I'm asking myself this: "Will a there be a TRD supercharger that will fit this 1.8L engine?"

Is this the same engine from the Celica GT-S? If so I don't think the supercharger is available because the GT-S engine has an 11.5:1 compression ratio. The GT engine makes 140hp and the GT-S engine makes 180. So I doubt it, just hoping...

 

the engine is the same as the GT-S engine. but i think lotus did some ECU tuning which explains the difference in hp.

 

In response:
I believe Subaru builds it's cars for the masses, but keeps the enthusiast driver in mind. Adding things like cat. converters and large trunk size to the car make the Sti able to compete on many levels with all the many types of cars on the market, as well as satisfying environmental watchdogs. There are a lot of aspects to consider, including the fact that a sports car in todays' car market can't be JUST a sports car, it has to be any number of things to so many different types of drivers. Lotus knows that a sports car driver doesn't give a darn about a trunk and therefore builds the car as such. But Subaru built the Sti with more than a sports car in mind...plus it was not purposely built to be a sports car but rather a rally car that was later detuned to a family sedan, thus it has decent cargo space.

While the 0-60 speed is not special, the Elise will be ahead of its class in terms of taking a turn based on the low weight and N/A engine. The Toyota GTS engine Lotus used on the one hand very reliable and will last longer than the average sports car engine, but it doesn't have the kind of massive power people expect from a sportscar. But it doesn't need so much power if it's light, thus it's used to great success and in fact the European Elise has an even lower HP engine than the US version.

And as for crash tests: the only sports car that can take a head on collision well is the old Jaguar E-type, as the engine bay is like four feet long with a huge steel V12 in it.

 

We all know that there will be a turbo kit for it out there very soon. I assume that the Lotus pulls over 1g laterally.

Nick

 

I can't wait for mine!! But the WRX stays in the stable.

 

There is a guy crusin around rochester,Mi with an older Elise. It is right hand drive and all. I saw it and was like "Oh my God, an Elise", my g/f was like "what is it?". Cant wait to see them buzzin around town. They need like a 9 or 10 thousand RPM redline so that they sound like F1 cars.

Nick

 

The porsche boxster came into this market as porsches' affordable alternative to the carrera's. Back in 96-97 it did retail for around 40k. Now the S version catches more than that easily, around 50-60k. It didn't stay affordable for too long. Now comes this car. Oh my! If they can keep it in their stated price range this car will sell off the lot like groceries. What would you rather have? You clearly get more value for your money with the Lotus. And my nickname is Boxstahboy! Hhmm... how about Eliseman, nah....or...Lotus...dude, hyphenated maybe....Lotus-dude??? I don't know.

 

how about "lotusphile"?

 

I went to the Laguna Seca drift competition last week, here are some pics I got in the pit area of an Elise in that candy orange color~! My friend is standing next to the car for scale; he's about six feet tall.

 

and another picture....it sure looks good from a lot of angles. this version is a t-top, but i've been told by a dealer that lotus is preparing full convertible and hardtop models for the US market. but they told me that months ago so that info is just gossip at this point.

 

it looks like a cracked-out mr2!!

btw, speaking of boxsters... has anyone seen computer imaged pics of the new boxster coupe?! hot dayumm!!!

 

As wonderful as the STi is, the Elise is just going to be so much more fun. If you've driven a Miata, you know the feeling. The miata is obviously a much inferior vehicle to the STi or WRX for that matter, but the "go-kart" feel of it makes it such a fun car to drive. I hate judging cars based on nameplates and badges...makes me feel like an Audi or BMW owner...but with the history behind Lotus, I do admit it'd be kinda bad@ss to drive around town in an elise. And I think the best part is only true auto-philes would really know what kind of car you're driving.

 

Imagine a Mini, that handles better, goes faster, looks better, opentop, and gets respect not "awww its cute". Go Kart handling in a better package.

Nick

 

USDM Elise:
https://www.i-club.com/forums/showth...ighlight=elise
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