GMdV

They told me they have the equipment for the r1234yf... but I'm starting to wonder if they know what they're doing... I frankly don't understand why they claimed that the gas is not suitable to use with the leak tracing fluid. Anyway, I'm moving to Switzerland for work and the Elise is coming with me. I'll probably have it repaired here instead.

Thanks guys, I don't want to bring the car to a specialist, since all the work should be covered by the warranty. I will gladly send the link to this discussion to the dealer, though.

Hi guys, 6 months ago I bought a new Elise 220 my17.5. The first time I turned on the air conditioning, I realized it wasn't working. I brought the car back to the dealer for the 10k km service and got the gas circuit filled up. The mechanic who worked on it assured me that no leakage was detected. Fast forward a few weeks, the gas circuit is empty again. It's been in service for over a month now and the dealer has no clue whatsoever of where the gas is leaking from. According to the guys who have been working on it the reasons they cannot identify the leakage are the following: - the new r1234 gas that is being used in the system does not allow for tracing gases to be added, so they have to use an electronic instrument that should trace the leakage, but it is not possible to use it in a packed environment such as the underbody of the Elise - Lotus provides little to no support to them. They say the issue might be caused by some O-rings which have the wrong diameter, but they don't specify which ones. Long story short: the Elise is my only car so I will have to take it back from the dealer with the air conditioning still not working (or working for the next 3 or 4 weeks, if they filled up the circuit) and do without it during a scorching hot Italian summer. Anyone here who has the same issue and/or some advice? Thanks in advance

Weird that that particular car has the plastic engine cover, which was removed with the advent of the MY17.5.

One of the most striking colour combinations I have ever seen on an Elise!

Meh... Pretty unimpressive special edition, considering they are celebrating the 70th anniversary.

Neal, the more I look at the pictures of your Elise the more I want to add the Cup aero kit to my sport 220. It wouldn't be a performance upgrade for sure, since I rarely track day the car, but it adds that bit of badassery to an already cool car. Anyone here knows how much that might cost me? Also, would I need to drill new holes to fit the rear spoiler or will it fit in the same holes as the one I have?

Never mind. I thought that in the old model both the outer and inner rear lights operated as braking lights, but that is not the case.

Ciao Mirko, I pezzi 19 e 19a sono interscambiabili, ma temo sia necessario far arrivare i cablaggi per i due stop aggiuntivi. EN: The two parts should be interchangeable, but you might need to get the wiring for the two inner stoplights.

Yeah, that was the great part of the deal: since the car was available at the dealer, it was going for the same price as a 1.6 made to order. I have no idea, but it would be nice to know if there is a "correct" way to do it. The whole release mechanism doesn't seem very reliable on my Elise, tonight the trunk got stuck for a few minutes for apparently no reason (the cover didn't spring up when opened, even though the mechanism was working correctly). Last week's issue was with the handle inside the car, since the cable came out of its seat.

Here she is, already quite dirty, since it hasn't stopped raining since I got hold of the keys. I won't even start singing its praise, since I wouldn't add anything new to what has already been said. I'll just say that, after more than 400 miles in 4 days (mostly driven in town and on the highway), I expected it to bea much more compromised car than it actually is. It's actually quite livable on a day to day basis (once you get used to getting in and out, that is). Oh, and the colour looks AMAZING in real life: under direct sunlight it shows a gold -ish tint and then it transitions to a more bluish hue. P.s. the trunk release handle broke in the very first 10 min of ownership. Thankfully I was still near the dealer and they fixed it on the go.

Quick update: the dealer is still waiting to get the approval from the vehicle registration office. Won't have the car before January.

Congratulations Neal, such a wonderful spec. May I ask you what is the difference between MSG and the regular metallic green I got mine in?

Nope. Unfortunately not true.

Will do, as soon as I have it delivered (waiting for plates registration ATM. Here are a couple of pics I took the day I signed the contract: