Drove the EVO IX RS, STi and Audi S4.
Nov 8, 2005, 03:41 AM
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Originally Posted by bounce
EVO vs Elise, that's a tough one:
The Elise is wonderful to drive, fast beautifully balanced and it looks incredible. I think it’s as close as you can get to a race-car on the street. The EVO is awesome, but stock to stock the Elise will hand the EVO it’s a$$ in the handling department. Before you freak, you need to realize that a stock Elise can pull more than 1G no problem and will easily out handle virtually everything on the road.
Braking wise, I’m pretty certain the Elise beats everything.
Frankly after owning the Elise I have been disappointed with most cars I have driven since. It’s a true testament that anyone could drive an EVO after owning a Elise and still walk away thinking the EVO is a fantastic car and that it handles great.
Now in straight line speed things would be closer. The Elise can do 0-60 in 4.3 seconds, but only if you’re willing to dump the clutch at 8000 RPMs. I never did that to my car and know of very few owners that would. The stock clutch in the Elise is not really designed for that kind of abuse; although I have not heard of one failing to date. Most Elise owners prefer to use their car to cut through corners at ungodly speeds. For this reason in the real world you might beat the Elise in a straight line if you’re hell bent on doing it. But you’ll be admiring it’s tail lights once the roads get twisty.
A Quick Word on Steering:
The Elise in know for it excellent feedback and is said to have perhaps the best steering feel of any car. We had worried that they would put in a assisted steering system and ruin the feel. Fortunately Lotus kept the steering all manual. OK for a car this light but I doubt it would work on something signicatly heavier. For this reason for the most part I have been largely disappointed with almost everything else I’ve driven… So how do I rate the EVO steering… EXCELLENT!. Second only to the Elise. Great feedback, feel and response. It’s still hard for me to believe is felt that good.
Life is not a dream:
There's more to consider than just performance (I can’t believe I just said that… Typed that). Most people that own an Elise also own other more practical cars. For most owners,the Elise is used as you would use a motorbike. It’s a car you drive when your only mission is to drive it. It’s not a car you drive because you need to get somewhere. That’s not to say no one uses it as a daily driver, but I’d say for most it’s more of a toy.
Unfortunately the Elise is a double edged sword. Yes it looks great, but it attracts so much attention that it really does discourage you from wanting to drive it out. I have been followed (I mean people will make an abrupt u-turns to follow the car) many times. You can’t get three feet without attracting a crowd. I witnessed people circling my car in parking lots. It’s crazy.
Another difference is that the Elise is an Exotic, and while it’s perhaps one of the more down to earth exotics, it still has that temperament that all exotic have. Nowhere near to the extent of a Ferrari, but still expect to have little problems occur from time to time… It’s the nature of the beast. Strangely the little idiosyncrasies mean nothing once you hit the twisties. All is forgiven and that gigantic grin returns to the vacancy that was your mouth.
Automotive Candy:
If you’ve never experienced the Elise you are missing out on one of life’s true automotive pleasures. Just getting into the Elise is an experience, as the sills are very high. You feel like you're climbing into a racecar. The Elise is surprisingly accommodating and can fit drivers up to 6’ 3” or so. Still it always feels like you’re wearing the car. You notice how close the pedals are… Unless you have tiny feet you will most likely want to get a pair of driving shoes. Some complain about this, but I can tell you it makes heel and toe a piece of cake. There’s a push button starter that gets things fired up. The excitement builds every time you hit that button, as though connected directly to your heart somehow.
Not So Different After All:
The Elise and EVO are on paper very different cars, but they are I think not so different. Both offer great performance value. I can’t believe the EVO is a sedan… How did they get this car to drive the way it does and still seat four in relative comfort?
Both are focused, both are fast... Very fast!
When the level of performance is this high the real deciding factor is the driver. Which would be faster around a track? That comes down to the component fitted on top of driver’s seat.
PS: I’m English, but have lived in the US for half my life.
The Elise is wonderful to drive, fast beautifully balanced and it looks incredible. I think it’s as close as you can get to a race-car on the street. The EVO is awesome, but stock to stock the Elise will hand the EVO it’s a$$ in the handling department. Before you freak, you need to realize that a stock Elise can pull more than 1G no problem and will easily out handle virtually everything on the road.
Braking wise, I’m pretty certain the Elise beats everything.
Frankly after owning the Elise I have been disappointed with most cars I have driven since. It’s a true testament that anyone could drive an EVO after owning a Elise and still walk away thinking the EVO is a fantastic car and that it handles great.
