Toua Posted November 3, 2005 Report Share Posted November 3, 2005 Its been in my mind lately? and WHY? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evil_Dr_Fish Posted November 3, 2005 Report Share Posted November 3, 2005 No idea WTF is an Elise 240R? Quote "When I was a kid I used to pray every night for a new bicycle. Then I realised that the Lord doesn't work that way so I stole one and asked him to forgive me." ------------------------------ G-Car Owner and Proud! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hovgaard Posted November 3, 2005 Report Share Posted November 3, 2005 The 240R, most likely. It has added lightness, and is a generally uncompromising piece of kit with (I believe) some fine shocks and tyres. Quote Jens Proud member of The Fearless Red Squadron Better living through turbocharging! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DBredS4 Posted November 3, 2005 Report Share Posted November 3, 2005 God knows but I bet it wouldn't have handled well at Silverstone today. Nothing did least of all my Esprit, it was sopping wet and the track was greasy and REALLY slippery. Almost everything overtook me but then Audi RS4 with 4WD and traction is just going to go where you point it! full throtle or not. I was struggling to stay in a straight line and miraculously managed it all day! No spins, unlike the Boxter that smashed to bits on Copse corner Armco and the Caterham that was about 3 days old that went into the pit straight armco. :-O Learnt a lot though. Dom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evil_Dr_Fish Posted November 3, 2005 Report Share Posted November 3, 2005 Glad you're in one piece Dom!!! Do you think by any chance he means an Elise An Exige Or a 340R?! Quote "When I was a kid I used to pray every night for a new bicycle. Then I realised that the Lord doesn't work that way so I stole one and asked him to forgive me." ------------------------------ G-Car Owner and Proud! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david Posted November 3, 2005 Report Share Posted November 3, 2005 Have you been reading the November EVO, Toua? Esprit vs Exige 240R article. One of each would do just nicely! David. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hovgaard Posted November 3, 2005 Report Share Posted November 3, 2005 (edited) I thought he meant the Sport Exige thing. Edited November 3, 2005 by hovgaard Quote Jens Proud member of The Fearless Red Squadron Better living through turbocharging! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul C Posted November 3, 2005 Report Share Posted November 3, 2005 I think the Exige 240r was the honda engined six speed car that me and Vicki tested out at a dealer open day? TBH were it not that they shared the nosebadge, i would not have picked it as a car to compare with the Esprit, as i thought they were quite different. Nice car the Exige. Went through the six gears a bit quickly and thought they would be more spaced but that might just have been me, or maybe thats what the idea is... *Hard car to get into BTW, my knees cracked like bad yoga!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonathan Posted November 4, 2005 Report Share Posted November 4, 2005 The Exge is the mental Elise, the 240r is an Exige on acid (ie the sport exige, as if the normal exige isn't already incredible). They have the same 1.8 engine but nearly 50 more HP with a little supercharger on it. They're pretty new/new and very rare. To answer the question, an Elise will out handle an Esprit and the S2 exige is better than that - so yes the 240r will handle better than an Esprit. Reasons : It's a focused track/race car, the Esprit isn't unless you start playing with it and taking bits off - they really are 2 way different cars. The particulars are in it's chassis design, suspension and the fact it weighs less than an Esprit. Tyres were specially made for the Elise/Exige range as well. Everything about the Elise/Exige range is to do with lightness and agility. Quote facebook = [email protected] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted November 4, 2005 Report Share Posted November 4, 2005 My business partner has a new S2 Exige and obviously I have the S4. We did a track day at Oulton a couple of weeks back, and having raced bikes way back together and done quite a few car track days, our ability is pretty much on a par. His times in his exige were around 1.5 second/lap quicker than me........he was absolutely gob smacked how well the esprit went, as he was predicting a difference of around 10 seconds/lap. My car came with absolutely rubbish uniroyal wet tyres....great for sliding and very predictable......and the exige has track day specials fitted. The differences are: 1. Brakes.....he could hit the brakes HARD and late, I had to feather mine a tad. 2. Suspension.....mid corner speed was similar, but side to side in a chicane, the exige changed direction with little unsettling roll. 3. Gear change......need not elaborate on this point. Mine had a more punch out of corners....especially slow ones........ I think an S4 with GT3 suspension would be there or there abouts with a standard exige.........a 240R though has those extra horses. I was delighted with my cars performance though.....plus I had a more civilised drive home than him......christ those exiges are noisey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lisalotus Posted November 4, 2005 Report Share Posted November 4, 2005 I test drove an exige s1 with the upgrade to s2 about a month ago, and quite frankly I dont know what the hell you,re all talking about, as I didn,t think it was a patch on the esprit . The handling was maybe a little better, but not much, the performance was crap compared to the esprit, no turbo, no surge , it sounded like hair dryer, overall nice looking car pretending to be a super car that it most definatly isn,t. I wouldn,t let one pass me on the road. Quiet frankly for the same amount of money (20k), I decided I,d rather have another esprit, I just cant make my mind up which one Quote lady esprit drivers do it fast and furious 1st lieutenant to the Fearless red squadron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonathan Posted November 4, 2005 Report Share Posted November 4, 2005 You need to see one driven propperly - the lap time on Top Gear was in the wet and it still got 1:26 which is 6 secs slower than an Enzo in the dry !!! They are ferociously quick in the right hands. Look at Clarkson when he had the S2, he slated it until Lotus came down at told him he wasn't driving it propperly and proceeded to scare the c**p out of him - the track time put in was bloody quick as well for a 111s. These are tame compared to the 240r ! I've sat in very fast Esprits (Bibs/dave Mckenna) and they do go very very fast but the Esprit as a design is not a focus track car as it has things like interior and sound proofing LOL. It does also handle very well but it is a compramise of a luxury supercar where the Elise/Exige is set on 1 thing. I will agree the Esprit is way more comfortable though The Elise/Exige with a roof on is like sitting inside a beating drum ! It is such an easy car to underestimate, and just about everyone does. I used to be biased and had pretty much the same opinion until I actually sat in the drivers seat and lived with it for a few weeks...it's not trying to be a supercar at all !! The 240r is lighter than any standard Esprit by about 150 kilos, has roughly the same power to weight as a V8, better downforce, specifically designed tyres - so on and so on. Even my little 120hp S1 compares reasonably well to an Esprit, it's not as quick in a straight line esp over 90mph but I had no trouble keeping up and overtaking Esprits on the Oxford run and I had a 10% weight penalty (ie a navigator). Put the 2 side by side, I know where my money would be. Quote facebook = [email protected] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinywillyuk Posted November 4, 2005 Report Share Posted November 4, 2005 Have a peek in the Lotus Cars news archive.. http://www.grouplotus.com/grp/news_detail.php?id=22&archive They only made 50 so it says, and when I went to the factory in early July the last had been sold. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toua Posted November 4, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 4, 2005 I was interested in buying an Elise bc its affordable for one thing. Does anyone know if the Exige is going to come to the US? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evil_Dr_Fish Posted November 4, 2005 Report Share Posted November 4, 2005 An Exige will be no more affordable than a used Stevens Turbo or perhaps an SE? S1 Elises here start form around Quote "When I was a kid I used to pray every night for a new bicycle. Then I realised that the Lord doesn't work that way so I stole one and asked him to forgive me." ------------------------------ G-Car Owner and Proud! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted November 4, 2005 Report Share Posted November 4, 2005 Have a peek in the Lotus Cars news archive.. http://www.grouplotus.com/grp/news_detail.php?id=22&archive They only made 50 so it says, and when I went to the factory in early July the last had been sold. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> They are making another 50 now............ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonathan Posted November 4, 2005 Report Share Posted November 4, 2005 Toua - I'd fully recomend the Elise if it's more in the price range and build to an Esprit, they're a lot easier to work on and modify imo - Wish I'd have done it that way around. Exige will cost more, personally I'd rather have a 111R and have the convertable option, not much between the two. Just got back from a mini night hoon actually (finished work at 4), gave it a good seeing to on the corners (although no smoke this time lol). Still job done, cheered me right up after a pretty crappy week - gonna fit the camera to it tomorrow and see what footage I can get Quote facebook = [email protected] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonathan Posted November 4, 2005 Report Share Posted November 4, 2005 Oh if you're gonna do it - do it propper like. The Ultimate Exige LOL love all the splogy orange glue on the chassis, looks like a bloody stealth bomber. I'd sell both my livers to work at Hethel. Quote facebook = [email protected] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mchlrodrigues Posted November 4, 2005 Report Share Posted November 4, 2005 Let's put things into perspective. The Esprits have a lot more torque and creature comforts, but they're 25 year old designs evolved from a 45 year old chassis design. The big difference is in torsional rigidity. Esprits work very well considering what they are, but they twist. An Elise chassis is several times stiffer. The rear suspension on the Esprit, is also less than perfect as radius arm design results in wheelbase changes with bump. The roll cages in race Esprits were essentially tube space frames tying the suspension hard points together. Perhaps one can make an Esprit quicker than an Elise with enough power, but that's brute force over finesse. The Toyota motors are less of eggbeaters than the K-motors. The Exige 240R should be wicked fast even if it doesn't sound impresive. Forget the HP, think torque. In the N/A state the ZZ2-GE need to be spun high to produce power. With a supercharger, you'll get a lot more low end grunt with linear N/A throttle response, which has allowed Lotus to lower the changeover point for the VVT-i. Rather than a race track, compare the cars on a tight B-road where the speeds are 20-80mph and see who leaves who in the dust. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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