Have any of you thought of trading your Boxster / Cayman S for an Elise or Exige?

After a friend took me for a ride in his, I've been seriously considering it. It would cost me about $10k to make the move. The Porsche handles great, is nice and reliable, but the Lotus is just something else. Besides the obvious money difference, what are the pros of keeping the Porsche and not buying the Lotus?

 

I considered the Lotus when shopping for my 987.
I ran into an interesting post on a 986 forum by someone who had a Boxster, sold it to get a Lotus and regretted it. If I remember correctly, the handling etc were fenominal. However what got to him was the utter lack of comfort. It just wasn't comfortable to drive in.

Yeah, its hard core. But after a while it gets tired. He sold the Lotus, and got another Boxster. He hasn't looked back since.

I got the Boxster and couldn't be happier either.

Yes, this is second (third?) hand knowledge. But consider how often you'll be driving the car. Daily? Only at the track? Maybe your buddy will trade you your car for his Lotus for a week etc. That'll give you an idea.

 

I was looking at one also when I was in the market for my Boxster S.
I decided to go with the Porsche because it was a lot more comfortable and better for daily driving(even though I bought it for weekend driving).
Plus I don't know if you're married, but if your wife is wearing a dress the Lotus can be a little more difficult to get in and out of.

 

I was also looking for an Elise when I happened to see a Boxster at a similar price (both 1 year old with 6,000 miles or less). My wife, not knowing a thing about cars was OK with my going for the Elise which shocked me. Again she had never seen the car UP CLOSE. When I found a Boxster at the same dealer I rationalized that she would get into the Elise 1 time and never again whereas she would be more likely to enjoy the Boxster every now and then and therefore be supportive of things I wanted to do to it. I wound up going for a Boxster (not the one at the same dealer as the Elise but one with only 3900 miles) but still look all the time at whats available with Elises. I think the Elise is a bit more exotic, certainly more unique and hardcore and for as little as I use my car it would have been fine for me and perhaps a bit more collectable and "special". But if marital happiness must be considered I don't think its a choice. If you go for the Elise I definitely wouldn't go "new". There are tons of very low mileage cars out there for well under 40K. Just my 2 pennies.

 

Hi Andy -

I just traded my 2006 Elise in on an RS60 Boxster. I had the Elise for 2 years and loved it, my car ADD kicks in every 24 months or so and there is no cure except to get a different car! My wife would really like someone to find a cure for this disease...

As a car nut I look at everything when my ADD acts up - I test drove the Boxster S 2 years ago and liked it as well but I wanted something "completely different" at the time.

Here's my take on the differences after a couple of weeks of Boxster ownership-
a) The Lotus is very raw - that's good and bad. The ride with the sport suspension is very tight and the cornering is unbelievable. I had a 22 mile commute on nice freeway / toll road so it was a lot of fun - if you have a lot of broken pavement around it wouldn't be so good. The Porsche is much easier to live with as a DD.
b) The Lotus gets a lot of attention over the Boxster. If you like to have unique cars and enjoy talking to people at gas stations and red lights you'll like the car.
c) The Lotus top takes 2 to 3 minutes to put on - my commute was from garage to garage so I didn't put the top on too often and drove another vehicle if it was going to rain all day but if you have to park outside for work you'll need to get used to putting the top on and off. I did get caught in a few rain showers and if you drive at 50 mph in the rain you won't get wet but it puts the adventure back in motoring to some extent.
d) Build quality and refinement - Porsche is 10x better. The Lotus is a fiberglass car and you'll be tightening things up every once in a while. I would call the Lotus air conditioning and heat "hopeful" - designed for the British climate. I enjoyed the Lotus for it's pure simplicity and am enjoying the Porsche for it's sophistication.
e) Power - Porsche wins hands down. The Lotus philosophy is "less is more" so the car is designed to weigh almost nothing and only has 190hp. The Lotus is more "tossable" - the Porsche more powerful. Both are very well balanced mid engined cars.
e) Safety - the Lotus is smaller and lower than the Porsche and doesn't have things like side airbages. In a crash you'd be better off in a Boxster. You need to drive very defensively in the Lotus - don't drive in other people's blind spots - think 4 wheel motorcycle.
f) "Fun Factor" - you'll have to drive the Elise and decide if you like it.

