Saturday 3rd June 2017

New Lotus Elise Cup 250

Another new old Lotus: its fastest, most focused four-cylinder car ever

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There's no stopping Lotus's development engineers at the moment. While others in the company - perhaps buoyed by news that Volvo-saviour Geely has bought a majority stake - work hard on the 2020 Elise, others focus on making the current 21-year-old model ever-better. After relishing the bantamweight new Sprint, now it's the turn of the Elise range-topper: the Cup 250.

Dry weight from 860kg is the big news

Last year, the Cup 250 replaced the old Cup 220. This time, there's no more power from the trusty 1.8-litre supercharged Toyota motor, so there's no official difference in acceleration: 0-60mph in 3.9sec, or 0-62mph in 4.3sec. Lotus still claims this is the fastest four-cylinder sports car it's ever made, though, because it has cut yet more weight from the car itself - and has also further upgraded the suspension.

Weight first: the kerbweight is now 917kg, dry weight is 884kg and ultimate dry weight - if you go for all the options such as the £3,400 carbon aero pack (-3kg), £3,000 carbon hard top (-3kg) and £4,000 titanium exhaust (-7kg) - is down to 860kg. Lotus chucks in another weight, too: 125kg. That's the amount of downforce generated by the aero kit - front splitter, barge boards, rear diffuser and rear wing - at 140mph.

The chassis is stiffened up further by a T45 motorsport hoop, and the Bilstein dampers that are paired with Eibach springs are now, front-to-rear, 12 per cent and nine per cent firmer in compression, 20 per cent and a hefty 30 per cent firmer in rebound. Forged alloy wheels are shod with Yokohama Advan A048 LTS tyres (which cut unsprung mass further by 1kg per corner with £1,500 of two-piece disc brakes) and features such as a polycarbonate rear screen and lithium-ion battery add further motorsport cues.

More aero means more speed!

Lotus hand-builds the carbon race seats, which it clads in Alcantara, or you can have leather or its cool 70s-style tartan for £1,000. Other non-purist, but likely essential, bits include £1,250 of air con, a £350 sound insulation kit and a £400 Clarion stereo with Bluetooth. You can even have cruise control for £110 (and that doesn't add on any weight whatsoever).

Group Lotus CEO Jean-Marc Gales says the 2017 Elise Cup 250 has been created with PHers in mind. Well, indirectly. "We know what existing Lotus enthusiasts demand from our cars... the new Elise Cup 250 has taken the fight beyond the reach of lesser rivals and, at just 860kg, it shows that we are ahead of the curve in developing lightweight, intelligently-engineered sports cars".

It's yours from £47,400, and if you want to know what it drives like, stay tuned: we'll be doing just that very soon.

[bobo]

need a new platform asap

how old is that chassis and styling package again?

nice paint tho!

[Richard Aucock]

bobo said:

need a new platform asap

how old is that chassis and styling package again?

nice paint tho!

LOVE the colour! Very Tiff/964 Turbo on Top Gear...

[Muncher]

bobo said:

need a new platform asap

how old is that chassis and styling package again?

nice paint tho!

I'm not sure how the chassis can really be improved?

[suffolk009]

I love that Lotus are doing all this right now.

I think there's a good chance that once the new 2020 Elise comes out these late cars (and the early MMC S1 or the special 135 and 160 Elises) will be the pick of the bunch - the collectors cars in years to come. I'd double down on that theory if the new Elise has a Turb charger on it.

Oh, yeah, and because this is a Lotus thread: "Blah blah, but Porsche" - "blah, blah, but Price". Thought I'd just get it in first!

[DPSFleet]

[quote=suffolk009]I love that Lotus are doing all this right now.

I think there's a good chance that once the new 2020 Elise comes out these late cars (and the early MMC S1 or the special 135 and 160 Elises) will be the pick of the bunch - the collectors cars in years to come. I'd double down on that theory if the new Elise has a Turb charger on it.

I think you have a point, the new car (when it comes) may not be so nice.....end of an era grab one whilst you can)

[suffolk009]

Muncher said:

I'm not sure how the chassis can really be improved?

I guess they could make it out of carbonfibre, save a couple of kilos and double the price.

[Richard Aucock]

suffolk009 said:

I love that Lotus are doing all this right now.

I think there's a good chance that once the new 2020 Elise comes out these late cars (and the early MMC S1 or the special 135 and 160 Elises) will be the pick of the bunch - the collectors cars in years to come. I'd double down on that theory if the new Elise has a Turb charger on it.

Oh, yeah, and because this is a Lotus thread: "Blah blah, but Porsche" - "blah, blah, but Price". Thought I'd just get it in first!

I think you might be right. I'm driving it in a couple of weeks: I'm already musing whether it has the makings of near-perfection that'll have me later checking out that 50/50 finance deal...

[DPSFleet]

I still fancy the basic one and some are changing hands around £30k with delivery miles.

[saaby93]

Did they mean these tartan seats



Have the seat belt buckles changed much over time?

[Krikkit]

That looks absolutely mega, probably a touch expensive but they're really pushing it in terms of weight loss now.

Looking forward to seeing the new machine, but it'll be a shame to see the old one come to the end of its life.

[Alex L]

Surely the 2-Eleven was quicker or do they not class that as a "sports car"

[WCZ]

£1,000 / kg with the weight saving options! ouch

[Richard Aucock]

saaby93 said:

Did they mean these tartan seats

Heaven! Thanks for the share!

[CooperS]

WCZ said:

£1,000 / kg with the weight saving options! ouch

I'd love to know the comparison cost that Porsche, Ferrari or Lamborghini charge for their light weight models.

Although I like that Lotus keep churning these out amd pushing what's possible who is buying them and in what numbers.... Surely sales aren't in big numbers even for Lotus. 2020 is along time to wait....

[jl34]

bobo said:

need a new platform asap

how old is that chassis and styling package again?

nice paint tho!

agreed on the styling package , but why do you think it needs a new platform and chassis ? just because its old, its still more advanced than most and the ride and handling are not betted anywhere for the money.

[Olivera]

Muncher said:

I'm not sure how the chassis can really be improved?

Like every other manufacturer, make the wheel base longer so it isn't as snappy on the limit?

[Europa1]

jl34 said:

agreed on the styling package , but why do you think it needs a new platform and chassis ? just because its old, its still more advanced than most and the ride and handling are not betted anywhere for the money.

Maybe Bobo means lower/narrower sills for easier access?

[kambites]

Europa1 said:

jl34 said:

agreed on the styling package , but why do you think it needs a new platform and chassis ? just because its old, its still more advanced than most and the ride and handling are not betted anywhere for the money.

Maybe Bobo means lower/narrower sills for easier access?

At what weight cost though? There's no point in them just producing another Evora.

[Danny Milner]

Muncher said:

I'm not sure how the chassis can really be improved?

Lowering the engine somehow would probably bring handling gains.

[Yipper]

Lotus is only doing what every other carmaker must do in an overcrowded industry -- ring out the maximum number of sub-models from what is, still, an excellent core platform.

Lotus are back in profit for the first time in years and are on a roll. Good luck to them.