Lotus Entertain You
By Brice Cooper
Photography by Hector Maldonado
I recently had the opportunity to shake down the new 2005 Lotus Elise during a real world road test on the streets of Chicago. A “real world road test” because from day one, the Elise has been hailed by auto journalists everywhere as one of the best sports cars on the current market. Most of these tests have centered on the Elise’s nimble handling, good looks, and ability to be a great weekend track car, all for under $50k. One problem though, streets aren’t always filled with curvaceous opportunities, and traffic and soccer moms still adhere to the speed limits because there’s a ”baby on board.”
The Elise awe-inspiring looks that leave you slack jowed, murmuring daaaaaaang! Under your breath. This car is sexy. The hood by itself peaked my interest, with its aggressive stance, reminding me of Ford’s GT40, a car that’s almost $100k the Lotus’s senior in price. Lotus did something so right with the styling of this car. The doors sit high on the extruded aluminum frame rails for safety. Although this causes a bit of a nuisance when entering and exiting the vehicle, it sure looks cool. As you slide into the cockpit, you’ll notice that the interior is sparse. “If it doesn’t make it go faster, get rid of it” must’ve been the motto heard around the Lotus factory when conceiving this little British wonder. The lack of the usual junk that clutters the interior of a purpose built sports car was refreshing to say the least. The use of aluminum trim and firm seating make you feel like you’re behind the wheel of something more than a grocery getter. The standard soft top even has some trick engineering behind it that enables it to stow completely away in the rear hatch. I felt quite at home in the Elise, but be warned that I’m 6’ and all others taller need not apply. The steering wheel is fixed, the drivers’ seat has minimal adjustment and the passenger side has none. Then again your Russian model co-pilot probably won’t complain. At least not in English!
So, how does the Elise take to the mean streets of your city? When firing the ignition button, you’ll find that this smart looking devil sounds nothing like the Toyota Celica GT-S that it gets its reliable and infinitely tunable power plant from. This Elise sounds like a racecar. The fact is, Lotus offers other aftermarket exhaust systems that do nothing more than change the sound coming out of the tail pipes. Lotus has derived the maximum horsepower out of the stock exhaust system. How’s that for dedicated engineering? The Elise will not let you exceed 6,000 rpm until the engine is up to operating temperature. Luckily, it warms up pretty fast. I blipped the throttle and let out the clutch slowly while the Elise growled out of the parking lot.
Once the engine was up to temperature, I pushed my foot to the floor and found out that 6,000 rpm was the magic number. Lotus has made full use of the Celica motor’s 190-hp variable valved timing, which kicks in like a turbo when under load. The Elise comes standard with a six-speed transmission that makes it a blast to open up. It seems that there’s power to be found in every gear. I also discovered what all of the buzz was about in the handling, dodging potholes at a bit more that the legal limit. The Elise felt firm, yet never rattled me like some of its stiffer springed competition. After about an hour, I did start to feel a bit of a dull pain in my lower back, attributed to the less than plush drivers’ seat that I praised earlier. The seat has a lumbar support like the pump sneakers of the early 90’s. Much like the sneaker fad, I think it was mostly for show, because the pain never went away. In stop and go traffic, the Elise’s high-revving engine made taking off a bit of a throttle-blipping chore. The motor doesn’t really come alive until about four grand. The cross-drilled rotors provided as standard equipment are more than adequate when bringing this English go-cart to a stop. Other features like the lightweight composite body as well as the aluminum wheels say a lot about Lotus’ dedication to creating a supercar within a reasonable budget. The Elise is not big on trunk space, but hopefully your date won’t be either. This car is it when it comes to style in the city. It’s affordable, yet provides the owner with stares of envy that super cars owners with twice the investment only dream about
After my time spent with the Elise, I’d have to say that this wouldn’t be my number one choice of transportation on a road trip, but I would be the first to valet this bad boy at any club in the city. Overall, the Elise is a more than well-rounded vehicle that’s a joy to drive. It’s about time that a car company put forth the effort to place a car into the market that has the end user’s best interest in mind as well as their own.
For more info on the Elise, check out the Fox Valley Motorcars website at foxvalleymotorcars.com. Be careful when test driving the Elise…it may lead to you making a large with drawl in your bank account.
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