First Impression: Lotus Elise

Lotus has been making two door roadsters since 1962, when the Lotus released the Elan. The initial run for the Elan ended in 1975 and was brought back from 1989 to 1995. In 1995, Lotus replaced the Elan with the Elise. Lotus stopped production of the first generation Elise due to new European safety regulations. Lotus teamed up with General Motors to help them meet the new safety requirements. In 2002, the second generation Elise was released. GM got their own version of the Elise, the Opel Speedster and the Vauxhall VX220. The Elise is also the basis for the Lotus Exige and the Tesla Roadster.

The Lotus Elise is a regular at Houston Cars and Coffee events as well as the 2011 Houston Auto Show. I like the styling of the Elise. It looks like it would be fun to drive, especially with Lotus' reputation of excellent handling. It is one of the better roadsters out there.

The Lotus Elise is powered by a 1.6L I4 engine, paired with a six-speed manual transmission, that produces 134 hp and 118 lb-ft of torque. It goes from 0 to 60 mph in 6.0 seconds and reaches a top speed of 124 mph. Other versions of the Elise are available. The Elise R has a 1.8L I4 engine that produces 190 hp and has a 0-60 mph time of 5.4 seconds and a top speed of 134 mph. The Elise SC has a supercharged 1.8L I4 that produces 220 hp, goes from 0 to 60 mph in 4.3 seconds and reaches a top speed of 145 mph. Prices for the Elise start at $47,250. Prices for the Lotus Elise R start at $51,845. Prices for the Lotus Elise Sc start at $54,990. The Elise is a little pricey compare to other sport roadsters, but none of them can handle as well as the Elise. Few sport roadsters have the performance of the Elise.

The Lotus Elise has been featured in Death Racers, Extreme Machines, Clarkson: Hot Metal, and Fifth Gear. The Elise is playable in Shift 2: Unleashed, L.A. Rush: Showdown, Need For Speed: World, Need For Speed: Shift,  Forza Mortorsport 2, Car Town, Saints Row 2, Forza Motorsport 4, Need For Speed: Undercover, Gran Turismo 4, Gran Turismo 5, Test Drive Unlimited, and many other racing games.

Final Thoughts: This is a great little sport roadster. The base Elise has the same horsepower as the Prius, but the Elise is lighter and handles better than the Prius. Since the Elise is lightweight, it does not need a lot of power to get it up to speed. The Elise handles like no other roadster. Lotus has turned handling into a science. The Elise may not be the most powerful or fastest car on the road, but its handling makes it a great track day car.


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First Impression: Lotus Exige

The Lotus Elise has been used as a basis for other cars, including the Lotus Exige. The Exige is essentially the coupe version of the Elise. The Exige is two-door, mid-engine, rear-wheel drive sports car. The Hennessey Venom GT is based on the Exige.

The Exige is a regular at the Houston Cars and Coffee events. Star Motors brought an Exige at the 2011 Houston Auto Show. I love the styling of the car. It looks sportier and more aggressive than the Elise. The Exige weighs just over 2,000. It is lightweight and has good weight balance. The Exige is one of the best handling cars on the roads.

The Exige is powered by a 1.8L I4 engine, paired with a six-speed manual transmission, that produces 190 hp and 138 lb-ft of torque. The Exige goes from 0 to 60 mph in 4.7 seconds and reaches a top speed of 147 mph. The Lotus Exige S has a supercharged 1.8L I4 engine that produces 218 hp and 158.6 lb-ft of torque.  The Exige S goes from 0 to 60 mph in 4.1 seconds and reaches a top speed of 148 mph. The Exige S 240 gets 240 hp and goes from 0 to 60 mph in under 4.0 seconds. Prices for the Lotus Exige start at $65,690. The Lotus Exige has great performance, great handling, but it is a little bit pricey.

Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson reviewed the Exige during Series 4, Episode 1, where he tested the handling of the Exige by seeing if an Apache Gunship Helicopter can get a missle lock on the Exige, which it did not. Top Gear also reviewed the Exige S during Series 8, Episode 3. The Exige and its different versions are playable in Blur, Project Gotham Racing Series, Fuel, Sega GT 2002, Lotus Challenge, Asphalt: Urban GT, Test Drive Unlimited, Need For Speed Series, Forza Motorsports series, Real Racing 2, Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights, and many other racing games.

