Elise

Punching well above its weight, the new Lotus Elise Cup 250 offers a scintillating blend of purity of purpose with performance at the apex of the recently revised Elise range. Supercharged, lightweight and distilled from Lotus’ extensive motorsport know-how, the new model packs 243 hp into a chassis designed to deliver the benchmark in responsive handling and haptic feedback. The car’s enhanced aerodynamics come from a number of additions including a new lightweight rear wing, front splitter, bargeboards, and rear diffuser contributing to 125 kg of downforce at 140 mph.

Evolved, energized and even lighter, a significant update for the legendary Lotus Elise has been unveiled ahead of its arrival in showrooms this spring. Pride of place in the latest Elise line-up is the new Sprint edition, capturing the spirit of Lotus by offering the latest in efficient engineering to deliver a car that sets the standard at under 800 kg. Featuring a host of weight-saving items as standard, as well as the Elise’s distinctive new styling, the new Lotus remains true to the company’s founding principles. Benefitting the range as a whole, all new Elise editions receive the car’s new look and new interior options, and every single one of the Sprint’s lightweight components can be specified on the standard Elise Sport and the Elise Sport 220 variants.

The next-generation Lotus Elise will arrive in 2020, Jean-Marc Gales, company CEO, has confirmed. Talking to Autocar, Gales confirmed that Lotus has begun work on its next-generation sports car range. The news comes on the heels of the company’s first profit, which took place in August, and is the first time the company has been in the black since 2000. The new Elise is due on the market in 2020 and will be slightly larger than today’s car. Under the skin, the next-generation Elise will use a new version of the company’s now signature bonded and extruded aluminum chassis. Note: This story originally appeared all or in part on CareAdvice.  

In a celebration of style and lightweight performance, and helping mark the 50th anniversary of the company’s famous Hethel site, Lotus has revealed the latest addition to its collection: the exclusive Elise 250 Special Edition. Based on the critically acclaimed Elise Cup 250 launched earlier this year, but featuring a raft of exclusive components as standard, the new Lotus Elise 250 Special Edition offers an outstanding combination of performance and panache. With a supercharged 243 hp engine, a 0-60mph time of 3.9 seconds, and a unique, hand-finished interior, it perfectly defines the quintessential British sportscar in this celebration year.

Having slashed a substantial 207 kg from its cars this year alone, Lotus remains the leader in the engineering of lightweight, high-performance supercars. From the iconic Elise, through to the hypercar humbling 3-Eleven, every Lotus benefits from the company’s approach to engineering in lightness at every stage of design and construction. With its heaviest model weighing in at just 1,395 kg, it’s still streets ahead of rivals. With a heritage of efficient design, no other car manufacturer can claim a better track record when it comes to honing road and race cars. In its 68th year, Lotus still remains true to the ethos of the company’s founder Colin Chapman, and his approach to design and construction.

Lotus has raised the bar once again by lightening the Evora in order to develop the sensational Evora Sport 410. […]

Proving that less is more, Lotus’ high performance Cup version of the famous Elise has shed 21 kg and gained 26 hp. Weighing in at 931 kg, and capable of 0-60 mph in 3.9 seconds, the Elise Cup 250 is the fastest road-going Lotus Elise ever. Replacing the acclaimed Elise Cup 220, the new Elise Cup 250 perfectly demonstrates the Lotus ‘light is right’ mantra as all vehicle components were optimised to add lightness and speed. Delivered to the marque’s now famous ‘Lightweight Laboratory’, it emerged with a range of features, including a Lithium-ion battery which slashes 10 kg off the weight, carbon fibre seats, reducing the weight by 6 kg, and ultra-lightweight forged alloy wheels, saving a further 1.5 kg. Designed to suit all sports car fans, the Lotus Elise Cup 250 is available for the first time as […]

According to an article in Automotive News, Lotus will bring the Elise to America no sooner that 2020. Nick Gibbs, UK correspondent for the publication says … Lotus will reintroduce the two-seat Elise sports car in the U.S. after the company brings out the next generation of the car in 2020, the company’s CEO said. The U.K.-based company first imported the Elise in 2004 but had to withdraw the car in 2011 after exemptions from certain safety regulations expired. It continues to sell a handful models for use on racetracks. Lotus recently made safety changes to the bigger Evora to enable the company to start selling that car again in January as a 2017 model, but CEO Jean-Marc Gales told Automotive News that similar changes would be too onerous for the Elise. “We’d need smart airbags, plus side airbags and […]

Since the unveiling of the pioneering and ground-breaking Lotus Elise in 1995, Lotus has reached another production landmark. No less than 40,000 examples have been produced of its technologically advanced “small car platform”, epitomised by the brilliant Lotus Elise, which has maintained exceptional standards in light weight and efficiency, while producing a benchmark in handling, to result in a pure driving experience. The “small car platform” and its sheer production flexibility is defined by the various models based on it, which have included the Lotus Elise, Exige, Europa, 2-Eleven, 340R and racing variants. In being the first carmaker to use extruded and bonded aluminium, Lotus revolutionised the industry and it has become a method that is being widely adopted amongst the rest of the motor industry. In the meantime, Lotus continues to refine and develop its own lightweight structure currently […]

The Lotus Elise 20th Anniversary Special Edition celebrates the unveiling of the iconic sports car at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September 1995. 20 years ago, the Lotus Elise revolutionised the sports car world, setting the benchmark for handling, purity of the driving experience, lightweight and efficiency. Its pioneering and advanced bonded aluminium chassis was a market-leading technological innovation at the time and over the years has improved and evolved and remains core to the Elise’s exceptional performance today. Jean-Marc Gales, CEO of Group Lotus plc, welcomes the Elise 20th Anniversary model, “It is sometimes hard to believe that the Elise has been around for 20 years. It was ground breaking when it was launched and continues to be the benchmark for handling and performance in its class. Over the years we have improved and refined the Elise but we […]

The British automobile manufacturer Lotus is recalling its Elise and Exige models over potential fire risks or crashes, due to an oil leak issue. The models produced in 2005 and 2006 have been reportedly subjected to an immediate recall by the company. As slated, in July, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration had opened a probe into these Lotus cars to investigate oil cooler leaks for the Elise and Exige models that were manufactured between June 1, 2004 and November 30, 2006. With 17 complaints from the owners of the vehicles reporting oil leaks onto the right rear tires, which resulted into handling problems and a fire incidence as well, the investigation finally triggered a recall announcement from the company. As per the NHTSA official site, the owners of the affected vehicles may contact Lotus at 1-800-245-6887 and get their […]

Lotus hadn’t planned on making many Elises. About 2,500 cars should do it, Lotus thought, taking the Elise from its 1996 launch to, maybe, the millennial cusp. After all, not many people would want a basic, pure, minimalist sports car costing a far from minimalist £19,000. Surely. Well, the Elise has just entered its third generation (from £27,450). About 35,000 have left Lotus’s Hethel factory to date. The idea has proved more widely seductive than the original creators dared to hope and, as I turn and go back up the twisting road by Goodwood racecourse to savour the bends yet again, I am once more completely under its spell. There is nothing quite like an Elise. Other cars have had the individual elements – light weight, simplicity, a mid-mounted engine, a British badge – but currently the Lotus is a […]