0:01 - Intro 1:09 - Reason 1 1:49 - Reason 2 2:05 - Colin Chapman 3:24 - Insurance cost 4:03 - Consumables 4:53 - Maintenance 5:44 - Repairs 6:46 - Upgrades 7:55 - Total cost

@okiplays8639

3 жыл бұрын

hey man thanks for the vid, i just wanted to get your feedback on the penske SA with 350/500 springs? i saw on www.lotustalk.com/threads/penske-single-adjustables.216745/page-3 that you find the original springs were quite hard, how is it now with the 350/500 springs?

@AtypicalDriver

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching! The car is so much more enjoyable with the 350/500 springs. I would highly recommend those softer rates. To me, a key characteristic of a Lotus has always been the perfect blend of a compliant ride and great handling. The 350/500 deliver this well...but the stiffer springs traded off sharper handling for a less comfortable ride.

@okiplays8639

3 жыл бұрын

@@AtypicalDriver thanks for replying back, time for me to watch the other elise related vids haha

Yep can confirm...all the upgrades are what costs a lot of money but also give you so much fun, enjoyment and function. I've been surprised how cheap the parts are for Lotuses (when they are actually available). I would definitely get another one in the future

@AtypicalDriver

2 жыл бұрын

Couldn't agree more! Thanks for watching my video.

I spend money on my Lotus, not because it needs it, but because I want to. There is very little anyone with a small amount of mechanical experience can’t do.. a full tear down is easy and the parts are cheap. Love my Elise! I have the Rover K series engine which I’m going to swap out at some point for the Honda K engine I have in my garage waiting to go in it.. not because it needs it, but because it is mine and it is what I want to do.

@AtypicalDriver

3 жыл бұрын

Yup, it definitely is fun to work on these simple machines. I don't know if you saw my other video on rebuilding the wrecked Exige, but we did an engine swap on that one but simply replaced it with another 2ZZ. K-swap would have been better but in California it's hard to get it road registered with the Honda engine. :( Thanks for watching my video! Enjoy your Elise!!

@TomEnduro

3 жыл бұрын

@@AtypicalDriver, I will watch it. Thank you. I’m not a Yota engine fan myself. My car is the 2002 111S and weighs about 1,600lbs (less than 750kg)… the yota engine cars are heavy and feel more…er….. I want to say stable, but you can feel the weight. The 2ZZ is a good engine, but not worth the weight in my view. I can fit a Honda with about 240bhp and still be under 800kg. Great work! Keep it up and come and visit us on SELOC. We have other youtubers in our club. 👍

@AtypicalDriver

3 жыл бұрын

@@TomEnduro SELOC is a wealth of information, I use your wiki pages to look things up all of the time. Really great content there! I'll check out the forums as well.

Thanx for the info : have fun with this magnificent car !!

@AtypicalDriver

2 жыл бұрын

That's the plan!

I have an Exige S and an Elise and they are not only a car that will ruin you that everything is a boat but the best maintenance value in the sports car market. Wonderful video!

@AtypicalDriver

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching and for the nice comment! Totally agree, they are awesome in terms of performance and value. Looking forward to seeing what the Elise/Exige replacement will be! BTW which do you enjoy more, the Exige S or Elise? I also have both but the Exige was a rebuild project (see my other video.)

Super helpful for a first time Lotus buyer, thanks a ton

@AtypicalDriver

Ай бұрын

Glad it helped!

Awesome video and what a great car these Lotus’ are!

@AtypicalDriver

Жыл бұрын

Thank you so much for watching!

Great video. Nice to see you've owned it such a long time.

@AtypicalDriver

2 жыл бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it! Yes, I love this car so can't imagine ever parting with it unless there was some drastic circumstance. Maybe not as cool as those KZread nerds who have a new car every week but I find what I like and stick with it.

@LawrenceTimme

2 жыл бұрын

@@AtypicalDriver getting a new car every week is not that helpful for the average person looking to buy one. I find real owners who have had a car 3+ years give a much more accurate review as they have had longer with the car, more miles and wheel time.

Great to know, this is similar to what I predicted before purchasing an Elise, but it is nice to see the 10 year average. I was able to register it as a collector saving a bunch on registration. I'm looking at around $2k for insurance with an okay-ish driving record however (I'll downgrade during the colder months when it is stored to hopefully save 25%).

