British sports car manufacturer Lotus admits that CO2 emissions and fuel economy are not uppermost in the minds of sports car buyers.
However, it's nice to know that the lightweight products built at the Hethel, UK, plant are doing their bit to keep CO2 emissions and fuel usage down.
Lotus has provided an interesting comparison between three Elise-based models (one being an Exige) and the typical competitors for those respective cars. Where the Lotus cars excel -- pardon the expression -- rests with lightweight materials and minimalist design, allowing small but efficient engines to deliver a strong power-to-weight ratio without excessive fuel use. Consequently, the sports cars don't produce an overabundance of CO2, either.
Both the Elise and Exige are constructed around an aluminium chassis that weighs 68kg. Composite materials contribute further to optimising each car's kerb mass.
Against the Mazda MX-5 (8.5L/100km 7.8 seconds to 100km/h, 208g/km), the Elise S slurps a little less fuel (8.5L/100km) and whips through the gears to 100km/h from a standing start in 6.1 seconds with CO2 emissions of 196g/km. The Nissan 350Z Roadster is marginally faster in acceleration (5.7 seconds), but uses 11.7L/100km of fuel and produces 280g/km. The BMW Z4 2.5 is slower (6.5 seconds), uses more fuel (8.4L/100km) and produces more CO2 emissions (216g/km).
It's a similar story for the Elise SC and the Exige S PP, but contrasting even more strongly. The former beats the Mercedes-Benz SLK 200K and Porsche Boxster 2.7 hands-down, while the latter romps home in all categories bar one, against Porsche Cayman S, Aston Martin V8 Vantage, Lamborghini Gallardo and Ferrari F430. Only the Ferrari posts a faster time to 100km/h than the Lotus, but does so producing over 50 per cent more CO2 emissions and consuming 6.5 more litres for every 100km travelled.
Despite all the environmental harm-minimisation involved in owning a Lotus, we expect it's going to take a while to convince Gallardo and F430 owners to trade those for an Exige.
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