The Elise Thread

[scotta]

Evo reviewing “210hp analogue Elise restomod” with tuned k-series engine

https://www.evo.co.uk/lotus/elise/20607 ... mod-driven

Someone should tell them about dan

£100k and it uses the K series

Im struggling to see where you can spend £100k on a S1 Elise. I was looking at power upgrades on the K series. 190 ish BHP from engine specialists was coming in around £6k The most expensive set of Nitrons are around £3500. full re-bush and suspension refresh would be about £1k. Looks to retain the rover gearbox with an LSD added.

[scotta]

I recall the k series in Lotus and MGs biting through head gaskets, ignoring this was it a decent engine and can it be made reliable with updated parts? Or is the na 2zz the one to go for?

Upgraded head gasket sorts this. Mine had that done before I bought it. I did 25 trackdays in it. Its since done around 4 or 5 trackdays with my mate. Were heading to croft with both next week.

[240PP]

I recall the k series in Lotus and MGs biting through head gaskets, ignoring this was it a decent engine and can it be made reliable with updated parts? Or is the na 2zz the one to go for?

IIRC gearbox issues were the Toyota’s thing, maybe not to the same extent as HGF in the K (which wasn’t that wide an issue anyway, depending on who you listened to).

[duncs500]

Evo reviewing “210hp analogue Elise restomod” with tuned k-series engine

https://www.evo.co.uk/lotus/elise/20607 ... mod-driven

Someone should tell them about dan

£100k and it uses the K series

Im struggling to see where you can spend £100k on a S1 Elise. I was looking at power upgrades on the K series. 190 ish BHP from engine specialists was coming in around £6k The most expensive set of Nitrons are around £3500. full re-bush and suspension refresh would be about £1k. Looks to retain the rover gearbox with an LSD added.

It was at the Boatshoes 25 year thing so I had a look round it. It's nice, but it's just a tidy S1 with mostly common garden bits that lots of people stick on them. There must be lots of people on SELOC with something similar for a lot less cash.

[scotta]

I recall the k series in Lotus and MGs biting through head gaskets, ignoring this was it a decent engine and can it be made reliable with updated parts? Or is the na 2zz the one to go for?

IIRC gearbox issues were the Toyota’s thing, maybe not to the same extent as HGF in the K (which wasn’t that wide an issue anyway, depending on who you listened to).

I have a big bill to back this up on the toyota box

[duncs500]

I haven't read the article, but I presume a chunk of the money is returning the condition of the donor car to somewhere near factory (or likely better). I can see how you could spend quite a lot on sorting paintwork, and just stripping down / cleaning stuff and replacing old components.

If you started off with a factory fresh car, it would be really quite cheap to do, but then you're paying a load more for the donor.

[duncs500]

I wonder how much I'll be in for on my car by the time it's finished.

[Holley]

Matt Prior of Autocar is currently running a standard 1998 Elise that's been loaned to him from a friend. Even with just 118bhp he's loving it.

Will surely be one of those cars we'll all moan about in years to come for not buying when they were £15k.

They hit as low as £6k at one point. I paid just under £10k for my one Which i sold at mates rates for £14k. Its probably worth around £16k now.

Seems insane they were that cheap, still are really. Do they fair well be left outside (being mostly aluminium and plastic) or do they really need to be garaged?

[scotta]

I wonder how much I'll be in for on my car by the time it's finished.

Spoilers...It wont ever be finished

[scotta]

Matt Prior of Autocar is currently running a standard 1998 Elise that's been loaned to him from a friend. Even with just 118bhp he's loving it.

Will surely be one of those cars we'll all moan about in years to come for not buying when they were £15k.

They hit as low as £6k at one point. I paid just under £10k for my one Which i sold at mates rates for £14k. Its probably worth around £16k now.

Seems insane they were that cheap, still are really. Do they fair well be left outside (being mostly aluminium and plastic) or do they really need to be garaged?

They absolutely dont like being left outside. They leak and the fibreglass bubbles in the frost.

