Lotus Elise update

Alright, I know this one is overdue by just a few days (months) or so but it's finally here! I still have the Elise, it is still in great shape and I've had a ton of fun with it.

The first part of the update is actually last year's British Bash.  Every year the British Sports Car Club of Louisville throws the "British Bash" at St Joesephs Childrens Home on Frankfort Ave.  The 2007 British Bash was a great turnout, despite some rainy weather, with several Lotus cars making the trip down from Indianapolis.  If you're near Louisville and love british cars then come on out the first weekend of June.

White Lotus Elan






Red M100 Lotus Elan






British Racing Green Lotus 7






Yellow Lotus Esprit





Yellow Lotus Esprit, Green Lotus Exige, Aubergrine Elise






Yellow Lotus Esprit and British Racing Green Lotus Exige






Yellow Lotus Europa






British Racing Green Lotus Exige






Aubergine Purple Lotus Elise






Close up of Aubergine Purple




After the show I cruised down to River Rd with the Indiana Lotus folks...


Yellow Lotus Esprit and British Racing Green Lotus Exige






Lotus Exige engine


The next little update is on some new additions to the Elise. The Lotus received a new set of Yokohama AD07s at about 20,000 miles. Again, I waited until they were almost completely smooth before replacing them. The front Yokohamas are still very usable with about 40-50% tread left. I think the next time I need to replace them I'm going to go ahead and use a different tire.

The next addition to the Lotus was a ForcedFed carbon fiber front splitter. I used Bill's installation guide for my install and it went very well. The only issue I ran into was not being able to install a bolt on the drivers side because of the oil cooler. I've run it at some high speeds since the installation with no cracks or movement so I think it's probably ok!



ForcedFed Carbon Fiber front spoiler on the Elise


Another fun addition to the Elise was my new personal license plate... FRISKE.



Personal plate on the Lotus


The definition of Frisky is "playful and full of energy". I figured that was appropriate!

The rest of this Lotus update is just a bunch of Elise photos from around the Louisville area. The rolling photos of the Lotus are courtesy of Doug Friedman. He was nice enough to do a quick photo shoot with the Elise while he was in town just before Christmas. The graffiti photos were taken at the Mellwood Arts center.



Lotus Elise photo at Mellwood Arts Center



Krypton Green Lotus Elise



Lotus Elise & Graffiti photo



Rear view of the Lotus Elise



Lotus Elise photo



Top view of the Elise while moving



Side view of the Lotus Elise while moving



The Lotus next to a Hummer



The Lotus Elise, dwarfed by a Hummer



My Lotus Elise in motion, shot by Doug Friedman



Lotus Elise in motion, shot by Doug Friedman



Rolling Lotus Elise photo, shot by Doug Friedman



Rolling Lotus photo, shot by Doug Friedman


And now for the Lotus Elise wallpaper for this post...

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Thats pretty much all for now. Lotus announced a supercharged version of the Elise for the 2008 model year. I'm going to try to make my own supercharged Lotus Elise this year as well ;)

More on that later!

Lotus Elise roadtrip

This is another "long overdue" post. My wife and I went to Gulf Shores Alabama back in April for about a week and we decided to take the Elise along for some roadster fun at the beach. Packing for the trip was no different than the other roadtrips we've taken with the Lotus, we just had to leave the soft top on until we arrived in Orange Beach where we could unpack and clear up room to store the top. The Lotus Elise is made (specifically) for curvy roads that test any car's handling ability but it is also a fun car for a 2 day roadtrip down a very straight highway. The downside is trunk space / boot space but as I've said before it's not hard to pack for travelling with it, you just have to be smart about it.


2005 Lotus Elise @ Johnson Beach in Florida, just over the Alabama/Florida border.

We were in Gulf Shores during Spring Break and you could tell. Every restaurant was packed, the main roads were always busy, lots of tuner cars, etc. The Elise was definitely the show stopper wherever it went though. Camera phones were taking pictures, kids were yelling & waving, girls were (ahem) flashing, etc... If you ever want to feel like "somebody", rent an Elise for a day. I can't even begin to count how many times I was asked "How much did that cost?!?" only to be followed by a look of disappointment when I tell them "about $45,000". People were guessing in the $120,000 range for the most part although the high & low guesses were $250,000 and $25,000, respectively.


2005 Lotus Elise at Johnson Beach in Florida.

During the stay I only saw a few other exotics out and about, a red Ferrari 355 Spyder and a silver newer Aston Martin along with a slew of modified 996 & 997 Porsches, unfortunately I wasn't able to photograph any of them. This trip was for relaxation so I didn't worry too much about getting Elise photos, hence why there aren't many in this post. Check back soon though for some photos from a local British car show (British Bash 2007) and some photos I've taken around town.


