To each his own, Dan.

Unlike the Crossfire, the Elise is not all about posing. I agree, and have shared with other Elise owners, that its styling is the least appealing aspect of it. On the other hand, there are many people who are floored (in a positive way) by its styling. Owners have reported all the same things you guys have experienced...total strangers walking up and gawking, asking to touch it, asking if it's the new Ferrari, expressing great surprise when they find out it doesn't cost over $100K..You all know the drill, you've experienced it with your cars. I personally think the Elise is a bit cartoonish looking, as someone else point out. I'm not buying it for its styling...when I'm driving it, I can't see what it looks like.

It is an uncompromising road car that will outhandle anything under $100K, most cars over $100K, and accelerates in Vette territory. Yes even with the Toyota drivetrain. The Elise is almost two full seconds faster to 60 mph than the Crossfire, if drag racing is your thing. It beats the Crossfire by a wide margin in the 0-60, quarter mile, slalom, skidpad, and braking...and a couple of those things the Crossfire is pretty fair at. Oh yeah....gets over 30 mpg, and is cheaper to insure than my Crossfire was. (at least for now)

I've experienced the attention the Crossfire gets from the general public firsthand, and admit to being amused by it. Came close to the kind of attention my Esprit would get.

The Elise elicits at least as much attention, and with a total of MAYBE 3000 in the US by the time they stop making this model in 2006 (the bumper exemption will run out by then), its rarity will be sustained long after the Crossfire blends into the background.

The toyota connection is a good one. Reliability, serviceability, a modern powerplant.

The Crossfire is using last decade's Mercedes technology...the engine and trans not good enough to be in the new SLK.

But again, you're baiting me, and I admit to biting. Enjoy your car, the Crossfires are nice, and they perform somewhat adequately in their class. I do really miss the heated seats and the little wrench lights reminding me to change my oil.

The Elise is certainly not for everyone. No, my guess is that you would not feel it is worth the 40K. Just to give you a sense of the different types of buyers...I remember when the Crossfire first came out, aside from the first gear popping, the biggest issue seemed to be the radio display and spirited discussions on this board on the quality of the sound system.

On the largest Elise forum, most guys are talking about ordering the car with the delete radio option..not because they want to install some super sound system, because they want to save weight, a couple bucks, and because Elise owners, for the most part, couldn't car less about the stereo and frankly don't use it much. They'd rather listen to the car. On my drive back from Jersey next Saturday, I don't intend to turn the stereo on at all during the 4 hours...other than making sure it works while giving the car a once over at the dealer.

No, you won't see Elise's with 20 inch chrome wheels, neon lights under the car, door sills with 'Elise' lit up, or chrome anything. They are minimalist by design...less is more...and dressing them up as some Crossfire owners do with their cars is contrary to their purpose.

Different strokes. The Crossfire is a blvd cruiser. It would be a great, comfortable car for a cross country drive on the interstates. A few folks have a good time and are somewhat competitive with it at autocrosses...Wes for example. That's great. The Elise is a track day car that begs to be pointed down a back road all the time, and begs its owner to take up autocrossing.

Somebody in this thread said it's the smallest car on the road. While technically true, it's splitting hairs. Dimensionally it is nearly identical to the Miata.

I had to bite, but I figured it was ok this one time 'cause it's in the Other Cars forum, and somebody else started the Elise thread.

I've stayed in touch with a few of you in the last year...when the car gets here, I'll drop a line and maybe in the Spring we can hit the Dragon Tail.