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Lotus Elise
The Lotus Elise is a sports car conceived in early 1994 and released in September 1996 by the British manufacturer Lotus Cars. A two-seater roadster with a rear mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout, the Elise has a fibreglass body shell atop its bonded extruded aluminium chassis that provides a rigid platform for the suspension, while keeping weight and production costs to a minimum. The Elise was named after Elisa Artioli, the granddaughter of Romano Artioli, who was chairman of Lotus and Bugatti at the time of the car's launch.
Production of the Elise, Exige and Evora ended in 2021. It was replaced by the Lotus Emira.
The 1996 Lotus Elise weighed 725 kg (1,598 lb). Because of this low weight, it was able to accelerate 0–60 mph (0–97 km/h) in 5.8 seconds despite its relatively low power output of 118 bhp (88 kW; 120 PS). Braking and fuel consumption are also improved by the car's reduced weight. Cornering is helped by a low centre of gravity height of 470 mm (18+1⁄2 in).
Series 1 was designed by Julian Thomson, then head of design at Lotus, and Richard Rackham, Lotus's chief engineer.
Besides the standard higher-performance variants listed below, Lotus also released some limited edition models such as Sport 135 (1998/9) with approximately 145 bhp (108 kW; 147 PS), Sport 160 (2000) with 150–160 bhp (112–119 kW; 152–162 PS), and Sport 190 (190 bhp (142 kW; 193 PS)). These were more competent on track with sports suspension, wheels and tyres, seats according to model. There were other special editions such as the 50th Anniversary Edition (green/gold) celebrating 50 years of Lotus cars, the Type 49 ("Gold Leaf" red and white two-tone), and Type 79 ("JPS" black/gold) which refers to its successful Grand Prix car type numbers.
The Series 1 Lotus Elise was assembled from kits on a dedicated assembly line at Proton's Shah Alam factory between 1997 and 2003. The drivetrain was imported complete and initially the bodywork was painted in the UK at Hethel prior to export. The Malaysian-assembled Elise sold for double the price of its British-built counterpart due to local vehicle taxes. The Malaysian-assembled Elise was also exported to regional markets, including Japan, Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand. The Malaysian spec Elises came with a factory hard top, carpets and air con as standard though the air con was unreliable and ineffective. All cars had MMC brakes as that was what was current when the kits were imported in the late 1990s. The Proton-assembled Elises were assigned the code 'B' in the eleventh VIN position, while the original Hethel-built units were stamped with the code 'H'.
A faster edition called the 111S, named after the Lotus type-number of the Elise (Type 111), was introduced in early 1999 and had the 1.8 Rover K-series engine also used in the Rover MGF. It featured a VVC system providing continuously variable lift and duration on the intake valves only. This technology produced a flatter torque curve from lower down the rev range and a declared 143 bhp (107 kW; 145 PS), a small but useful improvement over the standard 16 valve Rover 1.8 L K-series 118 bhp (88 kW; 120 PS) inline-four unit. Fitted with a closer ratio manual gearbox and lower ratio final drive, the acceleration was improved. Minor changes include more padding in the seats, headlamp covers, rear spoiler, cross drilled brake discs, alloy window winders and six-spoke wheels. The rear wheels being slightly wider than before necessitated the fitting of "spats" on the back of the rear wheel arches to comply with EU regulations. The 111S was also fitted with a "chipcutter" front grille.
In 2000, the 340R limited-edition model, based on a Series 1 Elise was introduced. This roofless car was a special edition, limited to only 340 cars being built. The name 340 originally referred to the 340 bhp/tonne (254 kW/tonne) power-to-weight ratio of the original prototype which had 177 bhp (132 kW; 179 PS) while weighing just 500 kg (1,102 lb). However, in production models the 340 refers to the number of cars built. The final production versions weighed 701 kg (1,545 lb) and had a power-to-weight ratio of 252.5 bhp (188.3 kW)/tonne. A "Track Pack" was created that upped power to 192 bhp (143 kW; 195 PS) and weighed only 571 kg (1,259 lb), thus fulfilling its original power-to-weight ratio promise.
