TODAY 26 MAY Exclusive Lotus News

...models. The 2011 model year Lotus Elise introduces a number of changes and improvements to maintain its class-leading position; its name and appearance are revised, and a new engine combines high-performance with even greater fuel economy. The Lotus Elise revolutionised the sports car market 14 years ago when the small, agile and lightweight mid-engined two-seater was introduced. By ensuring that the Elise stuck rigidly to Lotus’ core values of performance through light weight, the Elise was able to produce supercar performance with city car economy. At just 149g/km, the new Lotus Elise has the lowest CO2 for its performance for any gasoline high performance sports car in the world and fuel consumption figures on a combined cycle of just 5.04l/100km, 6.14l/100km combined, a 16 percent reduction over the 2010 Elise S.

Falling under the 7.0l/100km barrier, the Elise is also immune to Luxury Car Tax, minimising on-road costs for the buyer.

Power and performance is just as sharp, with the same 100kW as the outgoing 1.8-litre Elise S, and 0-100km/h in just 6.5 seconds. A new six-speed close-ratio manual gearbox is also a first for Elise.

Dany Bahar, Chief Executive of Group Lotus said, “The Lotus Elise revolutionised the sports car when it was launched 14 years ago and now the Lotus Elise has become greener, giving drivers access to class-leading performance with less guilt.”

IN DETAIL

Evolutionary new body

The body of the new 2011 model year Elise is an evolution of the iconic Elise design, retaining the character and style, while offering a more planted, purposeful stance and a pure, contemporary look that links it to the Evora. As with all Lotus product, the design is an exciting blend of dramatic style and functional efficiency.

The new Elise body has a fresh sculptured front, including a new bumper, front clam and access panel that combine to give the Elise a wider look with more road presence.

At the rear, a distinctive ‘twin-spine’ engine cover has encased the new engine, whilst lower down a more aggressive diffuser is tightly wrapped by an elegant new bumper design that now includes the rear licence plate.

New headlamp units with distinctively sculptured LED lighting guides (incorporating daytime running lamps and direction indicators) give a contemporary twist to this classic design. Elsewhere, the signature, Lotus ‘mouth’ and familiar sculptured forms have been sensitively refined to give a crisper, more dynamic look. The repositioning of lamp functions has enabled the creation of broad clean surfaces between the fenders which combines with sleek corner intakes and prominent splitter detail to give a broader more planted stance.

The theme of purity is carried through to the cooling apertures that are efficiently finished with a new lightweight aluminium mesh, giving the car a classically sporting character.

The rear boot is now opened from the cockpit, rather than via a key.

The high quality feel of the Elise is continued throughout the car with the Elise graphic incorporated into the new side LED direction indicators, like those on the Evora.

Donato Coco, Director of Design said, “The Elise is an iconic sports car and it was important that we did not complicate its design, so we made the car more pure in its look, improved the aerodynamics, and gave it a more contemporary look with high quality detailing.”

The driving position, from the perfectly positioned pedals and steering wheel, to the comfortable and supportive seats with ProBax technology means that, like all Lotus cars, the driver becomes part of the car rather than being just a passenger.

With the sleek new body, the aerodynamics have improved giving a reduction in the coefficient of drag by 4 percent.

A choice of two lightweight wheel designs is available: an incredibly light forged wheel and a new cast wheel completes the picture for this sensitive update of a Lotus icon. New cast wheels have been designed specifically for the Elise while the new optional forged wheels weigh just 29.26kg per set: 2.14 kg lighter than a set of lightweight cast versions. Both are available in silver or black colour.

Cruise control is available on the Elise for the first time as an option on the Touring Pack, with the controls on a stalk located to the left of the steering column.

Ride and handling

The legendary Lotus ride and handling gives a superb high performance, sporty drive, combined with a compliant ride and progressive on limit handling; it makes the Elise a car that demands to be driven. The entry level Lotus Elise weighs 876kg, making it one of the lightest fully homologated sports cars in the world. This low weight translates into efficient performance with minimal environmental impact in terms of emissions and fuel consumption. The efficiency of the Elise structure means that the 100kW delivers phenomenal performance. Few cars can match the delicacy and accuracy of the steering, throttle and brakes of the Elise and all of these factors contribute to the pure and sensational driving experience that is core to a Lotus.

Safety

The Elise has high performance AP Racing callipers at the front and Brembo callipers at the rear linked to 282mm vented and cross-drilled cast iron discs to provide excellent stopping power. The Elise comes standard with a track-tuned ABS system that is designed to be unobtrusive under normal driving conditions. This system is designed to be used on track and has a high threshold, only intervening in emergencies. The ABS system is linked to a lightweight pedal box with steel pedal arms and extruded aluminium pads. This unit also has an electronic (drive-by-wire) throttle for quick, smooth and more linear engine response. The impressive braking coupled with excellent handling gives good primary safety and the composite front crash structure and rear crash protection offers efficient secondary safety. Driver and passenger airbags and pre-tensioning seatbelt are standard on all Elise models.