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Originally Posted by noshun
Try racing a series 1 Exige! No chance! Or a 340R. They were the more 'Hardcore Elises!' The Federalised Elise lost some of it's wonder to me being from England and seeing elises almost everyday while I was there. I do love the things though and remember back in 96 when I first saw one! a BRG beauty! Not to sound cynical or anything but the Vauxhall VX220 is better and Gm should have brought that here! It's an Elise built by the same guys on the same assy line but has an ecotec in it with the second wave running a turbo! 220hp! Beside Lotus tuned the new series 2 elise for understeer, although you can get oversteer the Series 1 should have scome accross the pond but the federalisation rules quoshed that Hence the Toyota 1.8 VVTi-L motor that is used inthe Celica and MR2 so had already passed the 100,000 mile endurance test that an engine from an import company have to pass to sell the veh here in which no parts, not even belts are allowed to be changed. I do think it was a change for the better over the Rover K-series motor that were 10 year old Honda motors! The power to weight ratio of a euro spec using the Toyota motor surpasses the federalised version although that is still sublime. Even a heavier car with the same power to weight ratio would lose to it as it has less mas to move so will have a higher traction threshold! Besides the Elise was designed for corners! not drag strips! I read an artical where the faced a Ferrari 360 Challenge Stradale againt the Elise 111R after the toyota swap. They couldn't separate them on english roads! The Elise was Too nimble! The S2 Exige even more so!!
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Ummm... some nice points, but:
1.- The 340r and the Series 1 are much less hardcore than the Federalized Elise a.k.a. 111R. They have 25% less power, are much slower (both acceleration and top speed), and they achieve much less lateral acceleration at the skidpad.
2.- The Vauxhall VX220 is NOT faster than the Elise, they has been tested numerous time head to head, the Elise beats it around the track, can pull more lateral acceleration, and has much better handling and suspension. The Vauxhall VX220 is of course now discontinued.
3.- The understeer tuning is for regular city driving. If you get the sports package it's a whole different story.
4.- The Federal Elise has the same power to weight ratio as the "Euro Spec" 111R, the only difference is over there you can decide to not get the airbags+abs, in which case you'd be correct.