98 ca be had for under £7k now. I took it to avon park last year and it did 14.4 down the strip and that is totally standard. I think it would be hard to make a mini better to drive then the elise. There is something about a fast mini though, the hillclimber is very exciting to drive.

This is a difficult decision to make. The problem is that stopping a project at any point is always going to be a finantial downer.

http://www.twin-turbo.co.uk
http://www.hillclimbandsprint.co.uk/default.asp

A man without a project is like a like a woman without a shopping list.

Tough choice, having lived two miles from the Lotus factory my whole life i am a bit partial to a Lotus. JohnK is probably one of the best men to comment as a former employee.

Definately go for an elise, or exige if you can can stretch to one!!

Ben, thats what not to bad at the minute i have got the base car/turbo engine which i got for £600. The shell is solid and I have bought a few select parts which i can easily sell on (probably at a profit the way the turbo engines are selling on ebay at the mo). Its reached the point where I either get out and buy an elise or financialy commit big time to the mini, after all i want my plastic trophy if a go down that route. The only issue i have with the elise is the k series and the small amount of bhp for a car which looks like it should have much more!

I know i could get an s1 much cheaper but i will admit i am a bit of a tart and the s2 look better

Edited by Stig on 28th Feb, 2007.

I want a 340r if i ever get a chance. But an S1 elise with motorsport panels makes it look like a Exige. Got a ride in a Supercharged 1zz engined s2 elise from Johnk the other week and its an impressive car. With my 21st birthday on its way i am saving up, and getting my saleable projects on the way and sell them all to buy an elise.

man thats a toughy

id love an elise, i really would

but i wouldnt sell my mini to get one

If you want an elise and don't like the k or the small power get a VX220. There are plenty of midified Elises out there with 160bhp, go for that.

Don't believe all you read about the k either. As I think has been covered on this forum many times all the headgasket problems have gone away, and there were no other problems, unless you talk about the thermostat.....

Just buy one you won't regret it. For my money I prefer the s1 look, but thats becasue I'm a real man.

http://www.twin-turbo.co.uk
http://www.hillclimbandsprint.co.uk/default.asp

A man without a project is like a like a woman without a shopping list.

I was thinking about an elise as well, that's what prompted my 'what to do' post last week.

I was working out the cost of getting a car on the road + a trailer, add in the sale value of all the bits and my profit share from work and I could elise on my drive. Would still have the wifes mini to drive as well. Best of both worlds :)

I'd have to change my username and email address though lol

Neil same as me i would keep the sportpack cooper I have for a bit of fun and just, go and drive. Just thinking the sportspack might be a bit slow after getting out of the elise though :(

Most minis are slow, it's all about momentum :) Ours has a modded head on it so is a little more perky. I've not been in a mini for so long I can't remember what they are like to drive.

An elise makes so much sense to me, I'm not sure what's keeping me from doing it. I get sentimentally attached to stuff, which is stupid as it's just a lump of metal.

Ok i have a plan for you... you give me a mini turbo which i'll build and you can drive when you want if i can drive you elise?

i have had Lotus's mate stay well clear !!!!! L O T U S = Lots Of Trouble Usually Serious !!!!!!!!! the elise being bad the elan SE being the worst


EDIT: got the elise and elan wrong way around

Richie

Edited by Richie on 2nd Mar, 2007.

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surely there's not much that can actually go wrong on them. Aren't they just a k series bolted on to a light chassis and a shell slapped on top?

I would love to have a drive of one, look like good fun.

Richie was that elise and s1 or s2?

Richie, I don't know where you get your info from, but it is seriously missguided. The Elise is not perfect, but even if there is a problem they are cheep to repair. In three years and nearly 40k miles I think I replaced 1 wheel bearing, the radiator fan, the clutch hose (upgraded to braided) and a couple of ball joints. I don't think you can compare the problematic 1970's Lotus' with the Elise. Plus who cares, when you drive the Elise you can forgive it so much because it is so much fun.

every one who likes driving should own an elise at least once IMO.

http://www.twin-turbo.co.uk
http://www.hillclimbandsprint.co.uk/default.asp

A man without a project is like a like a woman without a shopping list.

was it your daily car ben?

If so, what was it like to live with? Obviously there's no boot or space for anything. Other than that how is it?

There's a few comments here regarding it being a daily driver
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.a...361217&f=15&h=0

got me looking at bloody exiges now! lol!

Although the focus RS is a good track weapon for the money and seems to hold its value well. plus its fine as an everyday car.

Faster than a scooby round the track apparently. I know i kept up with a new scooby turbo with suprising ease.

after reading the PH thread i started looking too! Luckily i can't afford one.

Maybe in a few years.

elise is a girls name for a girls car. dont be a hair dresser