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2006 Lotus Elise Road Test

Hardly Ideal but Just About Perfect

Id thought Id driven a true purists sports car before, having piloted everything from Mazdas pesky little MX-5 Miata to Ferraris 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 its about to do. Certainly Mazdas little roadster is minimalist compared to an everyday midsize family hauler, and Porsches Boxster is

Now theres a brand logo I could get used to seeing in my own garage... (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, American Auto Press)

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 its wearing lead boots when put side-by-side with the Elise.

It only makes sense, after all, what with a Boxster weighing in some 900 to 1,500 lbs greater, depending on trim level, its suspension is more taxed and engine needs to put out a lot more

You cant 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, American Auto Press)

power to achieve the same levels of performance. The Elise, on the other hand, weighs only 1,984 pounds in base trim, which in perspective is 540 pounds less than a base Mini Cooper, one of the smallest cars available in the U.S. 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 its easy to understand why a car with only 190-horsepower feels

Toyota engine provides robustness, and plenty of thrust for tiny Elise. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, American Auto Press)

like a Ferrari at takeoff.

Few cars can manage a sub-5-second sprint to 60 mph (4.8s to 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, Ive 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

Not only does it move the Elise, the high-revving engine creates a rather joyous sound. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, American Auto Press)

their somewhat disturbing preoccupation has resulted in a car that can transform Toyotas peaky little 1.8-liter four, with a rather thin torque curve maximized at 6,800 rpm to 138 lb-ft, into a blistering performer.

To 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

Though assembled with rivets and glue, with a body of plastic, the Elise is sturdy and durable. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, American Auto Press)

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 cars acceleration that caused me to fall giddily into a stream of overwrought hyperbole Id 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

Perfect balance and perfect control make the Elise a trackday weapon thatll eat cars thousands of dollars more expensive alive. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, American Auto Press)

its relatively short wheelbase and rigid composite body panels, stiffens the cars substructure to otherworldly levels.

On the winding roads outside of Atlanta, where I had the chance to put it through its paces recently, it quickly became clear that the car had no rivals, although it wasnt 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. Its just so easy to toss from one high-speed right-angle corner into the next, a quick shift down one of the six-speed manuals 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

Interior doesnt have much by the way of equipment, but all the necessities are present. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, American Auto Press)

pull on the wheel while adding throttle again... absolutely fabulous fun, and all for only $42,990!

Yeah, Im even more shocked with the price now that Ive driven it, and that feeling continues when adding up its sport and luxury oriented option package prices, 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 dont get. What I mean is that all the extras, except for the lighter power window system, add performance draining weight. For this reason youll need to spend a couple of hundred 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

There are so many amazing things about the Elise, one of which is that its a fuel miser. Tiny engine means tiny thirst. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, American Auto Press)

way. A hardtop is available, again at a surprisingly low $1,475, and those who want a little more luxury can spring for the $1,350 Touring Package. There are plenty of extras, so get your local Lotus dealer to go through them all as you wouldnt want to miss out on some of the more performance-centric goodies like forged wheels, especially if you plan on taking it to the track.

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