You'll want to look at what you want to use the car for and the kind of car you like to drive. You can get a low mileage well cared for Elise in the low 30's, an Exige S (more power but no targa top) in the high 30's to low 40's and I just got a terrific deal on a "used" RS60 with 325 miles on it that I stumbled into that shows you can get a great car at a very reasonable price in this economy.

If you want more details PM me and we can arrange a phone call.

Happy driving!

 

Size comparison pic

 

Eh, excuse me Mr. Elise driver...you're parked in a handicapped parking spot.

And I know damn well no handicapped person could ever get in and out of an Elise!!

 

Yes, you must be able to bend like a pretzel like to get in and out of an Elise!

One of the mods done to my Elise was a tilt up steering wheel - it really helped getting in and out of the car, especially with the roof on.

 

great write up Topgear - those seats in the Lotus really look serious!

my first time driving a convertable- it was an 08 Boxster the dealer lent me for a long weekend - i got caught in 3 seperate rain showers. at the right speed it was kind of neat but i woudn't want to repeat!

 

that cracked me up!

 

I went from an Elise to Boxster S back to an Elise in the past year. Random thoughts:

1. Boxster S is a grown ups Elise. More comfort, easier to get in/out with roof on. Leather everything in the S, plastic everything in the Lotus.
2. The Elise feels and sounds like a grown ups go-cart. Rattles ans squeaks are to be expected.
3. Elise, you will feel every expansion joint in the road.
4. Elise, attention getter, more or less dependant on the color you chose, but all of them turn heads.
5. Boxster, more features, a/c works, power top.
6. Elise, more fun, I drove my first Elise as a DD as well.... 17k miles in less than a years worth. I drove all weekend in the Hill Country and back with out any problems. ( I'm 6'4" 220lbs )
7. Boxster S can upgraded ( pss10's and exhaust, etc ) to be more like the Lotus..

Bottom line I think is DRIVE both and see what you think after an hour with either...

They are both fun, but I am an Elise guy for now ( with a couple other cars in the garage for other needs..LOL )

Steve

 

I'm curious about Elise reliability, any thoughts or storires?

Thanks

 

Had an Elise for 2 years, 12,000 miles and had no issues, no real big reliability issues expressed on the Lotus forums. Service costs were very reasonable.

Toyota engine is very reliable, suspension is very solid.

Issues from the forum:
a) rattles and squeaks - like SAFE4NOW says it is a go kart
b) front and rear clams are one large piece each - very expensive if they need to get replaced. If you get minor damage you can take them off yourself and take them to a good Corvette body shop rather than taking on a big insurance claim on the title.
c) a/c stops working - known issue fixed under warranty

Lots of good information on the main Lotus forum - lotustalk

 

Are there any upgrades for the Exige/Elise. I love the Exige S. I'm 43....am I too old for an Exige?

Dave

 

Toyota driveline... enough said, right? Change your own oil, the engine air filter is easily replaced after you figure out how to do it the first time! IMO, tires will probably be your biggest expense.

The whole reason I got my Elise(s) was exotic car look and performance with Toyota upkeep...

BUT, I went in knowing what to expect. I think alot of ppl purchased one because it was cool... with out thinking it through, then hated it!

My suggestion is still.. go DRIVE them both, it will become clear which fits your needs.

As for power, I can honestly say that I have never wished I had " more power" ... the cars weight + HP it has is good balance. You may add a supercharger or turbo kit.. but why? If you want faster... buy a Z06 or ZR1... LOL

S

P.S. YOU are never too old for a Lotus!