I’ve previously had a S2 Elise 111S and am about to buy an Exige has anyone here driven both and if so how do they differ to drive? I’m also trying to decide on whether to go for the 190hp or the 220hp so any info on how they compare would be good too.
the 220hp is much better on road, however next to no difference on track as the extra weight is a bit of a hinderence, all depends what you want it for?
I wouldn’t be racing it, just road use.
I’m sure most would agree on here then the S is the better option as it has more midrange torque so you don’t have to spend all you life revving it like crazy to make decent progress, you should take it on track a few times though as that is where they all come alive and make perfect sense 
Hey, I had the Elise 111R last year and this year have an Exige 190, both same Engine but when comes to handling, well exige is better, elise is more cheaper to run for the year, ie differnt tyres, makes it alot cheaper and on nice sunnys days like you know with the Elise you can take the soft top off aslong as you have a clear boot, Exige, well you can take the hard top off the 190 but move onto the S then has to stay on for cooling, conversion to soft top on Exige 190 is bout 400 pounds lol rip off. Like you should know, vis is crap from the rear on both cars even more so on the exige 190 and even more so on the exige s. My Exige 190 has never been tracked same as my last 111R. If you can afford to spend a few ��� more then get the Exige othewise get an Elise 111R or Elise S
The exiges handle better, a supercharged car would be a more relaxed road car and you can take the roof off the supercharged cars. One uy even did a ‘study’ and by opening up the hole in the roll bar cover the airflow was actually better with the roof off!
gav
what makes you think the Exige handles better? It’s the same car beneath. It has a frontlip all right, and a spoiler that isn’t even installed to the chassis…though it’s also heavier.
IMHO both cars are about equal on tracks.
[quote=jbs]what makes you think the Exige handles better? It’s the same car beneath. It has a frontlip all right, and a spoiler that isn’t even installed to the chassis…though it’s also heavier.
IMHO both cars are about equal on tracks.
[/quote]
I thought the exige had a different suspension setup??
I used to have an early s2 elise and test drove a 111R & Exige back to back, and IMHO the exige does handle better and is definately more stable at speed.
Thats not saying the elise is $hit!
Gav
[quote=Stu8urt][quote=jbs]what makes you think the Exige handles better? It’s the same car beneath. It has a frontlip all right, and a spoiler that isn’t even installed to the chassis…though it’s also heavier.
IMHO both cars are about equal on tracks.
[/quote]
I thought the exige had a different suspension setup?? [/quote]
if you go for the sport pack in the elise you get the same suspension as the exige, which is only stiffer springs. the shocks are the same.
The S2 Exige is just an S2 Elise with a hard top and different suspension! But I’m an S1 Exige owner, so I probably shouldn’t even be in this section 
[quote=jbs][quote=Stu8urt][quote=jbs]what makes you think the Exige handles better? It’s the same car beneath. It has a frontlip all right, and a spoiler that isn’t even installed to the chassis…though it’s also heavier.
IMHO both cars are about equal on tracks.
[/quote]
I thought the exige had a different suspension setup?? [/quote]
if you go for the sport pack in the elise you get the same suspension as the exige, which is only stiffer springs. the shocks are the same. [/quote]
Having driven/owned S2 elises and exiges there is no doubt in my mind the exige handles differently. You can make an elise handle differently to stock by adding bits to it but the bottom line at speed is the elise generates no downforce and the exige does and when the elise goes light at the front the exige does not.
The S1 exige is only the same car as an S1 elise with a different shell when all said and done.
having owned a s2 135r which is set up for track/road use, it was alot better than my current s2 111R for handling,
the exige has the stiffer suspension and with the sicky A048`s its deffo better handling car, prob same as the s2 135r but with out the power,
i went from an S1 elise to a 190 exige to an exige 220.
the exige felt much more planted to me out of the box,i didnt get as much feel from the elise with standard shocks etc.build quality is also much better.
power wise i hardly noticed any difference from the elise to the 190 exige due to loss of torque,but it does come alive higher in the power band and would creep away from the elise on the straights at higher speeds.
Im happy as larry in the ‘S’.in gear acceleration is much better which makes for good road driving as you will eventually tire of changing into 2nd at 45mph to overtake in the 190 car.when i first bought mine i loved changing gear all the time,but after a while i started having filthy thoughts of chopping it in for the 220.if you test drive both you’l lean towards the ‘S’ if its mainly for road use.