Hey everyone, so I've been in the market for a car that would serve no other purpose than to be a fun car that I can take to the track and just enjoy driving. Most cars I've had in the past have served dual purposes and because of that I've had to make certain sacrifices, whether it be having 4 doors to take out customers or having AWD so I could drive it during the winter. Well on this one, I threw all that out the window and was on the hunt for a bare bones sports car. I was looking at everything from M3's to 911's but finally settled on one of the most fun cars that I've ever driven. Weighing in at just under 2000 pounds I present you my new to me Lotus Elise:





I drove down to the DC area this weekend and had the car delivered to my friends driveway. It's a 2005 with 25k miles, it came fully loaded with options such as a radio, a/c, floor mats, and power windows. It also came with the removable hard top and a soft top, I had my friend take the hard top home for me so I could enjoy the ride back to NJ with no roof.

If you havent driven one of these, you need to! The driving experience is unlike any other road car I've driven. Driving the Ferrari 360 feels like a cadillac in comparison. I hope to be out on the track with this in 2 weeks with the car to see how she is in her natural enviornment.

Here's some more photos:

 

cool car ! GL with it !

 

Congrats! Once you track one of those it's hard to drive anything else! Have you been to sector111.com yet?

Good luck
Exige owner

 

^Unfortunately I have been on there, looks like I'll be ordering the Katana2 in the spring. I can't resist modding...

 

Congrats on the car, they are great fun. I've owned 3 Europa, an Esprit, 3 Elises, and two Exiges.

NOTE: came out this week that Lotus is finally doing a recall on 05's and 06's to repair the oil cooler lines that have a tendency to pop off while driving, and if you survive the ensuing mahem if oil spills on your tires, your engine may not survive the rapid depletion of lubrication.

I suggest you check over BOTH your toe links (torque them, they tend to work loose, again with catastrophic results) and the oil lines at the oil cooler before you track it.

And, if you are a tinkerer, examine the cam lobes. The 05's and some 06's are notorious for lobe wear on the upper cam, which can create some problems.

If you are going to track and/or put on the katana, you definitely will want to check your cams and get the oil line recall done and get in the habit of re-torquing the toe links.

But other than that, they're great fun!

 

A dream car of mine, beautiful car!

 

^Thanks for the input regarding the oil coolers. I was planning on upgrading them but I may have the recall done first and go from there.

I'm going to be putting a lot of garage time into it over the winter to make sure its running like a champ come spring time. Already have a ton of parts ordered and can't wait to get some good driving in with it.

 

I have the same car with a Katana. A real fun toy. Yours looks very clean with tasteful mods. Best of luck !

PS.

Lid bone, booty and shower cap will make you life easier. (Sector111.com)
Take the hard top off and enjoy the sky. This car was meant to be a cab.

 

^Thanks! Might be reaching out for you before I purchase the Katana. I'm planning on doing the install myself this winter while the car is parked in the garage but would love to hear your impression of the kit. Unfortunately it is sitting outside right now as I have too many cars and not enough indoor parking spaces, so the hard top stays on when its not being driven.

 

My Katana was installed by the previous owner so I'm little help there.

I just spent a month trying to diagnose a misfire problem CEL P1302...
Turned out to be a bad plug. Fixed it for $30.

 

You will enjoy it a lot. I have the same car with the katana and tons of other stuff...it's loads of fun!

 

I've always been intrigued in that car but never had a chance to drive one. Maybe if you're in the DC area again you can take me for a ride.

 

awesome car, but too small for me...

 

still miss my chrome orange elise, it was a great car! Enjoy it, really like the door sill graphics

 

congrats on your new Elise. they are definitely fun cars to drive.