Elise Sport Racer

[SonicHedgeHog]

Could someone please confirm that the Elise Sport Racer is simply an Elise 111R with a few of the normal options as standard? Just trying to work out if that is the case or if it is a hardcore track version.

Cheers.

[NathanE]

Yup. It's a 111R with the following options (off top of head):

- sports pack (stiffer arb, springs, dampers)
- lightweight alloys w/ wider 195 front tyres (no understeer edition)
- hard top
- touring pack
- traction control
- viper stripes

They also used it as the first cars to receive the fly-by-wire throttle and LED rear lights. Although all cars got them in 2006. The Sports Racers had them early in 2005.

They should bring it back. A lot of car for the money!

Edited by NathanE on Saturday 21st February 17:05

[ihum]

Here's the Lotus Press Release


Harking back to some key Lotus sports and GT racer colour schemes (used on some versions of the Lotus Elite, Type 23, and Lotus Elan) from the 1950s and 1960s, Lotus introduces the limited edition Lotus Elise Sports Racer.
21 October 2005 NEWS RELEASE Page 1 of 2

Lotus Elise Sports Racer - more than just a colour scheme

Harking back to some key Lotus sports and GT racer colour schemes (used on some versions of the Lotus Elite, Type 23, and Lotus Elan) from the 1950s and 1960s, Lotus introduces the limited edition Lotus Elise Sports Racer. Two distinctly different vehicles have been produced. The first, in Ardent Red, features a single painted white stripe flanked by two thinner painted white stripes and has distinctive white wing mirrors. The interior of the car is also unique, with matching red stitching set against black leather trim. The second car is Nightfall Blue and has twin painted white stripes running the length of the vehicle. Again, this car features white wing mirrors and has a unique interior, subtly matching the exterior of the vehicle, with blue stitching on the leather Both the versions have a coloured (red or blue respectively) Elise logo stitched into the headrests and unique Elise Sports Racer decals positioned on the exterior of the car. The Elise Sports Racer will be built in limited numbers with a total production run, across the two colours, of 199 units worldwide with each one given an individually numbered build plate. Under the blue and red colour schemes, the Elise Sports Racers use some of the best sports and track specific components available including ultra-lightweight 7-twin spoke forged alloy wheels (saving a massive 1.2 kg of unsprung weight per corner), Advan Neova AD07 LTS tyres linked to sports suspension (uprated Eibach springs and stiffer Bilstein dampers), twin oil coolers and switchable Lotus Traction Control (LTC). The switchable engine-managed Lotus Traction Control System (LTC) is active above 8 km/h (5 mph) and works through the engine, reducing power when required to maintain traction. It operates much quicker than many brake based systems. A Torsen-type limited slip differential (LSD) is available as an option for tight low speed, high acceleration driving (such as auto tests). Standard luxury kit includes a colour matched hardtop, central door locking, electric windows, interior stowage net, sound insulation pack, black soft-top with sound/thermal insulation and black full carpet set. LED rear lights are fitted which are brighter and the brake lights illuminate 2 tenths of a second (0.2 seconds) quicker (or one Elise car length at 70km/h / 43 mph) and are 36% lighter (around 0.6 kg) than conventional filament bulbs.

The Proven and High Performing Engine and Gearbox With a VVTL-i engine (Variable Valve Timing and Lift-intelligent) producing a maximum power output of 141 kW (189 hp or 192 PS) and 181 Nm (133 lbft or 18.5 kgm) of torque, the Elise Sports Racer sprints to 100km/h in 5.2 seconds (60 mph in 4.9 seconds) and 160km/h (100 mph) in 13.0 seconds before reaching a certified top speed of 241km/h (150 mph).

>>


21 October 2005 NEWS RELEASE Page 2 of 2

Cont: > This performance is achieved through a balance of environmental considerations with the fully Euro IV Emissions compliant engine helping the Elise to return 8.8 litres/100 km (32.1 mpg) on the combined cycle, as well as the very low figure of 208 g/km of CO2 emissions.