Krypton Green Lotus Elise on a Florida Beach.


2005 Lotus Elise at Florida Beach.


2005 Lotus Elise at Johnson Beach in Florida.


Krypton Green Lotus Elise


2005 Lotus Elise at Perdido Dunes in Gulf Shores Alabama.


Lotus Elise in Gulf Shores Alabama.


Top view of a Lotus Elise.


Lotus Elise behind a C6 Corvette at a Florida beach.


Lotus Elise, C6 Corvette and black Subaru WRX.


Rear view of 2005 Lotus Elise.


2005 Lotus Elise behind a C6 Corvette. This photo kinda shows the size of the Elise, it looks like a toy next to the Corvette.

Something I want to start doing is adding a wallpaper to each post, available in the 5 most popular resolution sizes that visit this site. To kick it off...

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One year later...

I have now officially spent one year with my 2005 Lotus Elise. We bought it one year ago today (yesterday actually, posting this late late at night) from Dave Hampson at Dimmitt Exotics in Clearwater Florida. The sales process consisted of me finding the car online through Autotrader.com, contacting Dave and then flying down with a check a few weeks later. I was extremely worried that there would be some complications but it really was, and has continued to be, a painless process. We flew into Tampa late one night, Dave picked us up the next morning and an hour or so later we drove off with our new Lotus.

The car had right around 110 miles on the clock when we bought it, one year later it is at 14,040 miles. Aside from a few adjustments and a pair of rear tires the Elise has been trouble free. At the first service (Lotus of Atlanta), after much trouble and BS, we were able to have the headlights adjusted under warranty as well as the windows although they didn't really complete the window part. The second service was completely standard with the exception of replacing a lost center cap from one of the rear wheels. The car has been very reliable and has performed flawlessly throughout "mild daily driving" and a few road trips.

Our Lotus Elise has seen a couple of different beaches, some very quick & tight roads, a few tourist traps and even some concrete corn. My wife and I prefer driving it over our other two cars (VW Bug & Jetta). We've both found the Elise to be very comfortable and more than accommodating when you pack wisely. It's road manners are very well sorted and it feels very solid at speed on the expressway. The car draws attention from everyone every time it hits the road, I can't begin to imagine how many camera phone shots there are of this green Elise floating around. Most reviews paint a mixed picture of the Lotus Elise, always praising it's handling & performance but harshly criticizing it's boot space & ingress. This little Lotus isn't for everyone, but it's definitely for us!


We've come a long way since this visit to the beach, about 15 minutes after taking delivery of the Lotus.

Sooo, one year later and these are my thoughts:
What do I love about the Elise?
Simple, the pure connection that it offers between the road & the driver. The car communicates everything with you in a way that had previously been forgotten by everything else on the road.

What would I change about the Elise?
I'd like a bit more power out of the car. It's "just right" now, but another 20 - 30 horsepower would add to the fun without compromising the easy drivability it offers. A supercharger is in this car's future. I can't say when, but this car will definitely have some air stuffed into it's intake manifold before it leaves my hands. Other little upgrades will eventually include aftermarket wheels, a few carbon fiber bits, some drivetrain pieces, etc... My next project is installing XM radio. My wife gave me an XM radio subscription for Valentines day and since the Elise is my roadtrip car of choice it only makes sense to install a cradle for the receiver in it as well.

What is the most common question from onlookers?
"How much does that thing cost?". I get all sorts of questions, the majority of which are inquiries about what it is and who makes Lotus but the one common question thrown into almost every set is the price question. I don't really mind, it just amazes me though how easily people can ask something like that.

Do I still love Krypton Green after living with it for a full year?
Yes. This color never ceases to excite. I think there are some other nice colors (Orange, White, Laser Blue) that fit the car well but this color just looks so amazing in person.

What do I look forward to doing with the Elise in the year to come?
If we end up moving to Orange Beach Alabama then I fully expect to become active in that region's SCCA events. I don't really care for our region (too competitive, too much judging) so a fresh start elsewhere would be great for me. I'd like to head down to Deals Gap / Tail of the Dragon again, maybe run through the Blue Ridge parkway as well. Another Alabama plus is that Barber Motorsports Park is not far from Gulf Shores, if we move then I may be able to attend a couple of events there and finally get some much needed track time.

Any regrets about getting the Elise instead of a turbocharged G35 or Porsche 911 Turbo?
Nope. The only thing close to a regret is that I wouldn't feel "as bad" driving one of those as much as I do the Elise. Since the Elise is a specialty car in a world of special cars it instills a sense of guilt when you get caught in a rain storm or you realize that you're driving it as much as a "regular" car. It's still very much worth it to me though.