@AtypicalDriver

2 жыл бұрын

Yes, as I noted I included registration and insurance in those numbers and they really add up over the years. Thanks for watching and hope you enjoy your Lotus! What year, model, color do you have?

@j-ant

2 жыл бұрын

@@AtypicalDriver 2008 Elise Base, Solar Yellow. I am loving it so far!

@AtypicalDriver

2 жыл бұрын

@@j-ant Nice! Love the solar yellow on these!!!! Congrats.

the Elise is literally the Miata of supercars, change my mind. You can't can you? Let that sink in for a bit. You're welcome 👍🏻

@AtypicalDriver

Жыл бұрын

So true. But wait, I thought the Miata was already the answer to every car related question? garagedreams.net/car-facts/what-is-the-origin-of-the-miata-is-always-the-answer-meme

@Constantinus_Apollyon

Жыл бұрын

@@AtypicalDriver No I literally mean it, no meme involved, Miata was the everyday sports car done right totally a Lotus done right, then the Elise was the Supercar version of that done even better, damn it even got Bugatti involved do you know who's granddaughter the Elise took it's name of? Let that sink for a bit, memes aside we are talking about two out of the box thinking masterpieces, when big brains come together and say "ok let's have fun doing something right and not thinking about grabbing tons of money" Lotus was going down anyways so they said "ok what the heck" and they pulled that ace from their sleeve. Now sadly it lost it's pedigree being owned by the Chinese sadly! Not that it's a bad thing necessarly but , it's just gonna be another Chinese automotive manufacturer, just holding an English brand up to it's heritage, or at least try and that is the sad thing!

Extremely thorough summary. The $26,000 only seems high because of added upgrades which are not fixed costs - they alone were a little less than 40% of the total. Insurance and plates are also added and further inflate the total, but these would be incurred on any car and are actually less than for most cars. This gets it down to just a few hundred dollars a year if one is savy enough to just change their own oil and no significant work is needed. If driven sensibly on the street they are quite durable and need minimal repairs. Last year I changed the oil in my Elise and performed a once ever few years change of brake fluid and antifreeze. Doing all the work myself, I spent around $225 for all three. If I add in insurance and plates as you have, my Elise costs less to operate than my Honda Accord daily driver. I think it is he best deal out there if one wants to drive an exotic car on a budget. A bargain if you count in resale value as my car actually has appreciated over the last year.... not that I'll ever sell it. Love these cars and highly recommend anyone who truly enjoys driving to at least test drive a Lotus. It is more pure and fun than any other sports car I've driven. Can't wait to see what their new models over the coming few months when they are finally revealed.

@AtypicalDriver

3 жыл бұрын

Wow, thanks for watching and for the detailed comment! Totally agree with you and tried to give people all the facts by breaking it down into some categories. I mean sure you can leave an Elise stock, but a lot of people will probably get sucked into spending at least some money on upgrades. They are super affordable to maintain...mine has even had a fair number of trackdays and has been very reliable. But unlike others I've seen, I am pretty easy on the transmission at the track and avoid really slamming it between gears.

@davidroush1224

3 жыл бұрын

@@AtypicalDriver You did a nice job breaking it completely down. I'm older and had decades of "getting sucked into spending on upgrades." Now, I am trying now to limit those to enhancements to address factory weaknesses. Long term this helps the cars retain value as they get old enough to become collectibles. When I do change anything, I keep all of the original parts. For example, just upgraded to Wilwood 4-pots on the front of my XKE - dramatically improved braking with no hit to the car's value. And stock engines usually last longer as they are less stressed. The amount of abuse the stock Elise engine can take is impressive. There are many examples of guys that redline them 50 times every track day for years with no issues - as long as they let them properly warm up for 20 minutes or so after operating temp was reached to avoid cam wiping. And as you said, a little gentleness with shifting helps with the tranny. Likewise, I don't feel the need to drop the clutch from a dead stop as I've aged which eliminated a lot of needless part replacements. These days I much prefer a spirited drive along a curvy country road anyway, prefect for these cars. Again, my favorite sports car to date and I have tried to share it/let as many friends as possible drive it just so they can experience it.

@AtypicalDriver

3 жыл бұрын

@@davidroush1224 I really like that approach too of addressing factory weaknesses. I think the term for that is "OEM+" and I have been more and more focused on that ethos for my cars lately, in fact I may do a video on it as I'm slowly "undo-ing" some of the mods on my Elise to make it more OEM+ (removed from splitter, see my other video) and am likely going to remove the side scoops and go back to the stock side vents. To me it's perfect when a car is just subtly better than stock. Often you can't tell why immediately. I have a highly modified Exige too and owning that had actually made me appreciate the simplicity of the Elise more!

