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- Herausgeber: The Crowood Press
- Kategorie: Lebensstil
- Sprache: Englisch
Named after Elisa, the granddaughter of Lotus's owner at the time, Romano Artioli of Bugatti fame, the Lotus Elise was launched at the Frankfurt Show in 1995. In the subsequent twenty-five years it has not only established itself as the embodiment of what Lotus stands for, it retains a unique place in the international sports car market. No other manufacturer came up with a car to seriously rival the Elise, nor the Exige, in terms of handling dexterity on both road and racetrack, and it aptly characterizes the definition of a sports car. Written in Johnny Tipler's inimitable style this book includes a detailed evolution of the Elise and Exige, including full specification tables; interviews with key individuals involved in their design and development, including Richard Rackham, Gavan Kershaw, Neil Thomas, Russell Carr, Barney Hatt and Andy Pleavin; Elisa Artioli on her namesake, its past and future; motor sport adaptions and successes and finally, driving experiences on road and track. The production of the Elise and Exige was sustained through four corporate upheavals. Now in Geely ownership, the future for Lotus looks bright.
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Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2021
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First published in 2021 byThe Crowood Press LtdRamsbury, MarlboroughWiltshire SN8 2HR
www.crowood.com
This e-book first published in 2021
© Johnny Tipler 2021
All rights reserved. This e-book is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication DataA catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 978 1 78500 843 6
Lotus Elise S2 painted specially for this book by French watercolour artist, Laurence B. Henry (www.laurencehenry.hautefort.com)
Acknowledgements
After completing a quartet of books about Porsches, discussions with The Crowood Press determined that a book about the Lotus Elise would be welcomed.
This is my second book on the Elise, Crowood having published the first one in 1999, and it’s been a real pleasure composing this one. It’s a very different story. When I wrote the first one, the vast majority of Elise variants did not exist, and that book focuses very much on the hands-on construction methodology of what became known retrospectively as the Series 1 model. Twenty years on, the timeline contains many more variations on the Elise theme. During this time I also wrote extensively for the in-house Lotus Club International magazine, edited by Caroline Parker, with images provided by the official works photographer, Jason Parnell.
Elise book one was facilitated by press officers Alastair Florance and Prunelia Stuart; as fortuitously Alastair is still helming the media department at Lotus Cars, Elise book two has also been compiled largely thanks to him. Some of the leading figures from the original Elise days are still in evidence, and it was a real pleasure to natter with Richard Rackham again, as well as Russell Carr, whom I got to know when composing my Evora book, and Barney Hatt from the factory’s Design Studio. Major influencers in the Elise story include Gavan Kershaw, Andy Pleavin and Neil Thomas, all of whom feature large in the text as they describe their respective roles and their particular roles in the cars’ evolution and construction. We also hear from Italian Lotus racing driver Stefano D’Aste, and independent Lotus salesman and commentator Guy Munday provides an objective take on the cars and the company. TV presenter Vicki Butler-Henderson describes teaching her sister how to drive a circuit in an Elise. And, crucially, I have also been fortunate enough to meet the woman that the car is named after: none other than Elisa Artioli, who drives everywhere in the very Elise that her grandfather Romani Artioli gave her. The cover image is of her in this car near her Trieste home, taken on a shoot by Rémi Dargegen.
I also want to thank Ron Simons, ebullient owner-operator of RSRSpa and RSRNürburg, with whom I’ve had the pleasure of driving one of his Exiges around Spa-Francorchamps, plus Kostas Sidiras for photos.
Images are everything, and I’ve been blessed with a welter of great shots provided by various sources. So, many thanks indeed to everyone who has contributed photos of Elises and their ilk, including William Taylor from his Coterie Press Images archive, Stephanie Ewen of Red Fin Photography and Design, Simon Clay, Jason Parnell, Antony Fraser, Laura Hampton and Raven Cozens-Hardy. Steve Bennett trawled though his archives from his days as editor of Cars and Car Conversions and Circuit Driver publications to provide some outstanding images. Individual snappers whose work also appears in the book include Rémi Dargegen, Paul Harmer, Kostas Sidiras and Tom Wood. Tim Price very kindly provided archived Elise catalogues. I’m also delighted to include fabulous Elise and Exige artworks by Laurence B. Henry, Stephanie Arnwine and Taralee Guild.
CONTENTS
Clive Chapman and the Elise 260 Cup. Son of Lotus founder Colin Chapman, Clive runs Classic Team Lotus, restoring, fettling and racing a broad spectrum of famous Lotus racing cars.JASON PARNELL
FOREWORD
The Lotus Elise embodies the spirit of Lotus.
The Elise concept was founded on a fundamental innovation: a chassis made of bonded aluminium extrusion. Bonded aluminium harked back to the F1 World Championship-winning Lotus type 25, while extruded aluminium avoided the significant investment costs of pressed aluminium. Designer Richard Rackham had come up with a lightweight, stiff, ‘simple’ chassis design that was well suited to low-volume production. Just the kind of win-win-win-win scenario that led to the success of so many of the illustrious predecessors to the Elise.
