Which S2?

[natwest]

Ack, the Alfa saga. It had a BMC CDA intake which sucked up air from the bottom of the bay. However, it also sucks up water...

 

Bang, Psssshhhh....

 

I've been waiting for a replacement 3.2 V6 since July. Gave up, as Alfa have stopped making the Arese blocks. So was booked in with Autodelta for a 3.7 V6 conversion, insurance were chipping in. Horizon forgot to pay deposit though, so lost my slot. Probably turned out for the best, as it looks like it was going to cost me more than a few thousand to cover the difference between final bill and the insurance contribution. Gave up haggling, so getting insurance to write it off. Shame, it was a gorgeous car.

 

Thirst? I was averaging 18-19mpg without really pushing it, but that was around town. I could keep the average below 10mpg if I pushed hard. Lowest average I got was 7 On the motorway you could just about hit 30. For a 3.2, it was incredibly thirsty; Bit scary when you see EVO reporting 15-16mpg out of V12's. And the Autodelta 3.7 would have been even worse.

 

Just can't help yourself though when you hear it...sounded superb.

 

 

So I'm doing my bit for the environment and getting an Elise Will save me about £1500 a year in fuel bills alone!

 

 

Snapper, the Yoko's are my main concern on the 135R, both in cost and wet grip. I think for everyday use they're a bit OTT. I wonder how many 135R owner actually keep fitting them? They're hardly cheap. I am moving more toward the 111S, mainly due to choice and availablilty.

 

I could just take out a small loan and get an S2 Exige as you said ... would be my choice but probably not the wisest thing to do

 

Written off? Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! and again: Noooooooooooooooooooo!!!

 

With my little Liz, I reckon that I have managed to save £500 against my previous Impreza over twelve months and 9000 miles... so yes 3.2 v6 whilst they sound gorgeous, buy shares in your local garage...

[Snapper]

Snapper, the Yoko's are my main concern on the 135R, both in cost and wet grip. I think for everyday use they're a bit OTT. I wonder how many 135R owner actually keep fitting them? They're hardly cheap.

 

I am moving more toward the 111S, mainly due to choice and availablilty. I could just take out a small loan and get an S2 Exige as you said ... would be my choice but probably not the wisest thing to do

 

The Yokos was fine in the wet and I had no problem pushing the Exige in the Scottish Highlands and it didn't stop raining while I was there. You just have to be carefull in standing water.

 

To be honest if I had to use the Exige every day I would have got a second set of wheels and Toyos fitted.To be honest the tyres I had on the Elise S2 111s was never a problem to me..

 

On the Elise / Exige choice, I did think that I would miss the soft top, but I never did. I also wanted to know that I was in a different cars seeing that apart from the engine there was no difference in the S2 111s & the S2 111r in looks. I never knew why they never changed the wheels at least.

 

Mind you, how about these;

 

http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/308882.htm

 

http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/215315.htm

[MattyB]

Re: Nobles, I've never been entirely convinced. There's one I spot occasionally in Sutton, and although it always looks dramatic, I've never really thought "Wow!". Maybe its the Ford connection I'd still take an Exige instead.

 

Back on Exiges again - how did you find it, visibility/manouvering wise? I remember sitting in Mark's (Beefcake's) S1 waaaay back at the RR gathering, and visibility was zero out the back, and the harnesses restricted body/head movement. You practically relied on the wing mirrors for anything other than looking through the windscreen. I think he described it as "Difficult"

 

S2 any better?

[Snapper]

I would agree that an Exige it is not as good as an Elise especially when reversing, it also felt a little strange at first. But I have to say that you just learn to get around these issues which won't take long.

 

Not really been in an S1 Exige long enough to say if the S2 is any better. But then if you are not looking at an S1 does it really matter. The touring pack seat belts was much easier to use on the road. 4 point harnesses are only really needed for the track.

 

To be honest if you want an S2 Exige, I would say go for it, You will adapt. But if you want an Elise then go for that. It really depends on what you want. If you go for an Elise, but you really wanted an Exige you will always be wishing that you had gone for it and always feel a little disappointed.

 

I remember that when I first wanted a Caterham, I ended up with a Westfield instead and I was disappointed, not that the Westfield was a bad car, it just wasn't what I had my heart set on.

 

I am in the same position now. I have had a couple of Caterhams, the First was great, so i had a brand new one built and I was a pile of pooh. The car was great when it worked, but I seemed to have all the bad bits and every thing seemed to have a problem with it.

 

The Elise S2 111s was great and I loved it to bits. The S1 Elise never really did it for me. But the S1 Exige did. I was gutted when I lost all the work I had for the News of the World and preempting a total cash flow crisis I sold it. It did turn out to be a big mistake for me to do that. But thats life.

 

I then had my heart set on a Ginetta G4 by Dare. But one never came up in the spec I wanted. Dare had just moved from their factory to some other units and could not say what the build time would be for a brand new one. In the end I brought the S2 Exige. I got a very good deal from John & Dave at Nick Whales and was very very very happy with it. A totally stunning car.

 

I sold it because I had a down turn in work and things got very tight otherwise I would have kept it. I would also say that I was going to be stubbern and hold in there with it, but I did think that a S3 version can't be that far off.

 

But now I am without a sports car I am missing it all over again. Would I buy another Exige.... Well Yes I would love a new version of the S with 240bhp.

 

But while owning the Exige I have always had an eye on the Ginetta G4 by Dare, I did try and sell the Exige when a car in the spec I wanted came up, but it went before I could sell my car.

 

So this time I am going to hold out for the G4... It is not as advanced as an Exige and won't have Aircon which could be a problem esspecially while touring abroad. but I will have to live with that.

 

But the G4 just floats my boat at the moment.

 

Best of luck with your choice. You might find that in January there will be some good deals when the self employed find that they have not got enough stashed away to pay their tax bills or the round of winter conceptions force a car to be sold. but you are at least in the buyer time of the year. So best of luck with what ever you go for in the end.

 

Snapper