Lotus Elise 1.8i Review

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Lotus Elise 1.8i
★★★★★
4.6
From 7 reviews
100.0% of users recommend this
  • Performance

  • Practicality

  • Reliability

  • Value For Money

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rousseau's review of Lotus Elise 1.8i

“I rented the Lotus Elise 1.8i for a week for a holiday...”

★★★★★

written by rousseau on 16/10/2003

Good Points
Fantastic fun to drive, handles well and feels fast and exciting

Bad Points
Needs more power, better brakes, and handling on limit can be tricky

General Comments
I rented the Lotus Elise 1.8i for a week for a holiday in UK. First off it's a pain to get in and out while the roof is on since you sit very low down in a tiny cabin and the door is tiny (i'm 6 foot tall by the way - midget drivers might find it better). But once you're inside, the car feels like a go-kart on steroids. Great fun to drive, you can rev the engine up and with the stiff suspension and low seating position it feels a lot faster than it is. The brakes could do with a bit extra oomph though, especially on a car this light and fast. The roof is not watertight, but despite driving for 2 hours down the motorway in a downpour, it didnt let any water into the cabin. It's a bit of a pain to remove/replace the roof to start with, but after you've done it a couple of times it's not too bad. The car doesnt exactly handle like a go-kart though, and while the steering is fantastically light and direct, dont expect to do the impossible and any attempts to swing the back end out round corners will almost certainly end in a spin. Apparently the Mk2 car is better in this respect. The car was pretty reliable during the week - the only problem was that the lockable petrol cap snapped and a trip to the local dealer revealed the replacement was over 100 pounds. Anyway, a great car to drive for a week, and i'd still buy one if I was living out in the countryside with plenty of local A/B roads to drive on.

  • Performance

  • Practicality

  • Reliability

  • Value For Money

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