Undoubtedly my father would have approved of the chassis. Immediately he would have gone on to demand, ‘How else can we exploit the benefits of aluminium extrusion?’, which is exactly what Richard and his colleagues did, realizing elegant extruded door hinges, pedals and uprights.
This 700kg (1,540lb) car, with stiff chassis, low centre of gravity and low polar moment of inertia, was styled by Julian Thomson in a body that appealed to everybody. Immediately it became another iconic ‘see it and smile’ Lotus. Crucially, this low-volume, high performance British sports car was pitched at a price that made it relatively affordable, especially for the existing Lotus enthusiasts. The Elise fitted the bill in so many important ways, at a critical time, to secure a future for the marque. To his credit, Romano Artioli had led the company to a vital success, implemented by project manager Tony Shute and his team.
Lotus enjoys a healthy relationship with media, public and customers. They are keen for the marque to succeed. When the Elise arrived, and its many attributes became apparent, it gave them something to affirm their enthusiasm. The steering feel, responsiveness, speed through the corners and practical drivability are its greatest assets in practice. The driver feels a real connection from the steering, through the tyres onto the road. Just as a Lotus should be.
The wonderful 1950s Lotus Elite turned out to be more of a track car than a Grand Tourer. The Lotus Elise truly is both. And the chassis platform lent itself to being adaptable in so many ways, as numerous iterations were developed for road and track. In keeping with many previous associations with major manufacturers, Lotus pulled off a brilliant deal with GM for the VX220. As the fantastic success of the S1 Elise started to level out, this enabled Lotus – with the generous ‘indulgence’ of GM – to develop the Series 2 Elise. This was a classic triumph of Lotus ingenuity; a fundamentally different car that would broaden the appeal to more customers had been realized and brought to fruition with maximum efficiency. Importantly the development programme included Federalising the car, whilst managing to keep the weight below 750kg (1,650lb). The Series 2 has been even more successful.
I have always liked the minimal specification of the interior. There is everything a driver needs, and not much more. Function is everything. My father loved designing racing cars because of the relative lack of legislation and compromise. Of course, he was proud of the Lotus road cars, and recognized their importance; but he could get frustrated by the compromises, especially arising from what the marketing department insisted should be taken into consideration. I am sure he would have recognized the Elise as being a true Lotus. However, I should say he also had ambitions to drive the marque upmarket, so he would have been delighted with the Evora and ecstatic with the Evija.
The Evija is Lotus’s latest flagship model, launched in July 2019. It is a world-beating hypercar reckoned to produce 2,000 horsepower from its electric propulsion system, clad in supercar bodywork incorporating cooling ducts and aerodynamic surfaces honed to perfection in typically superlative Lotus fashion.
I hope Lotus Cars will manage to keep the Lotus spectrum broad, with an Elise at one end and an Evija at the other. The Evija will come top in many aspects spectacularly. The Elise will continue to come top in others, and at a price that will be relatively affordable to many drivers, who will continue to appreciate the engineering elegance and efficiency that it represents. Long live the Elise!
Clive Chapman
TIMELINE
1994
Elise ‘step-in car’ concept begins to gel.
1995
Testing of the prototype Elise M1-11. Elise debuts at Frankfurt Show.
1996
Malaysian DRB-HICOM Group’s Proton subsidiary acquires major stake in Group Lotus.
1997
Lotus Elise Trophy introduced in Italy, staged by Peroni Promotions.Sport Elise Sprint 190 announced in March. Elise-based GT1 race cars in action in FIA GT Championship.Lotus Cars matches international quality control standard ISO QS 9000.Water-based paint first trialled.May sees 1,000th Elise built.
1998
Proton ups its holding to control 80 per cent of Group Lotus.From initial output of 750 vehicles, annual Elise production is now running at 3,300 units.September sees Lotus’s fiftieth anniversary celebrations; half the 1,500 Lotuses in attendance are Elises.Sport 135 model introduced.
1999
143bhp Elise 111S with developed VVC K-series engine announced at Geneva.Minimalist 340R concept car launched (340 units made).Motorsport Elise unveiled at Earls Court.
2000
Lotus builds GM’s VX220 Speedster in normally aspirated format.Sport 160 and Sport 190 are introduced in May.177bhp (192bhp in track-spec) Exige S1 launched.Series 2 Elise is announced in October, still using Rover K-series powertrain.
2001
Series 2 Elise on sale.Upgraded 135R version becomes available.
2002
In production from May, the Elise Type 111S features Rover K-series VVC engine, revised transmission ratios, round tailpipes with flap valve, three-tier rear diffuser, larger radiator, and polished nickel-finish eight-spoke wheels.
2003
Sport Elise 135R becomes available, developed in consort with the Lotus Ride & Handling Department with enhanced driveline and running gear.
2004
Series 2 Exige goes on sale.Federal Elise goes on sale in the USA.189bhp 111R becomes available in Europe and rest of world.Toyota ZZ 1.8-litre twin-cam engine and six-speed gearbox replace K-series driveline.
