Hardly Ideal but Just About Perfect I'd
thought I'd driven a true purists' sports car before, having
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Now there's a brand logo we haven't seen here in quite some time... (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press) |
piloted
everything from Mazda's pesky little MX-5 Miata to Ferrari's superbly
crafted F430, and most everything in between on the street and around
race tracks, but while each has been wonderful in its own way, nothing
could have prepared me for the ultra-light Elise.
In North
America, anyway, nothing as inherently visceral exists. No car connects
as intuitively to its driver, or relates as much information about what
it is doing and what it's about to do. Certainly Mazda's little
roadster is minimalist compared to an everyday midsize family hauler,
and Porsche's Boxster is about as much fun as any open-top luxury
sportster can get, but believe me when I tell you that even the agile
Porsche feels like it's wearing lead boots when put side-by-side with
the Elise.
It
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You can't see it, but all seven Elises are actually anchored to the ground to prevent them from being blown away by the wind. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press) |
only makes sense, after all, what with a Boxster
weighing in some 400 to 700 kilos (900 to 1,500 lbs) greater, depending
on trim level, its suspension is more taxed and engine needs to put out
a lot more power to achieve the same levels of performance. The Elise,
on the other hand, weighs only 900 kilos (1,984 pounds) in base trim,
which in perspective is only 140 kg (309 lbs) more than the smallest
car currently being sold in Canada, the smart fortwo, and 245 kilograms
(540 pounds) less than a base Mini Cooper, the smallest car available
in Canada before the smart came along. Then factor in that the Elise
comes equipped with an engine more powerful than even the top-line Mini
Cooper S, by 22 horsepower no less, and it's easy to understand why a
car with only 190-horsepower feels like a Ferrari at takeoff.
Few
cars can manage a sub-5-second sprint to 100 km/h (4.9s to
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Toyota engine provides robustness, and plenty of thrust for tiny Elise. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press) |
be exact),
much thanks to its thorough use of aluminum, blatantly exposed inside
the cabin, and rigid composite body panels - even the exterior paint
has been scrutinized to make sure its not adding excessive weight.
Actually, I've never been around a team of engineers so obsessed with
weight reduction (no doubt we journalists should be so concerned). Need
to know the weight of the right front fender, each individual seat, the
gas cap... they can tell you. Fortunately their somewhat disturbing
preoccupation has resulted in a car that can transform Toyota's peaky
little 1.8-litre four, with a rather thin torque curve maximized at
6,800 rpm to 138 lb-ft, into a blistering performer.
To
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Not only does it shift the Elise, the high-revving engine creates a rather joyous sound. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press) |
be
fair, this 190-horsepower mill, that features a Lotus engineered engine
management system, is a fabulous little beast. At around 6,200 rpm it
wakes up as if juiced by a hidden can of nitrous, forward momentum
persisting as it whips into a frenzied 7,800 rpm maelstrom to deliver
peak power. I kept it up over 6K most of the day, the power instantly
on tap and mellifluous whine zapping the synapses to my brain, a
barrage of nervous impulses force fed from one neuron to another, with
what seemed like constant electric stimuli - OK, I spent much of my
early adulthood strapped to Japanese sport bikes, so the sound of a
high-spirited small displacement engine is beyond intoxicating to me.
And
if it was only the car's acceleration that caused me to fall giddily
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Though assembled with rivets and glue, with a body of plastic, the Elise is sturdy and durable. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press) |
into a stream of overwrought hyperbole I'd be sitting up and paying
attention, but the Norfolk, England think-tank is even better known for
working wonders with suspension systems. The Elise, and its various
spin-offs, might just be its best work to date, thanks much to its
bonded and extruded aluminum chassis that not only reduces weight but
together with its relatively short wheelbase and rigid composite body
panels, stiffens the car's substructure to otherworldly levels.
