I was going home yesterday from 210E -> 605S, out of nowhere as I got on the 210E a bright bubble bee yellow Lotus Elise with racing strips started to tailgate me in 20mph traffic. I thought nothing of it but wow nice little sports car and just moved one lane to the left to let him by and see the car from all angles. He then speed up quick as I let him by and looked my way with a cocky smirk and tailgated the car in front as he did me.

Then as we approached the 605S on the ramp, I can see this little bright yellow Elise zips between 2 18wheeler and a dumptruck almost clipping one of them and causing the truck in front of me to brake as we are on the onramp. So I decided to just show this guy some M power and see what my E39 can do vs this little sportcar with a cocky driver.

As the trucks cleared the ramp and onto the straight, I was ready in 4th at 75mph he was a good 10car lengths ahead by now doing 110ish, so catching him wasnt too bad as I took the M to 130 and got right on his tail giving him the medicine he was giving others and I earlier.

I then heard his protest as he downshifted and proceeded to move to the right to overtake as traffic was coming up, as soon as he moved I gunned it again in 4th and basically beat him to the punch and got in front of him. I then proceeded to take the M to 140 where he was like 4-5CL back then I slowed down again to 90ish because of traffic.

He is now angry and again tailgates me, but only this time he is much closer, now I can only see the cockpit of the Elise. Since I know this guy seems like he is on a mission because I out passed him earlier, I didnt want to risk others zipping in a out of traffic with him behind me at triple digit speeds. So I just decided to let him by again by not accelerating when there was a chance. I knew he was going to gun it as soon as he is cleared which he did, so predictable.

So as he cleared to the right I followed suit and tailed him for the next 20seconds of which most of the time I had to let go the gas in fear of running into his ride. He was doing real last minute cuts trying to eliminate my chances of following on purpose. I was kinda pissed now at the way this guy was driving, so un-courteous and unsportsmanlike - did he really want to see me crash???

So knowing this needs to come to an end now, the carpool lane opens up shortly as we are now on the left lane with a car coming up, a car also on the carpool lane, and a biker on the right. He then shocks me with his next move, he proceeds to cut inches right in front of a BMW bike at again the LAST minute(I cant believe what I just saw!!), which of course I aint going to do. So I slowed down, and letting the biker know I ain't coming over his lane which he returns with a wave and motions for me to get that SOTB. Then as I passed the slow car up, I got on the wide open carpool lane and gave WOT chase in 4th. I saw him then proceeds to brake on the fast lane, but me wanting no more part of his parade. I slowed as I approached him and he looked over with a shocked type impression on his face. I then proceed to give him the wave without the thumbs up and told my wife to laugh and just gunned the M into 140+ with him now way behind and stuck in traffic.

When I got home I still couldn't understand why he was trying so hard to shake me off and in the process resorts to trying to kill me and others. So I decided to go on google to check Lotus Elise boards to see if I can get in their mindset, then I came across these links:

Lesson in humbleness...
How do you handle the superiority complex?
Another one bites the dust.........

So sad that people which such nice little sport cars can be such snobs. Now I know why my friend who owns Ferraris talks crap about Lotus drivers thinking they own a real exotic.

 

You guys are not listening to me. Next time, get in front of him.....let him tailgate.......hit the windshield wiper fluid. You will totally cover the guy behind you. It's actually quite funny **** to watch their expressions as their windshield and car is covered in your dirty water.

 

Great story bro. A close friend of mine owns an Elise and I had the chance to drive one. REALLY fast and fun car, but like you said, it is kind of a "poor man's" exotic. I'm glad you showed him up with some real power.

 

In my experience there are way more snobby BMW owners than other car brands, rice rocket proprietors excluded.

