elanfan1 wrote:I don't know why you all don't buy a kit car and have done with it!
Like a Lotus Elite you mean? Yeah, I'd love one but I would probably hanker for a little more power and everyday reliability
Anyway, back to topic
Good Work Alan
Positive response so far! That's approximately 15 of us on the forum, either with a Zetec installed or seriously considering it.
I am one of the people Alan referred to who has been PM-ing him over the last year. I must admit I have been avoiding writing Spyder/Zetec posts recently for fear of falling on deaf ears and wasting webspace which is why I went to Alan directly. Now I know there is interest in the community I will make my posts more public.
I'm not on the forum as much as I would like (a baby and a toddler in the house see to that) but I'm a very interested party and would like to share knowledge where possible.
A bit of background.....
I purchased my Spyder Elan +2 approximately 1 year ago and since then I have been racking up the miles. I'm a firm believer that cars need to be driven if they are to be reliable and my experience with the +2 backs this up. When I purchased the car is was 99.5% finished in its restoration/upgrade but had not done many miles or had a proper shakedown. I had a few teething problems in the first few months but nothing serious or unexpected. Since then the car has been a dream. I have done 9000miles so far this year and have returned a recorded average of 30mpg. Better fuel economy is certainly achievable but my commute includes heavy London traffic. My 2.0 Zetec has Jenvey throttle bodies and was setup by Emerald on their rolling road, pumping out 170bhp.
In summary, my car has turned out to be everything I had hoped, Lotus is a marque I have always loved and respected, the +2 is a simply stunning looking car (IMO) with fantastic RWD handling, good fuel economy (for a sports car), reliable, cheap to run/maintain, easy to work on, good & reasonably priced spares availability, 2 seats in the back for the kiddies, free road tax, an appreciating asset, I struggle to think of another car that ticks all these boxes.
If we can pull together to sort out the last few quirks or niggles in the Spyder/Zetec setup then that will be the icing on the cake