The 24 Hours of Lemons Forums → Other Random Car Stuff → Bought my dream....
Man, I miss car stuff. I saved up hard and bought myself a lockdown toy. Always wanted one.
2003 Lotus Elise S2, Sport 135, the one with the infamous Rover engine in. Done 20k miles only.
Life is too short for sensible.
Cheers from England. I hope to be back in the US late this year for some Lemons fun.
I hope you didn't pay more than $500 for it. It would make a great Lemons car, infamous Rover engine and all...
Sweet little ride. Congrats. I've been lusting over them since I first saw one.
--bb
I love the artistic lines; the contours; the illusion of movement while sitting still...
The car in the foreground is pretty nice, too. Congratulations.
Nice! Let us know when you'll be state side, and your destinations. Hopefully, you can fit a race in while you're here
Nice! Let us know when you'll be state side, and your destinations. Hopefully, you can fit a race in while you're here
Thanks! New login as I am a Luddite with 'puters.
Car update; head gasket went pop... no surprise really. A cheap fix and it's been brilliant fun lately.
Anyway, I've signed up to Lemons again as I've dodged Covid and fancy joining a race late this year, probably Halloween Hooptifest in NH.
Any nice friendly people who will let me do an arrive and drive there? Happy to fund the inevitable repairs, hangovers and treatment for mystery sexual diseases.
Pretty car. You got it at the right time, prices have really shot up even more than most cars.
Shame about the head gasket. At least you knew what you were getting into. Here's mine in its natural habitat a few weeks ago.
Pretty car. You got it at the right time, prices have really shot up even more than most cars.
Shame about the head gasket. At least you knew what you were getting into. Here's mine in its natural habitat a few weeks ago.
That’s just a standard Esprit fuel saving device.
Beautiful car, by the way. S4? V8?
I write for Absolute Lotus magazine, always good Esprit content in there. If you’d like a copy drop me an email and I’ll post one.
Head gasket was a very cheap fix, we’re lucky to have lots of specialists locally, the K series was in lots of other cars we have. I use a great Lotus specialist. See here - https://www.motorpunk.co.uk/fleet/lotus-pics-pjs/
Nice car, shame about the head gasket.
We have a 2005 Elise in the family, brilliant cars. It's been through tons of track days, cross country drives, and general use. Love those things.
Don't know that we have team/driver openings, but if you make it to NH stop in and say hi. We've got lotus stories to swap.
That’s just a standard Esprit fuel saving device.
Beautiful car, by the way. S4? V8?
I write for Absolute Lotus magazine, always good Esprit content in there. If you’d like a copy drop me an email and I’ll post one.
Head gasket was a very cheap fix, we’re lucky to have lots of specialists locally, the K series was in lots of other cars we have. I use a great Lotus specialist. See here - https://www.motorpunk.co.uk/fleet/lotus-pics-pjs/
Thanks for the offer, I'll send you an email.
It's a V8. That tow home was when I was driving down the highway, went over a bump and felt a shimmy from the back of the car. Got off and heard a scraping noise from the rear left. Parked it and called a tow truck, and when I got home this is what I found: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rybc4io8omw
The axle nut had backed off. From the factory, there is no pin or stake on it. Other people on the lotus forum have had the same thing happen on the rear left. The scary thing is that the previous time I drove it was at a track day at the ridge. At least it didn't happen while going 130mph+ down the pit straight. 
Nice car, shame about the head gasket.
We have a 2005 Elise in the family, brilliant cars. It's been through tons of track days, cross country drives, and general use. Love those things.
Don't know that we have team/driver openings, but if you make it to NH stop in and say hi. We've got lotus stories to swap.
2005 will be a Toyota engine, right? Very nice. I drove to France and back in a day to buy a bottle of champagne for a bet in one of those once. Huge fun! Less frenetic than the Rover engined car, and with an extra gear.
I’m going to be at NH in a team with Tim/Corky, in a Miata, if the car holds up. My mate from England is also coming, he’s had 2 x Vauxhall VX220s which I guess you never got over there? Rebodied S2 Elise with a GM engine and slabby styling.
See you there!
Rich von Duisberg wrote:That’s just a standard Esprit fuel saving device.
Beautiful car, by the way. S4? V8?
I write for Absolute Lotus magazine, always good Esprit content in there. If you’d like a copy drop me an email and I’ll post one.
Head gasket was a very cheap fix, we’re lucky to have lots of specialists locally, the K series was in lots of other cars we have. I use a great Lotus specialist. See here - https://www.motorpunk.co.uk/fleet/lotus-pics-pjs/
Thanks for the offer, I'll send you an email.
It's a V8. That tow home was when I was driving down the highway, went over a bump and felt a shimmy from the back of the car. Got off and heard a scraping noise from the rear left. Parked it and called a tow truck, and when I got home this is what I found: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rybc4io8omw
The axle nut had backed off. From the factory, there is no pin or stake on it. Other people on the lotus forum have had the same thing happen on the rear left. The scary thing is that the previous time I drove it was at a track day at the ridge. At least it didn't happen while going 130mph+ down the pit straight.
Those V8s just eat their gearboxes as I recall. Too much torque for the Renault gearbox. Bloody magnificent cars though.
Drop me an email and I will post you a mag if you’d like one.
Cheers
EMCO makes a kit which addresses the gearbox weakness. It's a beefed up one piece shaft, 1st and 2nd gears, new bearings, washers, nuts, etc. The OEM shaft can shear while launching or hard acceleration in 5th and then letting off the gas. The previous owner had that kit installed before I bought it, so I'm a little less worried about it. I'm still not doing any burnouts though.
TheEngineer wrote:Nice car, shame about the head gasket.
We have a 2005 Elise in the family, brilliant cars. It's been through tons of track days, cross country drives, and general use. Love those things.
Don't know that we have team/driver openings, but if you make it to NH stop in and say hi. We've got lotus stories to swap.
2005 will be a Toyota engine, right? Very nice. I drove to France and back in a day to buy a bottle of champagne for a bet in one of those once. Huge fun! Less frenetic than the Rover engined car, and with an extra gear.
I’m going to be at NH in a team with Tim/Corky, in a Miata, if the car holds up. My mate from England is also coming, he’s had 2 x Vauxhall VX220s which I guess you never got over there? Rebodied S2 Elise with a GM engine and slabby styling.
See you there!
Yes, ours is a toyota engined car, never had the chance to be around the rover version. We never did get the VX220s, no, but I do know them, interesting variants.
Miata will be a fun car at NH, should be reliable. Look forward to saying hi.
Thanks all. Looking forward to catching up in NH.
The 24 Hours of Lemons Forums → Other Random Car Stuff → Bought my dream....