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Hertz Italiana to have Lotus Elise SC in its rental fleet
 
The next time you find yourself in Italy and may need a rental car, we suggest that you give Hertz a call. Not only is it one of the more established car rental brands in the world, but they’re latest fleet of rentals are enough to make everyone scramble for the rental company’s phone number. When you do go through to them, might we suggest that you ask for a Lotus Elise SC. We guarantee you won’t regret it. As one of the world’s most popular sports cars, the Elise SC is now available for rent from Hertz Italiana S.p.A. Part of the agreement between the car rental company and Lotus Cars Limited, the sports car subsidiary of Group Lotus, a fleet of Lotus Elise SC’s will be made available to hire from a number of Hertz centers throughout Italy. It’s a tie-up that both companies are eager to get started.According to Michael Kimberley, Chief Executive Officer of Group Lotus, “I am delighted that Lotus Cars has entered into this agreement with Hertz, giving us the opportunity to make our stunning world class sports cars available to the rental market. Continued after the jump. Full story
2009 Lotus Elise Black & White Edition
The world’s oldest retailer of the lightweight English sports cars, Bell & Colvill Lotus are offering some very reasonable special edition of the automaker’s Elise model. The new Elise Black & White Editions are available in both the R or SC spec and offer quite a bit of kit for the money. The more sinister Lotus Sport Black version and comes with a trio of Phantom Black stripes running the length of the car, while the Aspen White version wears the same stripes in Ice White. One would think that the combination of choice would be white with black stripes or black with white stripes, but the black on black and white on white treatment sets these Elises further apart from the Lotus crowd.  The interior features a microfiber trimmed dash and similar treatment on the sport bucket seats and door skins. The value package also adds a set of black forged wheels wrapped in ultra sticky rubber while out back there is an all new diffuser. Other additions are traction control, air conditioning and a compulsory option for the Lotus Sport base paint. The retailer sells this package for about a $3,000 premium over a standard Elise R or SC, but I all the options were added individually, the sum would be closer to $8,200. Whether you choose Black or White, these dealer direct special edition Elises are a tremendous savings over buying the options one by one. Bell & Colvil are now taking orders.
Lotus announces Purist Edition for the US
The English weight conscious sportscar builders, Lotus have announced a special edition of their lightweight Elise model designed specifically for the US market. Priced just a shade under $44,000 the 2009 Lotus Elise Purist Edition is now available for orders. The Purist Edition is optioned with the Sport Pack and includes everything from the Touring Pack except the iPod interface and leather covering the transmission tunnel and the door inserts. This special edition is being offered in three colors: Ardent Red, Saffron Yellow, and Monaco White. Under the engine cover, is a mid mounted 1.8 Liter 4 cylinder making 190 HP. The power rockets the Lotus from 0-60 MPH in only 4.9 seconds and keeps going until a top speed of 150 MPH. Thanks to the lack of excess mass the well performing Elise is able to achieve 21 MPG in the city and up to 27 MPG on the highway. Press release after the jump. Full story Video: riding shotgun in Dean Evans’ Lotus
If you’re taking the time to read this, we’re guessing you’re not a professional driver. Neither are we, that’s why we’ve got the time to do the writing. So since none of us get to spend our days on the track, the next best thing is to get a view from the passenger’s seat. This is footage from Dean Evans overtaking all the cars at Bathurst (Australia) from the now-defunct Lotus Trophy series. It only takes about two minutes for Evans’ Lotus Elise to take the top position.
Carbon Fiber Lotus Elise
Looks like some people know how to spend their money. Lotus is all about as little weight as possible, so when a customer replaces the fiberglass body with naked carbon fiber, it’s like adding “bling” to a Cadillac Escalade.  This pimped-out-the-Lotus-way Elise started life as the extra special 2002 Type 72 JPS special, so it was originally black and gold to celebrate Lotus’ famous Grand Prix racers. TW Auto Limited of Hong Kong got its hands on the car, and six months later it was naked and weighing about 66 to 88 lbs. less than the original car. The car was also upgraded with KW Suspension, JP Racing Wheels, Lotus Racing Exhaust and air filter/larger intake. All of this may make an enthusiast drool but don’t look at it too long. It’s not polite to stare at someone naked.
