mud4fun said:
Most of the toys on the SE are available as factory cost options on the LE so you can have the best of both worlds from the factory whereas the key features of the LE are not available on the SE. The cost to buy, paint and fit them (lower suspension, 17" wheels, 215 tyres, tinting, bodykit, two tone paint etc) would end up costing way more than the fully toyed up LE anyway.
You would also have to declare the mods to the SE to the insurance company as it would be considered modified whereas the toyed up LE would be factory stock.
The bodykit on its own would look silly on an otherwise stock SE as the 195 tyres won't fill the arches so the side skirts will look too pronounced and the car will sit 1" taller than an LE so won't 'work' in terms of looks IMHO. You would need the lower suspension and bigger wheels/tyres to pull it off. Just my opinion though!
If you hadnt already realised from our previous discussions,spec is my thing, I like toys, I'm not lazy, I just A. Generally want the car with all the things that that model can have, I'm the sort of person who would have bought an Escort Ghia than an Escort Popular Plus because the switch blanks would bug me. B. A car is a means of convenient travel, yes? If you wanted no frills travel you'd use a pushbike or buy a bus pass so its as well being convenient as possible, so if that means the car switches its lights on and off when it gets light/dark, the wipers speed up and down by themselves when it's raining and the cruise control can keep the speed at a set amount so I don't need to keep my foot on the pedal and can just sit and relax listening to tunes in the Bluetooth, digital or USB, then that's what I'll do.
My point was based on this, I had an Astra Design, half leather interior, sight and light, cruise, indirect night lighting, rear electric windows, I wanted an SRi XP for the bodykit, 18" alloys etc but basic inside, now stripping the interior to wire and fit these parts, removing seats, buying the parts, etc or swapping a set of wheels, bonding on some skirts and spoilers, plus the fact they are considerably cheaper to buy than seats and sensors, ECUs, connection boxes etc so I bought the car with toys and elected to fit the wheels and kit later, I'd see other folk buy the sporty car and strip the car to pieces and spend a fortune buying stuff from Designs and Elites, its a no brainer, you buy the specced up car and add to it (Es are different because they are so new you can buy them new and spec the exact car you want with factory options etc can't do that with a used car or ones that's no longer made which we will see as the E becomes more common and can be bought used or will be by people who can't afford a new one or when it stops being made - I wouldve bought a 6 month old one and saved even more on the new list price for a practically brand new car if I couldve, I suspect a lot of folk will do this, you can't take your pick of a factory build with your own specific options at that point