Lotus Elise

Set to reach showrooms in early 2015 with a target base price of £35,000—the number should be roughly the same in U.S. dollars—the next-generation Elise will retain its mid-engine, rear-drive layout, but the chassis is claimed to be new (an adaptation of the Evora platform, we hear) and the skin will be styled in a way Lotus CEO Dany Bahar characterizes as “young, strong, confident, verging on ruthless.” “Ruthless” is a rare term in the great lexicon of automotive descriptors, and we’re wondering if it’s a good thing. But “bold” certainly applies, and whatever superlatives one ladles on, the new body represents a clear departure from the original. Lotus’s pre-show information assault claimed this car “gives you subtle hints of the Elise of old, so it still seems a touch familiar.” Squint as we may, we have trouble seeing anything resembling the current car; what we do see is a fish. The design suggests Toyota influence, rather than something from the land of steak-and-kidney pie. Speaking of Toyota, there really is something familiar about the new Elise, and that’s the 2.0-liter DOHC 16-valve four-cylinder engine riding behind the cabin. As with all current Lotus cars, Toyota supplies this engine. A six-speed manual is standard, while the optional gearbox is a seven-speed dual-clutch automated manual seemingly developed by Lotus itself. However, Lotus does its own engine-management programming, and with force-feeding—Lotus doesn’t specify whether that’s turbo- or supercharging—the expectation here is for 316 hp and 243 lb-ft of torque. With a listed curb weight of just 2414 pounds, Lotus projects a 0-to-62-mph time of 4.3 seconds, and top speed is projected at just under 170 mph. There’s no mention thus far of a naturally aspirated engine. Lotus describes the new powertrain as a “mild hybrid,” owing to an engine stop/start function baked into the software. When the car is waiting at a stoplight, for example, it shuts itself off, then lights up again when the driver touches the throttle—not particularly hybrid-y, but buzzwords are neat, right? It was perhaps more interesting, though, to find the word “practicality” used in the Elise’s press materials. It’s hard to associate practicality with a two-seat sports car, although Lotus cites significantly improved ingress and egress, two activities that the current car’s super-wide door sills turn into contortionist-level tricks. Let’s hope the new Elise’s sills are much, much thinner. Lest you fear the Elise will lose some of its purist sports-car persona in this generational update, Lotus seeks to reassure one and all, stating unequivocally that “the Elise 2015 has lost none of the cheeky charm” and that it “handles like a dream—albeit a quite aggressive and tension-filled dream.” Tension-filled? Is that as compelling as “verging on ruthless”? We’ll just have to wait and see.