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Elise vs Box S
The Elise is more versatile than it looks. I just had 5,000 miles of seat time in an Elise, including a bit of tracking. I used it as a daily driver too. 1 month ago I took a road trip in it with my wife for a long weekend at the beach (Miami to Captiva Island on the West coast of FL). BTW am 6'0" tall.
The Elise does have its limitations, but I enjoyed driving it every day, especially with the Quicksilver Sport Exhaust, Sport Suspension & Touring Packages. The hardtop looked cool too.
I traded the Elise for my Box S due to a frustrating problem...the AC can't handle the heat/humidity in Miami. The AC is an afterthought; problems with the AC are well documented on the Elise boards. If it weren't for that issue I'd still have the Elise.
In terms of handling, the Elise is more agile than the Boxster. The Elise accelerates more quickly at lower speeds than the Box S, although keepin it "on the boil" is tricky due to the 6K RPM threshold for the second cam profile.
Insofar as design, the Elise looks fantastic. The Box does too, but at this point it is a very common sight
Having said all that, the Box S is much more tractable given its torque. The Box S has a higher top speed. The Box S hurries along quickly without making a fuss-- you go faster than you think you're going if you don't watch it; the Elise is a rabid Chihuahua by comparison-- you feel you're going faster than you actually are. The driving experience in the Box S is sublime compared to the Elise.
The Bose stereo works well on the Box S (the Blaupunkt on the Elise does not...and the speaker tops melt in the sun...happened twice to me and I didn't park in the sun). The Box S has plenty of storage space. The Elise's body shell cracks expensively if you're ever hit (it's a fiberglass shell--the front clam costs $6K). The Box has and will have plenty of options and accessories available for it...much more than the Elise. The Elise requires oil changes every 4.5K miles; the Box S is every 15K. Overall the quality of everything on the Box is better than the quality of the Elise.
Bottom line, I'm pleased with my trade, but the Elise is a great car as well if you don't need AC!
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Miami FL
'04 Boxster S
'03 Coupe Cambiocorsa
'03 RSV Futura
'99 Victory V92C
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Hybrid Mode
