blackdogbd

I would watch and listen to the current owners to see if the "new" Lotus dealer network can handle the large influx of cars into the USA. In the past, this has been the weak link in the ownership experience. People seem to be forgetting that the new network is being stood up in parallel with the introduction of the car. It would be a shame to spend $45k and then have the car sit while they back order parts.

JSG1901

Buy the Lotus. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my Boxster S and it is clearly and easily a better handling car than the 911 but you HAVE a 911. The Boxster is different, but it's not THAT different. The Lotus, by all accounts, is unbelievable. You don't need it to be comfortable: You already have a comfortable car. You don't need it to be plush: You have a plush (-enough) car. The Lotus, along with all the niggling things, brings things to the table neither the 911 or Boxster do. Yin and Yang. Sweet and sour. Go for the contrast and give yourself an interesting set of choices.

mooty

boxster is an excellent track/street car. if you put pss9, jrz or moton on it, it's quite formidable on track.
but elise still is more fun on track compared to boxster or as viken said, anything with license plate. have you driven a car that's about 2000 pounds, it's hard to explain. however, if you plan to drive it more than just to/from the track, forget it. i am 5'9" 175 puounds and quite athletic. it's not a car i can easily get in and out of. you basically FALL into and STUMBLE out of the car, go try it. S2000 is a very very good track car. but for mortals like me, i can go faster in boxster. at limit S2000 is very twitch. and this is not me driving, but a semi pro driving the S2000.

Riz

I would try to get a test drive before deciding. I'm on the Elise list, I will be test driving one probably next week. I currently have a Boxster S - which I love. I disagree with the post that the 911 is quite similar to the Boxster by the way. I have a C2 and GT3, they are very different from the Boxster as far as feel/balance. I will post after driving the Elise. I'm only interested in it because of its light weight/mid engine. If Toyota used the Elise engine in their MR2 Spider, I'll rather buy that if they could do it in the $27-29K range. I really can't understand why they haven't - a no brainer IMO.

AeroGT3RedWing

"Plus, it will get the wife into track events, since she is too afraid she'll do something horrible to the C4S."
So your wife is
1.) interested in tracking no nonsense cars
2.) considerate of porsche's

Does she have a sister?

Seriously though, if you are looking for a track car that's street legal, it sounds like comfort and ease of entry are secondary to total performance. in that case, definately take the Lotus. in agreement with previous statements, a 2000lb car cannot be described. the lotus will surely take the boxster S on the track. the lotus will outperform most cars out there, especially in the corners, and its probably the most fun there is period. think porsche turned go kart

CharlesV

Isn't the engine a pretty easy swap, though?

NetManiac

Well, actually the Caterham is the current productin car record holder for 0-100-0. Which would make it the fastest car with a license plate. However, even though it is street legal, it would not be as "streetable" as the Elise.

oldtimer

Hi Palting, having reviewed the postings so far on this and on the DE forum , I don't see a clear cut reason for you to change your order. Seeing as you have plenty of lead time, what you might want to try is some actual Elises on the track, whether thats through owner club or dealer. Its no problem here in the sunny UK , home of Lotus. There is no doubt that they go well and give fun , and you seem to have the best of both worlds with the 996C4S already in the garage. In UK there is much bigger price gap to the Boxter and a good choice of used cars as well. Some good driving technique reports by Mark Hales in Circuit Driver magazine - see www.circuitdriver.com

Niels Jørgensen

NetManiac, I thought Caterham was knocked off the podium by Westfield's XTR2? According to TopGear it ate the Zonda (biased as they may be).

In any case, if you want insane track cars, check out Westfield, Tiger racing, Caterham, Noble and all the other British Kit-car builders, there's a lot of 2kg/hp cars out there that will leave the Elise for dead, corners or straights. Most of them are street legal too.

CKarras

Off the top of your head, would you call any of these cars as streetable (in the US) as the Elise? Availability of a hard top, or at least a rain proof soft top?

NetManiac

My information could be dated. I got corrected on another forum a couple weeks ago. I still thought the McLaren held that record. But that was way back in 2000 or something like that.

Anyone know if there is a site which will provide info on who the current record holder is?

The Zonda is a rad looking car. I dig the gatling gun looking exhaust (well, at least it reminds me of a gatling gun). Need to see if there's a way to get something like that on my Box.

CharlesV

The Noble M12 is street legal in the US as a kit car. Priced in the mid-50s with drive-train, I believe. Good for mid-11s from the factory, IIRC. 2200lb car with 350hp.

Palting

You can get it as a kit car, but minus the engine and tranny. Kinda defeats the purpose.

Niels Jørgensen

I would personally never consider an Elise for a street car, so yes. I would consider all the previously mentioned cars the same in terms of street driving. It's just not a bullet on their feature-page.

Except perhaps that in my subjective view, the Elise is not nearly as cool as a Caterham. So while I could see myself driving a Caterham on the streets on a sunny sunday afternoon with a grin on my face - not because its "streetable" per se, but because it looks so damn cool, I don't see myself using an Elise off track - soft top or not.

All just my humble, biased, subjective and unqualified opinion, obviously

NetManiac

I think if you would have thought about it for another minute or so you could have come up with another disclaimer or two...