Now in straight line speed things would be closer. The Elise can do 0-60 in 4.3 seconds, but only if you’re willing to dump the clutch at 8000 RPMs. I never did that to my car and know of very few owners that would. The stock clutch in the Elise is not really designed for that kind of abuse; although I have not heard of one failing to date. Most Elise owners prefer to use their car to cut through corners at ungodly speeds. For this reason in the real world you might beat the Elise in a straight line if you’re hell bent on doing it. But you’ll be admiring it’s tail lights once the roads get twisty.
A Quick Word on Steering:
The Elise in know for it excellent feedback and is said to have perhaps the best steering feel of any car. We had worried that they would put in a assisted steering system and ruin the feel. Fortunately Lotus kept the steering all manual. OK for a car this light but I doubt it would work on something signicatly heavier. For this reason for the most part I have been largely disappointed with almost everything else I’ve driven… So how do I rate the EVO steering… EXCELLENT!. Second only to the Elise. Great feedback, feel and response. It’s still hard for me to believe is felt that good.
Life is not a dream:
There's more to consider than just performance (I can’t believe I just said that… Typed that). Most people that own an Elise also own other more practical cars. For most owners,the Elise is used as you would use a motorbike. It’s a car you drive when your only mission is to drive it. It’s not a car you drive because you need to get somewhere. That’s not to say no one uses it as a daily driver, but I’d say for most it’s more of a toy.
Unfortunately the Elise is a double edged sword. Yes it looks great, but it attracts so much attention that it really does discourage you from wanting to drive it out. I have been followed (I mean people will make an abrupt u-turns to follow the car) many times. You can’t get three feet without attracting a crowd. I witnessed people circling my car in parking lots. It’s crazy.
Another difference is that the Elise is an Exotic, and while it’s perhaps one of the more down to earth exotics, it still has that temperament that all exotic have. Nowhere near to the extent of a Ferrari, but still expect to have little problems occur from time to time… It’s the nature of the beast. Strangely the little idiosyncrasies mean nothing once you hit the twisties. All is forgiven and that gigantic grin returns to the vacancy that was your mouth.
Automotive Candy:
If you’ve never experienced the Elise you are missing out on one of life’s true automotive pleasures. Just getting into the Elise is an experience, as the sills are very high. You feel like you're climbing into a racecar. The Elise is surprisingly accommodating and can fit drivers up to 6’ 3” or so. Still it always feels like you’re wearing the car. You notice how close the pedals are… Unless you have tiny feet you will most likely want to get a pair of driving shoes. Some complain about this, but I can tell you it makes heel and toe a piece of cake. There’s a push button starter that gets things fired up. The excitement builds every time you hit that button, as though connected directly to your heart somehow.
Not So Different After All:
The Elise and EVO are on paper very different cars, but they are I think not so different. Both offer great performance value. I can’t believe the EVO is a sedan… How did they get this car to drive the way it does and still seat four in relative comfort?
Both are focused, both are fast... Very fast!
When the level of performance is this high the real deciding factor is the driver. Which would be faster around a track? That comes down to the component fitted on top of driver’s seat.
PS: I’m English, but have lived in the US for half my life.
Nice write up
Nov 8, 2005, 08:22 AM
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I can add a little to this since I have an 03 EVO & A4, test drove (at auto-x) and wish I had the Elise as a toy. Also drove an 03 STI and the modified Avant S4.
I too tend to like harder suspensions than most cars are stock. Every car I had I had to swap out the suspension, tires to make it acceptable and the EVO & Elise is the first cars where I really would not need to touch it (except for alignment of course).
One thing that jumps out me is that the EVO & Elise are totally different, yet the performance is almost the same. You can have fun in both cars and leave with a huge smile afterwards. The Elise does get much more attention. It feels like a race car, with rocks tumbling, rattles coming from every corner of the car, the engine buzz feel in your back, the thin bucket seats, the limited rear quarters (blind spots) and rear views, the wheel hop when pushing around some corners. A radio in this car is not needed at all as you have too much enjoyment absorbing all these sounds and feeling around you. The one thing that I did not like about the Elise is the "ice mode" when the computer cuts 80% of your braking pressure if it senses drastic differences in wheel speeds (such as wheel hop during a spin, etc.). This in my opinion should be addressed. I did not exhibit this in such a drastic scary feeling in others cars I drove.
The EVO (non RS) in comparison is a civilized car. Can be quiet, has room for 5, has all the regular comfort features other than cruise control. The quick ratio steering is what I think makes the car so fun and agile. The power is fun, especially with the extra hp from exhaust & ECU mods that give just enough power to break the rear wheel loose when cornering if desired. However, the lag under 3K can get annoying, especially when you want to drive 1/2 way between fast & slow. The first few minutes of cold driving is also crude as the car stumbles (it probably runs too rich when cold - had the same issues on my corrado turbo car). Also, the EVo did need to be slightly tweaked to make it less ricey, espeically those clear rear taillights. In the end, the EVO can carry my whole family and is the first car that I did not have to spend thousands of dollars a week after purchasing to make it right. It is faster and a pleasure/blast/fun to drive on a daily basis, rain, sun, or snow (oh the snow fun with winter tires!)