[duncs500]

Pros and cons IMO. Clearly mine has been kept outside at some point (and given the miles, probably dailied), it has microblisters and the wishbones were rusty. I think those things are less of an issue than cars constructed of steel that have totally rotted. Took a lot of work on Dan's part to tidy up, but my chassis is in good shape, the wishbones are easily sorted, and soon enough any car if that age would probably benefit from a respray where you can get the fibreglass moisture issue sorted. Nothing is cheap, but it's structurally fine and most issues are cosmetic or easy to fix. I think it's a fantastic method of construction for longevity on balance.

That said, I wouldn't keep one outside now, it's still an old car that is better for being a little pampered.

[Holley]

I have a garage but have far too much stuff in it to make enough space (Mrs Holley has a double wardrobe for winter/summer clothes rotation, horse stuff etc).

Would love one and they are fantastic value.

[integrale_evo]

They were only £20kish cars new so hardly surprising they dropped well under 10 for a while while they were still making variations on the theme. Seem to remember s2 a in the early 2000s still well under 30k new.

Did many 10s of thousands of miles in k-series and never had a head gasket issue.

A lot of it was put down to poor maintenance, no low coolant warning and they cooked themselves quickly if it dropped low plus coolant shock on heavy freelanders etc where they were pushed hard from cold.

I always liked them, had a decent amount of character for a modern engine and often sounded nice.

[PaulJ]

We got one new in 1997 and happily drove from Derby to the Dordogne on holiday in it, though the missus would have liked to have had more luggage space. Bliss!

[duncs500]

Yeah, I think the K-series the HGF issue is mainly related to lack of warm up, but there's something about about the Elise layout that exacerbates the problem. Apparently less common in 7s due to being front engined, or so the community tells you.

It's a nice engine, sounded great in my 7 with RBTBs... it's no K20 though.

[Jobbo]

My S2 bought new in Nov 2001 was £26,500 - I think the base spec listed at £22,500 but they only seemed to actually sell the Race Tech or Sport Tourer versions at the time.

Just before it was 3 years old it dumped all its coolant when I took it to trade it in (didn’t get a trade-in offer ). No HGF but the cooling system always felt a bit fragile.

I did quite like the way it sounded and was happy with 120bhp too. Wonder if I would be now? I remember matching a W210 E55 AMG in a straight drag but that’s slower than my diesel Audi now

ETA: just remembered I did get a trade in offer: about £13.5k! Would have been an absolute snip for someone at that price but I gave it back at the end of the 3 years (heavily supported finance deal when we bought it).

[Matty]

The 135bhp in my S2 was an absolute peach of an engine - probably the pick of the bunch in terms of delivery; but above 60mph it did struggle and did get a bit frustrating on the quicker roads as overtaking was difficult. That being said, I'd come from the S160 and Exige previously so didn't help comparitively.

I kept mine outside, key for the roof was always to keep it well cleaned and sealed. A weather cap helped too.

My S2 bought new in Nov 2001 was £26,500 -

Interesting to see financial comparison - that's £47k in todays money.

[integrale_evo]

My S2 bought new in Nov 2001 was £26,500 - I think the base spec listed at £22,500 but they only seemed to actually sell the Race Tech or Sport Tourer versions at the time.

Definitely didn’t see many base spec cars come down the line, people used to comment when they saw one because it was pretty unusual. I seem to remember a high proportion of the ones I did see were lhd.

[Jobbo]

There were three S2 Elises bought new by Evo forum members at almost exactly the same time; Pointysquirty Justin had a dark blue one which I think was a Sport Tourer, mine was a Race Tech (both bought from dealer stock) and RugeleyElise/MarkQ had his red factory order standard car with a few options delivered. Because he added some options it didn’t really look any less well specced than mine and Justin’s, and I’m sure it would have been a couple of grand less. Those trim packs were bad value but that was Lotus trying to make a profit… plus ca change.

[240PP]

I bought my 2001 S2 at about five years old. I always thought it was a Sports Tourer (that’s what Dovehouse sold it as) but checking the difference in spec it appears it was a Racetech! It definitely had half leather/alcantara and only two speakers.

It did have carpets though (more like mats) that the ST had so maybe it was a standard car with that as an option