2005
243bhp supercharged Sport Exige R released at Geneva in March (fifty units built).Elise 111R and Sport Racer models shown.Limited run (fifty cars) of Lotus Elise Sport goes on sale.
2006
Exige S and Europa 2.0 launched at Geneva.Tesla Roadster electric prototype is unveiled, built on Elise chassis.ProBax seats, LED tail lights and ECUs introduced.Lotus decals on rear changed to embossed lettering.North American Exige goes on sale in the USA.220bhp supercharged Exige S unleashed.
2007
Federally correct lights and bumpers are fitted, having been exempt for three years.Elise S released and 111R renamed Elise R. Spec includes airbags, ABS brakes, electric windows, and carpet.
2008
Elise 270E ethanol-fuelled model is up and running.Main models are the 134bhp, five-speed Elise S, 189bhp six-speed Elise R and 218bhp six-speed, supercharged Elise SC.Exige S 240 is available with 240bhp.
2009
Exige S 260 is released.Stealth black Exige Scura is launched.Highly tuned Exige GT3 becomes available for competition.
2010
Base model Elise S and Exige offer 9 per cent reduction in CO
2
and better fuel economy.
2011
Fresh styling cues include new front clam featuring almond-eye headlights, Evora-like mouth and air intakes; revised rear bumper and engine cover; all-in-one integrated headlights including LED daylight running lights and LED direction indicators; and better aerodynamics with 4 per cent reduction in drag coefficient.Entry-level 134bhp 1600cc Toyota 1ZR-FAE engine is introduced.
2012–20
Exige S Roadster is in production.
2013
Exige V6 Cup, Exige V6 Cup R, Elise S Club Racer and Elise S Cup R are introduced.
2014
Elise S Cup is introduced.
2015
Exige 360 Cup is introduced.
2016
Elise 250 Special Edition, Elise Race 250, Exige 350 Special Edition and Elise 3-Eleven are introduced.
2017
Elise Sprint, Elise Cup 260, Exige Race 380,Exige Cup 380, Exige Cup 430 are introduced.
2018
Exige Cup 430 Type 25, Exige Sport 410,Exige Type 49 and Type 79 are introduced.
2020
Elise Classic Heritage Editions based on Sport 220 reflect Lotus F1 racing car colour schemes: Types 18, 49, 72 and 81.Exige Sport 410 Twentieth Anniversary model comes out.
In production from May 2002, the Elise 111S was powered by the K-series VVC 4-cylinder unit, with different gearing, new exhaust with flap valve and round tailpipes, plus three-piece rear diffuser and eight-spoke powder-coated wheels.WILLIAM TAYLOR
Full frontal: the 2020 Elise Cup 250 weighs 931kg (2,053lb), having no power steering or air-conditioning, using a lighter lithium-ion battery, carbon-fibre seats and lighter forged-alloy wheels.LAURA HAMPTON
INTRODUCTION
In production for twenty-five years, the Elise is a model that has steadily evolved. The original car, conceptually a true Lotus complying exactly with the mantra ‘performance through light weight,’ employed traditional construction practices, based on a radically innovative chassis. The Series 1 Elise opened the gates for the Series 2 (S2) model and its principal derivative sibling the Exige, while the concept matured steadily, with powertrain revisions, styling facelifts and chassis modifications through the next twenty years.
Representing the bedrock of Lotus production, the Elise and Exige capably epitomize the concept of a lightweight sports car with highly proficient handling and power delivery. Their production was sustained through four corporate upheavals, as the company enjoyed periods of stability punctuated by sudden changes of management and ownership.
Smiling faces, both: separated by fifteen years’ evolution, the Series 1 and Series 2 Elises here point up the fundamental difference in stylistic character, the purer, rotund contours of the original car contrasting with the mature sophistication of the 2011 model year car.WILLIAM TAYLOR
Named after Elisa, the granddaughter of Lotus’s owner at the time, Romano Artioli of Bugatti fame, the Lotus Elise was launched at the Frankfurt Show in 1995. During the next twenty-five years it not only established itself as the embodiment of what Lotus stands for, it retained a unique place in the international sports car market. To put it bluntly, for most of the last quarter of a century, no other manufacturer has come up with a car to rival seriously the Elise or the Exige.
Elisa Artioli was feted during a visit to the Lotus Cars factory in July 2018, and we caught up at the nearby Bird in Hand pub.
Look around: the most obvious – and numerous – sports cars on the road are, by some way, evolutions of the Mazda MX5 (Miata in the USA), a shameless copy of the 1960s Lotus Elan – though tediously reliable in a way the Elan never quite managed to be. Going up a notch, the Porsche Boxster was made in far fewer numbers than the MX5, though many more than the Lotus Elise and its derivatives. Lotus Seven successors such as the Caterham Seven and Westfield have an aesthete following of their own. Then there are the soft, ‘hairdresser’ cabriolets like the Audi TT and the Mercedes-Benz SL R231, while the harder-edged Alpine A110 and Porsche Cayman are construed as Exige rivals. The point is, there’s nothing out there that does the sports car job as well and in as focused a fashion as the Elise.