Lotus Elise in the snow

Well, Louisville finally got its first real snow the past two days. My area got right around 3" of accumulation last night, turning the driveway into a clean white canvas. Not enough to go sledding but enough to get some cool shots of the Elise in the snow.





















Not much news otherwise, been pretty quiet in Louisville. My birthday was last Saturday, I turned 27 on January 27th in 2007, weird huh. I thought I'd get struck by lightning or something but instead I ended up getting a book on the history of the Elise. Has a ton of cool facts and trivia tidbits in it detailing the S1 and development of the S2 Elise.

One bit of news is our new car. We sold the Subaru Legacy (insurance & gas was killing our finances) and bought a longtime dream car of mine, a 2001 Volkswagen New Beetle in Isotope Green.






So why is Isotope Green so important for me? Easy, it's a kick ass limited edition color. There were only about 2000 New Beetles made in this color back in 2001, spanning all of the engines and trim levels available. My 2001 New Beetle is a GLS trim level with a 1.8T motor. The color, in person, looks like glow in the dark green when it's not glowing... A perfect match for the Elise! This is the exact car (even the automatic transmission) that I've wanted since I was delivering pizzas and reading "Performance VW" 6 years ago. The previous owner was the wife of a well known VW enthusiast & VW performance parts supplier so needless to say this thing has had a good life so far. The car is stock aside from an iPod adapter, aftermarket rear wing (in addition to the speed sensitive upper spoiler), european (blue & white) badges and a painted engine cover.

I hate to say it but I haven't driven the Elise since I picked up the Bug, partially because of the obvious weather we've had. It really is THAT fun, a feeling that is much harder to explain than the feeling the Elise brings out. This is going to be a GREAT daily driver!

Elise rear towhook installation

Alright folks, heres another highly difficult Lotus Elise modification!

If you recall one of my recent posts you'll see that I recieved a rear towhook from Sector111 for Christmas but had to exchange it for a different style that would work with my car. The new one arrived yesterday and today after washing my car in the freezing cold I had a chance to toss it on the car. The entire installation took about 10 minutes at the most and might have actually been easier than the Zoom Carbon Fiber rearview mirror install. Read on below for the walkthrough.


This is the "Boomerang" rear towhook from Sector111. It's design allows it to clear exhausts that exit through the rear diffuser, such as the stock exhaust.


Some folks on EliseTalk.com have used pieces of Velcro to prevent the towhook from rattling against the rear diffuser. I picked up these circular felt pads from Target, I think they will work just as well.


This is the area that you might consider placing felt or something else to prevent rattling.


You will be removing two 13mm bolts like these from the rear diffuser.


Click this photo for a detailed shot showing the two bolts you will remove. This is where the towhook mounts to. Simply remove the bolts & washers, run the each bolt through the towhook, place the washer on the other side and tighten them back down in their stock position. Thats it. You don't even have to jack the car up.


The finished product. Hopefully I'll never have to use this but I think it looks kinda neat and if I am in a sticky situation it should help out.


View from behind the Lotus. You have to step back about 3-4 feet before you can even tell the hook is there. It sits about flush with the stock exhaust.


View from the ground, several feet behind the Elise.


The final shot. The Lotus Elise rear end is already pretty racy but this just adds to it.

Thats it for this update! I'm itching to go out and have a little photoshoot with the Elise so hopefully there will be some cool Lotus Elise photos in the next post.

Top 10 photos, Lotus Elise desktop wallpaper

Due to the overwhelming response from the comments of the last post I had to choose the 10 photos of the Elise from the last year using my own judgement, hopefully you all will like them! I've shown each photo below with the story behind each one and why I chose it. Click on the photos to see a larger version of each photo. Right click on your desired size below the photo and choose save as to download a high resolution wallpaper for your desktop. I made the wallpapers in the 5 most common sizes of the machines that browse this site...

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This was taken on a beach alongside a causeway in Clearwater Florida, about 15 minutes after we took delivery of the Elise. This was truly one of the most surreal moments of my life. The whole thing didn't really hit me until a few days later. I've had a few more moments where it kinda hits me but this still stands out as one of those unique moments where you don't have a care in the world, I was just happy with no extra baggage.

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This was taken at the public beach in Gulf Shores Alabama during the journey back to Louisville. This has always been one of my favorite photos, I love the perspective and the birds flying above. If I remember correctly this was taken just minutes after my wife realized you could have a 100 seagulls hovering around you if you threw out a little food.

