Great video! one other difference (i'm not sure you mentioned) other than clam styling is that i believe the fiberglass process is different between the Exige and Elise. The Elise had a molded process where the Exige had a hand laid fiberglass clam and is thicker and heavier than the Elise clams. I've been watching your all your videos since before i got my Elise so keep up the good work!
A few things to note: For the Exige hard tops, the roof scoop was blocked off and not functional on the non-SC 2006 cars. Also, I believe the later cars with the scoop that extends to the windshield are referred to as "full mohawk" and not just "mohawk" (to differentiate them as you could say the earlier ones have a "partial" mohawk). Finally, I am pretty sure the rearview mirror in the Exige was needed to pass federal and/or state testing requirements, regardless of whether or not it serves any practical use. Inspections include a checklist for required items, including rearview mirror, and owners would be faced with having to explain/argue that one is not worth having in an Exige - easier to include it. The useless sun visors on both cars are also worth noting for this reason.
The silver wheel that you say came later on the Exige and Elise is incorrect. That wheel, internally known as the "Exige" wheel, was the first to ever be fitted to the Exige. It only appeared later on the Elise on special editions like the California (or when supplies ran low). Also, the weight difference between the 2006 cars was only 31 lbs, much of which was wheel/tire weight. Fitted with the same wheel/tires combo the cars were as near as makes no difference in weight. Lastly, the 4-pot AP Racing 7624 caliper (semi-gloss black, raised center) was fitted to some 2007 cars, and later replaced with the 7635 4-pot caliper (gloss black, flat face). Overall good job with the video.
Wow good catches and thanks for sharing this info. Are there any other Exige wheels? I showed the 5 spokes on the orange 260 in the video but I recall another style too....the 5 spoke lotus sports like you have only came as separate order right (and maybe in the 211 or Cup cars?)
Great video as ever. Whilst I love the S2 look of both cars, the very earliest S1 Elise were only 700KG & with the 135 head or upgrade cams etc, 200BHP per tonne is achieved without all the additional weight that the S2 brings. You should try driving an S1 for a comparison with your S2 stable. The weight of a passenger in an S1 is very noticeable. It’s a great shame US didn’t get the S3 Exige - total beast of a car that I am sure would have appealed to the American driver. Thanks for posting.
Thanks for the feedback and yes I'd love to drive an S1 Elise! The S3 Exige is honestly one of my favorite cars in the world and I've been looking into options for getting one here in the US. There are a few around for track use only.
Great video as usual Vince. Only a few things I would add... more as a spotters guide. All the wings on the 06 Exiges were black, so easier to spot "sans supercharger". Also those "LSS/Sport" wheels were 6.5" wide fronts. Phasing in starting 2008, those fronts were reduced to 6.0" wide. :( Later wheels after that went to 6.0 fronts and 8.0" rears....further increasing the understeer.. :(
Oh great point on the black wings on the 2006 exiges!! Do you know what size rears the other lss wheels were? I know they went to the narrower fronts but did they increase the rears? Funny because you don't hear about the 8" rears being like a coveted upgrade on the forums (or maybe I've not been paying attention!)
@AtypicalDriver The base and LSS rears were both 7.5" wide. Only the true "rare" later rare wheel sets went to 8" rears . The later Elise SC wheels and I believe the later "Y" Exiges wheels too. Why they wanted to dial in more understeer is beyond me. Only the "lightweight" forged wheels had 7.0" wide fronts, with 8.0" rears. The Lotus Sport Wheels, the Cup 260 wheels, etc.
@edwardnilges1675 the rears would help to a degree, but the narrow fronts was the issue. Ultimately it achieved what they wanted, probably to aid the "average" driver. Turn some and minor understeer, timid people back off, more turn and still in it nets more push to try to slow driver, but a sudden lift will cause tail to step out... larger width rear ideally catches some of that.
This is a really cool video I’ve been looking at these cars for a while and didn’t notice the small differences. For mostly road use and maybe occasional track day which car would be better? I’m guessing the Elise but the exige looks so cool!
You can't go wrong with either but I like the Elise better! The increased torque of the supercharger is nice though as the naturally aspirated 2zz only makes 133 ft lbs of torque, which I can probably exert with a break bar, hahah.
They have the same suspension geometry underneath. Track width is only slightly wider if you account for the difference in the width of the front wheels that were narrower on the Elise to increase understeer as noted in the video. Swapping to the Exige width for the fronts as done here would eliminate that difference.
As a couple of people have pointed out, I think they're the same given the chassis and suspension are all identical. I think it's more of an optical illusion that the Exige looks wider.
Great video! While essentially the same car with some tweaks, many more little differences than one might think!
Great video! one other difference (i'm not sure you mentioned) other than clam styling is that i believe the fiberglass process is different between the Exige and Elise. The Elise had a molded process where the Exige had a hand laid fiberglass clam and is thicker and heavier than the Elise clams. I've been watching your all your videos since before i got my Elise so keep up the good work!
Correct - and for this reason you could say the Elise clams are a bit more fragile and the Exige clams are a bit heavier.