The original Elise, known retrospectively as the Series 1 or S1, is a classic beauty, with a purity of form carried over into the Series 1 Exige, born out of the early one-make Autobytel race series. The S1 Elise was in production for five years, the S1 Exige for four years. Late in 2000, the new millennium ushered in the Series 2 Elise, built on the same radically innovative extruded aluminium chassis, but clad in very differently styled bodywork. The key players in the initiation, productionizing and development of the Elise were designers Richard Rackham, who is credited with the car’s radically innovative chassis; Julian Thomson, who styled the Series 1 model; senior development engineer Tony Shute; and director of vehicle engineering Roger Becker, who was also the prime mover in productionizing the Exige and the Evora. Becker had worked at Lotus for forty-four years – since the Cheshunt days – and had a hand in developing every car the company had built since 1966, including the original Elan, the Esprit and the Elise. His son Matt worked with him from 1988 to fine-tune all aspects of ride and handling – alongside former Team Lotus F1 star John Miles, who acted as a consultant.
Launched at the NEC Motor Show, revisions on the Series 2 Elise included lowered chassis rails along the cockpit sides, revised suspension with new hubs and hub carriers, larger-diameter wheels – shod with Bridgestone Potenza tyres – a new soft-top and window guides. The stage was set, as far as the general style and makeup of the car was concerned, for the next two decades.
The Series 2 Elise 111R came out in 2004, with – arguably the most important aspect of Elise production, certainly from a marketing point of view – the Federal version with North American specification. Coincidentally, the S2 Exige also appeared in 2004. The third major innovation for 2004, and a move that further consolidated the model’s place in the sports car pantheon, was the adoption of the Toyota ZZ 1.8-litre twin-cam engine and six-speed gearbox, replacing the K-series driveline.
Viewed in profile, the front and rear clamshells of the Series 1 Elise display minimal overhang ahead of and to the rear of the wheels.WILLIAM TAYLOR
A feature of the Lotus sixtieth anniversary commemoration at Snetterton in September 2011 was an attempt to field a record number of Lotus cars on track; at some corners it was gridlock!
An Elise 111S finished in Storm Titanium on Ipswich quay. Available in 2002, the S2 Elise retained the 1798cc Rover K-series engine, and now allied to a close-ratio G6 gearbox.WILLIAM TAYLOR
The following year, the 243bhp supercharged Toyota-powered Sport Exige R was released at the Geneva Show, alongside the Elise 111R and Sport Racer models. A limited run of fifty Lotus Elise Sport went on sale. In 2006, the Exige S and Europa 2.0 were launched at Geneva. In a significant step, perhaps with less fanfare than it deserved, the Tesla Roadster electric prototype was unveiled, a model built on the Elise chassis. Also in 2006, ProBax seats, LED tail lights and ECUs were introduced, while Lotus decals on the rear were changed to embossed lettering. The North American Federal-spec Exige went on sale in the USA, and the 220bhp supercharged Exige S was released.
Federally correct lights and bumpers were fitted for 2007, having been exempt for three years. The Elise S was released and the 111R was renamed the Elise R. The general spec now included airbags, ABS brakes, electric windows and carpet. New models to appear in 2007 were the Type 121 Europa, a restyled model with a plusher cabin, and the 2-Eleven, the bare-bones track-day antithesis.
At the Geneva Show in February 2005, Lotus Cars’ Lotus Sport division introduced the Sport Exige 240R, a limited edition – fifty cars built – powered by the 243bhp supercharged version of its 4-cylinder Toyota VVTL engine.PAUL HARMER
For 2008, the left-field bio-ethanol-fuelled Elise 270E was released, plus the one-off green technology Eco Elise, whose bodywork clamshell was composed of ‘sustainable’ materials including hemp, eco-wool and sisal, with water-based paint. It also had solar panels inset into the hardtop to assist powering the electrical circuit. Mainstream models were the 134bhp five-speed Elise S, the 189bhp six-speed Elise R and the 218bhp six-speed supercharged Elise SC. The Exige S 240 was also available with 240bhp. The Exige S 260 was released the following year, along with the stealth-black Exige Scura, while the highly tuned Exige GT3 was available for competition usage. In 2010, the base model Elise S and Exige offered a 9 per cent reduction in CO2 emissions and better fuel economy, with combined figures of 37.2mpg, or 31mpg for the USA (7.6ltr/9.1ltr/100km). The Elise R and Elise SC returned 29mpg and 28mpg respectively (9.8 and 10ltr/100km).
As for those corporate upheavals, they serve as milestones in the Elise and Exige saga: Romano Artioli’s Bugatti concern bought Lotus Cars from General Motors in 1993, and relinquished control in 1996, with ownership passing to Malaysian car maker Proton, though Artioli remained at Lotus as special projects director till 1998. Having spent the best part of forty years at Lotus, Mike Kimberley was appointed CEO in 2005, but was forced to retire early in 2009 due to having a bad back – though not before he had overseen the launch of the Evora. In his wake, in 2010 Proton allowed former Ferrari merchandizing director Dany Bahar and his insidious cohort to take Lotus into what proved an overly ambitious programme, aimed at rivalling Italian supercar makers such as Ferrari and Lamborghini. There was, briefly, a ruthless drive to go upmarket, with ‘lifestyle’ the overarching and superficial watchword, and when that proved an impossible dream, the Malaysian government shifted control from Proton to DRB-HICOM, a state-owned car distribution conglomerate. In the process, key Lotus engineering and executive staff resigned or were stood down.
Launched at Geneva in 2007, the Type 123 2-Eleven was conceived as the Elise line-up’s ‘circuit car’, fitted with the supercharged 4-cylinder Toyota VVTL engine. This is Ian Fenwick’s 2-Eleven race car entering the pits garage at Snetterton in 2019.STEPHANIE EWEN
The Eco Elise was on show in the Greener Driving Pavilion at the British Motor Show at London’s ExCel in July 2008; bodywork clamshells were composed of ‘sustainable’ materials including hemp, eco-wool and sisal, with water-based paint. It also had solar panels inset into the hard-top to assist powering the electrical circuit.WILLIAM TAYLOR
Sadly, the Malaysians did not fully comprehend or appreciate what they had at Hethel, and no major investment was made in creating new product or doing more than evolving the existing product lines. In fairness, this is partly because they caught a cold over the Bahar programme. Nevertheless, it felt like stagnation had set in. Then, in 2017, salvation arrived in the shape of the Chinese global automotive company Geely. This bullish conglomerate, which also bought a 49 per cent share of Proton, had already taken over Volvo in 2010 and made beneficial changes there, and similar promises were made for Lotus. In 2020, The Economist magazine declared that Geely ‘might well succeed where others had failed’.
Returning to the evolution of the Elise platform line-up, fresh styling cues unveiled in 2011 included a new front clam, featuring almond-eye headlights, an Evora-like mouth and air intakes, revised rear bumper and engine cover. All-in-one integrated headlights included LED daylight running lights and LED direction indicators. Aerodynamics were better, with a 4 per cent reduction in the drag coefficient. The entry-level 134bhp 1600cc Toyota 1ZR-FAE engine was introduced, broadening the field still further.
Announced at Frankfurt, the Exige S is a quantum leap in the model’s specification, endowed with the 3.5-litre Toyota V6 annexed from the Evora, installed in an enlarged chassis. The Exige S Roadster came out in 2012, featuring the Toyota 3.5-litre V6 engine and extended chassis like its coupé sibling, making it the fastest soft-top ever to roll off the Hethel production lines. Apart from having no roof, the Roadster differed from its coupé sibling in lacking front splitter and rear spoiler. The Exige V6 Cup, Exige V6 Cup R, Elise S Club Racer and Elise S Cup R were hot on its heels. Available from February 2013, the track-focused, road-going, Exige V6 Cup’s 3.5-litre Harrop-supercharged Toyota 2GR-FE V6 engine develops 345bhp. The no-frills Exige V6 Cup is 60kg lighter than the standard V6 Exige, and the double-wishbone suspension incorporates slightly stiffer springs and two-way adjustable dampers for crisper response and tauter handling. The engine lid and complex cantilevered rear wing is supported by a pair of hydraulic struts, rather than a single manually hoisted prop.
The Elise Club Racer was 24kg lighter than the ‘standard’ model by virtue of having normal amenities deleted, including carpets, radio, speakers, passenger footrest, central locking, mudflaps and sound deadening, together with installation of lightweight motorsport battery and body-coloured seats. Unveiled in June at Canary Wharf and Le Mans, the Exige LF1 paid homage to Team Lotus’s 81 Formula 1 World Championship victories. The references to the F1 squad’s commercial liveries are slightly ambiguous, with black bodywork, gold wheels and red highlights. Just eighty-one were built.
The Elise S came out in 2006, designated an entry-level car producing 134bhp from its normally aspirated Toyota 1ZZ-FE 4-cylinder engine. It could still do 128mph (206km/h), with a 0–60mph time of 5.8 seconds.ANTONY FRASER
Changes and upgrades were subtle yet frequent variations on the theme. At first glance, the Exige 360 Cup looks similar to the standard Exige V6 Cup, though the 2015 incarnation features a revised matt-black front lid and roof, with Motorsport Red highlights on the front splitter, tow-eye and the front of the lid, plus, most obviously, Motorsport Red wheels.
