S3 Elise unveiling in March?

[Corranga]

I was leaving him to his delusion, TBH. Too many arguments floating about this weather to start that old chestnut again...

I suppose it depends how you view the cars. I'd say the S2 is a modern looking car (which of course has had some small styling tweaks to keep it fresh) but the S1 is a timeless, proper modern classic.

Personally, I think if you were to ask me which of the Elise variants has aged best, i'd probably say the vx220...

Chris

[vx220]

Personally, I think if you were to ask me which of the Elise variants has aged best, i'd probably say the vx220

Good lad

[tut]

Although it would be good to see them do something radical, they would have to keep the cost of the new model right down, especially if they are going to put a 130hp engine in it, and there is no way that they would get near the 730kg of an early S1.

As Craig says, there is a lot to be said for getting back to a low powered, light, basic, Elise, but that depends on how you use it. Track work aside, although it was fun on the lower stages of the Alpine passes on Stelvios, at 8,000ft on the straighter sections it was just frustrating, not so much for me as I never had less than 180hp, but certainly for 118hp cars. They just ran out of steam. For a Scottish_Elise road run the power does not come into it so much, though lightness does, but you will still feel it even on Glenshee and the Lecht. If you enjoy travelling in the same group, you will not be able to stay together when there is 100hp difference between the lowest and highest powered Elises, and 140hp between an Elise and an Exige. This is of course not taking different driver abilities into account.

tut

[BiggestNizzy]

"I think the S2 has aged quite well, certainly better than the S1........"

Busy at the moment, but I am sure someone could start a thread on that statement alone.

tut

I was leaving him to his delusion, TBH. Too many arguments floating about this weather to start that old chestnut again...

Aesthetics are subjective no right or wrong answer some people will prefer S1's some S2's some even VX's they can't be wrong because that is for whatever reason the one they prefer.

[mikeyb13]

One thing is certain when any new Lotus is launched: there will be loads of comments on here and Seloc saying that it is :a) too expensive, b) too heavy, c) not as good as the old model owned by the person making the comment

Ill go with (c) as being the most common answer.

S1,S2,vx220, Europa, Esprit, Elan, Seven and Evora any of these will give you a big .
Cant see the S3 being any different.

[j2 lot]

S1,S2,vx220, Europa, Esprit, Elan, Seven and Evora any of these will give you a big .
Cant see the S3 being any different.

Well said

[ryallm]

"I think the S2 has aged quite well, certainly better than the S1........"

Busy at the moment, but I am sure someone could start a thread on that statement alone.

tut

I was leaving him to his delusion, TBH. Too many arguments floating about this weather to start that old chestnut again...

Aesthetics are subjective no right or wrong answer some people will prefer S1's some S2's some even VX's they can't be wrong because that is for whatever reason the one they prefer.

Exactly - nothing delusional about having a different opinion on aesthetics. The s1 was always a bit too retro to my eyes, but its good we don't all like the same things I am hoping the S3 may have a a bit of of Evora about it - wasn't that keen on the Evora at first but it has really grown on me a lot. From a purely aesthetic point of view I also hope the S3 Elise doesn't have those horribly skinny 175 tyres they put on the S2.

[scott_e]

Interesting thread guys, very excited about S3 derivatives. So how long before we can expect to see an actual production run ?

[Sanjøy]

Less ICE tech more light weight tech pls.

http://www.carbonfibergear.com/carbon-t ... da-cinque/

[kenny]

Looking forward to the S1 v S2 v S3 arguements.


Fingers crossed for a good car.

[vx220]

If they are going to put 130bhp engines in then surely they will have to lighten it up some, 130bhp and 900kg's just cant be much fun, surely they should be aiming more for 600kg and coming in around 700kg?

[GBOBM]

You would expect the 1.6l to be a bit lighter at least?!?

[Shug]

Talk is the engine is around the 100kg mark. Heavier than the K, if that's the case. New VVA chassis architecture has the potential to be lighter for a given stiffness, IIRC, as they know the technology so much better now (the 111 chassis is much stronger than it needs to be in some areas) Also, the original design team are quoted as saying they had regrets that they couldn't use more sophisticated materials in the S1 (and S2) due to cost. Things like carbon fibre are much cheaper to implement on an industrial scale these days and they know they have a market for the car, so the design budget will be much higher.

Very interested to see where they take it.

[Scotty C]

I can't see a 130bhp car selling - how many Elise 'S' have they sold? I bet not many.

And how many people who have bought the Elise 'S' have moved onto 111r or s/c?

[ryallm]

I can't see a 130bhp car selling - how many Elise 'S' have they sold? I bet not many.

Agreed. Performance expectations of the market have moved on a long way since the original 118bhp S1 Elise was launched. With hot hatches routinely sporting well over 200bhp these days 130 doesn't look like much, even if the Elise has alway been more about finesse and involvement than straight line grunt.