Here's something that rings a bell on the Elise fromm elisetalk:
"Well it is not really a 0-60 1/4 mile car, not what it was designed for at all. Unless you want to void your warranty by winding up to 5K and dumping the clutch the Elise is going to get smoked off the light by any hopped up 5.0 Mustang or TransAM. Sure it will do 4.7 seconds on paper but you really need to abuse the car to do it ! I don't even bother light to light, if somebody wants to take off and go fast for 200 feet and hit the next red light before me good for them Its a sports car not a hot rod. Kind of like NHRA vs F1 ."

The Elise is a sports car, but it won't break any trap speed records.

 

Dont ever do that... Thats so dick... Right now I have an aluminum baseball bat in the trunk of my car for the next retard that pulls that move off. And soon I will have a USP compact to back me up along with my baseball bat. I promise you I will follow you to a parking lot and when you come back to your car expect the need for a new set of lights. (In no way is this a threat or treating statement it is a promise)

 

So you tailgate and then you bash their headlights in?

*note to self, never drive in Arizona*

j/k!

 

You have to pick your battles wisely. Before you f**k with someone...you have to be ready for retaliation. I happen to be ready. So, if you ride my ***...you are going to get dirty water. If you follow me, you are going to get hurt. A bat and a compact H&K? You must drive like a punk, then.

Difference between me and most, I will do it. Unfortunately, I have a rap sheet to prove it.

If you drive like a dick and you should get beat like a dick.

 

Lol...i dont know......Elises seem like fun cars though.....thank you for sharing the story on bimmerforums too

 

What a little ***** that guy was. Those cars are absolutely useless anywhere but a track with their little Celica engines and pathetic horsepower figures. I get more power than that thing has as a whole by pressing buttons in my cars. Sad. Nobody in an Elise should be acting like a d!ck on the highway unless they want to get shut down by a Honda Odyssey.

I was actually getting mad FOR YOU while reading that. I've been in situations like that where someone is literally trying to hurt me on the road and I've wanted to venthilate their chest.

 

LOL, an Elise trying to do highway runs.

 

Its like running a Maybach at Laguna Seca.

 

Well, if you really wanted to teach him a lesson, you could just slam on the brakes while he's tail gating you. A lotus Elise is a TIN CAN. You're dead in a 10 mph crash haha. BMW's are MUCH safer. But yea, i'm just kidding about this of course.

Seems like a nice catch, but a moron driving the lotus.

 

Man, those guys are pretty arrogant for guys who drive cars with no carpets

 

All you've got to do is:

With left foot just touch brake, just enough for brake lights to come on, at the same time floor it.
Works like a charm every time.

Just make sure nobody is behind the moron. Don't want bystanders to get hurt.

 

Well, considering that If my specs are right. Your car should have about twice the torque that even the supercharged version of the Elise has. Your car may weigh twice as much as well.

That said, for the little windy roads where I grew up, I would have loved driving a little car like the Elise. 1500lbs and 190hp is fun, but for a open highway cruiser, I will stick with my diesel.

 

You do realize that both of these "snobish" posts are by the same person who is a noob on elisetalk? Elise owners are some of the most down to earth people I've come across, Mercedes/BMW/Porsche and especially Ferrari/Lambo owners are much more snobish in general. The majority of us bought elise for the way it drives and because its the purest sports car in America, not because of its look. Elisetalk has probably the highest concentration of people who race their cars than any other automotive forum, a poll a while back showed that more than 50% of elise owners track their cars. A lot of people on elisetalk actually dislike the attention the car brings, sometimes people do drive dangerously to take a look at it or take pictures of it. What you encountered was not a typical elise owner behavior and would be looked down on by the elise community.

P.S. I have an elise w/ 240whp. With forced induction, they are extremely fast (low 12's). The Forcedfed 400 kit has been tested by C&D and traps 120mph+ in the 1/4 mile. I personally would never get the 400 kit, imagine 400hp in a 1,900lbs car, its nuts! FF 275 kit is the most popular and provides plenty of power. Although the top speed is gear limited to 160mph (gearing can be modified though), they get there in no time at all:

 

No seat belt?