GR Yaris Lotus Elise

[Rhys_E]

Hi,

I currently own a Gen 1 GR Yaris and a Subaru P1.
I'm thinking of adding a Lotus Elise 220 sport or 240 final edition. The car will be driven on the road, in the dry. I've never driven a Lotus or any mid engine small sports car and with them now no longer in production, getting a test drive is difficult!

Has anyone driven a Lotus Elise and if so, how do they compare to the GR Yaris?

 

[Yaris146]

Hi,

I currently own a Gen 1 GR Yaris and a Subaru P1.
I'm thinking of adding a Lotus Elise 220 sport or 240 final edition. The car will be driven on the road, in the dry. I've never driven a Lotus or any mid engine small sports car and with them now no longer in production, getting a test drive is difficult!

Has anyone driven a Lotus Elise and if so, how do they compare to the GR Yaris?

I owned both alongside each other for 5yrs, mine was an Elise r which was 190hp na. Obviously completely different cars for different things. When I bought my lotus I wanted a second car that wasn’t really like anything else. I bought the Yaris as I’m a rally enthusiast living in wales and needed to drive to work.

Lotus described the roof as showerproof to give you an idea.

It would take a while to put the differences into words but if there are specific questions I can try to answer.

 

[Rhys_E]

I owned both alongside each other for 5yrs, mine was an Elise r which was 190hp na. Obviously completely different cars for different things. When I bought my lotus I wanted a second car that wasn’t really like anything else. I bought the Yaris as I’m a rally enthusiast living in wales and needed to drive to work.

Lotus described the roof as showerproof to give you an idea.

It would take a while to put the differences into words but if there are specific questions I can try to answer.

I find the GR very capable and one of the fastest things on the road from A to B. It’s fantastic in the wet and very surefooted. The only criticism that I have is that in dry conditions, you have to be going flat out for the car to feel special.
I’m looking for something exciting to drive at all speeds that feels special all of the time with the best driver involvement and feel of the road as possible. I’m just thinking would the Elise fit the bill for this? It would only be used as a weekend car in dry conditions on undulating, uneven B roads and mountain passes.

My question is, does the Elise meet these expectations or is the Yaris just as exciting and involving on the road without having to go as fast as you can?

 

[RichM]

I had an Elise 220 Cup for c 3yrs before my GRY which I have now had for approaching 4yrs. I really enjoyed Cup ownership but I test drove a GRY on Xmas Eve 2022 and my Elise was sold 4 days later, on Friday 13th Jan I picked up a 6 month old GRY and haven't looked back since. Both fill the role of weekend B road fun car.

For me, the GRY provides more driving enjoyment than the Elise which was a hoot to drive but with too many, what I perceived as, compromises, poor visibility (low to road) hampered overtaking for me, uncomfortable (moreso on poor road surfaces), too loud to listen to music, really poor lights, hopeless air con, zero practicality. By comparison, I love having Android Auto for TomTom, decent air con, reasonable lights, fit gear in the boot, but most significantly I find the GRY suspension and ability to deal with bumpy roads absolutely remarkable, and I really like the seat position which gives me great long range forward visibility on undulating roads.

If I could have an Elise or S2 Exige alongside the GRY for occasional top down summer runs I would in a heartbeat. The Lotus community is great for getting together for drives, I am surprised there isn't more of this with the GR community. I was and still am an active member of Midlands Lotus Owners Club, we organise an annual event (Lotus in the Peak) for charity and get 200 - 300 cars attending and taking parts in organised runs. Club members regularly organise Sunday morning runs out with obligatory brekkie and tyre kicking. I sometimes tag along in my shopping car!

My view is that one petrol heads car is anothers nightmare, similarly one might adore an aspect of a car, another might despise. Maybe reach out to your local Lotus Owners Club, they're a friendly bunch and would happily take you out and talk Lotus all day long. I don't think you'll know if it's for you until you try.

Good luck with your search, buying the right car would be low risk as residuals are pretty strong so probably minimal or no depreciation if you wanted to move it on.

Good luck, let us know how you go!

 

[Rhys_E]

I had an Elise 220 Cup for c 3yrs before my GRY which I have now had for approaching 4yrs. I really enjoyed Cup ownership but I test drove a GRY on Xmas Eve 2022 and my Elise was sold 4 days later, on Friday 13th Jan I picked up a 6 month old GRY and haven't looked back since. Both fill the role of weekend B road fun car.

For me, the GRY provides more driving enjoyment than the Elise which was a hoot to drive but with too many, what I perceived as, compromises, poor visibility (low to road) hampered overtaking for me, uncomfortable (moreso on poor road surfaces), too loud to listen to music, really poor lights, hopeless air con, zero practicality. By comparison, I love having Android Auto for TomTom, decent air con, reasonable lights, fit gear in the boot, but most significantly I find the GRY suspension and ability to deal with bumpy roads absolutely remarkable, and I really like the seat position which gives me great long range forward visibility on undulating roads.

If I could have an Elise or S2 Exige alongside the GRY for occasional top down summer runs I would in a heartbeat. The Lotus community is great for getting together for drives, I am surprised there isn't more of this with the GR community. I was and still am an active member of Midlands Lotus Owners Club, we organise an annual event (Lotus in the Peak) for charity and get 200 - 300 cars attending and taking parts in organised runs. Club members regularly organise Sunday morning runs out with obligatory brekkie and tyre kicking. I sometimes tag along in my shopping car!

My view is that one petrol heads car is anothers nightmare, similarly one might adore an aspect of a car, another might despise. Maybe reach out to your local Lotus Owners Club, they're a friendly bunch and would happily take you out and talk Lotus all day long. I don't think you'll know if it's for you until you try.

Good luck with your search, buying the right car would be low risk as residuals are pretty strong so probably minimal or no depreciation if you wanted to move it on.

Good luck, let us know how you go!

Thanks for the advice Rich!
One of the things that I love about the GR Yaris is the driving position funnily enough!
I know there was a lot of criticism when it came out that the seats were too high, but I love it as it gives great visibility for fast driving and overtaking. I’m 6ft and still don’t have the seat in its lowest position.

Also, interesting to hear that the suspension in the GR Yaris absorbs bumps in the road much better than the Elise.

The mod cons such as radio, air con, luggage space wouldn’t bother me at all.

Ideally I’d like to test drive an Elise, but I don’t know of anyone who owns one and I’ve spoken to Lotus garages but as they no longer make the Elise, there are none around to test drive!

Spending £40-£50k would be too much of a risk without test driving one as I might end up not getting on with the car at all as it’s completely different to anything that I’ve driven previously.

 

[GRMatt74]

Ex 220 Cup owner here. Although I now drive a GR86 and not a Yaris I can wholeheartedly say the Elise is a car you will enjoy if you are true petrolhead.
I owned mine from a year old for 5 years and had an absolute blast in it.
Totally agree with Rich in regards to visibility for overtaking. You did have to hang back a bit and stick the car out to know whether you were clear or not.
I was a member on the FB Cup owners group for the whole time and can say that if you want any info on the cars then that’s a good place to go. SELOC is a good place to ask questions too.