Correct! I saw Shinoo pointed this out in his video on the Inokinetic channel too.
A few things to note: For the Exige hard tops, the roof scoop was blocked off and not functional on the non-SC 2006 cars. Also, I believe the later cars with the scoop that extends to the windshield are referred to as "full mohawk" and not just "mohawk" (to differentiate them as you could say the earlier ones have a "partial" mohawk). Finally, I am pretty sure the rearview mirror in the Exige was needed to pass federal and/or state testing requirements, regardless of whether or not it serves any practical use. Inspections include a checklist for required items, including rearview mirror, and owners would be faced with having to explain/argue that one is not worth having in an Exige - easier to include it. The useless sun visors on both cars are also worth noting for this reason.
The silver wheel that you say came later on the Exige and Elise is incorrect. That wheel, internally known as the "Exige" wheel, was the first to ever be fitted to the Exige. It only appeared later on the Elise on special editions like the California (or when supplies ran low). Also, the weight difference between the 2006 cars was only 31 lbs, much of which was wheel/tire weight. Fitted with the same wheel/tires combo the cars were as near as makes no difference in weight. Lastly, the 4-pot AP Racing 7624 caliper (semi-gloss black, raised center) was fitted to some 2007 cars, and later replaced with the 7635 4-pot caliper (gloss black, flat face). Overall good job with the video.
Wow good catches and thanks for sharing this info. Are there any other Exige wheels? I showed the 5 spokes on the orange 260 in the video but I recall another style too....the 5 spoke lotus sports like you have only came as separate order right (and maybe in the 211 or Cup cars?)
Great video as ever. Whilst I love the S2 look of both cars, the very earliest S1 Elise were only 700KG & with the 135 head or upgrade cams etc, 200BHP per tonne is achieved without all the additional weight that the S2 brings. You should try driving an S1 for a comparison with your S2 stable. The weight of a passenger in an S1 is very noticeable. It’s a great shame US didn’t get the S3 Exige - total beast of a car that I am sure would have appealed to the American driver. Thanks for posting.
Thanks for the feedback and yes I'd love to drive an S1 Elise! The S3 Exige is honestly one of my favorite cars in the world and I've been looking into options for getting one here in the US. There are a few around for track use only.
Great video as usual Vince. Only a few things I would add... more as a spotters guide. All the wings on the 06 Exiges were black, so easier to spot "sans supercharger". Also those "LSS/Sport" wheels were 6.5" wide fronts. Phasing in starting 2008, those fronts were reduced to 6.0" wide. :( Later wheels after that went to 6.0 fronts and 8.0" rears....further increasing the understeer.. :(
The side scoops were black as well on the 06 Exiges.
Oh great point on the black wings on the 2006 exiges!!
Do you know what size rears the other lss wheels were? I know they went to the narrower fronts but did they increase the rears? Funny because you don't hear about the 8" rears being like a coveted upgrade on the forums (or maybe I've not been paying attention!)
@AtypicalDriver The base and LSS rears were both 7.5" wide. Only the true "rare" later rare wheel sets went to 8" rears . The later Elise SC wheels and I believe the later "Y" Exiges wheels too. Why they wanted to dial in more understeer is beyond me.
Only the "lightweight" forged wheels had 7.0" wide fronts, with 8.0" rears. The Lotus Sport Wheels, the Cup 260 wheels, etc.
@@tvrduude To further counteract snap oversteer, maybe?
@edwardnilges1675 the rears would help to a degree, but the narrow fronts was the issue. Ultimately it achieved what they wanted, probably to aid the "average" driver. Turn some and minor understeer, timid people back off, more turn and still in it nets more push to try to slow driver, but a sudden lift will cause tail to step out... larger width rear ideally catches some of that.
This is a really cool video I’ve been looking at these cars for a while and didn’t notice the small differences. For mostly road use and maybe occasional track day which car would be better? I’m guessing the Elise but the exige looks so cool!
You can't go wrong with either but I like the Elise better! The increased torque of the supercharger is nice though as the naturally aspirated 2zz only makes 133 ft lbs of torque, which I can probably exert with a break bar, hahah.
@ do you think the supercharger is too much for road use and it’s more to rev the naturally aspirated engine out?
@@chubuking No not at all, in fact I think maybe the supercharger would be more fun for road use with the better torque. Truth is, both are great!
The front and rear clam for the exige is also wider than the elise. Track width is wider on the exige as well. Very important point
This is incorrect. They are identical at 57.4 / 59.3.
They have the same suspension geometry underneath. Track width is only slightly wider if you account for the difference in the width of the front wheels that were narrower on the Elise to increase understeer as noted in the video. Swapping to the Exige width for the fronts as done here would eliminate that difference.
As a couple of people have pointed out, I think they're the same given the chassis and suspension are all identical. I think it's more of an optical illusion that the Exige looks wider.
YOUR AUDIO IS PATCHY KEEPS BREAKING UP
Shoot sorry about that, any particular part in the video???
@AtypicalDriver hello seems like there were words missing,good video .l would love an Elise but can't make any headway at the moment