The Elise S Cup was next up, and for 2016 another rash of limited editions hit the road in the shape of the Elise 250 Special Edition, the Elise Race 250 and the Exige 350 Special Edition. The Exige 360 Sport was effectively an evolution of the 2012 Exige S, though lighter and with suspension revisions, including front camber doubled from 0.40° to 0.80°, front toe from 0.06° to 0.12°, and rear camber from –1.9° to –2.1° – the maximum possible. The Elise 260 also featured remodelled bodywork, increasing downforce by an amazing 44 per cent over the Cup 250. The louvred front arches and splitter conspired with the motorsport-derived rear wing and diffuser to generate 180kg of downforce at 151mph (243 km/h). Introduced in autumn 2016, the Special Edition Exige 350 Sport celebrates the company’s 50th anniversary. Tipping the scales at 1,099kg (77kg less than the previous generation Exige S), weight saving comes from lightweight forged wheels, lithium battery, carbon seats and vented two-piece brake discs. Aerodynamic enhancements include the revised front access panel, improving air flow exiting the horizontally mounted radiator, and louvred tailgate panel. Its controls feature Lotus Dynamic Performance Management (DPM), selected by dashboard switch to provide Sport and Race settings. This increases throttle response while lowering traction slip thresholds and removing understeer recognition, thereby allowing greater driver input before the system intervenes. The range also includes the Elise 250 Special Edition, Elise Race 250, and Elise 3-Eleven.
Lotus Cars’ motorsport development manager Johnny Lamb puts the facelifted 2011 Elise through its paces. Power for the standard base model came from the normally aspirated 1598cc 4-cylinder Toyota unit, enabling 0–60mph in 6.0 seconds and 0–100mph in 18.6 seconds.ANTONY FRASER
Unveiled at the 2010 Geneva Show, the facelifted 2011 model year Elise retained the basic tried-and-tested suspension componentry involving unequal-length wishbones, Eibach coil-over Bilstein dampers and front anti-roll bar.ANTONY FRASER
The Exige V6 Cup of 2014 was equipped with Lotus Dynamic Performance Management, enabling engine and traction settings to be switched between Touring, Sport and Race.WILLIAM TAYLOR
Rough with the smooth: photographed on Norwich’s medieval cobbled Elm Hill, 2016’s Elise 250 Cup produced 243bhp at 7,200rpm and 184lb ft of torque from 3,500 to 5,500rpm, enabling 0–60mph in 3.9 seconds and a top speed of 154mph (248km/h). Aerodynamically, its new front splitter, side sills, rear diffuser and wing generated 66kg (146lb) of downforce at 100mph and 155kg (342lb) at full speed.JASON PARNELL
The Elise 260 of August 2016 featured mildly remodelled bodywork, increasing downforce by an amazing 44 per cent over the Cup 250. The louvred front arches and splitter conspired with the motorsport-derived rear wing and diffuser to generate 180kg of downforce at 151mph.WILLIAM TAYLOR
The Exige S Roadster came out in 2012, with the Exige V6 Cup, Exige V6 Cup R, Elise S Club Racer and Elise S Cup R hot on its heels. The Elise S Cup was next up, and for 2016 another rash of limited editions hit the road in the shape of the Elise 250 Special Edition, the Elise Race 250, the Exige 350 Special Edition and in 2017, the Elise 3-Eleven, the Elise Sprint, the Elise Cup 260, the Exige Race 380, the Exige Cup 380 and the Exige Cup 430. The final swathe of commemorative special editions and Heritage models arrived in the guise of the Exige Cup 430 Type 25, Exige Sport 410, Exige Type 49 and Type 79. All were fine-looking cars, serving to highlight and showcase the marque’s hugely successful racing lineage.
The limited-edition Type 79 Exige 430 mimicked the hallowed black-and-gold colour scheme of the JPS-Lotus Type 79 from 1978, with which Mario Andretti and Ronnie Peterson contested the 1978 F1 World Championship, the American star emerging with the Driver’s title and Team Lotus the Constructors’ trophy. Also available were the Exige Cup 430 Type 25, Exige Sport 410 and Gold Leaf-hued Exige Type 49. The mainstream line-up for 2019 and 2020 now featured the Exige Cup 430, its 430bhp 3.5-litre V6 engine from the Evora GT430 shoe-horned in to make it the fastest Lotus road car ever, posting a 3.2sec 0–60mph time and a 180mph (290 km/h) top speed. The Elise Cup 250 differed from the regular Elise Sport and Sprint models by its aero addenda, incorporating front splitter, bargeboards, rear diffuser, and rear wing that generated 125kg of downforce at 140mph (225 km/h). It also had two round rear light clusters instead of four, and a polycarbonate rear screen.
Generating interest at the 2012 Goodwood Festival of Speed, the Exige S Roadster ushered in the 3.5-litre Toyota V6 annexed from the Evora, installed in a longer chassis like its coupé sibling. As the convertible roof negated the need for a rear wing, the front splitter was also absent. It was the fastest soft-top ever to roll off the Hethel production lines.
We’ll find out some of the design and production methodology in subsequent interviews with the likes of Gavan Kershaw, Russell Carr and Andy Pleavin, who bring the Elise story right up to date by explaining the strategies, fine-tuning and construction processes.
There’s no substitute for getting out and about with these cars, and I was fortunate enough to have contributed extensively to the in-house publication, the Lotus Club International magazine, available in dealerships and dispatched to registered Lotus owners. Editor Caroline Parker – who worked in the PR and marketing department – and in-house photographer Jason Parnell and I would regularly undertake road trips in Elise and Evora press cars for drive stories to publish in the magazine, forging a close working rapport between the three of us, and visiting some amazing locations in the process. I draw on some of these expeditions for the Elise and Exige driving experiences recounted further on in the book.
