Wednesday 17th February 2010

New Look, New Gearbox For Lotus Elise

Hethel's favourite roadster gets late-life tweaks

---

Lotus has revealed a raft of revisions for the Elise, including new engines, a new gearbox and some major styling tweaks.

Norfolk's favourite roadster is getting on for a decade-and-a-half old now, and Lotus has decided to give it its most significant nip/tuck since it morphed from S1 to S2 form back in late 2000.

The most obvious changes are cosmetic. Redesigned and repositioned light clusters (which include LED daytime running lights for the first time) sit further towards the edges of the car. These, combined with the new wider grille help to give the Elise a more Evora-esque look. The front bumper, splitter and clamshell have also been tweaked.

Less has been changed at the rear, with only a new bumper and engine cover to talk about. Overall it seems to be a pretty successful and sympathetic styling update but, frankly, we're just glad that the Metro-sourced door mirrors are still in place...

Underneath the bonnet (oh, all right, underneath the bonnet of the base S model), there's a new 1.6-litre Toyota mill (the first time an Elise has had anything other than a 1.8-litre powerplant). This cuts CO2 emissions to 155g/km, with the 134bhp power output not dropping over the outgoing 1.8-litre S.

The 189bhp R and 218bhp supercharged SC carry on using their 1.8-litre engines. The base S also gets a new close-ratio six-speed gearbox to replace the old car's five speeder.

Other tweaks include two new types of alloy wheel and optional cruise control (surely shome mishtake!?).

The revised Elise hits UK showrooms from April, and prices are unlikely to be greatly changed from the £26,550 of the current S.

[GTRene]

I think it looks ok, a evolution ala 911

also better cw

only the

they could do different...

still a nice car.

[soad]

Looks good to me, engine choice now too (plus new gearbox).

[l-plate]

hardly ground breaking changes.

As well as the evora-esque front, the character/face of the car seems to have reverted back to S1 elise crossed with a frogeye sprite. A bit dinky.

[jazzyjeff]

Clearly taking some cues from the Tesla (and why not, since they manufacture parts for it, and may well have rationalised some costs as a result).

Thumbs up to the new gearbox too

JJ

[kambites]

Not what I was hoping for in an S3.

[Papa Hotel]

I can't be the only one that thought "California"? Front end I mean.

Edited by Papa Hotel on Wednesday 17th February 09:54

[Blayney]

Ruined it for me

Really preferred the original S2 look. I wasn't even fussed on the slight facelift for this year, but this new look isn't great.

[LukeBird]

^^ Was thinking the same.
Don't really like the new front end...

[The Bandit]

kambites said:

Not what I was hoping for in an S3.

Dont think its the S3,has just been called the 2011 model year car according to the press release.
The colour and wheels dont do it any favours in that photo but otherwise not too bad really.

[Wilburo]

I like the fact it's smiley, like the S1.

The cruise control is conspicuous - I imagine it's there purely to lower the CO2 figures?

[Frimley111R]

kambites said:

Not what I was hoping for in an S3.

Its not an S3. Its an S2 with styling tweaks etc.

[whythem]

I never really liked the styling of the S2, it was a bit funky for me (Im old) But this new front end I like. Now if only they would square of those curvy holes in the sides and straightened out the back end they would have a winner. Like a mini Farbio or Artega.

[MIP1983]

Don't like the new styling at all, would much rather the pre-facelift.

[Garlick]

It's nice enough, but I really want to see a new design for the Elise. Something fresh and new, while keeping the Elise ingredients.

This car is desirable for sure, but I long for something completely fresh from Norfolk personally. I'd still like to drive one of these though Mr Lotus

[kambites]

Frimley111R said:

kambites said:

Not what I was hoping for in an S3.

Its not an S3. Its an S2 with styling tweaks etc.

The S2 was an S1 with some styling tweaks, broadly speaking. I wouldn't be at all surprised if Lotus call this the S3. Even if they don't, I'd imagine a face lift like this means that the S3 wont be coming for some time yet.

Out of interest, do you know for a fact that this wont be the S3 or are you speculating? Not that what they call it makes much difference, I suppose.

Edited by kambites on Wednesday 17th February 10:07

[Rawwr]

Garlick said:

It's nice enough, but I really want to see a new design for the Elise.

Maybe they could make a lightweight sports car version?

[Fidgits]

i prefered the old lights tbh

[Rawwr]

kambites said:

The S2 was an S1 with some styling tweaks, broadly speaking.

Yeah, apart from the tub, dampers, springs, wheel sizes, tyres sizes, engine management, interior design, exterior design, roof design and handling bias, they were, broadly speaking, the same.

[malaccamax]

"Norfolk's favourite roadster" Is it really the best-selling roadster in Norfolk? No. Is it Britain's favourite Norfolk-built roadster? I'd stick my neck out and say, definitely

[Walton]

Garlick said:

It's nice enough, but I really want to see a new design for the Elise. Something fresh and new, while keeping the Elise ingredients.

Couldn't agree more. The S1 and S2 designs were both so fresh and exciting, so many years without a major revision on a car like this is way too long. I also see torque figures are omitted from the new engine spec - does this mean same bhp but lower torque perhaps?