2008 Lotus Elise Reviews

Derek Ogden has been behind the wheel of two in the space of a week. ELISEWith the rag top on, getting in and out of the Lotus Elise is a pain in the bum . . . and arms, legs and head if you're not careful.The secret is to push the driver's seat back as far as it will go, slide the left leg under the steering column, and slide in to the seat, keeping your head down. Getting out is the same in reverse.The easy part is to take the cloth top off - just two clips, roll it up and store it in the boot with its two metal supports.With the roof off it's a piece of cake by comparison. Step over the threshold, stand and, while holding the wheel, slowly drop in to the seat and adjust it for reach. You don't so much as sit in a Lotus as wear it.Once inside the little roadster it's time to turn on the fun (er, sorry, engine). The car is powered by a 1.8-litre variable valve-timing Toyota motor, situated behind the two-seater cabin, which from 100kW can shoot the vehicle from zero to 100km/h in a tidy 6.1 seconds on the way to a top speed of 205km/h.How can 100kW come up with such performance? It's all down to weight. At only 860kg, the Elise S has an aluminium chassis that tips the scales at just 68kg. Lightweight steel is also used.Steering and braking is extremely responsive and so is the suspension which can be a teeth rattler on uneven surfaces.This can be forgiven in a car that is out to capture the essence of sports-car driving. In fact, at $69,990 it's the perfect introduction to the genre.An $8000 Touring Pack adds things like leather trim, iPod connection and sound-insulation panelling - not that the noise should bother the sports-car fan.A Sport Pack at $7000 ups the ante with Bilstein sports suspension dampers, switchable traction control and sport seats. EXIGE SNow, if the Elise is the equivalent of a Lotus on training wheels, the Exige S is quite a different matter. In fact, it's the closest you can get to a track car legally on the road.While the standard Exige pumps out 163kW of power, the 2008 Exige S is now available with an optional Performance Pack, pushing power to 179kW at 8000rpm - the same as the limited-edition Sport 240 - courtesy of a Magnuson/Eaton M62 supercharger, faster flowing injectors, plus a higher torque clutch system and an upsized roof scoop.This power lift, with an increase in torque from the standard 215Nm to 230Nm at 5500rpm, helps rocket the Performance Pack Exige S from zero to 100km/h in 4.16 seconds to the accompaniment of a glorious bellow from the engine situated behind the cabin, while fuel economy is claimed by the maker to be a frugal 9.1 litres/100km (31 miles per gallon) on the combined urban/highway cycle.Again, the old enemy, weight, has taken a beating with a power-to-weight ratio of 191kW per tonne putting the Exige S at supercar levels. It drives like a go-kart (or should that be `gone-kart', so quick is the Exige S off the mark).Lotus Sport has had a hand in the pack, providing Formula One-style launch control in which the driver selects revs by means of a dial on the side of the steering column for optimum standing starts.The driver is encouraged to floor the accelerator pedal and quickly release the clutch, in most situations a recipe for drivetrain damage and power-sapping wheelspin.Not with this baby. A damper cushions the severity of the clutch/transmission engagement to minimise the stresses to the drivetrain and also wheelspin until 10km/h, after which the traction control takes over.As with launch control, the amount of traction control can be adjusted from the driver's seat, altering on the move to suit the characteristics of corners.It can be varied in 30 increments - a new instrument pack displays what degree of traction control is dialled in - from 7 per cent tyre slip to completely disabled.The brakes get the Performance Pack treatment too with thicker, 308mm diameter cross-drilled and vented discs at the front operated on by AP Racing four-piston calipers, while standard brake pads are up-rated and there are braided brake hoses.Direct steering offers maximum feedback to the driver with nothing, including power steering, between the wheel and the road to interfere.Parking and manoeuvring at slow speed can be a toil, only compounded by the lack of vision from the cab.The interior rear-view mirror is as useful as a hip pocket in a singlet, giving a clear view of nothing but the turbo intercooler which fills the whole of the back window.It's left to the external mirrors to come to the reversing rescue.The 2008 Lotus Elise and Exige ranges sport new instruments with an easy-to-read white-on-black design. Along with a speedo topping out at 300km/h, the indicator lights now flash on the dash to signal left or right, as opposed to a single light previously.The shift light also changes from a single LED to three sequential red lights during the final 500rpm before the rev-limiter cut-out.The dash also features a new high-definition LCD message panel that can display a scrolling message with vehicle systeminformation. The red on black helps legibility in direct sunlight.The new instruments constantly display fuel, engine temperature and odometer. However, it can also display the time, trip distance or a digital speed readout in mp/h or km/h.Warning symbols are out of sight until activated, keeping the instrumentation free from visual clutter and distraction and airbags are standard.There's a new one-piece alarm/immobiliser and key with lock, unlock and panic alarm buttons. The Lotus Exige S sells for $114,990, plus