On
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Perfect balance and perfect control make the Elise a trackday weapon that'll eat cars thousands of dollars more expensive alive. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press) |
the winding roads outside of Atlanta, Georgia, where Lotus chose to
unleash the upgraded 2006 Elise on Canadian journalists for the first
time, it quickly became clear that the car had no rivals, although it
wasn't until I took it through a makeshift autocross course that I
realized, somehow I have to own one. The Elise elevated my driving
competence to an entirely new level. It's just so easy to toss from one
high-speed right-angle corner into the next, a quick shift down one of
the six-speed manual's cogs before using the throttle and a quick tug
on the wheel to slide the rear end out and place it precisely where I
wanted it to go on exit, charge to the next corner, tap the brakes to
set up the front suspension and then pull on the wheel while adding
throttle again... absolutely fabulous fun, and all for only $58,550!
Yeah,
I was shocked when Lotus announced the price, and even
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Interior doesn't have much by the way of equipment, but all the necessities are present. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press) |
more impressed
when its sport and luxury oriented option package prices were shown,
all very reasonable for a car from a maker with such a revered pedigree
and capabilities beyond supercars costing hundreds of thousands more.
But really, the Lotus is more about what you don't get. What I mean is
that all the extras, except for the lighter power window system, add
performance draining weight. For this reason you'll need to spend $310
to delete the standard air conditioning, and who needs it when the top
is down anyways? OK, stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic on the I-5 in
So-Cal, where the sun is brutally intense might make a person think
otherwise, but all-in-all this is an open-top car and begs to be driven
that way. A hardtop is available, again at a surprisingly low $1,815,
and those who want a little more luxury can spring for the $815 Premium
Pack. There are plenty of extras, so get your local Lotus dealer to go
through them all as you wouldn't want to miss out on the Touring Pack,
especially if you plan on taking it to the track, or the special forged
wheels.
Speaking of local representation, Canadians interested
in the brand should contact either Weissach Performance in Vancouver
(www.weissach.com), Gentry Lane Automobiles in Toronto
(www.gentrylane.com), or John Scotti (www.johnscotti.com) in Montreal.
I
have yet to drive the Elise on Canadian roads, and every time I see
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There are so many amazing things about the Elise, one of which is that it's a fuel miser. Tiny engine means tiny thirst. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press) |
one
running around Vancouver, a scenario that's getting played out a lot
more frequently lately, I get to thinking about phoning Weissach and
requesting a test drive. And for me, it's not just about its
unparalleled performance or exotic styling, or the fact that I could
get one in a bold shade of my favourite colour, orange, but also that
it delivers miserly fuel economy, something that I wouldn't have
worried about before the $1-plus per litre reality we all now live with
now. Considering the Elise is a sports car with 240 km/h (150 mph)
pretensions, its eco-friendly personality is a fabulous bonus... kind
of a smart supercar. Imagine that? A feel-good green car that can dust
almost anything it comes up against... ha... try that in your Honda
Insight!
E
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Lotus, give yourselves a pat on the back. The Elise is fantastic. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press) |
nvironmental benefits aside, the Elise made me feel
ruddy good in every respect. Even its styling is wonderfully exotic;
especially when its composite panels are drenched in one of Lotus's
more eclectic colour schemes, dubbed Lifestyle Paint, and despite its
diminutive dimensions the little Brit miraculously appears long and
lean.
Is it perfect? No. Sliding inside is fairly easy for the
agile if the roll-up fabric roof is off, but if in place it even forced
my 5-foot, 8-inch frame into contortionist positions. Its interior is
both stunningly cool, due to handmade aluminum bits and pieces and an
almost bare aluminum floor, and rather poorly constructed when it came
to the plastics around the instrument cluster. Of course, such sins are
forgiven and completely forgotten when out on the open road, or even
better, cleaning up at the track on weekends.
Yes, the Lotus Elise is hardly an ideal everyday driver, but nevertheless it's just about perfect.
Specifications: - Price Range (base MSRP): $58,550
- Body Type: 2-door convertible
- Layout: front engine, RWD
- Engine: 190 hp, 138 lb-ft of torque, 1.8L, DOHC, 16-valve I-4
- Transmission: 6-spd manual
- Acceleration (0 - 100 km/h): 4.9 seconds
- Top Speed: 240 km/h (150 mph)
- Brakes (front/rear): disc/disc, ABS
- Seating Capacity: 2
- Cargo Volume (trunk): (4.0 cu-ft)
- Website: www.lotuscars.com / www.weissach.com / www.gentrylane.com / www.johnscotti.com