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Lotus Elise
The Lotus Elise is a sports car conceived in early 1994 and released in September 1996 by the British manufacturer Lotus Cars. A two-seater roadster with a rear mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout, the Elise has a fibreglass body shell atop its bonded extruded aluminium chassis that provides a rigid platform for the suspension, while keeping weight and production costs to a minimum. The Elise was named after Elisa Artioli, the granddaughter of Romano Artioli, who was chairman of Lotus and Bugatti at the time of the car's launch.
Production of the Elise, Exige and Evora ended in 2021. It was replaced by the Lotus Emira.
The 1996 Lotus Elise weighed 725 kg (1,598 lb). Because of this low weight, it was able to accelerate 0–60 mph (0–97 km/h) in 5.8 seconds despite its relatively low power output of 118 bhp (88 kW; 120 PS). Braking and fuel consumption are also improved by the car's reduced weight. Cornering is helped by a low centre of gravity height of 470 mm (18+1⁄2 in).
Series 1 was designed by Julian Thomson, then head of design at Lotus, and Richard Rackham, Lotus's chief engineer.
Besides the standard higher-performance variants listed below, Lotus also released some limited edition models such as Sport 135 (1998/9) with approximately 145 bhp (108 kW; 147 PS), Sport 160 (2000) with 150–160 bhp (112–119 kW; 152–162 PS), and Sport 190 (190 bhp (142 kW; 193 PS)). These were more competent on track with sports suspension, wheels and tyres, seats according to model. There were other special editions such as the 50th Anniversary Edition (green/gold) celebrating 50 years of Lotus cars, the Type 49 ("Gold Leaf" red and white two-tone), and Type 79 ("JPS" black/gold) which refers to its successful Grand Prix car type numbers.
The Series 1 Lotus Elise was assembled from kits on a dedicated assembly line at Proton's Shah Alam factory between 1997 and 2003. The drivetrain was imported complete and initially the bodywork was painted in the UK at Hethel prior to export. The Malaysian-assembled Elise sold for double the price of its British-built counterpart due to local vehicle taxes. The Malaysian-assembled Elise was also exported to regional markets, including Japan, Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand. The Malaysian spec Elises came with a factory hard top, carpets and air con as standard though the air con was unreliable and ineffective. All cars had MMC brakes as that was what was current when the kits were imported in the late 1990s. The Proton-assembled Elises were assigned the code 'B' in the eleventh VIN position, while the original Hethel-built units were stamped with the code 'H'.
A faster edition called the 111S, named after the Lotus type-number of the Elise (Type 111), was introduced in early 1999 and had the 1.8 Rover K-series engine also used in the Rover MGF. It featured a VVC system providing continuously variable lift and duration on the intake valves only. This technology produced a flatter torque curve from lower down the rev range and a declared 143 bhp (107 kW; 145 PS), a small but useful improvement over the standard 16 valve Rover 1.8 L K-series 118 bhp (88 kW; 120 PS) inline-four unit. Fitted with a closer ratio manual gearbox and lower ratio final drive, the acceleration was improved. Minor changes include more padding in the seats, headlamp covers, rear spoiler, cross drilled brake discs, alloy window winders and six-spoke wheels. The rear wheels being slightly wider than before necessitated the fitting of "spats" on the back of the rear wheel arches to comply with EU regulations. The 111S was also fitted with a "chipcutter" front grille.
In 2000, the 340R limited-edition model, based on a Series 1 Elise was introduced. This roofless car was a special edition, limited to only 340 cars being built. The name 340 originally referred to the 340 bhp/tonne (254 kW/tonne) power-to-weight ratio of the original prototype which had 177 bhp (132 kW; 179 PS) while weighing just 500 kg (1,102 lb). However, in production models the 340 refers to the number of cars built. The final production versions weighed 701 kg (1,545 lb) and had a power-to-weight ratio of 252.5 bhp (188.3 kW)/tonne. A "Track Pack" was created that upped power to 192 bhp (143 kW; 195 PS) and weighed only 571 kg (1,259 lb), thus fulfilling its original power-to-weight ratio promise.
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