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This photo kinda shows where I'd like to live one day. In parts of the Alabama Gulf Shore you can find clusters of these brightly colored beach houses, each colored differently than the next but always bright and bold. I think a Krypton Green Elise is a good fit for a scene of these houses. The really neat part is that almost all of these neighborhoods were more or less abandoned, made for a very cool feeling as you drive around.

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This photo might be self explanatory. On the road between Gulf Shores Alabama and Fairhope Alabama there is a large house with a unique gate on it's driveway. The gate consists of a pair of lips, a saxaphone and some other brightly colored stuff. This was taken in front of that gate. The owners, who seem to have it figured out, made their address sign read "The point of it all". I think its pretty fitting.

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Just outside of Gulf Shores is an old Fort, Fort Morgan, this was taken on the road out of there. I love the how Elise stands out from the background a bit and that you can make out the curve in the road.

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This just barely made the 2006 cutoff. My favorite pizza place in Louisville, Spinellis Pizza, is opening a new location just up the street from my house and have already brought some color to the place. The graffiti around this place is awesome in person, the photos really don't do it justice.

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I almost didn't throw this photo into the mix but it really is one my favorites. Something about the perspective and how it shows a view of the car that is rarely seen. The artwork in the background is pretty cool too!

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I had been wanting to get some cool "Car reflecting in water" shots for a long time now, the opportunity presented itself this year the day after a big storm. Not all of the photos turned out well but there were a few cool ones, this was one of them. If you look closely in the reflection you can see some detail of the Elise' underside.

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This is the only photo in the bunch that shows the Elise in it's convertible / roadster state. This was the first day that I took the top off. It's not the best photo (quality wise) but I love the stance and feel of the photo. This is also the photo that Autoblog used when they chose the Elise as reader ride of the day.

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This is yet another photo from Orange Beach Alabama, taken in the state park. Something about the trees reminds me of the ones in those old Dr Suess books. I think the scene in the photo just works, something I rarely manage to do.

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Well there you have it, the top 10 photos from this blog over the past year. Hopefully you'll find some nice new wallpapers for your desktop from this collection. This blog will be going through some changes over the next few days. It already has a new url, LotusEliseblog.com, soon it will also have a nicer layout as well as some new artwork. Check back in a week or so for Lotus Elise rear towhook installation walkthrough.

Hooray for Pizza (and the Lotus Elise)!

Exciting times here in Louisville, Spinellis Pizza (AWESOME pizza place from Philly) is opening up a new location about two miles or so from my house. There original Louisville location is in the Highlands and features a booth inside of a Lincoln Continental (one of those 60's suicide doors ones). Why is this news? Because I LOVE PIZZA! I'm even thinking about starting work on a Pizza Blog.


Best pizza in Louisville.

Anyway, what does this have to do with my Lotus Elise? Good question. Spinellis is big on Graffiti art and as such they have already given their new place "the look". I ran by there earlier today with the Elise to snap some photos of it by the fresh artwork. Check them out below!

(click on photos for larger versions)


The Lotus parked outside the new Spinellis Location (at Westport and Goosecreek in Louisville)


Lotus Elise alongside Spinelli's top notch Graffiti work...


Lotus Elise alongside some Graffiti


Lotus Elise alongside some colorful Graffiti


The Graffiti in the background reads "Do Not Touch", seems fitting ;)


Lotus Elise & Graffiti art


Krypton Green Lotus Elise next to some Graffiti


My Lotus Elise next to some top notch Graffiti


Lotus Elise next to the new Spinellis Pizza location in Louisville


Lotus and Graffiti tends to make cool photos


Lotus and Graffiti


My Elise next to some Graffiti art


Lotus Elise and some colorful Graffiti


Lotus Elise and Graffiti art

Thats about it for todays post, I'll have more in a week or so. I'll be installing a new rear grill (off a 2006 Exige) onto my 2005 Lotus Elise, there aren't any huge differences but the 2006 does have slightly different openings (oval compared to round) and does not have the two reflectors. Should be a nice subtle touch. Check back soon for some photos of this little modification.

A shark eats our Lotus and we find a Jetta

Been a while since the last post, took a vacation and have been busy with some freelance stuff. We took the Elise down to Orange Beach / Gulf Shores Alabama for a week after stopping in Chattanooga to see my sister. While in Orange Beach we took some photos of the Lotus by a couple of local "landmarks". Anyone who has been to Gulf Shores will probably recognize these...

I'm starting a new format with the photos I use in these posts, from now on most of them will be clickable. Click on the photo to see a larger version in a new window.