Hot off the production line, an array of Elises and Exiges on display during a factory open day, July 2006.
RICHARD RACKHAM INTERVIEW
The time-served and thoroughly proven Elise chassis was designed by Richard Rackham. Before Lotus, Richard worked for Aldridge Engineering, consultants in Long Stratton, Norfolk, on the design of a Formula First racing car. Geoff Aldridge started off designing Fl cars for Lotus, and the consultancy was a major supplier of expertise to Lotus. Richard worked in the handling department under Roger Becker, and carried out much of the design work for the racing Esprits, including Le Mans 1993, after which he was involved in the Elise project.
JT: What does the Elise mean to you now, three decades on?
RR: The Elise is basically a download of everything that I have learned about making normal road cars handle properly, and how to design racing cars. Basically, I have made a racing platform with sufficient adjustments in it to make the most of its limitations as a road car. That’s why its handling is so good: everything that needs to be tuneable can be tuned, but without upsetting other areas. It’s not just car handling but all the other associated factors as well. We wanted it to be a car that you immediately feel at home with when you sit in it. That means creating the right environment.
There are half a dozen fundamental things on a car that need to be independently adjustable, and if you have those, you can make the most of it, instead of having to make major compromises. Certain elements of the Esprit racing programme filtered down to the Elise, like stiffness, and the ability to adjust the cambers, which is how the tyres lean, and also the sort of feeling you get in a race car – the directness of the gearshift and the steering ratios. Good racing cars have everything in just the right place – the relationship of the gearshift to the wheel, where the pedals are in relation to each other and the body and the seating position. It goes back to Chapman’s principles in its concept, construction and light weight, which is why we don’t need to have a great deal of power to make it a performance car. It is a very frugal car in terms of fuel and consumable items like tyres and brakes; the brakes last virtually indefinitely. You can run constantly over three days on a circuit and you won’t need to replace any brake pads or discs.
Mastermind of the bonded and riveted extruded aluminium chassis, Lotus chief engineer Richard Rackham also masterminded the Evora chassis design. Posed here with three evolutions of the Elise, he collected the prize at the 2019 Autocar Awards when the Elise received the Readers’ Champion title.LOTUS CARS
JT: To what extent are seats and cabin dimensions relevant to gaining type approval?
RR: The inside of the car is designed around the seating position, and the seat relates to where your hips are and where your legs go. We also refer to where the knee is in relation to the dash, so that if you have an accident you go forward and your knee hits the dash and stops you submarining under the dash. When cars are crashed for the type approval test they have the seats installed and we nominate the point where the occupants’ hips are in the car, and that’s where the crash dummies are put in. The crash test dummies are a certain size, so the inside of the car is designed around these dimensions. Your car passes the test with what is deemed to be the average-sized person on board. In fact, we only had to pass the ‘Reg 12’ trolley test, which is where you drive the car straight into a brick wall at 30mph (48km/h). The requirement for that is that the steering column doesn’t move more than about 5in (125mm) in the horizontal or up or down. That test was very good for the Elise. I think it moved about an inch (20mm or 25mm) in either direction, so we were well inside the limit and the car was virtually drivable after that. Most cars are completely destroyed.
There are about twenty fundamental tests involved in obtaining European type approval, and the Elise really only stumbled on one of them. This was all to do with the rake of the windscreen – Lotus couldn’t square that with the required vision lines and wiped areas – so there had to be a significant rethink on the slope of the screen. They had to change the angle of rake and make it more upright to comply.
JT: Could you explain a bit more about the construction of the chassis?
RR: There is no industry standard for bonding aluminium. It doesn’t exist. You can’t go and buy it off the shelf, and when you start looking around, many companies will sell you an adhesive but they won’t sell you the process. Neither will they sell you any guarantee, so that had to be driven completely from the ground up by Lotus. The Lotus system, which is the only system in production in the world, is based around available technology with a certain amount of innovation. It’s very complex, involving the selection and grade of pre-treated aluminium, the handling of it, and the special technique used to prepare the surfaces for anodizing. After bonding, the sections are joined together with these simple Ejot rivets. Then samples are tested for corrosion, and there’s also durability testing. It’s a very big chunk of the chassis story.
JT: What’s the legacy of the extruded chassis?
RR: The legacy of the extruded aluminium chassis is that it facilitated production of cars produced by other companies, including the Tesla Roadster, the Vauxhall VX220 and Aston Martin’s VH platform cars, and we have been suppliers to McLaren as well. We hardly have any quality issues or reliability issues because a) the car is so simple, and b) it’s so well engineered, right from the start. It’s a great survivor, where all the attempts to do other stuff, such as an Esprit replacement, have fallen by the wayside. It has captured people’s imagination; it is true to the philosophy of Lotus, and it is a great car. The brief for that car was 3,000 units over a four-year period – little race cars for the road – and if the brief car had been selling a few thousand per annum, with the practicality to attract that number of people, it would have been a different design. It is amazing that it’s managed to survive with all its shortcomings of noise, stiffness and austerity. Nobody sets out to say, ‘I’m going to design an icon,’ but actually it is just right, it’s hit the spot, and the fact that it’s been going for so long pretty much unchanged is testimony to the rightness of the original design.
