Saw a "Lotus" on the way home today
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From: Aurora , ILL
Saw a "Lotus" on the way home today
Just a short 8 mile ride home from work today and I spotted this Lotus.
I was in the Crossfire and we exchanged some long glances at one another.
Pretty cool car although I don't know much about them.
No good open road to play or even see how fast it might be so I snapped these pics and we both waved before he turned left at the next light ahead.
I was in the Crossfire and we exchanged some long glances at one another.
Pretty cool car although I don't know much about them.
No good open road to play or even see how fast it might be so I snapped these pics and we both waved before he turned left at the next light ahead.
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From: Ontario
Re: Saw a "Lotus" on the way home today
Just a short 8 mile ride home from work today and I spotted this Lotus.
I was in the Crossfire and we exchanged some long glances at one another.
Pretty cool car although I don't know much about them.
No good open road to play or even see how fast it might be so I snapped these pics and we both waved before he turned left at the next light ahead.
I was in the Crossfire and we exchanged some long glances at one another.
Pretty cool car although I don't know much about them.
No good open road to play or even see how fast it might be so I snapped these pics and we both waved before he turned left at the next light ahead.
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From: Dallas, the Republic of Texas
Re: Saw a "Lotus" on the way home today
I sat in one of those a few years ago at an auto show. The cabin is more compact than the Crossfire and I felt like my butt was on the ground. They are not a car I would want to go long distance it. But would be fun to drive!
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From: Lebanon, Tennessee
Re: Saw a "Lotus" on the way home today
Look it's Top Gear Dog
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From: Ontario
Re: Saw a "Lotus" on the way home today
Lotus went from kit cars to F1 were it had remarkable success, in less than ten years.
Last edited by onehundred80; Oct 22, 2013 at 03:08 PM.
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From: Akron, Ohio
Re: Saw a "Lotus" on the way home today
I saw a Ferrari 348 TB last evening. It entered the X-Way from an on ramp and pulled up beside me, lingered there for a few seconds, then layed into it and cut across in front of me out into the 3rd. lane.
It would have been fun to have had an SRT6 and embarrassed him.
Wish I had been in my Crossfire (and not my Honda) at the time. It would have been interesting to see if I could have intimidated him enough to keep him from showing off.
It would have been fun to have had an SRT6 and embarrassed him.
Wish I had been in my Crossfire (and not my Honda) at the time. It would have been interesting to see if I could have intimidated him enough to keep him from showing off.
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Joined: Mar 2008
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From: IN
Re: Saw a "Lotus" on the way home today
I saw a Ferrari 348 TB last evening. It entered the X-Way from an on ramp and pulled up beside me, lingered there for a few seconds, then layed into it and cut across in front of me out into the 3rd. lane.
It would have been fun to have had an SRT6 and embarrassed him.
Wish I had been in my Crossfire (and not my Honda) at the time. It would have been interesting to see if I could have intimidated him enough to keep him from showing off.
It would have been fun to have had an SRT6 and embarrassed him.
Wish I had been in my Crossfire (and not my Honda) at the time. It would have been interesting to see if I could have intimidated him enough to keep him from showing off.
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Joined: Jan 2009
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From: Carmel, In.
Re: Saw a "Lotus" on the way home today
Gary, I have had the privilege of driving one of these nearly 4,000 miles over the course of a few years. My ex-girlfriend's father bought one of the first 50 into the states in 2005 and I went to pick it up with him. I got to drive it pretty much whenever I wanted and had to take it to several service appointments that were ~200 miles away.
A VERY fun, very competent car. I know they get crap for having the Toyota engine, but who has literally the best 4 bangers on the road, with more of them still on the road than any other manufacturer. Driving that car, perfectly stock, garnered me as much attention as my modified crossfire, which is quite a bit.
They have dropped to about the 25K range for a good example, I was hoping they would drop more and we would have picked one up, but they are no crossfire, they actually retain value
A VERY fun, very competent car. I know they get crap for having the Toyota engine, but who has literally the best 4 bangers on the road, with more of them still on the road than any other manufacturer. Driving that car, perfectly stock, garnered me as much attention as my modified crossfire, which is quite a bit.