The Lotus also found a giant purple Octopus to make friends with! ;)

While in Chattanooga seeing my sister (and my new niece!) we took a day trip down to IKEA in Atlanta. While at IKEA I ended up finding the perfect storage container for the Lotus Elise / Exige. It's a 5" x 15" CD storage (although not slotted) container from the LYCKLIG line (Product Link). It's on their website but its only available for purchase instore. It fits perfectly behind the seats on the otherwise useless parcel shelf. The seats push into it just a little bit but help with holding it in place. I'm using mine to store change and all the small crap that I usually have a hard time with securing in the Elise.


You can see the European 111R decal in this photo...




REALLY bad photo, but it shows just how hidden it is with the seats pushed back

Also, a while back I mentioned that I had put some European 111R decals on the Elise, finally got around to snapping a photo of them...


And finally, the newest member to our stable, my wife's 1998 VW Jetta GLS. This is her first car so we're pretty excited about it!








Check back next week for an update. I ordered a Green Filter air filter from Blackwatch Racing for the Lotus, it should be here Friday so hopefully I can get it installed on Saturday. I'll be doing a small intake mod during the installation and will try to post soundclips from both before and afterwards. Anyway, look for some cool "Lotus Elise taken apart" photos in the next week!

Touring Brown County Indiana in a Lotus Elise

The weather in Louisville has been excellent the past few days and, in my opinion, is great for convertible fun. Theres a fun county about an hour and a half north of Louisville called Brown County. There are tons of little artist galleries & stores, a state park and some fun low traffic roads. The shopping district is very easy to get to, just look up "Nashville, IN" on Google Maps and follow the directions. The fun roads aren't really marked as such but if you lookup "Story, IN" you should be able to spot them ;)


The Lotus at its safe parking spot in Brown County. If you head up there around this time of year you should definitely plan on large crowds. The main strip is loaded with mini vans, harleys, sport bikes, muscle cars, etc... All different types of people are there.

135 Isn't "Deals Gap" fun, but its still pretty fun and easy to enjoy. Theres a little town called Story along the route that has a fantastic old Inn (The Story Inn) that makes for great photos. Last year (before we had our Elise) we rode up to Brown County and the Story Inn with our friends in their Orange & Yellow cars. I ended up snapping a photo of their Chrome Orange Elise (yeah, its the one from the Tire Rack ads) in front of the Story Inn and it actually made it into the 2006 Club111 Calendar. This is the photo...



I thought it would be fun to try and recreate the photo (although without the carriage driver) with our Elise. Heres my attempt at that ;)


Krypton Green Lotus Elise @ The Story Inn in Story Indiana







Aside from the trip I don't have much else to update. I put some european market 111R decals on the Elise this past week, I'll get a photo of them up in the next day or so. One neat tidbit is the car actually rolled over to 10,000 miles as I parked it in front of the Story Inn. I meant to grab a photo but forgot in my haste.

Attention Grabbing

You know, I really wonder if all of these little Lotus cars get the same kind of attention. My Krypton Green Elise gets a TON of looks, so many that I've actually kinda tuned it out and don't really notice it much any more. But then I catch glimpses like this...


(crappy camera phone quality, direct sunlight KILLS the quality)

Some random guy had another, unrelated, random guy take a photo of him in front of the car. Not just one photo but two or three. This doesn't really bother me in the least, but it does make me wonder if its the car, the color or a combination of the two. 99% of the people who see it smile instantly or point and get their friends to look as well. Thats cool. But again, is it the car, the color or both?

The only other Lotus Elise' in Louisville are a Chrome Orange and two Saffron Yellows, obviously all bright colors, so thats not much help. I want to find out if a black Elise or a silver Elise get the same attention as my Krypton Green (or other BRIGHT) colored Elise' get. You could paint a Toyota Camry Krypton Green and it would snap some necks as it rode by, but would the stare continue until its out of sight like it does with the Lotus? Most owners say its just the car and not the color, but a black Elise HAS to slip under the radar even a little bit more than a Krypton Green Lotus Elise.

Anyway, thats my thought of the week. Feel free to chime in with comments in the comment section! :)

Finally, a real Lotus Elise iPod solution!

Alright, so its been quite a while since I posted the Blaupunkt iPod integration install and my ill thoughts about it. I have since returned the Blaupunkt interface and used the credit towards an Alpine CDA-9856 and the KCE-422i iPod cable. While I was researching the stereo install I found that you can use a 2001 VW Passat (or similar model/generation) wiring adapter harness in the install to avoid having to cut into the stock Lotus wiring.

Start out by removing the old radio (see the previous post for instructions/photos) and running the iPod cable. When you start making your new wiring harness try to imagine it as "Alpine into Passat into Stock Lotus", the Alpine and Passat will be cut and wired together and the Passat connector will plug into the stock harness. The wiring goes like this...