Sometimes steel is lighter than Aluminium! A new lightweight pedal box The Lotus Elise Sports Racer uses a new lighter weight pedal box with forged steel pedal arms and extruded aluminium pads. This new unit, which is lighter that the previous extruded aluminium unit, has an electronic throttle for quicker and smoother engine response, reduced brake pedal ratio and improved pedal feel for the brake and throttle. All three pedals are better positioned for improved "heel and toe" brake and throttle control on downshifts. The cable-less throttle also ensures that emissions are managed more effectively and kept as low as possible under all operating conditions. Air-conditioning is available as an option and weighs in at a featherweight 15 kg. The Lotus Elise Sports Racer is available from Lotus dealers in November 2005 at a recommended retail price of £31,995 in the UK. Other world market prices will be issued shortly.

Ends Notes: High-resolution pictures of the Lotus Elise Sports Racer, can be downloaded from the media centre of the official Group Lotus website at http://www.grouplotus.com/mediactr. The image library is for registered users only. Members of the press may register for the media centre. About Group Lotus plc: The main operating subsidiary of Group Lotus plc is Lotus Cars Ltd., which has two operating divisions Lotus Cars and Lotus Engineering: Lotus Cars builds and commercialises Lotus sports cars, Elise and Exige; builds sportscars for General Motors and manufactures the advanced composite front and rear crash structures for Aston Martin V12 Vanquish. Lotus Engineering provides comprehensive and versatile consultancy services to many of the world's OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers, offering a full engineering service from initial concept and project design through development to full production prototype build. For further details please contact: PR Department Group Lotus plc, Potash Lane, Hethel, Norfolk, UK, NR14 8EZ

Tel: Fax: Email: [phone] [phone] [e-mail]

[SonicHedgeHog]

Thanks guys. It is a very high spec. The stiffer springs and ARB make me wonder if it might be a little tiring over long trips. Might require a test drive....

[ihum]

Over long trips it is not a problem. No worse than any car really. The seats and driving position are so comfortable to get out fine. The biggest impact is the exhaust. I fitted a Janspeed Roadsport to mine which sounded great but was too much for long trips. Reverted to a Lotus Stage one which is tame but is trackday and long distance friendly.
My wife has one and she has no problems.

Edited by ihum on Saturday 21st February 21:37

[NathanE]

The cars are quite soft really. Personally I find something like a MINI Cooper or Clio Sport to have a more jarring ride. The thing that makes an elise seem as though its having a hard time on the bumps and bad road surface is the clonks/clunks/clanks/bangs and things like that. But if you were to cover your ears to get rid of all that you'd think that actually the ride is quite good!!

Edited by NathanE on Saturday 21st February 23:02

[Ollyd]

The other difference was that they came with two silly bits of black rubber trim that went from the back of each front wheel arch to the centre of the front splitter. They joined in the centre of the front splitter and did look quite nice for about 5 minutes.

However, you probably won't see it on many or even any of the Sports Racers now because it simply fell off within the first 2 months of use!

Happened to mine and even the dealer eventually advised that I simply pull it off. If you do get one with the trim still on it be prepared for it to come lose at about 100mph and start flailing the side of the car much to amusement of other road users.

As for the noise, I initially put an induction kit on mine but absolutely hated it. Swapped it for a Lotus Stage 2 exhaust which was brilliant. A bit wearing on long journeys but I would take this over the anaemic exhaust note of the standard any day of the week.

Ride was very good actually. I was worried that it was going to be too hard but I am really glad I went for it now. I think the std set up would have been too soft for me.

Sold it after a year mainly becuase of the lack of grunt and too many anoying reliability issues BUT the handling was simply startling. Might be time for another one soon although I wouold probably go for the Exige S this time round for the extra torque.

[The Pits]

I have a blue sportsracer and I love it to bits.

no-one mentioned the perforated leather steering wheel centre which is I think unique to the sportsracers - disgraceful oversight. Common or garden 111r's have the much heavier (I'm sure) alcantara stuff that covers the dash top.

my view on the uprated suspension is that its well worth it if you're planning occasional track use but if you're certain you'll never go anywhere near a track the standard 111r/R set up is probably the one to go for.

I have a caterham 7 as well for regular track use but still use the Sportsracer on track. It's actually a lot more fun (and dry) than my 7 around a wet track and the traction control works really well in slippery conditions, it was after all intended to be a performance enhancing system, not a safety system, as it allows a good amount of slip and uses ignition retardation as opposed to the brakes to rein things in. Of course it's even more fun with the TC off but if I had to set a fast time in the wet I'd probably leave it on. Of course 06 onwards Elise R's had this as an option too.