@davidroush1224

3 жыл бұрын

@@AtypicalDriver Your comment of making it "just subtly better than stock. ..you can't tell why immediately" aligns well with mine. I 've also come appreciate leaving a car as stock as possible. A few mods to make it easier to drive is fine - I have no desire to return my old car to running points for ignition. For a collectible car this also means a higher value down the road, which can be a substantial amount. Your highly modified Exige sounds like great fun. I already have too many cars and need to get rid of 3 or 4 as it is. I also need to finish a barn restoration for a better home shop and an expanded storage so I can get all of my cars home. But then, I'll have room for even more cars .... slippery slope ;)

@AtypicalDriver

3 жыл бұрын

@@davidroush1224 Sounds like quite a good setup you have, or will have with the barn restoration! I've always dreamed of something like that, as you can probably tell from my videos I'm stuck in an underground condominium garage...but luckily it means there is a lot of space and my neighbors are so far OK with doing some light projects down there. I don't think I would attempt an engine swap or anything that is going to take more than a couple days though or create a big mess!

I remember my 2005 Elise, when placed on a lift, revealed a stamp on it that said YAMAHA, even though it's listed as a Toyota 1.8. Was told that Yamaha is one, if not the only, outside company that Toyota trusts to build elements of their engines. When the Elise first arrived in NY, one of the Lotus engineers that was on hand, told me that the engine Lotus truly wanted was the 2.0 from Honda, and they also felt that the Honda gear change box was also superior. Problem was that Honda would not supply Lotus and because of a previous relationship between Lotus Technical Dept. and Toyota, with regard to problem solving, Toyota supplied Lotus. There was a kit you could buy that improved the shift quality of the transmission but I've driven a Honda S2000 and could immediately see why Lotus would have preferred it.

@AtypicalDriver

Жыл бұрын

A Honda 4 cylinder would have been amazing in the Elise / Exige! Many folks have done K-swaps in these cars now but difficult to register those in California where I am.

@ridgemanron

Жыл бұрын

@@AtypicalDriver Years ago, there was a company in Texas who could swap out the Toyota engine and tranny for the one in the Honda S2000 but am not sure if I've ever seen one of them offered for sale......anywhere.

My air conditioner broke too. In haven't looked into fixing it though.

@AtypicalDriver

Жыл бұрын

Do you live somewhere warm where it'd be useful? I always feel like things such as AC, cup holders, etc make you use your car more often and that is usually a good thing!

Very nice detailed video. Just one thing I can't even comprehend how on earth a Toyo R888 or R888r can last you 10000-12000 miles or 10-12Trackdays. I also drive a s2 with 240hp and the rear tires are gone after 2000-3000miles.🤣

@AtypicalDriver

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching! That's a good question and maybe a testament to how slowly I drive! Also with only 198 hp on my NA Elise, it probably wears the rears a little more slowly than yours? I would also add that I definitely continue to use my tires even after they've been "heat cycled" too many times...if they aren't down to the wear bars. I just checked my records again on the tires and here's what I got: 13,600 miles -- Installed LSS wheels that had already used Yoko A048 tires (unknown miles on them) 15,800 miles -- Installed Toyo R888 tires (all 4) - 12 trackdays 26,400 miles -- Installed Bridgestone RE71R tires (all 4) - 5 trackdays Car currently has 33,700 miles and those rear Bridgestones are almost done but the fronts still have plenty of tread (even though they've been heat cycled a lot) so I'll probably just replace the rears this time around.

@patrickvanrinsvelt4466

3 жыл бұрын

Yep, that would be about right. They don't last long. And if you doing wear them out quick enough then the rubber gets harder.

How much mileage have you done and how much depreciation?

@AtypicalDriver

Жыл бұрын

I actually just turned 40k miles (bought it with 6k) but because the values in the current market compared to when I bought it in 2010 I think I'd actually make money (not accounting all the other stuff.) I bought it for $31k USD back then.

I got the same car here in Uk and interestingly it’s cost me pretty much the exact amount as yours. What will be valuable is the to compare this to Let’s say owning a normal everyday car .. I bet it’s not too different.

