3
NEWS
Lotus flags away Elise S
Supercharged four-cylinder sports car scoots out of local showroomsBritish sports car brand Lotus has gone through fits and starts since its sale – along with parent company Proton – earlier this year. But now it's all about the starts, with the supercharged Elise S arriving in Australia at long last.
“Make no mistake about it, the past few months since we took over distribution of Lotus in Australia have been frustrating,” says Glen Sealey, General Manager of Lotus in Australia. “We had negotiated superb new prices and specifications, there were key new models for the Australian market and, in anticipation of these, customer orders had started rolling into our dealers across Australia. Then the change of ownership halted production and only a trickle of cars arrived. But production is now back to normal, cars are ‘on the water’ en route to Australia and with strong pent up demand, particularly for the new Elise S, we expect strong sales figures in the coming months.”
The Elise S delivers 40Nm more, thanks to the Roots-type supercharger fitted to the 2ZRFE engine, with the air circulating through an air-to-water intercooler. Other features of the Elise S include an oil cooler to extend engine operating life and a transmission with revised first and second gear ratios to facilitate acceleration to 100km/h without needing to make a dogleg shift into third as well. Sixth gear is a higher ratio for lower engine speeds on the highway. Lotus claims the Elise S can reach 100km/h in 4.6 seconds now, but fuel consumption (7.5L/100km) is 10 per cent improved – as is the CO2 emissions figure of 180g/km. The Dynamic Performance Management system (DPM) has been recalibrated by Lotus to reduce the safety aid's intervention when the car is in Sport mode.
Production of the larger Evora is set to resume in the next few weeks and the V6-engined car will arrive in Australia with automatic transmission. Similarly we'll see the supercharged V6 Exige S just before the end of the year.
“The end of 2012 is going to be a very busy time for Lotus,” says Mr Sealey, “but it a welcome change, one that sets the stage for 2013 being the year Australian Lotus sales match the performance of their unique sports cars.”
For the new model year pricing kicks off at $67,990 for the Elise, with the asking price for Elise S levelling out at $79,990. A limited edition model, the Elise Club Racer is priced in between, at $68,990.
Read the latest news and reviews on your mobile, iPhone or PDA at carsales' mobile site...
Share this article
Written byCarsales Staff
See all articlesOur team of independent expert car reviewers and journalistsMeet the team
Stay up to dateBecome a carsales member and get the latest news, reviews and advice straight to your inbox.
Subscribe todaySell your car with Instant Offer™
Like trade-in but price is regularly higher
1. Get a free Instant Offer™ online in minutes2. An official local dealer will inspect your car3. Finalise the details and get paid the next business day
Get a free Instant Offer
Related articles
Disclaimer
Please see our Editorial Guidelines & Code of Ethics (including for more information about sponsored content and paid events). The information published on this website is of a general nature only and doesn’t consider your particular circumstances or needs.
Please see our Editorial Guidelines & Code of Ethics (including for more information about sponsored content and paid events). The information published on this website is of a general nature only and doesn’t consider your particular circumstances or needs.
Love every move.
Buy it. Sell it.Love it.
®Contact
Advertise with us
Local marketplaces
International marketplaces
Scan to download the carsales app
Want more info? Here’s our app landing page
App Store and the Apple logo are trademarks of Apple Inc. Google Play and the Google Play logo
are trademarks of Google LLC.