Andif it was only the car's acceleration that caused me to fall giddily
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| Though assembled with rivets and glue, with a body of plastic, the Elise is sturdy and durable. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press) |
into a stream of overwrought hyperbole I'd be sitting up and payingattention, but the Norfolk, England think-tank is even better known forworking wonders with suspension systems. The Elise, and its variousspin-offs, might just be its best work to date, thanks much to itsbonded and extruded aluminum chassis that not only reduces weight buttogether with its relatively short wheelbase and rigid composite bodypanels, stiffens the car's substructure to otherworldly levels.
On
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| Perfect balance and perfect control make the Elise a trackday weapon that'll eat cars thousands of dollars more expensive alive. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press) |
the winding roads outside of Atlanta, Georgia, where Lotus chose tounleash the upgraded 2006 Elise on Canadian journalists for the firsttime, it quickly became clear that the car had no rivals, although itwasn't until I took it through a makeshift autocross course that Irealized, somehow I have to own one. The Elise elevated my drivingcompetence to an entirely new level. It's just so easy to toss from onehigh-speed right-angle corner into the next, a quick shift down one ofthe six-speed manual's cogs before using the throttle and a quick tugon the wheel to slide the rear end out and place it precisely where Iwanted it to go on exit, charge to the next corner, tap the brakes toset up the front suspension and then pull on the wheel while addingthrottle again... absolutely fabulous fun, and all for only $58,550!
Yeah,I was shocked when Lotus announced the price, and even
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| Interior doesn't have much by the way of equipment, but all the necessities are present. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press) |
more impressedwhen its sport and luxury oriented option package prices were shown,all very reasonable for a car from a maker with such a revered pedigreeand capabilities beyond supercars costing hundreds of thousands more.But really, the Lotus is more about what you don't get. What I mean isthat all the extras, except for the lighter power window system, addperformance draining weight. For this reason you'll need to spend $310to delete the standard air conditioning, and who needs it when the topis down anyways? OK, stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic on the I-5 inSo-Cal, where the sun is brutally intense might make a person thinkotherwise, but all-in-all this is an open-top car and begs to be driventhat way. A hardtop is available, again at a surprisingly low $1,815,and those who want a little more luxury can spring for the $815 PremiumPack. There are plenty of extras, so get your local Lotus dealer to gothrough them all as you wouldn't want to miss out on the Touring Pack,especially if you plan on taking it to the track, or the special forgedwheels.
Speaking of local representation, Canadians interestedin the brand should contact either Weissach Performance in Vancouver(www.weissach.com), Gentry Lane Automobiles in Toronto(www.gentrylane.com), or John Scotti (www.johnscotti.com) in Montreal.