@AtypicalDriver

2 жыл бұрын

Very true, the Elise is really reasonable in terms of operating cost!

Year one of my lotus. $350 radiator and a set of tires. Dodges cost more than than!

@AtypicalDriver

3 жыл бұрын

Not bad at all! Did you do the radiator install yourself? The clam removal can cost a bunch if you are paying a mechanic rate of $125/hr. Thanks for watching!

@definingimage

3 жыл бұрын

@@AtypicalDriver definitely easier with 2 people but the clam will take 2 ish hours to take off then a couple more for the radiator. It’s not bad at all really. Just look up where to cut slots in the crash support to get to the bolts that attach it to the AC condenser. You really get to see how the car works with the clam removed. Highly recommend doing it yourself!

@BlatentlyFakeName

3 жыл бұрын

Mine needed a new electronic throttlebody which cost £200 brand new. That is one of the known faults on the S2 (costs £900 if you buy it from Lotus! Or £750 from Toyota). BUT. A previous owner blew up the original engine on track due to oil starvation, that is the big thing you need to be careful of especially on fast left hand corners. Do not fit sticky track tyres without a baffled sump as the car can pull a lot of G.

How are you spending $80 on DIY oil changes? Mobile 1 5qt is $25 and the most expensive filter is like $9

@AtypicalDriver

3 жыл бұрын

Yeah, $80 might be a little high...I'm lazy so I buy it all from Amazon 6 qts of oil (need 5.5 qts with baffled oil pan) is about $50 (amzn.to/3dTpV9B) and mobil filter is about $17 (amzn.to/3yf9RXo) but I could probably shop around and get them a little cheaper. Thanks for watching in such detail though! :)

How many miles do you have on your car now!? I just picked up a 1 owner 138k 2005 for $12,500!! Runs/drives great - has some body issues but deal of the next 2 years lol!

@AtypicalDriver

2 ай бұрын

Wow that's a heck of a deal! My car has about 43k miles on it now.

Hey what's your LT handle, I wanted to DM you about some Elise stuff!

@AtypicalDriver

3 жыл бұрын

Hi Victor, thanks for watchin'! On LT I'm 'chiarov'...I'll check my PMs for a message from you.

How did you get such a great deal on the car? Is 31K normal for an Elise?

@AtypicalDriver

2 жыл бұрын

Used they were around $30k for many years but have recently gone up quite a lot. I bought it 11 years ago for that price. 😀

advert through the chapman section..how could you !? 😂

@AtypicalDriver

2 жыл бұрын

Doh! I'm sorry...I don't get to pick where they go. Thanks for watching though, I really appreciate it.

Who repainted your wheels?

@AtypicalDriver

Жыл бұрын

I actually just had to have 1 wheel re-done and I took it to Rite-Way Wheel in Walnut Creek, CA. They are amazing!

At least in Europe, the Elise is the cheapest sportscar you can get. Insurance, fuel, consumables, all are super cheap.

@AtypicalDriver

3 жыл бұрын

Yup, it's pretty cheap here too. Even though $26,000 sounds like a lot that includes my insurance cost AND this is 10 year timeframe....so it's really a lot less.

@johnmitchell2269

3 жыл бұрын

MX5, MR2 and MGTF are cheaper (obviously not as good mind)

@grossmeister1181

2 жыл бұрын

@@johnmitchell2269 These are not sports cars...

@johnmitchell2269

2 жыл бұрын

@@grossmeister1181 Well they are a million miles away from being a supercar so.....??

@grossmeister1181

2 жыл бұрын

@@johnmitchell2269 I said, that the Elise is the cheapest sports car here in Europe. you replied that MX5, MR2 and MGTF are cheaper. But these (MX5, MR2 and MGTF) are not sports cars! Yeah, a Fiat Panda is even cheaper, so what?? Comparing apples with lemons?

That's why guys k20 swap them

@AtypicalDriver

3 жыл бұрын

Ha, you should check out my Exige rebuild video. I wish I would have K20 swapped that!

@DimoS...

2 жыл бұрын

I do not understand why change the 2zzge with k20 I also have an ep3 typer k20a2 and a corolla tsport 2zzge and the 2 engines are perfect! and 2zzge has nothing to envy from k20 up to a point eg 250 >> hp

And zero performance wow

@AtypicalDriver

3 жыл бұрын

What do you mean zero performance? Like I spend $0 on performance mods?