YSE Car of the Week: 2005 Lotus Elise

by Justin Crenshaw

Published: July 18th, 2009

This week’s Your Shitty Economy (YSE)™ Car of the Week: the 2005 Lotus Elise. Somewhere along the line responsibility took over your life, leaving no room in the garage for fifty-thousand dollar track toys. It’s amazing how five years and $5,000 a year in depreciation can help rationalize the need for a weekend toy. Let’s face it, the street legal go kart Elise isn’t good for much else. The ride will make your STI feel like a Town Car. And the noise? Even if the radio (if it has one) isn’t capable of drowning out the engine, who cares? Pop the top and let the wind rush and exhaust notes assault your senses. If you are flexible enough to make it into the driver’s seat the purity of it all will overwhelm you. Don’t even think of using the word luxury in its presence. Want to talk numbers?

Tell the muscle car guys you have a whopping 190 horsepower engine yanked out of an economy car and you’ll likely get some chuckles. Remind them you are hauling less than a ton of weight . . . or, better yet, show them. This used 2005 example is yours for only $23,995, does have a radio and even A/C. What a steal. For some vintage Farago-ness, see this review of the 120-horse 2002 Elise that Robert penned for a British audience.

Justin Crenshaw

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4 of 66 comments

U mad scientist on Jul 21, 2009
Again, I've driven the current 600hp SRT-10, the previous 500hp SRT-10, and the ACR. All of them will easily handle any production Exige/Elise. With 3 times the power and tires twice as big, I certainly hope it can. To be somewhat fair to the viper, the Koenigsegg's an example of a car that is pretty terrible for its supposed power due to instability. A 900 hp version reportedly crashed while ringing 7:33's. Maybe they can borrow that wing and splitter from the ACR.

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Anonymous on Jul 23, 2009
OMG, LOL. How many ACR’s total do you think are out there of all the vipers, never mind GT racers? Let’s try to keep it within the realm of the sane, ok? You may want to realize cars like the GTS coupe are full bore race cars and run tens of thousands of dollars a race weekend No, no, no.... You missed my point. I was only suggesting Dodge does make a true 'race' Viper, if that's your thing. $140,000 can get you one... Also to show the ACR is still pretty far from a 'race' car. I had the opportunity to get up-close-and-personal with a Comp. Coupe. You quickly realize the production Vipers (including the ACR) are not 'race' cars. That was my only point, as some people speak of the ACR like it is a race car (ie - unusable on the street). Far from it... Yes, professional racing is expensive. We finally agree on something. Although the numbers you are quoting are a bit high, at least for a Comp. Coupe. Now the GTS-R, which won all the titles in mid-late 90's + early 2000's (not the GTS Coupe, as that was a production car from 1996-2002), that's a different story. The GTS-R was a 750 HP monster that competed at the highest level. I'm sure the cost to do such a thing (ie - win 24 hours of Lemans 3 years in a row) is astronomical. Team Oreca is the search you want... The Comp. Coupe was released in 2003 and provides a more 'affordable' racing experience, if there is such a thing. Mainly for privateers. I've watched them race on the weekends with only an extra set of tires/brakes.

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Anonymous on Jul 23, 2009

Back on topic. The best YSE street/track weapon. I’m still waiting for a worthy competitor to the Corvette C5 Z06. I don't think there is any, at least in the $20,000 - $25,000 range. crickets.......

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U mad scientist on Jul 24, 2009
No, no, no…. You missed my point. I was only suggesting Dodge does make a true ‘race’ Viper, if that’s your thing. $140,000 can get you one… Also to show the ACR is still pretty far from a ‘race’ car. Tell me, what does the ACR stand for? Just because it's not a GTx racer doesn't mean it's not a track car. There are many levels of racing a car around a track, the ACR is designed for club racing, hence the name. -- Although the numbers you are quoting are a bit high, at least for a Comp. Coupe. Sure you can scrap by on lower cost (maybe less than than 10k) if you're not being competitive anyway. But then why buy a comp. coupe anyway. At the very least you need a transporter for a such a car. You need at least a mechanic, pit/radio, parts get damaged/worn, cars touch, tires for practice/qualifying/race in addition to any fees. At the level of racing where comp coupes apply, the cost of the car is only a part of the endeavor. Perhaps you're not aware of how much real racing cost, but a big-time team like oreca is more than tens of thousands of dollars which is only how much the "privateer" racing costs. --- I’m still waiting for a worthy competitor to the Corvette C5 Z06. It doesn't really matter what club racers use since there's rarely wheel to wheel anyway. Just get whatever you like. Driving skill and not cars separate folks at that level. And if you want to develop real driving skills, do karting.

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