Some of you may or may not know, but aside from my Countryman, I have an '07 Lotus Elise...Anyway, a friend of mine called me back in January and told me he had an Exige S in his shop that was for sale - for a price I couldn't refuse! Next thing you know, it's in my driveway!



I haven't put 200 miles on her yet and I already ordered a few grand worth of goodies to make her do everything better...

 

Wish that was in MY driveway......Can we see a picture of the Elise? I adore them way beyond reason...

Is there a good site that shows the differences between the Elise and the Exige?

 

Very nice, but are you parking it outside?

 

Only when I bring it home. Otherwise it's in my office in a garage 99% of the time if I'm not driving it.

Sure!

The primary difference in my model years (both '07), is the Elise is Naturally Aspirated, and the Exige is Supercharged. Other than that, the only shared panels are the doors. The front clam is slightly different, the grille on the Elise is plastic louvers, and the Exige is a black aluminum mesh. The Exige comes standard with the sport package, where it's an option the Elise. The rear clam, the Elise has a rear window you can see out of (although you can't see much, but you could still see SOMETHING), and the Exige's tail is covered. Generally the Exige is more aggressively tuned than the Elise.

Here's some pics of both my cars and the visual differences. Elise pics are during random times, before mods, after mods, etc...But this will give you enough of an idea to see the differences:

 

Thanks for sharing that! The Elise is my absolute favorite (not meaning to disparage your new purchase at all LOL). Was it reliable/expensive to maintain?

 

It's a Toyota motor, so it is pretty reliable. It has some typical British electrical quirks, but for the most part is reliable. There are some factory parts that are known to either last a long time, or break in a short time, but there is a wealth of aftermarket stuff that you can get to improve on. Biggest issue with this car is the fact that it's been sitting for a few years, and there's air in the cooling and fuel system, so all sorts of things are going wrong as a result. I'm in the process of tearing down and fixing what hasn't broken yet to make sure it doesn't break in the future (like the OE radiator, which is notorious for developing stress cracks), as well as draining and putting new fluid in every part of the car that needs it. That should do it!

 

That's cool to know. I would consider one in the future (very used of course still
a bit too much for me and the backseat is handy right now).

 

So what's the cost for something like that? ;p

 

Not as much as you think. Both my Elise and Exige are 2007 model years, and the Exige's are more rare and also fetch more money, but for 2005-2007 Elise models, you can get one anywhere in the $25k- $35k range, sometimes even less if it has more miles on the clock. Not a whole lot of money for an "exotic"!

 

Wow! That's really not bad but I really am swinging for that supercharged version.

 

You just have to be careful how you lift them...

(Yeah, that yellow one that fell off the lift? Belonged to a buddy of mine.)

 

You don't have to tell me that!

 

I can't tell you how much I have drooled over these photos! My son wants an Exige, and thinks yours is just terrific, but a yellow Elise like yours would be the car that I would choose out of anything in the world. There's just something about them. Thank you also for taking the time to list the differences between them, now when my son and I play 'spot the Lotus' we can better guess which model it is. :-) Congrats on your beautiful exotic cars!

 

Wow. Those are absolutely sexy cars. I don't think they could ever take a bad picture!!


Congrats! I love it when good things happen for people. I hope you get lots of joy!!

 

If I may ask, does the supercharged model have a better supercharger than what Mini installed in their cars ?

Also, the work space around the motor looks a bit tight, or is that just the photo ?

Thanks for sharing your Great looking cars !

Maybe someday I may be able to just drive one for a few laps . . . . . . . . . . . .

 

Congrats! What a fantastic buy!

Best of luck and enjoy your mods that you've purchased.

 

I'm not sure what MINI put in their cars, but if I recall. the Lotus has an Eaton MP62 Supercharger. As for the space, it's just the photo...The garage has 10 lifts..

 

Ohhh just realized you're talking about the space around the engine bay! It is a bit tight, but once removing the underbody panels, you have a bit better access around the engine...