Yellow --- Red = Constant Power (Battery)
Orange --- Orange = Illumination
Red --- Yellow = Ignition (Switched power)
Black --- Black = Ground

Violet --- Violet = Right Rear (+)
Violet/Blk --- Violet/Blk = Right Rear (-)
Gray --- Gray = Right Front (+)
Gray/Blk --- Gray/Blk = Right Front (-)
White --- White = Left Front (+)
White/Blk --- White/Black = Left Front (-)
Green --- Green = Left Rear (+)
Green/Blk --- Green/Black = Left Rear (-)

When you are done you should have two unused wires on the Lotus/Passat side of the adapter, theres are for the non-existant sub out (white/red) & antenna motor (pink). Tape these off and set them aside.

Now that you have the harness made you can plug everything together, stuff the excess wiring into the dash (it WILL fit, just takes some real effort) and slide the new head unit in. Connect your iPod and you're finished!



Getting used to the iPod controls takes a little effort but you should be able to pick them up. The one thing that threw me off is that you can't change/search playlists while in "Mix mode" (button 5), just switch this mode off whenever you want to find a specific song. The entire experience is a WORLD better than the Blaupunkt experience. An added plus is that the audio quality seems to have improved quite a bit with the new head unit as well! A lot of Lotus car folk swear that a speaker upgrade is the way to go with the Elise but with this radio I'm VERY satisfied with the sound quality. You can choose to display the time remaining, clock, artist, album or track name, all of which are clearly displayed and very easily read.

My ONLY complaint with this head unit is that theres only one line of text and no way to display the clock alongside the other info. The next model up ($100~ more) has two lines of text which I think is the main selling point based on exactly this. Still though, this is just a minor inconvenience.

The only other new note since the last post is that the lidbone developed a rattle very early on which is very annoying while the car is cold. The rattle fades away after the car warms up though so its still livable.

Aside from that the car is running strong at 6,200~ miles. Not much has been added to the dealer/service "To do" list other than the turn signal seal, a little rubber piece that disappeared from the fuel door (kept the door flush, now it sits in a little) and the ongoing "window adjustment" issue. The exhaust has opened up quite a bit and the car absolutely screams now when your above 6,200rpms.

A few days ago I got to play with an older Porsche 911 on River road. He turned out in front of me, noticed what was in his rear view and proceeded to just take off. At first I didn't really get on it (I'm very mellow on the street) but after a second or two I said to hell with it and chased him up to about 105mph or so. I've found that driving after a small bit of rain is very enjoyable in this car. Hanging the tail end of the Lotus out is VERY easy and VERY controllable at very low speeds in the rain. You CAN do the same on dry pavement but you really have to be beating on the car to do so, something I don't do often at all.

So yeah, that about sums up my thoughts so far :) The only photo I have to post right now (at work) is one I took outside of a local salon, I thought it was pretty appropriate for this little Lotus car.



Until next time....

Elise iPod Install and "Lidbone" install

Yeah, so I decided to forego the oil change and just hold out until the 7,500 mile service. I did go ahead and install the Blaupunkt iPod Interface adapter and the Sector111 Lidbone though. The iPod installation was pretty straight forward.


The iPod kit includes all of this (aside from my 60Gb iPod Video)


When this is all installed it should be a completely stealth installation.


The factory Lotus Elise head unit (at least with my Touring Pack) is a Blaupunkt Acalpulco MP54, which is on the list of iPod ready recievers.


The installation starts by removing the face plate and using the supplied (with your radio) removal tongs to pull the unit out of the dash.


The Radio has plenty of excess wire which allows it to reach the floor, handy because you don't have to unplug it with one hand while balancing it on the shifter (as is the case with some other cars).


Next you will want to go ahead and remove the right access panel, its held on by two screws inside the cubby hole. It has foam backing that sticks to the frame, it prys off pretty easily. Go ahead and run the iPod interface cable through the dash by feeding it through the big headunit hole and get most of it in and over the bracing. It's a tight fit but isn't too bad to work with. Once you have it fed in go ahead and work your hand as far into the access hole on the right and start feeling around for the cable. My only word of warning here is that the aluminum inside (remember, the car uses Aluminum everywhere, tons of raw edges) is damn sharp and WILL cut you pretty easily.


Now that you have the cable run you can go ahead and plug it in at both ends and get the Radio back into the dash. When you power it on the iPod should display a message with a checkmark showing that its connected. Once you've verified that you can go ahead and seal the iPod up or leave it out. You're done!