Lotus Elise by Project Kahn
Lotus Elise drivers are usually not worried about their image. These are people who care so much about the drive that they don’t mind having to use a few facial expressions that usually are reserved for orgasms when trying to squeeze into and out of the small sports car.  But for those few image-conscious owners who need to be different Project Kahn is offering a body kit for the Elise. The modifications include a front spoiler, new ventilated wings, side skirts and a new rear diffuser with integrated exhaust system. Also a new suspension system was installed for better stability at high speeds as well as a new set of alloy wheels. More importantly the only enemy to the Elise is weight, but these items should not add too much heft to the 2000 lbs weight.
Lotus Elise by Project Kahn
Lotus recently celebrated its 60th anniversary and in order to bring to its customers more surprises it decided to team up with the British tuner Project Kahn to build a special package for the Lotus Elise.  The new package includes a new front lip spoiler, new side sills, a new suspension system which lowers the car with 28 stage dampeners for superior handling and a new set of alloy wheels. According to the manufacturer the debut of the first modified vehicle will be next month at an event at its Hethel headquarters.
Lotus Elise R by Stark
Lotus Elise receives a new kit from Stark Automotive, not so many changes in visual and looks but most in performance. Its Honda K20 i-VTEC engine got tuned in order to bring the car from 0 to 60 mph in just 3.9s and to 100mph in 9.5s being capable of a top speed of 160mph. The 6 speed gearbox engine has a custom linkage and upgraded cables and comes fitted with a DTA fast S60 Pro ECU.  The Lotus Elise R features hybrid driveshafts, silicone coolant hoses, a stainless steel manifold and a 4” single tail pipe exhaust system. The suspension system has been also upgraded with Nitron Racing coilover shocks. The brakes are customized with new aluminum discs belled, drilled and grooved with Pagid RS42 pads. Its price starts from £26,800.800
2008 Lotus Eco Elise
Lotus will unveil at the British Motor Show the Eco Elise technology demonstrator, a new project that project promotes a different perspective on “green”, one which does not revolve solely around tailpipe CO2. The Eco Elise features sustainable materials, hemp, eco wool and sisal have been developed for body panels and trim and, combined with hi-tech water based paint solutions.  A green gear change display has been integrated into the dashboard to promote greener driving as well as a weight reduction programme, illustrating the holistic approach taken. The energy expended to manufacture the car has been evaluated, working to the 3R’s - Reduce, Re-use and Recycle. The Eco Elise weighs 32 kg (70.5 lbs) less than the standard Elise S, which means that the efficient Elise S engine in the Eco Elise will give higher fuel economy figures and even better performance. Full story 2008 Lotus Clark Type 25 Elise SC
Lotus revealed today a new special edition Elise, as a tribute to Jim Clark, a man who won 25 Grand Prix races and was the first Briton to win the Indianapolis 500. The Clark Type 25 Elise SC draws upon many styling cues from the Type 25 Formula 1 car that Jim Clark raced to win the World Championship in 1963. The car, with a removable hard top as standard, is finished in British Racing Green with a yellow stripe along the center and features high performance Lotus Sport wheels, finished in an historic black and silver design. The interior is inspired by the Team Lotus Formula 1 cars of the era, with black leather sports seats, trimmed with red leather and all finished off with a fantastic retro wooden gear knob. The car makes the 0 to 60 mph sprint in just 4.3 seconds and can hit a top speed of 148 mph. The Clark Type 25 Elise SC is currently only available in the UK and Republic of Ireland and is on sale now. Price: £35,995. Full story | featured reviews: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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