Basically the title. We always hear about how great Porsche, Honda, etc. are, but what are some brands that don’t get enough love?
Basically the title. We always hear about how great Porsche, Honda, etc. are, but what are some brands that don’t get enough love?
LOTUS and maybe Alfa Romeo. Lotus sets the benchmark for fun tossable cars. I know the miata exist, but the Exige 350 is on a whole 'nother level of fun.
My Elise was incredibly good fun on twisty roads. Leaked like a bitch and rattled like fuck, but that thing was like a rollerskate on tracks. Loved it.
Lives up to it’s acronym: Lots Of Trouble, Unless Serviced!
Not since 2002 when they swapped to Toyota Engines.
Even the rover k series units were pretty reliable excluding the head gaskets
Headgasket on a K18 is a one time fix if you’re a component mechanic. Unfortunately most generic garages are run by people that can’t be bothered to research how to fix it properly. Hundreds of destroyed engines.
Experienced that one first hand wayyy to many times.
Lotus doesn’t really have many competitors. One off cars but no brands. KTM X-bow, BAC Mono, Ariel Atom, Mugen. All very custom cars. For the longest, the best Lotus was just the most current Lotus. The newest one right now is beautiful btw.
Test drove the Giulia QV and was genuinely disappointed by how outdated the system is. Not to mention the weak dealership network. Ended up going with an Audi RS.
You don’t buy a Giulia QV for the system lol. All systems will eventually be outdated. You buy it for the experience. Did you get a manual TT RS? I’ll hold on to it if you did. It’s one of the few cars that will not lose value compared to the rest of the Audi line up, well, except for the manual R8.
It should, for triple the price of a Miata
Lotus gets plenty of credit amongst car enthusiasts as they are basically the purest driving experience you can have at attainable prices… but if you’re not a car person, you have no idea what a lotus is. Pulling into a gas station with an Elise I’ve heard “look at that Ferrari!” And “is that a Lamborghini?” Etc. Every answer but the right one.
I think the S2000, first-generation (AP1) is there with the purest driving experience. No traction control (except your right foot), FMR setup, sub 3K pounds.
This car has made me a damned good driver.
S2000 is obviously a great and pure experience, but still no comparison to Elise. The Honda has power steering and weights over ~40% more.
I’ve driven an Exige on the track. I get the rawness and austerity make it more “pure,” but my S2K isn’t exactly a world apart.
We are in total agreement.
I’ve been lucky enough to log thousands of miles in Elise, Exige, and ND MX-5, plus hundreds of miles of canyon in 981, 718, 4C, 991, Caterham and track time in Elise, Exige, Evora, Emira, A110, 718, 991, MX-5 and Radical and so I feel like I have a firm handle on this lightweight raw genre to the point that I tend to split hairs a bit, and that’s all that’s happening here. The S2000 is absolutely a great pure driver’s car. I agree that the rawness and austerity (plus less weight and unassisted steering) are important factors that elevate one car in this group over another but they are all in the group.
Oh, the A110. That’s a car I’ve been ogling for a while now. :)
Flights to Portugal are cheap, and Portimao is an amazing track ;)
https://autodromodoalgarve.com/driving-experiences/alpine-vitesse-je-taime/
S2000 is special because practically the whole thing was in-house so the sense of cohesion from that era of honda is sublime
Elise has the tub from denmark, engine from japan etc.
i miss my 2003 S2000, but the drive in the lotus is on a different level
if ap1 was 7/10 on the raw level and stripped out ek was a 8, the lotus is almost a 9
My Elise weighs 1900lbs and the S2000 weighs 2800lbs… Huge difference.
Was thinking the same lol. You know what else gets no love. BMW. …wait a minute!
Depends which audience you are talking about. Among real car enthusiasts, I think Lotus gets their fair share of credit as easily the GOAT enthusiast brand.
+1 lotus -1 for alfa unless you get the quadr. @ ~$100k
Alfa romeos are dressed up chrysler 200s.
Did I tell you the dressing is plastic junk?
Came here to say lotus.
Love my exige.
The Elise drives like a 60-70s vintage racecar/kit car. Its extremely raw and visceral. Its worlds apart from a Miata/Mr2 and S2000.