on-road costs, the Performance Pack adding $11,000.Stand-alone options include Bilstein one-way adjustable dampers and ride height, split-type seven-spoke ultra lightweight forged wheels, Lotus switchable traction control and a limited-slip differential.LOTUS HISTORYThe stamp of Lotus founder Colin Chapman, with his mastery of leading-edge technology and adoption of race-bred features, can be found all over the Elise S and Exige S.Lotus is credited with making the mid-engined layout popular for Indycars, developing the first monocoque Formula One chassis, and the integration of the engine and transaxle as chassis components.Lotus was also among the pioneers in F1 in adding wings and shaping the under-surface of the car to create down-force, as well as the first to move radiators to the sides in the car to aid in aerodynamic performance, and inventing active suspension.Chapman rode on the back of Lotus from a penurious London University undergraduate to multi-millionaire.The company encouraged its customers to race its cars, and itself entered F1 as a team in 1958, a Lotus 18 entered by privateer Rob Walker and driven by Stirling Moss, winning the marque's first Grand Prix two years later at Monaco.Major success came in 1963 with the Lotus 25, which, with Jim Clark driving, won Lotus its first F1 World Constructors Championship.Clark's untimely death - he crashed a Formula Two Lotus 48 in April, 1968, after his rear tyre failed at Hockenheim - was a severe blow to the team and to F1.He was the dominant driver in the dominant car and remains an inseparable part of Lotus' early years. The 1968 championship was won by Clark's teammate, Graham Hill. Other drivers to claim success with the marque were Jochen Rindt (1970), Emerson Fittipaldi (1972) and Mario Andretti (1978).The boss was no slouch behind the wheel either. It is said Chapman lapped circuits within seconds of his F1 drivers.After Chapman's death, until the late 1980s, Lotus continued to be a major player in F1. Ayrton Senna drove for the team from 1985 to 1987, winning twice in each year and achieving 17 pole positions.However, by the company's last Formula One race in 1994, the cars were no longer competitive.Lotus won a total of 79 Grand Prix races and Chapman saw Lotus beat Ferrari as the first team to achieve 50 GP victories, despite Ferrari having won its first nine years sooner.Moss, Clark, Hill, Rindt, Fittipaldi, Andretti . . . it was a pleasure and a privilege to share a seat with them all. 

It was just as well we tasted the Elise S before having the chance to drive the Exige S.

Fine if you are a ``Bogan.''It will also buy you a sleek, lightweight, 1.8-litre, Lotus Elise S two-seater with race-bred dynamics, a removable soft top and enough poke to see off most of the boofy V8s. Come to a set of curves and it's definitely all over.Weighing in at 860kg gives the Elise S an impressive power to weight ratio which explains why the naturally aspirated, 100kW/173Nm, 1.8-litre Toyota engine pushes it from 0-100km/h in a scant 6.1 seconds.But we are just scratching the surface of what this delightful little car has to offer. It is tiny even compared to most other sports cars and is spartan inside though better than before.The startling looks are designed to scythe through the air while the flat undertray with rear diffusers further aids aerodynamics. Large vents funnel air to the engine's radiators in the rear quarters and the entire car stands barely more than a metre high.The Elise S is more of an everyday car than its hard-top stablemate  the supercharged Exige S. Though still challenging to get into with the roof on, the Elise S will happily trundle along in city traffic with the aircon cooling its occupants and the Alpine audio blazing away.On weekends, it will relish a dose of club track day activity rewarding the driver with race-car handling and performance at a controllable cost. Fuel, brake pads, tyres won't be a critical issue.This is the latest version of the Elise that has been around for quite a few years now, starting life with an awful Rover K-Series engine but moving on up since Toyota power was bolted amidships. Interior enhancements include splashes of pukka carbon fibre texture leather and a new instrument pod. It has key remote central locking and dual airbags along with ABS, aircon and Alpine sound.The soft top is easily removed and stowed in the "boot'' behind the engine. You can actually see out the rear view mirror and though manually adjusted, the side mirrors are well positioned and relatively easy to move.This is Lotus's entry-level model but is available with two option packs, not that you would need them. There are also some new colours.On our test drive we were stirred by the raunchy exhaust note and feel of the direct steering. The five-speed gear change is like a rifle bolt action and the brakes are super strong. We have always been impressed by the chassis strength of the Elise and Exige which remains the same as before, even with the roof off. But pedal placement is problematic being offset to the centre and too close together. Despite the diminuitive dimensions, drivers of 183cm can find a comfy driving position. All necessary information is housed in the compact instrument pod including a gear change warning light as the engine nears redline.This car is all about pushing hard through turns. It sits flat and grabs the tarmac with grippy Yokohama tyres to the point where you will end up with a sore neck from the G-forces. When you go home like that, you know you've been having fun.

