Wednesday, December 28, 2011

2010 LOTUS Elise Concept


2010 LOTUS Elise Concept

Oh yes, here it is! There's still room for the Elise at Lotus but what a difference a decade or two makes. The Lotus Elise due for release in 2015 is a sexy, agile beast of a car. Finally the Lotus Elise comes of age.

Aesthetically it's definitely pleasing to the eye, it's bold directional body gives you subtle hints of the Lotus Elise of old so it still seems a touch familiar but at the same time, it couldn't be more different.

Perhaps a small example of how the car has changed would help. Aside from strong graphic styling, the practicality of the car has had a major overhaul too with sizeable improvements made to the ingress and egress - in simple terms, no more acrobatics but still all the fun you expect from the Lotus Elise.

Dany Bahar, Chief Executive Officer of Group Lotus, said: "We worked very hard on getting the Elise 2015 exactly right, it's our entry level car so it needs to give a proper introduction to the Lotus driving experience."

"The Lotus Elise you can buy now is still a fantastic car, make no mistake, Lotus remain very proud of it, but this is a natural progression for us moving forward. The Elise 2015 will also be class-leading in terms of performance and efficiency but it will do more than that it will take the Lotus Elise model to the forefront of its class across the board."

"The design of the Lotus Elise 2015 is perfect for the target market, it's young, strong, confident, verging on ruthless, it mirrors the engineering and technology. It's the next generation Elise for a new generation of Lotus drivers."

Fear not though, despite the dramatic upgrades the Lotus Elise 2015 has lost none of the cheeky charm that made the two-seater sports car famous, it still retains performance through lightweight and handles like a dream - albeit a quite aggressive and tension filled dream. With a 2.0 litre inline 4 pressure charged engine delivering up to 320 PS, the Lotus Elise 2015 should reach 0-100kph in under 4.5 seconds.

The Lotus Elise 2015, proving great things come to those who wait.

Lotus Elise Specification

= Layout: 2 seater, mid-engined, rear wheel drive
= Engine: Petrol with start/stop option
= Hybrid technology: Mild hybrid, i.e. start/stop technology
= Cylinder: 4
= Capacity: 2.0 litre
= Power/Torque: 320 PS / 330 Nm
= Rev limit: 7,800 rpm
= 0-100 km/h: 4.3 seconds
= Top speed: 270 km/h
= CO2 approx (CO2/km): 150 g/km (with new technology)
= Weight: 1,095 kg
= Seats: 2
= Transmission: 6 Speed Manual, DCT optional
= Drive: RWD
= Start of production: Early 2015
= Enters the market: Spring 2015
= Price indication: Circa £35,000