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They had a spot on CNN and looked at both up close and I was surprised the Lotus is only $42,000. Surprised again, GULP!, when the base Ferrari is $180,000. 490 HP engine and the big one $200,000. WHEW! The Ferrari is way out of my league but I could take a second mortgage on the house and swing 45 grand. Man, now that is one beautiful car, click around the gallery. (Put the www in front). lotuscars.com/ There was a guy who had a 1992 and raced it and he said it still ran fine because Lotus made their cars to RUN FAST. Does anyone know anyone who owns one and if so how do they like it and is relatively trouble free? Asking because I'd have to drive 150 miles to get it serviced.

Yeah, now that I've reached my golden years and retirement that is JUST what I need. YEE-HAW ! VVAARROOMM ! 0 to 60 in less that five seconds ! Are you shi##ing me? I looked at a 05 Ford TBird and they run 42 grand and I think the Lotus is a heck of a lot better looking car.

 
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Personally, I think my mid-life crisis car would be an S2000 or whatever car Honda has by the time my years are there. The Lotus Elise however is also a great car. It uses a Toyota engine and is MR. Great great combo. Much better than the MR2 for sure. Don't expect a drag race car when you get that... that isn't what it is. You can get a lot of TRD parts for the engine though, so that is always great.

 
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By the time you get the Lotus you buy this weekend, the next generation will be out. The waiting list is over 2 years.

 
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I will own at least 1 ferrari before I die, or I will live to 200 getting the money. I had that dream since I was maybe 5 and I will never die without completing it.


Personally, if I consider a $32,000 car a mid life crisis car, i really F*cked up (unless to heavily modify).
Explination on why I know ill die after at least owning 1 ferrari: Don't tell me that a ferrari is out of my range! Especially since my household income should be above $70,000/yr a year straight out of college. After 10 years I alone will be making at least $60,000 a year if someone really went wrong. Average salary where I want to live for my major is $90,000+ a year . cant wait!

 
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It actually the new celica's engine with some simple mods to make a tiny bit more hp, including a different cam IIRC? someone correct me here if im wrong?

 
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Well the car weighs just 1984lb which is about 900kilos. Its frame was designed for speed. It's not really a car for drag racing : it's made to hug corners, however let's be realistical and realise that a good set of slicks can make a huge difference, on any sports car.

IMHO the tire industry is kinda behind technology-wise. Don't get me started on the civic's stock tires (can't afford to upgrade anything for now). And no, I'm not calling the civic a sports car....

 
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ok that has nothing to do wih what i said. i was saying it has a celica engine and you talk about drag racing and tires... im lost.

i think you got side tracked and missed typing the vital part of your post. i hope

 
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about the celica engine , u r right, it's the gt-s version with ecu from a well known ecu tuner in UK, it's able to pump out 190hp, but in the UK version with the turbo it pumps out 240hp

 
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Hmm Mid life crisis car. Lotus's are nice, I would definatly go for something you never see in the US.

 
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i have seen 1 elise elise in person. On a highway, from a red light, i had the gas all the way to the floor and this orange mass passes me like I was standing still. They may be a four cylinder but it pulled pretty well, especially considering the old guy driving. They are nice cars.

 
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Acceleration wise I'm sure its fine, but top speed it'll get passed by larger displacement cars. I'm still partial to the Exige and K20 (sometimes +turbo) swaps into those things, those cars are beasts.

 
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I didn't say it uses the MR2 engine, I was just comparing it to the MR2 becuase it was another MR car and is powered by a Toyota engine...

 
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Lotus picture taken today.

If you go to the following post you will see video where a new elise passes me
http://www.7thgencivic.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=233122

 
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I see three different ones run around my neighborhood every couple of days tan, orange, and green. Not dragsters? Don't they run 13's stock?

 
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personally, i wouldn't get one. i'm not really diggin' the body design and don't get me started on the interior space. i'm 6'6" and it is damn near impossible to get into. i work valet and have driven a few. just not my cup of tea.

 
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Well a 'real' drag car, in my book, outputs over 1000hp, and that amount of power is very tricky to control effectively on a closed circuit. Then it's heavy as f*ck which means slower cornering speed.

The elise is light, so it should corner a lot faster than a drag car on a closed circuit. The power difference is almost insignificant, since you really need long stretches for the 1000 ponies to stretch their feet.

Then, for all I know, you could race a schoolbus, a WRC car, a F1 car or the elise : the fact remains that the most cost-effective solution (think 1/4 mile time per dollar) remains a dedicated drag car. Don't tell me that a used 5.0L turbo stang will get owned by a N/A stock elise on the 1/4 ... And don't tell me that the elise won't smoke the **** out of that same stang if they take it to the twisties.

I agree with you that the elise is not only fast around corners, but also on the straights, yet for whatever its price is, you could break 13's for alot cheaper (but probably not also beat the elise on a closed circuit).

What do you think?

 
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The other problem w. Elises is that the rear diffuser is one solid piece, so if you break it that entails buying another one solid piece and seeing as what its made out of, that can be very very expensive.

 
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Having seen an elise fly by me on the track I can believe it. After being passed I tried to keep up for the next couple of corners but by that time my tires were pretty much cooking so my cornering capability went down somewhat. Maybe next year with a turbo and a new set of track tires I won't get stomped quite so badly.

 
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You buy an elise, you dont keep the toyota engine, you swap it out for a k20a and go about modding that.

 
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Isn't the Celica GT-S engine coengineered by Yamaha?

 
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I don't know if the GT-S engine is, but doesn't one of the older SHO models by Ford have a Yamaha V6 in it?

High revving car engines from a company that makes high revving bike engines, doesn't seem like too much of a leap

 
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Found it.

A special cylinder head developed by Toyota and Yamaha allows it to develop 180 horsepower, for much more extreme performance. The collaboration between Toyota and Yamaha is not as unusual as one may think. The two companies have cooperated before, producing the rare and exotic Toyota 2000GT of the late 1960s. And Toyota recently bought an interest in Yamaha, to gain Yamaha's knowledge to develop Toyota racing engines for its upcoming involvement in Formula One. The 2000 Celica GT-S is not as rare as a Toyota 2000 GT or as exotic as a Formula One engine, but it gives Toyota a serious presence in the hot compact sports coupe market.

see here:
http://www.theautochannel.com/vehicl.../russ0019.html