The cars and bikes thread!

[Raza]

Well..two main issues outside from practicality. First, the cable-actuated shifter isn't great. I was spoiled, coming to it from a Miata, one of the best shifters ever, but even so, the Lotus one was vague and rubbery. Second, the sheer size (or more accurately, lack thereof) can't be underestimated. You find yourself looking up at truck wheels next to you. It's as bad (or worse) than a motorcycle, people just can't see you, especially if they're in trucks or big SUVs (like so many are these days), and you have to be super careful on the road and assume people don't see you. The car is only 44 inches tall.

But I still miss it. I'll never forget the first time I put it on the track, and thought, "so this is what this car is really for..."

I get that. I feel the same way about the Z4 sometimes, which isn’t that much bigger than an S2 Elise. It’s a fair bit longer, but still very short, and only 49” tall. Getting drive through was a contortionist’s feat unless the roof was down

As for build quality, funny story. I had some custom paint work done on the interior, to match the exterior of the car. It involved taking off the shroud that covered the AC controls. When we did that, it was held on by two screws--the one on the left was an inch long and had two washers on it, the one on the right was two inches long and had ten washers on it. Also, when we took the gearshift shroud off, we found a beer bottle cap wedged in there. True story.

That was a load bearing bottle cap, I hope you left it in place!