Smart yet purposeful, the cockpit of the 2016 Elise 260 displays exquisite trim details, driver-oriented instrumentation and gauges, plus a pair of figure-hugging seats.WILLIAM TAYLOR
Basis for all Elise and Exige models – and derivative cars – is the extruded aluminium chassis, made from lengths of extruded aluminium, bonded and riveted together. The original chassis was made by Hydro Aluminium in Denmark, then production shifted to Hydro Raufoss in Worcester, taken over by Lotus and renamed Lotus Lightweight Structures in May 2008. The chassis provides pick-up points for the wishbone suspension and coil-over damper mounts, while coolant tubes run within the hollow extrusions.WILLIAM TAYLOR
JT: How do you see it having evolved, then?
RR: By design, it was originally not the car it’s been forced to become; it’s become the car it’s become because of the greater need for utility in the car, and to make the car more everyday usable, and that’s not a bad thing. It’s just that it’s very compromised today. In the past, we’ve tried to backfill it with something less compromised, but because of the ownership of our company prior to Geely there was never consistency of budget or management to enable a three- or four-year car creation programme to exist; it just couldn’t happen. We’d start building prototypes, and then they would be switched off; I personally was involved in three programmes where we were actually building prototypes that got switched off, after tens of millions of pounds had been spent, which was incredibly frustrating. The compromise level is a relative thing; the Elise from Series 1 to where we are now, has involved a lot of compromise, but it is still the purest sports car on the market. The closest now is probably the Alpine A110, but that’s Cayman weight, isn’t it?
JT: Surely the Exige is rather less compromised?
RR: The Exige was obviously built on the Elise platform with a full roof and a higher performance, and looked great. It’s got loads of technical content, different engines, different engineering requirements – it’s the ultimate Elise, if you like, as far as embodying the original concept is concerned. The idea of a race car for the road has gone soft in the Elise, and it has gone hard again with the Exige. It is still a great car; it’s still beautiful, and nothing else drives like it. Everything is right: the steering is nicely weighted, the power response is beautifully delivered, and it just does what you want it to.
JT: And the future?
RR: We are now in a position where we’ve got a really long-term plan, including new buildings and manufacturing facilities for major projects. We’re rebuilding a new assembly line for new models, a staff restaurant, heritage centre, and general management site with tightened security and IT infrastructure – everything that will combine to make Hethel the centre of the Lotus brand worldwide.
Lotus Elise Type 111 (1996–2000)
Layout and Chassis
Two-seater, Lotus-designed epoxy-bonded aluminium-alloy extrusions with integral steel rollover structure and lightweight steel rear subframe
Engine
TypeK-series, transverse mid-engineBlock materialAluminiumHead materialAluminiumCylinders4 cylinders in lineCoolingWaterBore and stroke80mm × 89.3mmCapacity1796ccValvesDOHC, 16 valvesFuellingMultipoint sequential fuel injectionEngine managementLotus Motorola electronic ignition system, mapping unique to Lotus 85AMax. power118bhp at 5,500rpmMax. torque122lb ft at 4,800rpmTransmission
GearboxClose-ratio 5-speed transaxle driving rear wheelsClutchHydraulicRatios1st 3.1672nd 1.8423rd 1.3084th 1.0335th 0.7656th 3.000Final drive3.938Suspension and Steering
Front and rearDouble wishbones, coil springs over gas-pressured monotube dampers, front anti-roll bar. Lotus-patented uprights of extruded aluminium, made by AlusuisseSteeringRack and pinion, non-assistedWheelsFront: Alloy Wheels International5.5in × 15in cast alloy 5-spokeRear: Alloy Wheels International7.0in × 16in cast alloy 5-spokeTyresFront: Pirelli P-Zero 185/55 R15Rear: Pirelli P-Zero 205/50 R16Brakes
TypeAluminium-metal matrix ventilated discs made by Lanxide Brembo, mounted outboard. Non-servo split hydraulic system supplied by Automotive Products, including unique Lotus/AP Racing opposed-piston front calipersSize282mm diameterDimensions
Track1,440mm (56.7in) front, 1,453mm (57.2in) rearWheelbase2,300mm (90.6in)Overall length3,726mm (146.7in)Overall width1,701mm (67in) excluding door mirrorsOverall height1,202mm (47.3in)Dry weight675kg (1,488lb)Performance
Max. speed124mph (201km/h)0–100km/h (62mph)5.9sec0–100mph (160km/h)18.0secFuel consumptionUrban 28.9mpg (9.6ltr/100km)Extra urban 49.9mpg (5.7ltr/100km)Combined 39.4mpg (7.1ltr/100km)
