cgomez

I fully agree.
Most people, specially average drivers that go to track events can jump in an Elise and drive it aroud the track. No problem.... but look at their laptimes....

I think it is more difficult to post a great lap time in the Elise than in a GT3 or any other powerful sportscar.
I bet that the lap-time gap between a great driver and the average driver in the Elise/Exige is much greater than in a GT3.
Nevertheless the GT3 will always be the faster car aorund most tracks, and for the average driver it will feel and be faster.
But, as Mooty points out, the GT3 is not the best car to learn at the track, while the Elise/Exige might be better at that if you take it one step at a time and get instruction. Only caveat is that an off-course might be expensive as many have learned.
I believe "track incidents" with Elise/Exiges are now statistically beating the GT2's record. It's a tricky car very much willing to spin around

LastGT3

Well - I know 2 people who got Elises this year - first comment was "not happy since it is no faster or more fun than my gutted honda CRX" These guys drive about 15 track events per year.
The car is no cost bargain.- and really is not a fully functional street car - and torque is king of the street, and the track - it is an essential element to holding your self back - torque is scary. Sorry, the Elise doesn't have that. I do like its paint choices tho.

multi21

I've driven both on track and the Elise is much easier to drive in anger than the GT3. BTW, I used to race Rotax 125 direct drive karts which if you know is ALL ABOUT momentum as you don't have the luxury of downshifting to get you out of the corners.

The sole fact that it's a mid-engine car vs. a rear engine car is only one thing. Forget about lap times as the GT3 is simply a faster car, but rather look at pushing the envelope of each car to its limits. You can get there faster and easier in an Elise as its well balanced. I'm not saying the GT3 isn't well balanced, but it's more sensitive to inputs, alignments and a host of other things. In the back of your mind you wonder if and when the car is going to bite you. Not so for the Elise.

bora

Drive an Elise and then complain about lack of torque.

It is a 1900lb car and has 190HP/138 ft*lb engine.
There is plenty of torque in the car. I have driven and owned both.

The grip level in the Elise is also very high and the feedback from the manual steering is amazing.

As Johannes put it, these are two very different but both wonderful cars. I just happen to like the Elise more.

lebrunseven

I own a 05 elise, and a 02 gt2. Let's say the gt2 & gt3 are 'in the same family'. It is really difficult to put the 2 cars (the elise, which is a great car, and the gt3, which is also a great machine) in a comparison- the elise can be experienced at nearly 100% of it's limit- it is always under your control (there is a limit to the elise, too!), drives very easily, etc. it is also fairly inexpensive to maintain, and can be modded (intakes & exhausts) easily. the gt3 is quite abit more 'uplevel', meaning it costs nearly 3 times as much, and is a vehicle that can be driven towards it's limit, but you always have to on your game, or it may bite you. the top speed is far greater (180 vs 145 for the elise), and you must always respect the car (like any rear engined porsche). The gt3 is more expensive to own & maintain- but not many other cars make the same kind of music that a gt3 does at 8,000 rpm! so, the elise & gt3 are both great cars, but very different in character. I like them both for different reasons. hope this helps you out!!

skl

Apples and oranges- had a '04 GT3 which I absolutely loved but too much $$ for how often I drove it- plus, if I'd ever have gotten caught by a state trooper while driving it I'd still be in jail without a license... replaced with the car below, taken while driving it home this spring on my birthday ( a present to myself). A blast to drive, reminds me of a new 914 only a LOT faster. I also race a spec Miata so know a little about momentum racing- for a car without a lot of power the spec Miata is a blast...

GT3MK1

Is it turth that the GT3 mk1 can rev up to 9000 rpm?

DanH

No.

Mk2 is 8200 rpm and its higher than the mk1. I forget what the mk1 can do, its either 7800 or 8000 I think.

The race cars using this engine do rev that high, but they need rebuilds reasonably frequently.

GT3MK1

I have driven a GT3 and Exige S today. IMO the GT3 is good for track but not for street use and the Exige S is too easy to drive. I like turbo power more than NA for street use.

At first, I decide to buy a N/A car now and a GT2 next year. So now I will just wait until next year and get the GT2.

Thanks again for all the comments!