Elise is available with two suspension settings: firm and firmer. Both are taut and offer superb control. For most street applications, the standard setting combined with the standard Yokohama Advan Neova AD07 LTS tires is perfectly acceptable. For track applications, only the Lotus Sport suspension in the optional Sport Pack will do. Think carefully before you buy. Purists will always want the most aggressive of everything; bragging rights, so to speak. But the resulting Sport Pack ride on America's rutted and uneven highways and by-ways can be jarring to the point of pain and eventual exhaustion. The standard suspension works better for 95 percent of the road surfaces and actual uses you will encounter. The Sport Pack suspension shines for that remaining 5 percent of the time when you're blowing everyone else away on the street or, better yet, the track.
Four-wheel disc brakes with ABS complete Elise's impressive ride and handling ensemble. Suffice to say vented and cross-drilled rotors, each the size of a pie plate, combined with two-piston Lotus/Brembo front and single-piston Brembo rear calipers are more than up to the task of bringing such a lightweight car to a stop. Repeatedly. In short, drivers are likely to find Elise brakes nothing short of eye-popping. Modulation is linear and seamless.
Elise is not just quick, it's fast too. All Lotuses sold in North America are powered by a 1.8-liter Toyota 2ZZ-GE I4 engine. The 2ZZ designation may sound familiar. In 180-horsepower guise, it powered the last-generation CelicaGT, and was also used in short-lived Matrix GT and accompanying Pontiac Vibe GT models. On adopting 2ZZ, Lotus immediately remapped power and torque curves through a purpose-built ECU. This resulted in horsepower being raised to the current 189 hp. The supercharged SE boosts this to 218 hp.
Regardless of application, the 2ZZ engine has always been tuned more for revs and horsepower than torque. This is particularly true in Elise. Peak torque is achieved at a dizzying 6800 rpm, and the torque curve itself is comparatively steep. Owing to a VVT system that switches modes at 6200 rpm, engine delivery below that speed is strong enough for most street applications, but absolutely sizzles beyond. Sizzles to the extent you really feel a kick when you cross the threshold. The engine's a real revver, and exceptionally strong through an 8200 rpm cutoff.
Lotus uses a very close-ratio M6 transmission in all its vehicles. The result is great on the track, where revs and speed are readily maintained from gear to gear. Everyday street use is a little more labored, where fifth and sixth gears are close and sixth-gear engine speed at 70 mph is around 4000 rpm. This is okay for the first hour or so of freeway driving, but then the combination of noise and excitement just behind yo Next Page