Ben Carufel
01-04-2005, 03:54 AM
I posted this last Thursday on Roadfly.com, but thought it could be appropriate for the Reviews section here at Bimmerforums.
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Just got home from an exciting day. Spent a few hours at work this morning, then took off early and called a friend on the way home to see when he and his wife would be picking up their new Elise. I had gone with his wife yesterday to check it out at the dealership (I had the day off, he was stuck at work) but they weren't allowing us a test drive...
...Turns out that as I was on my way home, they had just picked up the car. I detoured to their house two miles from home, and waited for them to arrive...
Sure enough, a beautiful Burgundy Elise with the Touring Package, Clear Bra, and Blaupunkt Los Angeles upgrades.
They said "hop in and take it for a spin" as soon as they pulled in the driveway, and I didn't hesitate. I ended up putting miles number 12 through 22 on the odometer :). Later in the day I went back as a bunch of our friends were coming over to check it out, and everyone wanted rides -- I was only too happy to oblige as ride-giver, seeing as they trust me to drive and handle the car properly (and not break the 4500 RPM break-in limit).
Neat car!
A few observations:
- Rattles. Squeaks. Lots of them. Somehow they almost seem like they are supposed to be there, though.
- The shifter is quite a long throw. I forsee a shortshift kit market for this car.
- The controls don't fall too readily to the hands. The turn signal stalk is a bit of a reach. But then, I have smaller hands.
- The buttons in general are quirky and oddly-placed. I mean, a button that operates the dimming of the gauges which also controls the trip odometer? And why do you press one button to turn the parking and headlights on, but you have to press BOTH of them to turn them off? What's with the position of the central locking button?
- Build quality is decent. I wouldn't say it's as well constructed as the M Coupe. I noticed: residue/fingerprints inside the headlight lenses; gas filler door doesn't shut all the way; tacky glue stuff smeared on the driver's seatback; trunk/engine access door lock is barely aligned to the keyhole cutout; ELISE logo peeling off a bit at the corners.
Of course all of those can be rectified by the dealer. They also have a hardtop on order and are possibly going with the Stage II exhaust.
Speaking of the exhaust, the sound is great. I absolutely cannot wait until it's broken in and I can wind it out to nearly 8000 RPM.
The handling is very intuitive. Potholes must be avoided at all costs, and those shiny bump markers on the freeway aren't too nice to go over either. Since there's no power steering, and therefore no hydraulic cushion between the wheel and the road, every little bump shakes the wheel. Took a bit to get used to.
The Touring suspension is just perfect. I think the Sport package would have been too stiff. That's just my opinion, and his wife agrees with me. He thinks it could use the Sport suspension.
Headlights are awesome. Seeing as how I'm on a headlight binge at the moment, I'm very, very glad that this car came with HIDs. Light output is great.
Besides the previously mentioned long throw, the shifting is great. Very snickety-snick. Just notchy enough to match the aluminum cockpit (don't ask me how I relate those two, it's just a weird subconscious connection) but would be out of place if, say, the Coupe had a shifter that notchy.
As for the Blaupunkt Los Angeles: waste of money. The headunit is garbage. I forsee them switching it out for a Nakamichi or McIntosh unit.
In conclusion: A great little car that is super fun to drive. They're both very happy with it, and that they were excited enough about it to pay cash says something for the little red rocket. I would personally add one to the stable only after I added an E30 M3, E34 M5, and E39 M5. Then I would consider myself ready for the Elise.
I'll have to get some pictures of it soon. I'll set up a photoshoot with some of their cars (Elise, M Coupe, M Roadster), my Coupe, and a friend's S2000. Enough cars for a magazine comparo!
-----
Just got home from an exciting day. Spent a few hours at work this morning, then took off early and called a friend on the way home to see when he and his wife would be picking up their new Elise. I had gone with his wife yesterday to check it out at the dealership (I had the day off, he was stuck at work) but they weren't allowing us a test drive...
...Turns out that as I was on my way home, they had just picked up the car. I detoured to their house two miles from home, and waited for them to arrive...
Sure enough, a beautiful Burgundy Elise with the Touring Package, Clear Bra, and Blaupunkt Los Angeles upgrades.
They said "hop in and take it for a spin" as soon as they pulled in the driveway, and I didn't hesitate. I ended up putting miles number 12 through 22 on the odometer :). Later in the day I went back as a bunch of our friends were coming over to check it out, and everyone wanted rides -- I was only too happy to oblige as ride-giver, seeing as they trust me to drive and handle the car properly (and not break the 4500 RPM break-in limit).
Neat car!
A few observations:
- Rattles. Squeaks. Lots of them. Somehow they almost seem like they are supposed to be there, though.
- The shifter is quite a long throw. I forsee a shortshift kit market for this car.
- The controls don't fall too readily to the hands. The turn signal stalk is a bit of a reach. But then, I have smaller hands.
- The buttons in general are quirky and oddly-placed. I mean, a button that operates the dimming of the gauges which also controls the trip odometer? And why do you press one button to turn the parking and headlights on, but you have to press BOTH of them to turn them off? What's with the position of the central locking button?
- Build quality is decent. I wouldn't say it's as well constructed as the M Coupe. I noticed: residue/fingerprints inside the headlight lenses; gas filler door doesn't shut all the way; tacky glue stuff smeared on the driver's seatback; trunk/engine access door lock is barely aligned to the keyhole cutout; ELISE logo peeling off a bit at the corners.
Of course all of those can be rectified by the dealer. They also have a hardtop on order and are possibly going with the Stage II exhaust.
Speaking of the exhaust, the sound is great. I absolutely cannot wait until it's broken in and I can wind it out to nearly 8000 RPM.
The handling is very intuitive. Potholes must be avoided at all costs, and those shiny bump markers on the freeway aren't too nice to go over either. Since there's no power steering, and therefore no hydraulic cushion between the wheel and the road, every little bump shakes the wheel. Took a bit to get used to.
The Touring suspension is just perfect. I think the Sport package would have been too stiff. That's just my opinion, and his wife agrees with me. He thinks it could use the Sport suspension.
Headlights are awesome. Seeing as how I'm on a headlight binge at the moment, I'm very, very glad that this car came with HIDs. Light output is great.
Besides the previously mentioned long throw, the shifting is great. Very snickety-snick. Just notchy enough to match the aluminum cockpit (don't ask me how I relate those two, it's just a weird subconscious connection) but would be out of place if, say, the Coupe had a shifter that notchy.
As for the Blaupunkt Los Angeles: waste of money. The headunit is garbage. I forsee them switching it out for a Nakamichi or McIntosh unit.
In conclusion: A great little car that is super fun to drive. They're both very happy with it, and that they were excited enough about it to pay cash says something for the little red rocket. I would personally add one to the stable only after I added an E30 M3, E34 M5, and E39 M5. Then I would consider myself ready for the Elise.
I'll have to get some pictures of it soon. I'll set up a photoshoot with some of their cars (Elise, M Coupe, M Roadster), my Coupe, and a friend's S2000. Enough cars for a magazine comparo!