I like these wee cars but is there any competition between the impreza and an elise on the open road? I had a go at one the other day and was a bit disappointed as I expected it to take off on me and well it didn't!! please no comments about him not trying as I know he was I didn't overtake him cause I would have been over the speed limit The truth is I don't know if I could have overtaken him safely on the road we were on.

 

Ricky,
Please don't be offended But very much depends very much on the road, the road conditions and the Driver

Generally(but not as simple as that) on a tight twisty roads the Elise should eat a overweight Impreza. The Elise may faulter where higher speeds and poor grip situations but these cars are very nimble and aesomely fast in good hands IMHO AFAICRC etc. Don't under estimate them

Tony

 

and that's a fact. The road was wet and he accelerated like a loony started to lose traction and I flew past him

 

i had ago at one a couple of days back, between several set of red lights on a dual carrageway. there was absolutly nothing in it untill about 60, then i was pulling away. dont think his was standard though, different louder exhaust, probably decatted.
must say though i was quite impressed. (well untill he stalled it off the last set of lights - then there really was no chance in catching me!)

Simon

 

I dont underestimate them as I said I really like them, but I was a bit surprised at how easily I kept up with him. It was out of a tight right hander and he may have been loosing traction but never the less still surprised as I thought they were the ultimate handling car (affordable anyway)

 

...try that against a new 111R and you'll probably be eating his dust.

I love Elises, thinking of trading in my 285bhp WRX for one currently.....

 

I had a Williams Clio a few years ago, running 190bhp and was test driving other cars, one was the Rover engined Elise. After 45 mins I got out and oppted for the clio to drive home in.
Felt slower, OK you closer to the ground, which gives you the extra feel of speed.
Braking was good but felt very unsafe at high speed braking, to light.
SO my choice at the time was a Scooby and still is with the one of 500 WR1's.

DOn't forget the little extras like............. the LOTUS has none and a rover engine as well, not what I would call bullet proof.
So in the end not what I was after, but if it's your thing enjoy as it's a fun thing to drive, but watch out for that WR1 creaming you on the outside of the bend.

 

I've had plenty of duals with the said vehicle.Got a mate with s1 elise and another with an exige.From a standing start there's nothing in it up to sixty then the scoob and the exige pull away having the extra grunt.They do have a very noticable problem overtaking if the speed is already high again due to the lack of grunt but you can't deny they are great cars and in the right hands can be a real pain in the ***.

 

Gents,

I used to have a S1 111s with a supercharger, was putting out about 220bhp in a 700kg car. The Elise had everything done to it, uprated suspension, brakes etc.

I tried to like it, but it just didn't do it for me. It was not as quick as my old EVO V, RX7 or my currant RA on the road and to be honest my RA is quicker on most tracks.

It didn't half look cool though!!!

Dom

 

I'm failing to see how a 220bhp 700kg car is slower than an EVO 5, or RA unless the scooby and EVO were massively modified. It has a power to weight ratio of 314bhp per tonne which is WAY more than a standard evo or RA!

I've played with a few elises and the result is always the same. Owing to their power to weight ratio they are very good between 10-80mph and will stay with scoobys no problem but above 80mph the scooby starts to pull away quite easiliy as the elise just don't have the outright power to pull hard at those speeds. Very able cars though

 

In two average drivers(go one, admit you are a average driver ) hands, I don't believe there is much in it. A friend has the S2 111S and another with a S1 sport 160. On the road the S2 owner preferred my old car (Sti4), thinks it's quicker and lets face it, in terms of practicality the Scoob wins before it even starts...

On track the Sport 160 had to be driven very hard and very agressively, neither of us could overtake the other but I felt I was driving far more within the limits of the car.

On the drive to the track, I was three up, full of track wheels, jacks etc and 5 peoples over night stuff, the Elise was two up.
We had the a/c on and lovely music calming our way through the snowy roads of Cambridgeshire, we only just noticed the phone go from the Elise to tell us to slow down because he couldn't keep up and his back end was twitching at anything over 50 LOL

 

I had an Elise S1 with the Lotus Sports suspension (about 2 inches lower than than standard) with the Sport 135 engine pack (140bhp and revved to 7,500rpm with real gusto) with a full decat Raceline exhaust.

Straight Line it would lunch my M3 Evo up to 80mph but after that the sheer power of the M3 left it for dust.
In the twisties the roles were reversed - in fact I don't think I ever had anything outrun me cross country!
An autstanding machine, but my 03 WRX is much more comfortable to commute in and almost as fast when really needed ........ but I still miss the way the cornering forces could crush you into the seat!

 

Yep a scoob will kill them in the wet! Not really a car designed for the UK ; too basic and theres too much rain here!

 

I guess the figures don't add up....a bit like the WR1's!!!

The EVO and the RA are pretty well modded and set up for a lot of track use...so was the Elise though.

At Llandow or Anglsey the Lotus would have an advantage, but at Castle Coombe Goodwood etc the Lotus would come off second best.

I have a favorite streach of road which I've used to bechmark all my cars for the past 10 years, the lotus again was slower than the jap saloons.

On track the Lotus was a lot quicker than a standard 111s.

Still the best looking car I've ever owned

 

I came across a tricked up Exige yesterday on the M1 near Northampton yesterday and it unsportingly out-accelerated me by a fair margin after road works.
Chucked out a fair amount of oil though as it went past.


Nick

 

What about a VX220 turbo as they eat the Elise for breakfast!

 

standard straight line drag racing at santa pod. UK spec impreza with full decat exhaust (only mod) absolutely caned 2 or 3 s1's up the track.

 

Elise's are fast providing you haven't got

a) a FULL tank of fuel
b) or a passenger
c) or a big beer belly
d) or too many CD's in the glovebox
e) or a steep hill to climb

 

I must have missed something when I test drove one.
for me it was the pants, bag of bolts, slow as an Ox and the handling was like trying to tame a wild pig, dam ugly to look at, girlie car as the only thing that you can use inside is the mirror for doing your hair and make-up.

Muffleman, you for got, if you have a beer belly you would never get in to the dwarfs car.

And it's got a Rover engine, errrrrrrrrrr

conclusion:
It's a plastic lunch box!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry to the couple of peeps out there that like the car.

That's my bit of ****.
which I'm sure there's someone out there that will pull me to bits for this

 

I battered one once on a dual carriageway.....if that helps anyone.

 

Clive

You are right. I've owned a 340R - excellent in some respects but disappointing in the round.

The answer to all these questions depends on how many cars people can afford to own at once. Rather than buy a new WRX, possibly buy a late turbo for day to day use and an early Elise for sunny days as Lotuses don't like the rain. Bodyshops do though!

 

Bike talk, but a scooby dusted me on a straight when on my ZX7, got upto about 130 before I could have passed. Changed that for an R1 and wheelied past an elise who thought he was the bollo**s at 80. Make your own mind up but, go for the scoob. STi OWNER.