Whittled-down weight for lighter Lotus
Lightest ever Elise shaves another 24kg off the kerb mass, but musters full-strength performanceLotus has released a new variant in the Elise range — and it weighs less than ever. Named the Elise Club Racer, the new car remains 'pure', in accordance with the manufacturer's stated philosophy of environmentally responsible motoring without detriment to performance and dynamics.
Lotus engineers found the means to reduce the weight of the car by 24kg, bringing the total down to 852kg. This contributes to the new variant's power to weight ratio of 117kW per tonne, based on the 1.6-litre DOHC engine's 100kW output. Driving through a six-speed close ratio manual transmission, the engine uses as little as 6.3L/100km in combined-cycle testing and emits 149g/km. Peak torque (160Nm) arrives at 4400rpm.
The company's engineers principally removed weight from the drivetrain and the body, although even the seats were put on a diet, according to the press release issued by Lotus.
"The traditional Lotus approach of reduction and purity is a design ethos that is now much copied and this means that for more than 15 years the Lotus Elise has been an icon in the sports car market, carving out a niche market with a dedicated following of fans looking for the purity of real performance driving," said Lotus Chief Technical Officer, Wolf Zimmermann, as quoted in the press release.
"The new Club Racer will definitely give these people something extra to get their teeth stuck into. This car epitomizes everything that has contributed to the iconic status of the Elise – it’s fast, raw, responsive and a huge amount of fun to drive."
The Elise Club Racer is the first Elise variant to come with a Sport setting for the Dynamic Performance Management system (DPM). Reportedly, this aids drivers with less competition experience, but can be disabled for those with more experience. To ensure its cornering dynamics remain outstanding, the Elise Club Racer still comes equipped with Eibach springs and Bilstein dampers.
Lotus in Australia will ask buyers $68,990 for the new car, which can be offered in the following exterior colours: Sky Blue, Saffron Yellow, Ardent Red, Aspen White, Matt Black and Carbon Grey.
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