Now, my thoughts on this setup. I haven't spent too much time messing with it (Derby week in Louisville is CRAZY) but I'm hoping to get some issues resolved. First is the lack of text display. I KNOW this is possible with the combination but I need to figure out what setting or firmware update it is. Next is the 9 Playlist/99 song maximum. My library consists of about 850 songs so I'm safe for now, but it irks me that I need to center my library around this one application. This is a cross between Blaupunkt and iTunes issue but it is still annoying. Third is the severe electrical noise that comes on after a bit. This isn't hard drive noise but very very similar to alternator whine which is caused by power wires being to close to data/sound wires. I'm sure thats the case here but it still sucks for now.

I'm going to work on these issues sometime this week and hopefully get them ironed out. If they all persist then I'm returning the interface and will just go with a different manufacturer. Thats obviously more expensive and more work, but if it works much cleaner in the end then its more than worth it to me.

So, onto the lidbone installation. The Lidbone is a brand new product from Sector 111 and is used to open and prop the engine lid with one hand. Installation is very straight forward and simple.


This is whats included with the kit. Everything just screw together and seems pretty sturdy.


The assembled Lidbone...


The installation starts by removing these two torx bolts that are used to hold the plug cover on.


Bolt the Lidbone base to that point using the two existing torx bolts.


Once you have that bolted down you can go ahead and remove the two 10mm nuts at the lock/latch area on the lid. They are hard to see but pretty easy to feel and remove.


Sideview of the LidBone holding the lid up. It actually gives you a couple more inches of room over the factory prop rod.


And from the rear (notice our neighbor's cat Veda walking by the Suzuki ;)

Well, thankfully I'm very pleased with this product so far. It took a couple adjustments to get it to work right (needs to be fairly loose) but it works great. I shut the lid and gave the car some quick revs (up to about 4,000) with me about halfway out of the car to see if it was going to rattle around at all and I couldn't hear a single rattle. Either its just very quiet or the exhaust is just getting louder. So far the Lidbone looks like a "must have" for Lotus Elise owners.

The last little bit I did before running inside to start my next (unrelated) project was to toss a reflective Apple sticker on the car. I'm not sure how this managed to go so long but its well overdue. I'm an Apple Computer nut and this was the first question quite a few folks asked (You gonna put an Apple on that one too?), well now they can quit asking.



I'm gonna try and set aside some time for a few little photoshoots soon, hopefully the next blog update isn't too far away ;)

Pacman and Lotus, what a pair!

So a couple of posts ago I mentioned "The infamous Pacman", it just dawned on me that some folks outside of Louisville might not get what that reference. About a year and a half ago my Louisville Lotus friends (the Saffron Yellow and Chrome Orange owners) wanted some cool shots of their Saffron Yellow car so they brought it over to my house and we busted out my fullsize Pacman, and Ms Pacman, costumes. The resulting Lotus Elise photos showed up everywhere and even made it into the 2005 Club 111 (US Lotus Elise enthusiast club) Calendar. Here are a couple shots from that day...









Before you shoot an email my way, I didn't make the costumes, my wife spotted them on Louisville "FreeCycle" and got dibs on them pretty quickly. There are two "Ghost" costumes floating around as well although we haven't managed to get those yet ;) I'm pretty sure that there will eventually be some shots of Pacman chasing the Krypton Green Elise through Louisville.

Long time, no post...

Well, I guess its obvious that I've been too busy driving the Elise (and working two jobs) to keep this blog updated. Hopefully that will change now though! The car continues to amaze me with how enjoyable it is to drive. I've actually been driving it quite a bit since returning home (4,000~ on the car) and have had almost no problems at all. The car gets fantastic gas mileage, not sure on the exact figure but it seems to be a lot better than our Suzuki Aerio. No new squeeks or rattles have shown up but the exhaust has opened up a little bit, which really helps the driving experience.

The only problem I have to report is the windows, both still leak. I managed to fix the passenger side window (remember, the Atlanta dealer "broke" it) to where it will move up and down with no trouble but both sides do still leak. I took the hardtop off a couple of weeks ago and quickly noticed that there is a big difference in where the window should stop between the hard and soft tops. With the soft top on the drivers side window has about a 1/4" gap at the rear of the window. No big deal, I just have to be kinda careful about driving when storms are rolling in. Hopefully the new dealer will be able to help me get both adjusted to a point where they will work reasonably well with both tops.

Ok, so I've had both tops on (and off) the car now. I LOVE the way the car looks with the hardtop and with no top, but I really really don't like the look of the soft top with the color. The result? The soft top only goes on when its raining or I'm leaving the car out of my sight for an extended time. The car continues to get stares and questions wherever it goes. Little kids jump up and down and older folks get big grins whenever they see it. Hell, it gives me a big grin when I see it ;)

Anyway, on with the photos.

Took these at Cave Hill cemetery in Louisville, KY














Took these while I was washing the car one day...






These were taken a day or so after a storm...














