First Car Lotus

[weebroonieuk]

Theres less than a second between a clio 172 and an earlier elise in the 0-60 race.

Lotus Elise = 5.9
Clio 172 = 6.7

a second is whit alot ! especially when your driveing it

and i think they dont just mean the acceleration elises are cornering tools ....

and mine does 0 to 60 in 6 seconds

[Tifosi]

I've got a three year history.

Vx220 is essentially the same car I looked at that to and I think that's in group 19.

It's not necessarily a case of buying it solely for its performance but more of the case that "hot hatches" are way overpriced in my opinion for example a Mini for 15k Golf 12-21k .... when something like an Elise is 16-18k second hand.

I also think it's not just a question of experience but also how you choose to drive it. Sure you'll only last 5minutes or so if you are just going to abuse it, but if you drive with respect then I think its a different matter. Of course experience does play some part and I have driven various cars over my short history with varying capacities on regular commuting journeys with no accidents or near accidents so far.

Plus i'm pretty conservative with my cash and have saved for years and motorsport is my hobby now I have secured my first real job I want to splash out on myself.

[Moby-Dick]

and mine does 0 to 60 in 6 seconds

shame about the ....

[Shad]

Get yourself a CRX; with that sort of money you could build something that would out handle and out accelerate an Elise without breaking a sweat

[MD]

Try first direct, fill in thier webpage and you will see extortionate quotes, but they rang me out of the blue around 2 hours later on my mobile to say they had found a much better deal, in my dodgy postal code I got a reduction of 55% from my previous insurer by going with FD, I pay less than £350 for fully comp on my clio, ok its not the same type of car, but when my insurer from the previous 4 years wanted £700 and im 25.

Not only that, has a license 5 years, got 6 years no claims, thanks for the bonus two years from renault

Its worth shopping, don't give up...

m@

[Rave]

Quite honestly now I'm 25 with 5+ yrs no claims and no points on my licence, I genuinely reckon I'm pretty much invincible when it comes to car insurance. I know from elephant that I could insure a V12 BMW 750i for under £500....now I've just got to buy the sod

[Oakey]

So you can afford a £16-£18k car but not £2k on insurance? Are you sure you can afford the car then? (then again, it doesn't take a genius to get dripped up on finance).

Anything over £1k in insurance is stupid in my opinion. If it costs you over £1k to insure the car you want to drive then chances are you probably shouldn't be driving it (at least the insurance company may feel that way )

£2300 for an Elise, that's insane. On a 10 month 'accelerator' too. you know, 10 month accelerators aren't actually cheaper, you just think they are because you're only paying for a 10 month policy instead of twelve. Not only that but some insurance companies won't recognise your 10 months as a years NCB for the very obvious reason that you haven't ACTUALLY had a year claims free. and like I said, £2.3k for a Lotus, my boss insured his gf (21, 0NCB) on a brand new Porsche 911 for £4k!

[Oakey]

I've got a three year history.

Vx220 is essentially the same car I looked at that to and I think that's in group 19.

It's not necessarily a case of buying it solely for its performance but more of the case that "hot hatches" are way overpriced in my opinion for example a Mini for 15k Golf 12-21k .... when something like an Elise is 16-18k second hand.

I also think it's not just a question of experience but also how you choose to drive it. Sure you'll only last 5minutes or so if you are just going to abuse it, but if you drive with respect then I think its a different matter. Of course experience does play some part and I have driven various cars over my short history with varying capacities on regular commuting journeys with no accidents or near accidents so far.

Plus i'm pretty conservative with my cash and have saved for years and motorsport is my hobby now I have secured my first real job I want to splash out on myself.

Funny how young drivers wanting fast cars always spout this. I'd say the majority (like 99%) of young drivers find it rather difficult to control themselves when driving a pos Nova / Corsa / Escort and drive like idiots, give them an even more powerful car and they just can't help themselves.

Out of curiosity, why is it you don't have any NCB?

[5lab]

there are quite a lot of very fun, but more conservitive cars around. an mr2 is a perfect example, or mx5 (bit girly) and little bimmers

[TeePee]

What you need is a kit car.

Have a look at a new factory built GTM Libra or Spyder. Not as good looking as the Elise IMO, but faster and better handling with a mid engine, and all the comforts.

Or how about the SSC Stulus RT? Again factory built with new registration in your price range.

Insurance on either should be under a grand.

[Tifosi]

Lack of NCB is due to being put onto parents policy for one car when I turned 18 and for the other car I was somehow automatically insured under the policy terms and conditions.

5lab I considered an mx5 but as you said rather girly image but I expect this would be a lot better on insurance

[Butuz]

@ moby mines a triple double word score

At the end of the day only you can decide if you can afford an elise or a vx220 or whatever. If you cant afford the £2k a year insurance, are you going to be able to afford the servicing and petrol too? Probably not. Plus, only the Toyota engined elise's are relativeley reliable, the rover k series ones blow head gaskets every month and bits fall of them. I wouldnt buy one in a million years. I would go for VX220 over the elise, if you ignore the vaux badge, you get a better car IMHO.

With regards to insurance prices, its only as expensive as your wallets deep. You may think £2k a year is alot oakey, but thats el cheapo to the 17 year old guy who bought a Skyline GTR R34 and then managed to get insurance by paying £7k a year....... now thats expensive!

There are quite a few RWD sports cars out there that deserve your attention, MX-5, MR-2, 200SX etc, theyre all good

Butuz

[Zak33]

A: If you want a Lotus Elise one day, start with something similar today
B: MR2 ..go find a Mk 1 1.6 16v for under £2000, insure it for whatever. Spend dough on it keeping it right.
C: If you still have all your limbs, and are not in a wheel chair in 12 months, go get an Elise.

I do apologise for the abrupt manner of my post but an Elise is a BUGGER to drive fast. It also leaks, bounces all over the place above 80 ish and is more likely to leave your Mum standing over a big hole in the ground, in a wet cemetry, holding flowers and crying, than any other car mentioned here.
Sorry. Fact.

[Rave]

£2000 will buy you a minter of a Mk1 TBH. You could pick up a sound car for £1000 or less with a bit of searching. Mid engined cars are cool, but they're tricky on the limit, as I've found out a couple of times.

[Butuz]

MR2's have natural oversteer so you do have to be careful when braking into corners etc coz the tail end will happpily try and overtake you, youve got to brake totally straight and then turn in. If you get it wrong you may be in for some trouble, or fun depending on how you look at it

Butuz

[eUphoria]

Well, as a couple of people have said - plenty of much cheaper (and fun) cars out there. As you're only 21 personally i'd suggest getting to grips with something in between the corsa you learnt to drive on and the elise you think you want!! Get an mx-5 or mr2 or crx or 200sx (i like jap cars ) I understand where you're coming from though - im looking at getting an elise at the moment, but then ive had 2 MR2's (mk 1 and mk2) and i can totally recommend them - loads of fun, especially the mk1, and as has already been said - for the money you're paying for insurance you could get a minter of a mark1 MR2, hell get a supercharger!!!