But what are hats and sunscreen for?Besides most of today's roadsters can get their fabric or folding metal lids up at the push of a button within half a minute. These are Carsguide's favourites: Affordable fun Mazda MX-5 Price: from $42,870Engine: 2L/4-cylinder; 118kW/188NmEconomy: 8.5L/100kmTransmission: 6-speed manual or autoIf there was an annual award in this category it would reside perpetually in Mazda's trophy cabinet. The original MX-5 reinvented the classic Brit roadster adding such novel notions as performance and reliability.The third generation retains the 1989 model's exhilarating dynamics and sheer fluidity. If you don't find pleasure in the way an MX-5 drives you've probably ceased breathing.Purists might decry such modern innovations as air-con, power steering, ESP, a folding composite roof and (egad!) an auto transmission, but it hasn't been 1957 for some time now. Still others would rather it went quicker, but they're missing the point.The MX-5 is the affordable roadster. Track marqueLotus Elise SPrice: $69,990Engine: 1.8L/4-cylinder; 100kW/172NmEconomy: 8.3L/100kmTransmission: 5-speed manualThe salient figure here is 860 that's the number of kgs the entry-level Lotus weighs, or about 500 less than a Toyota Corolla whose engine this spartan roadster uses to get from standing to 100km/h in 6.1 seconds.While it's absolutely one for the enthusiast - or the fanatic - even if you've not the least wish to drive something so uncompromised (though a good deal more civilised than the Exige) you should at least be driven in a Lotus once. It'll open your eyes. Wide.At its best at track speeds, where the Lotus's wonderfully unassisted steering comes into its own and where it doesn't matter that it takes ages to assemble to roof, you can smilingly drive one every day. But beware barging SUVs. Zed's not dead Nissan 350Z RoadsterPrice: $73,990Engine: 3.5L/V6; 230kW/358NmEconomy: 12L/100kmTransmission: 6-speed manual or 5-speed autoThe Roadster version of the still outstanding 350Z gives very little away to the coupe model and while the same-priced auto is a cog short of the manual's six, it's easy to live with in city traffic.Though we've yet to try the Roadster with the substantially new the faster V6 that causes the bonnet to bulge so priapically, our recent week in the revised Coupe suggests that it too will be more of an already good thing.It's almost impossible to believe that same company is responsible for the Tiida ... Gay tidingsAudi TT Roadster V6 quattroPrice: $92,900Engine: 3.2L/v6; 184kW/320NmEconomy: 9.6L/100kmTransmission: 6-speed DSGLike the coupe, the lighter front-wheel-drive with the GTI's turbo four pot is a better bet most of the time than the heftier all-wheel-drive, though it's not really a sports car there'll be moments when you'll love yourself for the latter's extra go and grip.Dispensing with the coupe's comedy back seat, there's ample room behind when with the fabric roof's folded. Some find the ride a bit terse; I don't but would still take the optional magnetic suspension.With performance and handling that are both entertaining and accessible while wrapped in such an aesthetically bell-ringing package, the TT is fairly loveable. If only ...Porsche Boxster SPrice: from $135,100Engine: 3.4L/6-cylinder; 217kW/340NmEconomy: 10.4 or 11L/100kmTransmission: 6-speed manual or 5-speed autoIn our rare idle moments hereabouts, certain of us scan the classifieds trying rather pathetically to convince ourselves that a used Boxster is almost within our reach. Almost. Well, maybe one day ...That's the problem with spending any amount of time in a Boxster, particularly, the top whack S. There's nothing wrong with it, you see. Well, maybe the ride on bigger tyres is just a bit savage, but so what when all else is perfect. It even sounds wonderful.At it's worst, the Boxster will make you hate yourself for not being a better driver. So sublimely intuitive is the handling, so poised and balanced does it feel even in extremis, it almost always feels capable of more. Even if you're not. Two plus twosAffordability aside, floating the open top proposition can founder on the fatal shores of practicality. Society frowns upon selling one's children, though surely financing a Boxster should be cause for sympathy.Still, Volkswagen's Eos (from $49,990) cabriolet/coupe comes is a practical, stylish and - with the drivetrain of the Golf GTI - tolerably rapid 2+2. It retains adequate bootage with the sophisticated folding metal lid, which can be configured five different way, folded down. Uniquely there's also a diesel option (from $48K), so you needn't use much juice.And there are further options afoot.With BMW's glorious twin-turbo 3-litre petrol six, the 135i cabriolet (due in June) will be by far the sharpest 2+2. Audi's A3 cabrio, likely to feature the 1.8-litre TFSI, follows in July.And if fortune smiles upon you to the tune of $1.19 there's the sensuous land yacht that is Rolls-Royce's Drophead coupe. Plenty of room in the back for the kids in this baby.