Lotus Elise

[dkn1997]

I just got back from Vegas.  4 of us went, all guys without the wives.  So we rented two "exotic" cars for a day.  I was going to go for a viper, but for some reason, I talked myself into believing that a Lotus would be some exotic experience that I would never be able to duplicate.   Next time, I will get the viper. 

I saw one of these gokarts when mike did bullrun and it looked like a fun car.  I will say it's quick, 2000 lbs and @200hp, but not blindingly fast.  what really strikes you when you drive it is what a total piece of crap it is.  It looks cool as hell, handles like a gokart (in fact, it feels exactly like a gokart, and I mean exactly!!) but man, talk about a cheese box.  Bear in mind that this is a 50,000 car new.  used I've seen them in the 30's.    I know it's not supposed to be a caddy, but the interior is screwed together, the seats are downright uncomfortable and look like the seats you would see in a VW kit car from the 70's. only analog type gauges are tach and speedo.  fuel, temp, odometer are combined on one little 2" x 4" digital display, very much like the original word processors that were typewriter with a little display that showeed you a block of about 5 words while you typed. It's also downright scary at highway speeds (I will qualify that by saying that our highway speed from vegas to hoover dam was a tad over the limit )

It was still fun, but I am really puzzled how any person could test drive one of these and plunk down that kind of money.  for anyone who wants to rent something cool in Vegas, I recommend vegas dreamcar rentals.  they were pretty cheap , had the cars ready, and didn't bust balls about damage. not that we did any, but you could tell that they knew the deal with rentals but didn't want people just outright destroying the cars.  They had bikes, vipers, lambos, some classic cars...a lot of interesting stuff.

[moparstuart]

    Saw one for sale 36k at a cruise night two weeks ago. I seem very cheap inside like you said a gocart. The aluminun floor exposed and the aluminiun gussets . Very unfinished !!!!

[Silver R/T]

ya Id go with Viper instead, maybe F50 if they had one

[dkn1997]

ya Id go with Viper instead, maybe F50 if they had one

...but the viper was also 200 bucks more per day and honestly, that factored in a bit.  also, I didn't book it till just a bit more than a week before and I don't think the viper was available.  no f50 ferarris at this place. they had the 348 and 355 convertibles.  my other two friends rented the 348.  decent car, and breaks the tires loose going into 3rd.  typical ferarri nonsense: brake lights no worky and speedo 20 mph off!!!  still a nice looking car that handles welll, though. 

[Ponch ®]

so how much does the elise rental run you?

[dkn1997]

279 for 24 hours.  came to 334 with tax, etc...  went about 80 miles and this little bastard sips the gas.  put about 4 gallons in it