Motoring
A
And it’s low; very low. I mean, preferably, you need to practice a bit of yoga before you get in one of these for the fi rst time. Of course, I’m jesting, although, honestly, it
isn’t the easiest of cars to get in or out of. But so what? T at’s one of the joys of owning a true, sit on the fl oor, sports car - they’re not run of the mill – therefore they’re allowed to be quirky. So, once you’ve folded yourself into the Elise, turned the key, pressed the starter button, and set off on real-world, less-than-smooth, well used roads, you generally get all sorts of ‘crash, bang, wallop’ sensations from the Norfolk-made motor. But you really don’t care because the car is just such crude fun. If truth be told, it’s brilliant precisely because of its bone-shaking rawness. T ere’s no power-assisted steering and
the clutch is heavy, but it doesn’t aff ect the pleasure obtained from hammering what is, eff ectively, a fi nely- tuned, delightfully made, go-kart around corners and up the straights. Not surprisingly, if you ask car lovers to defi ne
Lotus in recent years, many will point to the Elise as a perfect example of exactly what makes the UK based car maker a fi rm favourite in the hearts and minds of petrol-heads. T e small lightweight, quick to respond, two-seater mid engine sports car revolutionised the market sector when it was introduced back in the 90s. By rigidly sticking to Lotus’ core values of performance through keeping everything lightweight, the Lotus Elise was, and still is, able to produce supercar performance with city car economy. Of course, like all good motor manufacturers, Lotus
has regularly added to the Elise range, tweaking and improving the much loved entry level sports car - and now, the new Elise S takes a step closer to motoring Mecca. Why? Well, it’s very simple – it replaces the less than environmentally friendly, albeit very quick, Elise SC with a new 1.8 supercharged engine capable of delivering 217 bhp and, consequently, even more shove. With the new powerplant and an improved throttle response the Elise S gives an even more stimulating and intoxicating driving experience. It thrusts you from a standing start to 62 mph in 4.6 seconds and the needle only stops when it gets to the speedometer’s 145 mph marker. Yet, ingeniously, the engine results in lower fuel consumption – now an average of 37.5 mpg - and less CO2 emissions than the old Elise SC.
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