Boxster vs Elise

[rob76turbo]

Originally Posted by blue2000s

You should test drive it. It's not a car that most people would be willing to live with on a day to day basis, but fits the needs for some.

I hear you! I really do not need a daily driver, as my commute is home to the airport and back and my wife usually takes me. I run around a bit, errands and the like, but try to do 6+ track events per year.

No doubt I am gonna try one. Who knows....maybe I will hate it!

[Anim]

I looked into the Elise / Exige before getting my Boxster. There are pro's and cons to each but here is what I found before choosing the Boxster.

Elise Pro's

• It feels much quicker than the Boxster, even 30 mph can feel fun
• Looks stunning
• Cheaper to maintain
• Its a no frills drivers car

Elise Cons

• Has little to offer past 70 mph
• Very woman unfriendly to get in/out of due to side chassis strut
• It's a rough ride
• Its more like a go kart in a posh jacket
• Not great on motorways, very noisy.

Personally I would still get an Elise as it just looks like a mad fun car but after a year or so I might start missing the more luxury drive offered by the Boxster.

Anim

[Quickurt]

Originally Posted by Anim

I looked into the Elise / Exige before getting my Boxster. There are pro's and cons to each but here is what I found before choosing the Boxster.

Elise Pro's

• It feels much quicker than the Boxster, even 30 mph can feel fun
• Looks stunning
• Cheaper to maintain
• Its a no frills drivers car

Elise Cons

• Has little to offer past 70 mph
• Very woman unfriendly to get in/out of due to side chassis strut
• It's a rough ride
• Its more like a go kart in a posh jacket
• Not great on motorways, very noisy.

Personally I would still get an Elise as it just looks like a mad fun car but after a year or so I might start missing the more luxury drive offered by the Boxster.

Anim

It's the closest thing to driving my formula ford I've ever sat in.

[tnoice]

Amazing, I had the exact same debate before I bought the Boxster. It was the boxster vs the elise. Topgear did a great comparison of the elise vs a mustang. You can youtube it. They absolutely love the elise.

[Adam]

The Elise trades a lot of comfort and amenities for the sake of less weight. It's use for the street is limited. It's a very small car with a very small interior. The trunk has enough room for a small bag and a helmet and not much else. It has a very firm ride. It's a thinly disguised street legal race car so if that is what you want then look no further. Just remember this is a car designed to spend the majority of it's life on a track and if that's where you intend to take it you should be very happy.

[rob76turbo]

Good points....I mostly run a few errands with my car and spend several weekends per year at the track. There are a few Elise (not sure of the plural...) around town so I will take a test and report back.

[Topless]

We have two Lotus Exige in our club who are also Porsche owners. I have not driven them but both owners report: "Wonderful weekend track toy, especially tight technical tracks. Really annoying to drive around town."

Both trailer their cars to the track.

[Quickurt]

There is a guy who shows up at most of the NASA events at Roebling Road (according to a friend with a shop at the track). The one time I saw him, he had a really neat little all aluminum tube trailer with his track wheels and tires and a nice aluminum nascar style jack! The trailer couldn't ahve weighed 100 lb. without the wheels and tires in it! He was using the latest Advan tires (3 years ago?)that were as close to slicks as anything I've seen.
Personally, I would use slicks for track days.
I know from a PCA buddy, he's so fast in the Lotus they won't let him come back to Porsche club events, but then you all know the difference between a Porsche and a porcupine..........

[Quickurt]

If I wanted a track car, I'd own the Lotus.
It is also possibly the most dangerous car made to drive on the street.
Look closely at how the car is built and tell me you would take your wife in it and drive on city streets with morons in SUVs.
One of my best friends from SCCA racing has one, but he lives in the backwoods of NC, very near the Tail of the Dragon and NEVER takes the car into a city, for the same reason.
Trailer it to the track and have a BLAST!!!!
If you want, I can give you his email addy. He has owned lots of cars and will give you his honest opinion of it, but I know he LOVES the car.
Chuck won several regional championships in Formula Continental.

[RandallNeighbour]

I just saw and Elise at the car show this week and told my buddy that if I could afford to go to the track regularly, I'd own an elise. Toyota motor reliability, perfect handling, and so forth.

The contortions required to get in it and out of it make it a deal killer as a car for use for any other purpose beyond the track (in my opinion and for my lifestyle and girth).

You may not find getting in it or crawling out of it a problem. Your passengers will though... that's for sure.