I would suspect that the Elise and the S2K are closer in price in GB.

 

Well I've put a good number of miles in Elise's and S2K's and...

For a second car where you don't need to carry anything, the Elise is the better car in every respect except fit and finish. The Elise is a complete piece of shit, but it's fast, extremely fun to drive, they handle/brake/accelerate great. They are simply one of the most fun cars that I can imagine owning.

If you can live with the.. uhmm.. lack of features and minimalistic interior build quality, get the Elise, otherwise get the S2K.

I would not own an S2000 if I had the money for the Elise to dump on a second car, but that doesn't mean I regret buying the S2000. I love both cars and truely enjoy being able to go shopping for more than a 12 pack of beer in it

And I'm surprised that there hasn't been much leg humping yet

Edit: aw crap, you are in the UK aren't you. I missed that.. well I've never driven an UKDM Elise and unless they now have the Toyota motor they aren't as easily compared to the US model..

 

good point.. I didn't even consider that

 

Get a Lotus!

 

True enough. That's why I opted not to get the hardtop. It seems to be an 'off in spring, on in fall' sort of thing.

If you have the base softtop, without the padding, it will even fit behind the seats.

 

what engine does the uk version have?

 

Well as someone else mentionied "lack of features and minimalistic interior build quality"
If you check out the lotus forum you will find threads explaining how to fix lots of items and align body parts on brand new cars! .. 400 miles and how do I fix my windows... align lamps....
Now price a rear body section for it and then price a rear bumper for a honda. My buddy has an 02 v8 twin turbo esprit and quite a few things on that car are poorly designed and badly engineered. I wouldnt get the elise.
Did you test drive both? What are you leaning towards? were you able to reomve and replace the top without much issue?

 

I mentioned that, and I would STILL get the Elise in the US.

The Espirit is worse than the Elise, but none of that matters once you drive an Elise. If my friend offered me an even trade between his elise and my S2K I'd probably take it.

And no, I'm not putting down the S2K, but I really love driving the Elise

 

I want them both. I'm not going to sell my S2000; the question is whether I can afford to get an Exige or if I'll just find a used Elise.

 

I'd skip the Exige. With the money saved, you could buy a far better wheel, suspension and safety setup and still have money leftover with which you could get real close on the aero side. Unless they get around to shipping an Exige with the extra power that it's calling out for. Then all bets are off.