OVERVIEW

Introduction

An exotic mid-engine roadster new to the U.S. market for 2005, the Elise went on sale in Europe in 1996 and is now the best-selling Lotus model ever. True to Lotus founder Colin Chapman's vision of building innovative, lightweight, top-performing cars that are fun to drive, the Elise sits on a chassis weighing only 150 pounds, thanks to aluminum alloy extrusions and aerospace bonding techniques. Body panels are lightweight composite material. The Elise accelerates from 0 to 60 mph in less than 5 seconds and top speed is nearly 150 mph.

New for 2005

This mid-engined roadster is super-quick due to its light weight. Power comes from a high-revving four-cylinder from Toyota. The Elise features Lotus race-car handling, a spartan driver-focused interior, and difficult cabin access.

Auto enthusiasts in this country have been waiting a long time for the Lotus Elise to arrive. On sale in Europe since 1996, the Elise is a hard-core driver's car—as close to a race car as you can buy for the street—but still a car you can drive and enjoy every day.

At last, the wait is over: the U.S.-spec Elise began rolling into showrooms this past June. The version for this side of the pond has air conditioning, ABS and an AM/FM/CD player; however, these features pale next to more important stats: Elise weighs less than 2,000 pounds and is powered by a 190-horsepower engine that was built by Toyota and tuned by Lotus. With this power-to-weight ratio, the car accelerates on par with those that have more than twice as much power.

According to performance figures supplied by Lotus, the Elise will accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in 4.9 seconds and reach a top speed near 150 mph.