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My Lotus Diary October 2001

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1^st October 2001

Can you believe it? I'm barely surviving without an Elise and now my neighbour across the close has got a brand new Yellow S2 sitting on his drive. My god has a warped sense of humour sometimes. Perhaps he's trying to teach me something about envy, jealousy and patience? Here I am desperately trying to save for my next Elise and this is what I'm destined to see from my front door/bedroom window for the foreseeable future ...

How cruel is that?

The reason behind the delayed hard tops seems to be coming to light. Apparently the new VX220 hardtop began to detach at 130 mph by lifting in the middle, catching the wind and then bowing in the centre until it blew off. This was whilst under testing at Milbrook. Since then Lotus have come up with a variety of fixing methods all of which have been rejected by Vauxhall. Vauxhall have recently approved a prodcution prototype and now Lotus (or their sub-contractor) have to put it into production. The estimate for VX220 hard tops is now late December/early January, so expect Elise S2's to appear after this date.

2^nd October 2001

It would appear my neighbour hasn't traded in his rather nice Ducati 996 motorbike for his yellow S2. I really liked the yellow press car I test drove but this car is a softer yellow. It's still bright but not the 'in your face' colour of the demostrator. Watching it drive by this morning, I was also struck by how quiet it is. My Rover 200vi sounds more like a sports car. It makes the Scooby sound like a TVR in comparison. I shall have to persuade him to stick a sports exhaust on it.

3^rd October 2001

Had a chat with my neighbour last night. We had a long chat and it turns out his S2 is his daily commute car. When he passed me this morning I noticed a rattle from somewhere.

5^th October 2001

EVO Magazine includes a review of the Turbo Technics supercharged Elise S2. If it's anything like the 190bhp upgrade for the S1, then it will be pretty awesome. No mention of whether it's strictly road legal though.

11^th October 2001

The Elise S2 stage II power upgrade is now available, producing 137bhp and more importantly, is road legal. It has been confirmed that Nick Adams was driving a development of this car at the Hethel Sprint last month. The kit will be available in November and price is yet to be confirmed (expect to pay at least £2000). I guess an S2 Sport 135 will appear just after Christmas.

18^th October 2001

Well if you believe the information on this page

then the Elise S3 is a lot closer than I thought. Can't say I'm keen on the prospect of an Elise S3 with an extra 150lbs in weight though. I was hoping the next generation Elise was going to get lighter or at least only get heavier through the options list. The proposed engine will not be a GM or Rover unit and will offer 150-200bhp. The car will have side impact protection, airbags, air conditioning and ABS. This is not really a step forward unless you live in the USA, where any Elise is welcome.

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My Lotus Diary October 2001

1st October 2001

2nd October 2001

3rd October 2001

5th October 2001