Lotus Elise S1 Ownership Review

[Adil]

Hi 350Z will do. I was planning to do a section on the interior anyway. Am currently in Mumbai and car is not here ,so am relying on snaps I have already on my tablet and some from the net.
For info all snaps with a silver car and related components on it are actually those of my car. Eg the suspension pics are of when I had done a "refresh" and upgrades with new dampers, braking components, etc etc
I will try to do a write up on the import process but honestly there isn't too much more to say other than what I have already stated!!!
Also if the thread is getting too technical let me know and I will tone it down a bit.

 

[Adil]

 

[Adil]

Re: Lotus Elise S1

Interior

The S1 interior is spartan, minimalistic and functional. It's designed only and only for one thing: driving. The polished aluminium of the chassis is visible clearly. There is a substantial rollover bar for safety in case of accidents. It also serves as to provide anchor points for racing harnesses.

The base car is supplied without even carpets! The standard options include two tiny coin holders and a map pocket! No sun visors, music system, airconditioning, power windows, electric mirrors, etc, etc! These creature comforts are available from Lotus (for those who want them) but detract from the driving pleasure the car will give!!! I had some of these in my car but they have been removed as they were totally pointless in this car (IMHO) and I wanted to save weight. The radio could not be heard over the roar of the engine! And with the roof off, having an a/c was pointless anyway! Power windows and electric mirrors (who cares about these).

The important bits are:
- The fibreglass racing seats covered in red leather; of which the drivers seat has an inflatable lumbar support and is adjustable for aft/fore movement. The passenger seat is fixed.
- Schroth six-point FIA approved racing harness
- Racing steering wheel
- Quickshift gearchange lever
- Oil pressure gauge
- Oil temperature gauge
- Air/Fuel ratio gauge (measuring lambda and very handy for onroad ecu tuning)
- G-force meter
- Progressive shiftlights for optimal gear changes
- Rad fan switch for independent control for cooling
- Fire extinguisher
- The pedals are made of extruded aluminium and are designed for optimal heel-toe driving technique for gearchanges

In short, the interior is designed so the driver can have maximum feedback from the car and the road.

Seats


Dashboard


AFR


Gauges


Stock pictures

 

[Releesh]

Adil, thanks for sharing this fantastic car's details to us. This ownership review given much knowledge about what a real sports car is.

BTW where is the fuel tank situvated in the car?Is this car is sensitive to 'petrol' vailable in india? and also the typical indian question too. Kitna deti hai?

 

[Adil]

Adil, thanks for sharing this fantastic car's details to us. This ownership review given much knowledge about what a real sports car is.

BTW where is the fuel tank situvated in the car?Is this car is sensitive to 'petrol' vailable in india? and also the typical indian question too. Kitna deti hai?

Hi
The fuel tank is located behind the seats and between the engine under aluminium shielding. The fuel pump is accessible through the cockpit but for all practical purposes the tank has to be dropped out of the car from underneath.

Seems to be OK so far using Shell fuel to startup. In reality I haven't taken the car out on the road yet.

Mileage is about 8-10 km/litre normal driving
4-5km/litre when driven hard

 

[Adil]

Re: Lotus Elise S1

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Braking System
(Note: the brown coating on the discs is superficial surface oxidation which goes away once the brakes are used!!!)

As expected there are disc brakes front and rear.

The front discs are larger in diameter than the rear. All discs on this car are custom; cross-drilled and ventilated with aluminium rotors to save unsprung weight.

The front calipers are 2-pot Lotus in-house designs.







The rear calipers are 1-pot Brembos.






The calipers are intentionally different to maintain correct brake bias and balance.

Brake pads are semi-race blue Pagids which work better once they are warmed up.

The brake hoses are Goodridge (steel braided) to prevent brake fade on heavy use.


There are custom cooling ducts for the fronts to prevent overheating on track.



There is no servo assistance but trust me braking is sharp enough to stop on a dime and to pop out ones eyeballs on hard braking!!


Tyres
The tyres are wide profile Bridgestones.
15 inch diameter in the front and 16 inch at the back. These mount onto lightweight alloys.

Pic of the rear tyres to give some idea of the width

 

[Adil]