Lotus ELISE 111R
With The Latest Elise 111R,
Lotus Appears To Have A Car To Reach A Wider Market Than Ever Before. Jonathan Crouch Drives It
In buying a real roadster with premium performance, you tend to end up going in one of two directions. You either get an everyday sportscar like a
Porsche Boxster or a
Honda S2000. Or you opt for something rawer. Something that, though tiresome on the morning commute, will, on the right road on the right day, reward in a way youll remember.
Something like a Lotus Elise.
| Build |
 |
| Comfort |
 |
| Depreciation |
|
| Economy |
 |
| Equipment |
|
| Handling |
 |
| Insurance |
 |
| Performance |
|
| Styling |
 |
| Value |
|
On this basis, a car capable of satisfying both buyers ought to clean up. Well, the
Lotus Elise 111R featured here isnt that car. But its as close as youre likely to get. Though the looks are familiar, dont mistake this car as being just another Elise derivative.
It does, after all, represent the start of a new era for the company, with new money, new marketing and a new engine. Wed better start with the engine since basically, its what this car is all about. The unit in question is essentially the same 1.8-litre VVTL-i 189bhp
Toyota powerplant youll find in that companys Celica T-Sport sports coupe, though with Lotus own T4 Electronic Control Module.
Quite enough, given that it powers a car weighing just 862kg, to take this Elise to near supercar speeds: 0-60mph in 4.9s, 0-100mph in 13.0s on the way to 150mph and, courtesy of new 4-channel anti-lock brakes, 0 to100mph and back to 0 again in just 17.5s.
But why bother with Toyota power at all? Lotus, after all, had two engines ready to use for this car capable of much the same kind of speed. First, the venerable
Rover K-Series (which continues on in lesser 120 and 160bhp Elise models), available for some time in optional 190bhp Sport 190 guise. No longer. In order to boost flagging sales, Lotus have had in recent times to seek new markets like Japan and America for which this old engine just wasnt clean enough.
All right, so what about the higher-tech 200bhp GM-sourced 2.0-litre turbo, already developed by Lotus for the broadly similar
Vauxhall VX220 Turbo? A
Volkswagen,
Fiat or
Ford-minded maker would have plumbed this unit straight into this Elise, no question. As a cheap engine with all the development work paid for, it makes perfect sense for the bean counters. Fortunately, however, Lotus is not yet a company run by bean counters and unlike Vauxhall, it could choose the best engine for the job, rather than the one most readily available.
"That this Toyota unit is the best engine for the job is evident within just a few hundred yards. ."
That this Toyota unit is the best engine for the job is evident within just a few hundred yards. The soundtrack from the twin rear tailpipes is so throaty that youd swear the optional sports exhaust was already fitted. And the powertrain mates perfectly with a wonderful 6-speed gearbox with ratios borrowed from the Celica T-Sport allied to a Lotus gearshift mechanism. This powerplants party piece is the way it switches cams at 6,200rpm, giving a glorious surge of extra power that you cant help wishing was available further down the rev range.
Still, its a treat when you get to experience it, offering a seamless stream of acceleration all the way up to the 8,200rpm red line. Torquey too, with 181Nm (133.5 lbs.ft) of pulling power.
It all equates to a useful power to weight ratio of 220bhp/tonne. Lotus founder Colin Chapman would have approved. Enthusiasts had feared that the weight of this engine would blunt the Elises nimble reactions. They need not have worried.
For a weight increase of just 26kg (3.1%) over the Rover-engined 160bhp 111S version, you get a 30bhp (18.5%) power increase. Which sounds fair enough, particularly given that the price premium is £2,000, the 111R pitched in at £27,995 though most customers will pay £1,995 more for the comforts of the optional Touring Pack.
This provides more sound insulation, leather/alcantara trim, driving lamps, a luggage stowage net, electric windows, a thermally insulated soft top and an MP3 CD player. All of this puts the 111R a few thousands pounds more expensive than a comparably specified Vauxhall VX220 Turbo but its worth stretching to the Lotus, even if on purely financial grounds. Whereas the Vauxhall loses pounds from its value like falling autumn leaves, the most recent CAP figures suggest that after 12 months/10,000 miles, your Elise will still be worth 82% of what you paid for it. Not that we should be evaluating any Lotus in such cold, boring terms.
This one, after all, is the finest car the company has yet produced. Fine in terms of build quality: my test car had much higher standards of fit and finish than youd normally expect from Lorus. Fine in terms of refinement: its still no Boxster but you could do a long motorway trip in this car without dreading it. But most of all, fine where it really matters: in terms of pure, unadulterated driving satisfaction for which in this case, youve no need to pay by having to live with a car thats just irritating in the day to day urban sprawl. The springs (20% stiffer) and re-valved dampers help here, meaning that the car no longer crashes from one pothole to another. The far more supportive sports seats are a useful improvement too. The 111R isnt perfect of course.
The quality of interior trim is still unlikely to stand the test of time in the style of a German rival: just check out the flimsy sunvisors for proof of this. But then few of the currently targeted customers are likely to be keeping their cars long enough for this to be a problem. And thats about it on the debit side, unless you resort to carping about the tiny boot or the fiddly removable roof mechanism, in which case you probably shouldnt be considering this car in the first place. As a halfway house between an everyday sportscar and a real racer, the 111R is hard to resist which is just as well, given that future plans for company expansion demand that Lotus look beyond merely selling to enthusiasts.
Boxster, S2000 and even
BMW Z4 buyers must all be converted to the Lotus way of thinking if company owners
Proton are to continue with the stream of investment seen since they bought the last few shareholdings to take full control of the business in 2001. Will it happen? Well it all depends on whether these people can be persuaded behind the wheel of a 111R. Driving is believing.
FACTS AT A GLANCE
CAR: Lotus Elise 111R
PRICES: £27,995 on the road
INSURANCE GROUP: 19
PERFORMANCE: Max Speed 150mph / 0-60mph 4.9s
FUEL CONSUMPTION: (urban) 23.3mpg / (extra urban) 41.5mpg
WILL IT FIT IN YOUR GARAGE?: Length/Widthmm 3717 / 1740mm
<< Back to Lotus car reviews
<< Back to car reviews homepage
Find New & Used Cars in the UK |
New & Used Lotus Cars For Sale UK
