Hey chaps…still thinking of changing my M3 CSL for an S1 elise/exige (eventually with some sort of engine conversion in)
Has anyone else made the move from larger cars to less powerfull,lighter cars ?
I suppose one of the things holding me back is reliability and the fact that it’s potentially a 5-10 year old car that people always seems to be tinkering with or fixing ?
Interested to hear peoples experiences…
I made the jump 14 months ago from years of STi’s & Evo’s after i realized my main performance usage of the my car was trackdays, my last car did 3.5k in 11months, So i made the decision to get something more track focus but still usable on the road.
I have recently been tempted to go back, (M3 actually) after realizing that it was not really a car we could enjoy as a family, when the weather was rubbish (it rains a lot here) the exige is not really the car to be in.
BUT!!!
Every time i go out in it and give it a blast i have a grin from ear to ear and think i would struggle to find anything that is as much fun.
There is a deff trade off but i think the pro & cons depend a lot on your personal circumstances
I came from a CSL to a Exige
I miss the 50 to 110 MPh grunt of the CSL big time.
But i wanted to track a car and the CSL is just to expensvie to track on running costs.
S1 are very old now days and the roofs are utter pants but as a track only hack they are ok.
To do a S2 Honda will cost you 40k and you still prob will not want to use it as an every day car and the resale of honda cars is not good at all and can you bring yourself to spend 12k on a car then 28k on mods ? ( to do it right)
SO it all depends on
A: what cash you have
b: would you keep the honda elise for ever.
c: do you want to run 1 car or 2
I came from a CSL to a Exige
As if we couldn’t tell.
MrD06
I’m thing of going the other way and getting a CSL as toy for track days and early morning B road blasts. Why was it expensive to track - tyres and brakes?
Thanks in advance, Mark.
fuel, tyres, brakes, insurance. warranty.
every thing is over 1k each.
Mr D
You keep repeating this 40K thing, we have been through this before. S2 SC Honda with all the bits 30-31K easily with a full spec. Stick to the facts please.
An M3 CSL or virtually any other 30K car wouldn’t see which way it went.
yes we did go throught it and its 40k for a perfect spec.
14 k gets you a nice base car.
sc honda with clutch etc is 15k+
AP brakes just disks and pads is 1300
suspension and geo is 2k
wheels and tyres are 2k
roof, splitter etc 1k
seats, harness etc 1500
thats 35.5k before any nice extra’s like steering wheels, difusers side pods etc.
then show me a sub 8 minute Elise ring lap please or one that can do 180 Mph+
now these are the facts 
I CBA to go through the costings again, they are available on SELOC for anybody who wants to look, but my car (S2 SC Honda) has cost me 31.5K so far.
I am not interested in a dick waving contest but my own experiences tell me that an SC Honda should be well capable of a sub 8 minute lap of the ring with a decent driver of course.
your point there is quote
“has cost me 31.5K so far”
its pointless having a sub 10 second 100MPh car with out spending good ammount on brakes and suspension.
Agree the fastest car and prob the best car on track atm is a S2 Honds SC Elise,
I am not saying its not, but the spec I would want to build and what most people end up spending is closer to 40k and you cannot get away from that. You can even spend another 5 to 10k on top of that if you tick all the option box’s
And what exactly is wrong with brand new single way Nitrons?
I also have the latest spec EBC discs all round (allegedly much better than the old ones) with RS 14 pads. This combination will stop as well as any but its the disc life thats the potential problem, I will change them if it becomes necessary.
You really don’t NEED to spend any more, the rest is just gilding the lilly.
S1 are very old now days and the roofs are utter pants but as a track only hack they are ok.
To do a S2 Honda will cost you 40k and you still prob will not want to use it as an every day car and the resale of honda cars is not good at all and can you bring yourself to spend 12k on a car then 28k on mods ? ( to do it right)
S1s are not old now. Mine is not quite 6 years old.
What’s wrong with the roof?
SC Honda S2 for �40k?
Base car (take your pick)
that’ll kick the ass of one of your precious CSLs all day long and come away with significantly less running costs too.
S1s are not old now. Mine is not quite 6 years old.
What’s wrong with the roof?
SC Honda S2 for �40k?
Well said that man
Why is an S2 elise a better starting point than an S1 elise/exige ?
Interesting points…no wonder I’m having a hard decision!
It’s not.
They’re basically the same car (although S1 is slightly lighter).
Best from a set-up cost POV is the S1 Elise.
99.99% depends upon whether you like the looks of the S1 or S2.
Love the look of the S1 Exige…
Love the look of the S1 Exige…
then you are more than welcome here
In round figures, only 600 S1 Exiges were made. Most are in the hands of enthusiasts who are trackday regulars, & who have developed them over a few years. They rarely come up for sale, & “fully track sorted” examples are hardly ever for sale, as most owners have no intention of selling.
So,in reality, you will probably be looking to buy an S2 Exige - simply due to supply & demand.
S2 Exiges are in abundant supply, & have been produced by Lotus in various guises of trim & power. If you ultimely want to ditch the Toyota engine (tuning the base 1.8 litre 192bhp model is not an inexpensive option), then you should buy one as cheaply as possible now. For aftermarket supercharging look at the Bemani kit (Plans Motorsport are the UK agents), & for turbocharging, Weltmeister are the guys to speak to in the UK.
If you’ve �29K available, Jamie’s Bemani must be given very serious consideration see Here
If you’re in no great rush, keep your eye on the “Events” section here, or on the well known Trackday Operators sites, & get yourself along to a day where there are a few Exiges booked on. I’m sure that you’ll enjoy the passenger ride
“S2 Exiges are in abundant supply”
there are no S2 exiges for sale atm with sports pack
the ones on piston heads have already sold.
As people have said on other threads buy Jamies car for 29k no other lotus even comes close at this price.
or buy this car which is also very good value with Ohlins disks etc and then he can buy Jamies car.
ps where can you get a SC honda fitted for 12k btw ?
“S2 Exiges are in abundant supply”
there are no S2 exiges for sale atm with sports pack
the ones on piston heads have already sold.
There are shedloads of S2s around, maybe not that many with performance/sports packs, but they are out there in abundance, both privately & at dealers (over 40 on Autotrader).
ps where can you get a SC honda fitted for 12k btw ?
You’ve got to know the right people…but they ain’t located in the land of the shandy drinkers, & they only deal with pikeys like me.