The STI lacked the light, direct steering. It felt like a truck to me. Along with big wheel, there was a lag between steering input and the car reacting. I beileve it has to to do with the suspension linkages. Interior was of better quality however and I did like the better low end response and lesser turbo lag. The looks of the car however would prevent me from owning this car even if the above mentioned deficiencies were fixed.
The Audi A4's/S4's can be made to be fast, but this would be due to pure and brute force. A lot of modifications are required, such as brakes, suspension mods and engine mods adding up at least to 10K or more to get the car to enter into the fun factor comparable to the other cars. It will never feel as light, but will kill the others in the luxary dept.
I too tend to like harder suspensions than most cars are stock. Every car I had I had to swap out the suspension, tires to make it acceptable and the EVO & Elise is the first cars where I really would not need to touch it (except for alignment of course).
One thing that jumps out me is that the EVO & Elise are totally different, yet the performance is almost the same. You can have fun in both cars and leave with a huge smile afterwards. The Elise does get much more attention. It feels like a race car, with rocks tumbling, rattles coming from every corner of the car, the engine buzz feel in your back, the thin bucket seats, the limited rear quarters (blind spots) and rear views, the wheel hop when pushing around some corners. A radio in this car is not needed at all as you have too much enjoyment absorbing all these sounds and feeling around you. The one thing that I did not like about the Elise is the "ice mode" when the computer cuts 80% of your braking pressure if it senses drastic differences in wheel speeds (such as wheel hop during a spin, etc.). This in my opinion should be addressed. I did not exhibit this in such a drastic scary feeling in others cars I drove.
The EVO (non RS) in comparison is a civilized car. Can be quiet, has room for 5, has all the regular comfort features other than cruise control. The quick ratio steering is what I think makes the car so fun and agile. The power is fun, especially with the extra hp from exhaust & ECU mods that give just enough power to break the rear wheel loose when cornering if desired. However, the lag under 3K can get annoying, especially when you want to drive 1/2 way between fast & slow. The first few minutes of cold driving is also crude as the car stumbles (it probably runs too rich when cold - had the same issues on my corrado turbo car). Also, the EVo did need to be slightly tweaked to make it less ricey, espeically those clear rear taillights. In the end, the EVO can carry my whole family and is the first car that I did not have to spend thousands of dollars a week after purchasing to make it right. It is faster and a pleasure/blast/fun to drive on a daily basis, rain, sun, or snow (oh the snow fun with winter tires!)
The STI lacked the light, direct steering. It felt like a truck to me. Along with big wheel, there was a lag between steering input and the car reacting. I beileve it has to to do with the suspension linkages. Interior was of better quality however and I did like the better low end response and lesser turbo lag. The looks of the car however would prevent me from owning this car even if the above mentioned deficiencies were fixed.
The Audi A4's/S4's can be made to be fast, but this would be due to pure and brute force. A lot of modifications are required, such as brakes, suspension mods and engine mods adding up at least to 10K or more to get the car to enter into the fun factor comparable to the other cars. It will never feel as light, but will kill the others in the luxary dept.
Last edited by xtnct; Nov 8, 2005 at 09:23 AM.
Nov 9, 2005, 05:31 AM
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The RS does feel light. I think a lot of it is becuase the RS reponds soo instantly to driver inputs. It "feels" lighter than my old rsx-s, which is a lot lighter. In some ways, the nimblness of the RS reminded me of the cooper-s.
Originally Posted by bounce
I don't think the XI will be a major change from the X, anymore than the IX is from the VIII. Still if rumors of power starting at 300 bhp and going up to 400 bhp plus for the top model hold true, then I owe it to myself to wait and see the production X before I commit to a purchase.
I can finally see why you guys love your EVOs. It really is an awesome car. It was hard to drive away without putting money down on one after that test drive. I found it amusing when my girl asked the salesman if the EVO was lighter than the Mini. Of course I knew it wasn’t, but it’s strange that it actually feels much lighter and nimbler.
I can finally see why you guys love your EVOs. It really is an awesome car. It was hard to drive away without putting money down on one after that test drive. I found it amusing when my girl asked the salesman if the EVO was lighter than the Mini. Of course I knew it wasn’t, but it’s strange that it actually feels much lighter and nimbler.
Last edited by lhooq; Nov 9, 2005 at 05:37 AM.
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