Lotus Elise R Car Review

Facts At A Glance
Car: Lotus Elise range
Prices: £25,712-£32,067 - on the road
Insurance Group: 20
Emissions: 179-199g/km
Performance: [Elise S] Max Speed 127mph / 0-60mph 5.7s
Fuel Consumption: [Elise S] (urban) 26.6mpg / (extra urban) 48.7mpg / (combined) 37.2mpg
Dimensions: Length/Widthmm 3785/1719/1117mm

Beauty At its Best

Our Rating: No Rating Available

Group Lotus, the British sports car manufacturers, have come out with a variant on their Elise series - the Lotus Elise R - that is bound to appeal to the discerning sports car enthusiast as well as the not-so-adventurous everyday commuter. While it will, with a bit of unease, take you from your home to office, efficiently negotiating busy morning traffic, it will also pull the rug from under the feet of regular sports cars like the Porsche Boxster or the Honda S2000. In fact it will astonish you with its raw power and bowl you over with its superb handling!. It uses a novel architecture built from a collection of aluminum extrusions riveted and glued together, thus allowing it to be lighter than any other sports car in its class. This has a twofold advantage - higher power to mass ratio of 165 kW/ton, and lower pollution than any other globally emissions certified car - 199 g/km CO2, to be precise.

The engine, sitting between the seat and the rear wheel, is a Toyota RunX RSi, and produces a whopping 141 kW at 7800 r/min and 181 Nm at 6800 r/min. It also has a custom designed bespoke exhaust system with the twin exhaust pipes exiting through the rear diffuser. While it doesn't have a spare wheel, it does come with a puncture repair outfit - allowing you to do a road side job on the eight-spoke alloy wheels, shod with 175/55R16 front and 225/45R17 rear Bridgestone Potenza tyres, should the need arise. For enhanced safety, Lotus have used big disc brakes at each end, cross-drilled and internally ventilated, with custom tuning allowing the skilled driver to almost lock up before the ABS kicks in.

The Elise R has excellent build and finish - form fitting, one piece seats with leather trim, a small steering wheel with perforated leather trim that feels just right, plush carpeting, and beautiful alacantara trim on the dashboard top. The soft-top variant comes with a standard foldaway double layer hood that is easy to fold and unfold - just erect two crossbars between the rear window and windscreen and roll the roof over them into holding slots. To unfold, push two switches and reverse. The hood can be stowed either behind the front seats or in the boot.

So what are the disadvantages? The foremost, of course, is getting in and out of the car. If you are on the plump side, forget it - and if not, be prepared to do some acrobatics go get into the driver's seat or out of it. There is no power steering, the seats have only fore-aft adjustment, and the rear view is almost non-existent. The cabin is loud and hot, and generally uncomfortable for extended driving. Oh, and parking can become cumbersome from the drag of those big, fat tyres.

So, overall, if you are a racing enthusiast, this is definitely the car for you. Andwith its sheer horsepower, stunning styling and animal thrum, it will bowl over your girlfriend as well.