DarrylV8

GKP, As our 2010 Cup 260 was just shy of £50K with all the "soft" options think the V6 will push £50K especially in SC guise we have our name down for one; hoping it comes in at 345+horses and weighing in around 1050kg mark; doubt we are the only ones knocking at a Lotus showroom over the next few weeks!

you may wish to try Joe Lloyd; [email protected]

Hope Dave is enjoying the rest, he was very helpful on a large number of occasions Esprit, Elite and the little Elise he will be sorely missed next time i need help

We have asked why such a big increase in weight 57kgs I will say I think Lotus have got the S right (if you want more power than 350ish you will have to wait for the new Esprit?), waiting for a demonstrator drive then should be getting an addition to the family,

If this is a true leak from the factory, MR Lotus we will be looking at an Evora SC; not impressed

Col If its the 160 111S then the red tell tale should be 7100rpm Your 2002 should already have the steel dowells so you should be ok HG wise the important thing is the temperature once you have a reading; no reading on the dash till about 72C you should be ok Darryl

The 2011 Elise S or the basic Elise is now a 1.6ltr engine with about the same performance as the out-going 1.8ltr S version, due to much lower emmissions demands from the EU, with the European Elise/Exige cars having to have new engine by the end of the year (2010); maybe the Elise range keeping 1.6ltr with tuning and SC it will be the Exige that will determine the engine way forward small V6?? The Evora 3.5ltr has a very low C0 reading as standard; 209 which is not that bad compared to the out-going 1.8ltr Exige 260 engine at 199 We are both looking forward to the Paris show for details on the Evora upgrades with interest!

Bibs, We got the discount being members of Lotus on Track, but thanks for the reminder will renew next week when we get back from Spa

We were with Endsliegh although cheap would not cover the car for the track; have switched to Competition Car Insurance in Nottingham; 3000M/year with 6 track days cost £584 for both Sue and me driving

Frosty, Over to Darryl with his views on the stereo/kill switch argument! We do far more touring than track driving, hence the reason we ditched the kill switches (both internal and external) the fire extinguisher and the "A" frame. However on saying that we havent had the stereo on that much, as we tend to have the windows down listening to the SC roar! Not sure if the rear speakers are needed as there are a couple on the dash but as you say if you need the rears then you can't have the "A" frame. We are at Strattons this Saturday (19th) the 260 having it's first service, the following weekend we are going over to Nurborgring and then (back) to Spa for a track day with a group of Nobles, another Exige and a Lambo, if you are around Sat morning we will be having one of Guy's famous coffee's you will be able to get Sue's/womans view on the 260.

Hi Kevin, Did you manage to get the top of last weekend? We are taking the 111R to the Le Mans 24hr in a few weeks will let you know when we will be in/around your part of the world, we both would like to have a good look at your seats thinking of replacing the old non probax seats in the 111R, and after a few pointers before we speak to SMC

I drove one at the first LEF factory day, and enjoyed the drive. Sue and me looked at a couple of Europa's for sale when looking at the Audi R8 and a Lambo (long story on rejecting these 2) before going for the Exige Cup, now waiting for the Esprit replacement (and 1 of the reasons for rejecting R8 and Lambo).

Paul, We had a test drive in the Evora, neither of us enjoyed it; just did not give us a "wow" got to have, we always have liked the Exige and had a test drive in a second hand 260 (about 18months old), had a chat with Guy (MR LOTUS) and the rest is history as they say.

Frosty, Did you place your order for the Cup 260 All i can say is F**king wow now that we are well up the "rev" range, corners like sh1t on the shoe According to Sue it even brakes like nothing else; going to hot into a series of bends and mid corner had to shed loads of speed no drama exited picking up speed The car truely is awesome, can't wait till the new Esprit

Sue drove the new 260 out of the Stratton's showroom just after midnight, although we are limited too 4500rpm for the first 500miles only one word describes the little racer "awesome", we both had huge smiles after our little driving stints Sue driving the first 1.5hour and me the final 50minutes. Neither of us even switching on the cd player!

Hi Simon, Just waiting till the 1st March to collect our Cup 260 from Strattons (not far from your base), we wanted the Cup version 260 with the associated carbon fibre; Ours is not standard however we have gone for the chrome orange and deleted the complete fire extinguisher system, electrical cut outs and the A frame and have added the following; Air con, central locking/alarm/immobiliser, cd/MP3/IPod/radio, carpets + sound deadening, mud flaps, driving lamps, rear tailgate strut, cup holder all carried out whilst on the production line, and as we are hoping to do a fair amount of touring we have got the dealer to relocate the accu-sump unit. We also went to the factory to see the car on the production lineDH 10 SJH.pdf Hopefully we will see you soon in an Exige Cup

Sad news indeed for ALL Lotus fans, hopefully you will have some well earned rest Mike. Really happy i went to the 60th party BBQ now. All the best from Sue and me, Mike and family.

How is 250 a quarter of a century? I think that's the American quart, sorry couldent resist that one!

Are they the later type that recline?

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Paul C Nice little thread, thanks for that

Nice shade of purple.... Good god my dad's 75 years old and gets in/out easier than that, maybe a bit of national service to get your body functioning properly....

Easier to drive than the real car.......quote from LH after testing this week

TBH can't ever see me getting rid, yes expensive to run but still the ultimate Lotus, now on my second S2 Elise good fun to drive and being lighter than the Esprit so much easier to track (especially if your a crap driver like me). When I purchased the first S2 a 2002 111S was looking at selling the Esprit to fund an Exige, my daughter reminded me of the times when she was younger and used to go everywhere with me (in the Esprit touring UK & France) and how she used to help with servicing, and how much fun I would have taking Cory (my grandson) in future years. On the odd occasion when the weather has been ok to get the roof off (a very easy & quick two minute job) the little Elise has proved it's worth, so the Esprit is relegated to quick short Sunday runs and touring holidays in all weathers, the Elise even with the hard top on is ok for the weekend away only with such a tiny rear boot, but it can be used on a daily basis although i did suffer dead bum syndrome on work related runs to Cardiff last year.