Took a trip up to Madison Indiana a couple of weeks ago and got some great pizza at "Chicago Pizza"...




And finally, some topless shots of the Elise...
(you can see the infamous PacMan in the background)














And to finish it off... A self portrait that makes me look an idiot (or maybe its just me in general ;)!

Lookout Mtn, and finally back home to Louisville

So after Deals Gap we headed about two hours west to Chattanooga TN to spend the weekend with my sister & mom on Lookout Mountain. We got up and out early Saturday morning to wash the car & go take photos on the mountain. The car had a ton of black dust on it, I guess the dust was tire remnants from along Deals Gap, that washed off fairly easily. After wasting two of those cheap blue towels you buy at the car wash I decided to just drive it up the mountain to dry it off and blot whatever small spots were left afterwards. While blotting the rest of the spots off (mainly on the engine/boot cover, no air rushes through that area) in front of the restaurant two guys ended up coming outside to check the car out. Niki and I just smiled and answered the usual questions and headed on inside.

When we sat down with my mom & sister they informed us that the two guys had been eating with their family but stood up quickly, as soon as the Elise parked, and headed out to see the car, leaving their family inside. Apparently MY family didn't believe us when we had mentioned the amount of attention the car gets ;)

So anyway, we're looking over the menu and chatting about the car's "attention grabbing" skills when the restaurant owner walks up and starts talking about the Elise. Come to find out he is not only from Louisville but he has an uncle in NY that restores & collects Lotus'. Turns out that he knows quite a bit about the Elise and that his uncle has an Ardent Red one that he sold his Lotus 7 for last year. Talk about a small world. After chatting about these quirky little cars for a bit we finish up our lunch and head on outside to take these photos (which I later emailed to Nick, the restaurant owner). Later that night I hopped on EliseTalk and low & behold I see a post from his uncle telling a Knoxville resident to stop in to his nephew's cafe on Lookout Mtn. Talk about a REALLY small world.









So after snapping the Cafe photos we headed back down to meet up with my sister at her house and follow her to a friend's house who had wanted to see the famed Lotus.

My mom checking out the car in the daylight in my sister's driveway...


My niece Julia Caroline showing the world what she thinks of these cars ;)


My sister's friend's kid looking up at his dad




So after taking my sister's friend (the dad) for a ride down a couple of backroads Niki and I headed up to the hang gliding launch on the mountain. I was hoping to get some colorful hang glider shots with the car but a ratty driveway stopped me from doing so. I found an overlook shortly down the road though and snapped off these photos.













Notice Niki asleep in the passenger seat...














After the overlook we headed down to a little general store type place where the mountain's train passes by. This train is damn scary, when you're on it you're at a very steep angle and you just creep straight up & down the mountain.











After all of the general store fun we headed up to "Cravens House", a battleground spot from (I think) the Civil war.











And the obligatory "art" shots... ;)




From Craven's House we headed over to Rock City (about two blocks from my sister's house) for some traditional fun. We go here every time we're in town, rocks & gnomes NEVER get old! ;)

Niki standing at the beginning of the needle's eye (slim corridor between two huge rocks)


Steps heading down into fatman's squeeze...


Some idiot on a rope bridge thats VERY high up...


Niki checking out the 6 state view...




The blair witch shot... (I'm sure this will end up being bastardized)


Niki in front of a waterwheel


I have no dignity.




Rock City was the last thing we really did in Chattanooga. We headed back Monday morning and finally got home around 5 that evening. The Elise finally found its new home :)




All in all the Lotus Elise is a very pleasant car to travel with. A coast to coast trip might be a bit of a stretch for the Lotus but I'm sure my Elise will see some more road trips in its coming years with us.

Lotus Elise Deals Gap adventure!

For those not in the know, Deals Gap is a section of south western North Carolina that is the home of "The tail of the dragon", an 11 mile stretch of road that contains 318 curves. Yeah, this is a VERY fun road! Up until today I had only felt the Elise' handling abilites in the passenger seat on a few backroads & SCCA courses. Driving my Elise through the Gap chasing my friends in their cars was a whole new experience. This car redefines what cars are capable of. I didn't keep an eye on the speedometer but my estimate is that 10mph corners were taken in the 30mph range without finding the car's limits. As someone who is somewhat nervous on foreign roads I quickly adjusted to the stretch and was able to take advantage of the car's abilities. I made 4 runs total (two of which were filmed from the orange Elise, I'll post those later) and managed to pull away from a BMW Z4 through the corners (although slow traffic & some straights allowed it to catch back up) in one of the runs. The views from the overlook (one end of the dragon) were awesome and gave us some cool photo ops.








Niki smiling after the first run up through the dragons tail...