They have dropped to about the 25K range for a good example, I was hoping they would drop more and we would have picked one up, but they are no crossfire, they actually retain value
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Joined: Apr 2006
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From: Ontario
Re: Saw a "Lotus" on the way home today
Gary, I have had the privilege of driving one of these nearly 4,000 miles over the course of a few years. My ex-girlfriend's father bought one of the first 50 into the states in 2005 and I went to pick it up with him. I got to drive it pretty much whenever I wanted and had to take it to several service appointments that were ~200 miles away.
A VERY fun, very competent car. I know they get crap for having the Toyota engine, but who has literally the best 4 bangers on the road, with more of them still on the road than any other manufacturer. Driving that car, perfectly stock, garnered me as much attention as my modified crossfire, which is quite a bit.
They have dropped to about the 25K range for a good example, I was hoping they would drop more and we would have picked one up, but they are no crossfire, they actually retain value
A VERY fun, very competent car. I know they get crap for having the Toyota engine, but who has literally the best 4 bangers on the road, with more of them still on the road than any other manufacturer. Driving that car, perfectly stock, garnered me as much attention as my modified crossfire, which is quite a bit.
They have dropped to about the 25K range for a good example, I was hoping they would drop more and we would have picked one up, but they are no crossfire, they actually retain value
Some try to hide the Crossfires roots, if they do not like them they buy another car. No matter how many labels they stick on it and no matter how many they take off, it will still be a CHRYSLER.
Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 162
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From: Boulder, CO
Re: Saw a "Lotus" on the way home today
I've got both a N/A Crossfire and an Elise; I'll take a picture of the two together tomorrow.
The Elise is a much more pure-bred sports car, obviously. The Elise has a harsher ride, is loud as hell, on the ground, and hard to get into and out of. They're also handmade, which sounds fancy and exotic on the surface but really means that each individual car has its own set of odd squeaks, rattles, body panel gaps, and assembly issues. No creature comforts like heated seats, a fancy heater re-circulation system, or much cargo space either.
The Crossfire, even with SRT6 springs and my Koni shocks adjusted for stiffness feels like a vaguely-captained boat in comparison to the Elise, and that's saying something as the Crossfire isn't particularly large and for a 2000's era car isn't even altogether that overweight.
What's interesting is that while the stock Elise is decently faster than the N/A Crossfire, the Crossfire's torque means that the Crossfire smacks you back in the seat a lot harder. The Crossfire also tries harder to make a show if you hammer the gas. The stock Elise has very limited torque and doesn't come into its power until 6300rpm while even my N/A Crossfire is ready to light up the tires almost anytime. Two dramatically different driving experiences for sure.
Weirdly the Elise is actually a more comfortable ride for me once I finagle my way into it. I'm 6'1" and I find that the limited headroom and visibility in the Crossfire leaves me leaning around in sometimes-painful ways while I drive, while the Elise puts the seats on the ground and gives me more space to work with. I've seen the Crossfire mod where people cut the seat mount welds and bolt the seats straight to the pan for more headroom, but it's a bit too extreme for me.
Overall they're both great cars in my book. The N/A Crossfire is a wonderful deal for a decently finished, comfortable, sporty entry-luxury car with a torquey evil side while the Elise is a bizarre, exotic high-revving streetworthy track weapon that's almost guaranteed to retain its value.
The Elise is a much more pure-bred sports car, obviously. The Elise has a harsher ride, is loud as hell, on the ground, and hard to get into and out of. They're also handmade, which sounds fancy and exotic on the surface but really means that each individual car has its own set of odd squeaks, rattles, body panel gaps, and assembly issues. No creature comforts like heated seats, a fancy heater re-circulation system, or much cargo space either.
The Crossfire, even with SRT6 springs and my Koni shocks adjusted for stiffness feels like a vaguely-captained boat in comparison to the Elise, and that's saying something as the Crossfire isn't particularly large and for a 2000's era car isn't even altogether that overweight.
What's interesting is that while the stock Elise is decently faster than the N/A Crossfire, the Crossfire's torque means that the Crossfire smacks you back in the seat a lot harder. The Crossfire also tries harder to make a show if you hammer the gas. The stock Elise has very limited torque and doesn't come into its power until 6300rpm while even my N/A Crossfire is ready to light up the tires almost anytime. Two dramatically different driving experiences for sure.
