Hey Greg, Perry et al-

There are at least five Lotus Elise's in the Chicago area. I personally saw four of them at GingerMan last year during the Fox Valley Sportscar day. All of them were equipped for the track- rollcages, Yokohama 038R tires (hard compound, dry road, equivelent, not harder, than the USA available hard compound 032R tires- 039R is the wet tire), external battery kill and external halogen fire extinguisher trigger. I think they were 140HP, but they also weigh a heck of lot less than the S2000. I also think that that is the only way they come in the USA, being a track only car. I'm not impressed with the 038R tires- in fact, I'm not really impressed with any Yokohama tire. In any case, I think the Elise is a really nice car that appeals to a very select group in the market. I just wish they figured out how to meet our crash standards...

I don't know if I'd transfer Colin Chapman's race car ideals to a street car- I remember reading that if one of his racecars made it through practice without breaking, he would be unhappy- it wasn't engineered to stay together forever, just long enough to not fly apart in a race... It also had be VERY light, but because of that, notoriously unreliable because of all the weight savings in critical areas...

-Nick

[This message has been edited by GTRPower (edited November 10, 2000).]

 

Stealth_S2k,
I saw one of these on the street last week driving in an opposite direction. I was shocked since I have read they are imported for track use only. I did not realize there is a legal street version of these available on our shore. Is somebody importing them? I wonder how the car performs after emission and crash test stuff are added in.
Greg, thanks for the picture. Is that the tail end of a Panoz?
GTRPower, I was always under impression that they are shipped with two engine options for US, 120hp and 189hp. So I assume 1.39.xx lap times are for 120hp version! If that's the case, we do not have a chance against the SP-190!!


[This message has been edited by asenna911 (edited November 11, 2000).]

[This message has been edited by asenna911 (edited November 11, 2000).]

 

I seem to remember having read something recently in one of my car mags about the possibility of GM importing these under the Pontiac label in DOT-approved form. Later today I'll look to see what i can find. It was just a rumor, sort of like the ones about show cars which may or may not come to fruition.

 

They are not importing the Elise, it is an Opel badged derivative of the Elise and not anywhere as nice IMHO.

I would like to drive an Elise with the S2000 engine in it. THAT would be an ideal combination and I believe the S2000 engine is lighter than the one they put in it.

100 more HP and lighter to boot.

 

The Elise is not imported to the US in street form for the most part. I know a guy that is federalizing 6 Elises. This must be the same guy that Stealthy is talking about. These are all 111S versions I believe. The new federalization laws are making this happen. The car will have many restrictions upon it when federalized.

I met a guy in 1999 at the Monterey historics that was an integral part of all this legislation. He had a white 959 at the Michelin display. As a side note, this guy said that he and Rick Mears were in the car the day before at 212mph somewhere in CA!!!! No lie, he said it.

There are also some "knockoff's" of the Elise. They are Elise chassis that have ITR motors in them so they are street legal. It is not a Lotus, but I can't remember the name of the manufacturer.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by meat:
[B]
There are also some "knockoff's" of the Elise.

 

http://www.pistonheads.com/lotus/elise/elise2.htm
This is the link to see the Elise II,available from January,if I recall correctly,it will be available in the beginning with 120hp engine only.

Lotus USA ;is importing only the 190 for track use.
All the other Elise in the US are or the base 118hp or the 111S with 143hp.
SunInternational in California is the company that install a Honda engine in original Lotus Elise,shipped w/out engine.
By the way ,its possible to find the tel.number of this guy in Chicago that has the street legal Elises?I will be glad to talk to him to have some info on importing mine to partecipate to the Onelapofamerica.
Giampiero

 

Hmmm... I've seen an Elise down the road here for rental so am assuming it must be street legal in Oz???

 

Hey everyone,

The Lotus Elise that is imported by Lotus USA is the only one that is affliated with the manufacturer. Thus, if that particular version is not federalised, it will take a considerable amount of cash to prove the car meets Federal DOT crash standards, on top of showing that the car has conforming OBDII emmission standards. You wouldn't believe the hoops you would have to jump through to get it legalised. Up to this day, only 17 different chassis' have been DOT and EPA certified, and that includes various double decker buses, the Mercedes/Europa Int'l Gelaendewagen, the Nissan/MotoRex Skyline GT-R, etc... Sun Int'l. has not certified the Ford Escort Cosworth despite the rumors, nor is their version of the Lotus Elise DOT crashworthy. A similar problem arose with the McLaren/Ameritech F1- Ameritech misrepresented themselves to the DOT as the manufacturers, and when USA DOT enquired about the affiliation directly to McLaren, they denied it... FYI, only manufacturers can self certify cars, not importers or grey market specialists. Those people must show proof of meeting certification in the form of crash test data.

You know, if it were that easy to get it approved, I think the manufacturer would have done so. Only a select few idealists (like MotoRex) have actually gone through the process and succeeded.

All Lotus Elises driven on USA public roads are doing so illegally, and run the risk of being impounded, then crushed. That's how our laws work...

-Nick

 

Yes, that shot was taken at Fox Valley Motorcars near Chicago. They sell all kinds of exotics...that Elise and that Panoz have both been there quite some time. They generally have 15 Diablos, all kinds of Posches, a ton of Esprit Turbos, Vipers...you name it. Very cool place...it's the place Sondra and I were coming back from when I got nailed for trying to play with that Modena...