Next up on the conveyor belt of different-yet-familiar cars to emerge from Hethel is this, the 2010 Lotus Elise. It's a proper facelift rather than just an engine tweak or special edition, which means a comprehensive set of alterations.
First up, the new nose. It's curvier than it was, taking cues from
the Evora, with a bigger grille and more defined bumper, and daytime running LEDs. The engine cover is new as well and the rear bumper is slightly different.
The front and rear changes bookend a car with improved economy and emissions, thanks largely to a brand new engine for the base model Elise S - a 1.6-litre petrol unit with the same 134bhp output as the outgoing 1.8-litre Toyota unit, but 'less than 155g/km'. That's at least a 24g/km CO
2 reduction.
The car hasn't gone through full type approval yet, but economy is expected to be around 46mpg combined and the 0-62mph benchmark is quoted as 6.7 seconds. Power is fed to the sticky rear tyres through a new six-speed close ratio manual gearbox.
Prices aren't confirmed yet, but the Elise goes on sale in April, following its world debut at the
Geneva Motor Show.
Mark Nichol - 16 Feb 2010