Final Thoughts: This is a great performing, stylish sports car. The 190 hp can easily get a 1 ton car up to speed quickly. Plus, the Exige is one of the best handling cars on the road. The price is a little high for what the Exige is plus not much comes standard on the Exige. But, what other car can avoid missile lock from an Apache Gunship Helicopter. A Dodge Viper could not evade missile lock. Lotuses in general do not have much standard and are a little bit over price for what you get standard. But, nothing handles as well as a Lotus. There is nothing on the road like a Lotus. Lotus have great styling that the Elise was used as the basis for the Tesla Roadster and the Exige was used as the basis for the Hennessey Venom GT. When you buy a Lotus, you are getting performance, handling, and styling. Few companies can give you cars with all three.


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First Impression: Lotus Evora

Lotus is known for making rear-mid engine sports cars with incredible handling. In 2009, Lotus started production on a rear-mid engine, rear-wheel drive, two-door, two-seat or 2+2 seat sports car in 2009, the Lotus Evora. The Evora uses a different platform from the Elise and Exige. The Evora earned EVO Magazine's "Car of the Year 2009," CAR Magazine's "Peformance Car of the Year 2009," and Autocar's "Britain's Best Driver's Car 2009" awards. 

I first saw the Lotus Evora at the 2011 Houston Auto Show and at the October 2011 edition of Houston Cars and Coffee. It has good styling, but the styling is not as aggressive as the Exige styling. It is a little bit longer than the Elise and Exige. It can come with 2+2 seating arrangement, but only small children could fit in the rear seats. The Evora also weighs 3,000 lbs, which is 1,000 lbs. more than the Exige.

The Evora is powered by a Toyota 3.5L V6 engine that can be supercharged and is paired with either a six-speed manual or six-speed automatic transmission. The standard V6 engine produces 276 hp and 258 lb-ft of torque. The Evora goes from 0 to 60 mph in 4.9 seconds and reaches a top speed of 162 mph. The Evora S comes with a supercharged 3.5L V6 that produces 345 hp and 295 lb-ft of torque. The Evora S goes from 0 to 60 mph in 4.6 seconds and reaches a top speed of 172 mph. Prices for the Evora start at $65,157 and prices for the Evora S start at $81,175. That is incredible performance out of a V6 engine. The Evora and Evora S are great performing cars, but the Evora S is almost as expensive as the Nissan GT-R, but the Evora S is not as quick or as fast as the GT-R. The price for the Evora is fair for what you get with the Evora.

Adam Ferrara drove a Lotus Evora in Florida during Top Gear US Season 1, Episode 6. The American Stig drove the Evora around Top Gear US test track in 1:28.4. Top Gear UK reviewed the Evora during Series 13, Episode 1. The British Stig drove the Evora around the Top Gear UK test track in 1:25.7. Fifth Gear and Motorweek have also reviewed the Evora. The Evora is playable in Need For Speed: World, Gran Turismo 5, Need For Speed: The Run, Forza Motorsport 3, Asphalt 5, GT Racing: Motor Academy, Test Drive Unlimited 2, Forza Motorsport 4, Carbon Auto Theft 2, and Real Racing 2.

Final Thought: This is another great car from Lotus. It is one of the fastest cars to wear the Lotus badge. It is a little bit longer and about 1,000 lbs. heavier than the Elise and Exige, but the Evora still handles very well. Lotus continues its tradition of performance, styling, and handling with the Evora. With what comes standard in the Evora plus the performance and the handling, $65,000 is a good price. The Evora S is overprice at $81,000. The Evora S acceleration to 60 mph is only 0.3 seconds quicker and only goes 10 mph faster than the standard Evora. The addition of a supercharger should not cost $16,000 if it slightly improves the performance of the car. The Evora is a good buy. One should get the Evora S if he or she needs a car can be used as a weekend car and as a track day car.

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