Got to drive a buddy's Elise last year while at the Sebring race, just out the gates, around the corner and back. Very fun little car, for sure. And I only got it up on the cam once. It's a go-cart in the turns.
And just think, you were probably driving the Americanized lard-ass version that's a few hundred pounds heavier than the original
And you had inferior suspension unless your friend got the sports kit. The first Elise had neutral handling, which required skill to drive. You could steer on the turns rather precisely using the gas pedal.
As time went on, and more went into the second-hand market that non-driving young-uns to afford, people started crashing a lot because they were used to the understeer and poor handling of their ricer cars. So, Lotus dumbed down the suspension and thinned the front tires for the new Elise, giving it understeer, making it an option to get the good suspension back.
Of course, none of this applies to the Exige, which is just a street-legal race car.