Weirdly the Elise is actually a more comfortable ride for me once I finagle my way into it. I'm 6'1" and I find that the limited headroom and visibility in the Crossfire leaves me leaning around in sometimes-painful ways while I drive, while the Elise puts the seats on the ground and gives me more space to work with. I've seen the Crossfire mod where people cut the seat mount welds and bolt the seats straight to the pan for more headroom, but it's a bit too extreme for me.
Overall they're both great cars in my book. The N/A Crossfire is a wonderful deal for a decently finished, comfortable, sporty entry-luxury car with a torquey evil side while the Elise is a bizarre, exotic high-revving streetworthy track weapon that's almost guaranteed to retain its value.
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Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 7,951
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From: Dallas, the Republic of Texas
Re: Saw a "Lotus" on the way home today
That's a great write-up! I look forward to seeing your photo of the two cars together.
I've got both a N/A Crossfire and an Elise; I'll take a picture of the two together tomorrow.
The Elise is a much more pure-bred sports car, obviously. The Elise has a harsher ride, is loud as hell, on the ground, and hard to get into and out of. They're also handmade, which sounds fancy and exotic on the surface but really means that each individual car has its own set of odd squeaks, rattles, body panel gaps, and assembly issues. No creature comforts like heated seats, a fancy heater re-circulation system, or much cargo space either.
The Crossfire, even with SRT6 springs and my Koni shocks adjusted for stiffness feels like a vaguely-captained boat in comparison to the Elise, and that's saying something as the Crossfire isn't particularly large and for a 2000's era car isn't even altogether that overweight.
What's interesting is that while the stock Elise is decently faster than the N/A Crossfire, the Crossfire's torque means that the Crossfire smacks you back in the seat a lot harder. The Crossfire also tries harder to make a show if you hammer the gas. The stock Elise has very limited torque and doesn't come into its power until 6300rpm while even my N/A Crossfire is ready to light up the tires almost anytime. Two dramatically different driving experiences for sure.
Weirdly the Elise is actually a more comfortable ride for me once I finagle my way into it. I'm 6'1" and I find that the limited headroom and visibility in the Crossfire leaves me leaning around in sometimes-painful ways while I drive, while the Elise puts the seats on the ground and gives me more space to work with. I've seen the Crossfire mod where people cut the seat mount welds and bolt the seats straight to the pan for more headroom, but it's a bit too extreme for me.
Overall they're both great cars in my book. The N/A Crossfire is a wonderful deal for a decently finished, comfortable, sporty entry-luxury car with a torquey evil side while the Elise is a bizarre, exotic high-revving streetworthy track weapon that's almost guaranteed to retain its value.
The Elise is a much more pure-bred sports car, obviously. The Elise has a harsher ride, is loud as hell, on the ground, and hard to get into and out of. They're also handmade, which sounds fancy and exotic on the surface but really means that each individual car has its own set of odd squeaks, rattles, body panel gaps, and assembly issues. No creature comforts like heated seats, a fancy heater re-circulation system, or much cargo space either.
The Crossfire, even with SRT6 springs and my Koni shocks adjusted for stiffness feels like a vaguely-captained boat in comparison to the Elise, and that's saying something as the Crossfire isn't particularly large and for a 2000's era car isn't even altogether that overweight.
What's interesting is that while the stock Elise is decently faster than the N/A Crossfire, the Crossfire's torque means that the Crossfire smacks you back in the seat a lot harder. The Crossfire also tries harder to make a show if you hammer the gas. The stock Elise has very limited torque and doesn't come into its power until 6300rpm while even my N/A Crossfire is ready to light up the tires almost anytime. Two dramatically different driving experiences for sure.
Weirdly the Elise is actually a more comfortable ride for me once I finagle my way into it. I'm 6'1" and I find that the limited headroom and visibility in the Crossfire leaves me leaning around in sometimes-painful ways while I drive, while the Elise puts the seats on the ground and gives me more space to work with. I've seen the Crossfire mod where people cut the seat mount welds and bolt the seats straight to the pan for more headroom, but it's a bit too extreme for me.
Overall they're both great cars in my book. The N/A Crossfire is a wonderful deal for a decently finished, comfortable, sporty entry-luxury car with a torquey evil side while the Elise is a bizarre, exotic high-revving streetworthy track weapon that's almost guaranteed to retain its value.
