meat

ACBC

Sounds like you are in the target market for the Elise!! Only a year to go!!

QSC5 - ACBC hits most everything I was going to say on the head. I had my Exige at a buddy's garage this weekend and we were doing some work to it and he was calling all his friend's over to come look at the car. No one left without a big smile on their face. Now, these were mostly British car guys, but several had owned Vette's, etc.

It boils down to do you want a REAL sports car or a GT car that goes fast. An Elise is everything a Vette isn't - they are on opposite sides of the spectrum. The engineering behind the Lotus chassis and suspension are second to none - they just have trouble with all the other bits you need to drive the car!!

steve c

Great, now we are all magazine racing.

I think you are setting yourself up for a real dissapointment in the Elise. Just make sure you have your left hand ready to point the Z06's by on the track, beause you don't stand a chance in hell of holding them back.

[QUOTE]However, I

meat

Steve - pure speed does not define the driving experience. I have lots of friends that vintage race and some of their cars don't go over 80mph - but they are driving the pants off those cars and loving every minute of it.

The Elise is one of these kinds of cars. Some people just don't get this. They need outright speed. I do get it and I love it. I also know what the Vette is good at. It's easy to be fast in the Vette, even if you are a bad driver. To be fast in the Elise you have to be a good driver.

Like I said above, I'm not the best driver, but I've had some good drivers in my Exige and it was fun to see what it could do (stuck to the rear of a Viper) on street tires.

steve c

That's not true at all. If anything the Z06 requires a more capable driver. Horsepower requires patience and understanding. Light weight and low horsepower combined with a modern chassis masks mistakes. Now old Sunbeam Tigers, MGB's and such did require good driving despite their low weight and low horsepower, but that was more a result of chassis / suspension and most notably tire, or lack thereof.

I understand the concept of low horsepower low weight vehicles, and in fact it's a formula I agree with particularly when discussing motorcycles (thus I own an outrageously priced and slower than the competition Ducati). It's also a formula I am in complete agreement with when discussing track cars. But then, I don't know about you but I am not going to run out and buy a brand new 40k street car with all the street trimmings and then turn around and just run it on the track. I'd rather invest in a real track car and maintain a proper street car with comfortable seats, working A/C and decent gas mileage. It's not often that these two disparate requirements cross as well as they do in the Z06.

A couple points I believe need revisiting:

1. The Lotus remains an unknown. We don't have final specifications, or at least anything concrete enough to be driven and tested by American rags. As such we are simply speculating with regards to it's weight and handling. My guess is that we will end up with a car heavier than predicted. Side impact requirements, bumper requirements etc mandate a beefier car in the States.

2. Somewhere during this thread the notion that the Z06 is a heavy pig seems to have stuck. It is not. At just around 3000 pounds it is lighter than most cars on the road today. It handles and drives like a smaller car, despite it's wide girth. While it is true that it is not a 2000 pound go-kart for the streets, neither is anything else offered for sale in America, there must be some good reasons for that.

Now, back to the original intent of this thread, if I could purchase a car to compliment my S2000 it would be the Z06. It contrasts more with the S2000 than the Lotus. High horsepower, torque, plush seats and a great stereo.

meat

Steve

All good points.

However, I can be a crappy driver and run pretty fast laptimes, because its easy to "mash the gas" in the Z06.

I also agree that buying a street car and taking it to the track is not always fun - unless you spend $$. This is why I bought the Lotus and stopped tracking the S2000.

The Elise won't be too disappointing - I think it will be around 1800lbs. They have gotten some exemptions on some the requirements from what I have heard.

The Z06 is fast - I've been around lots of them at the track - in the hands of a good driver, they are really fast.

And to the original question - I'd probably probably still buy the Elise. Although as I said in my post - The S2000 may leave so I can have room for the Elise - two Lotus garage for me!!

honda606

[QUOTE]It

kumar75150

[QUOTE]Originally posted by meat
[B]ACBC

It boils down to do you want a REAL sports car or a GT car that goes fast.

kumar75150

Personally why I prefer the Z06:

You can go autocrossing, roadracing, dragracing, or drive down the street listening to music comfortably. You can do all of these things much better than an average sports car.

With the Elise, you "might" be able to outhandle the Z06 at an autocross with tight turns. Thats about it.

nwk00

http://www.prototyperacing.com/k20kit.htm

http://www.prototyperacing.com/k20spec.htm

http://www.prototyperacing.com/radar.htm

Penforhire

Meat, I don't really feel they are at opposite sides of the spectrum. My personal enthusiasm is for cars that go fast and handle well. Both if these cars scoot. I am sure the Elise handles better, if for no other reason than weight, but I am equally sure the Z06 handles "almost" as well, based on their auto-x classification and what I've seen them do, with light suspension mods, against modded RX7TT's.

If you are REALLY hard core you'd be in line for a D Modified (SCCA auto-x classification) Lotus Elan. I've never seen a semi-streetable machine move like those (Ford Cosworth engine?). Of course, the whole car looks like it will fit in a shopping cart and it is hard to see around traffic when you're a few inches off the ground...