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Hero Cars – Episode 05 | Lotus Elise
LOTUS ELISE
Words Tommaso Mogge / Photos Lotus Media
A whole book would not be enough to tell everything about the Lotus Elise. Not so much for the car itself, but for what it brought to the automotive world, when in 1996 upset every concept that defined a sports car. Since space here is limited, it is necessary to immediately take a step back, to the personal philosophy of the founder of the brand – legendary Colin Chapman – according to which “less is more” would have allowed his cars to being able to guarantee performance and drivability without necessarily having to boast huge and extremely powerful engines, thus obtaining a double result: maintaining a lower cost and elevating driving involvement, the absolute feeling that every Lotus driver has in its DNA.
The Elise is the ultimate representation of this immortal mantra and comes at a time when Lotus road cars were certainly not on every enthusiasts’ radar. Without necessarily distorting the concept, for example mentioned by the Elan, this is a completely new project that intends to achieve engineering perfection thanks to a special aluminum frame that helps to limit the overall weight of the car. The goal is to create a featherweight sports car that is able to involve like a Seven, yet without giving up a more traditional structure with doors and glasses. The Elise is in fact a frame and an engine barely hidden by a fiberglass body, where the only onboard comfort is granted by the air that enters once the canvas roof is left home. There is no power steering or any kind of driving assistance, but what makes this model truly unique are the countless sensations transmitted to the driver by a steering wheel that communicates perfectly with the front axle.
Weights and dimensions reduced to the bone – as we said – with a length of 3.7 meters, a width of 1.7 and a wheelbase of just 2.3 meters, all in favor of cornering inputs of surgical precision, while the driver and passengers are literally seated on the ground and placed in a passenger compartment that has only what is really needed for a way of understanding driving that is still today an absolute point of reference. No filters, a 5-speed manual gearbox and hard and pure feedbacks that make this Lotus the best way to read the road and get in perfect harmony with the surrounding environment. It is not the ideal way for your daily commute, it is rather difficult to get in and out, but rest assured that thrown into a road full of curves it will revolutionize any idea of spirited driving.
The engine, located in mid-rear position, is (at least initially) a 1.8-liter 16-valve Rover K Series. It has just 120 horsepower which, however, have to move a weight of only 699 kg. This is the key to Chapman’s philosophy, which applied to a car perfectly capable of communicating with the asphalt under the tires, transforms every moment into a visceral rediscovery of driving pleasure. As far as its exterior concerns, a detail that is far from obvious, we find a distinctly sporty look that over the 3 generations (even if the third is not considered as such) and 25 years of life has maintained an image true to itself, playing on lines which emphasize the wow effect of a low car and which, although small compared to a traditional supercar, has nothing to envy to the big way more expensive brands, especially when it comes to pushing the throttle on some B roads.
The automotive glory represented by the Elise lies not so much in the time it will take you to move from one point to another, but in the way you’ll do that. Tightly grappling the wheel, pressed to the seat and assailed by the scream of the 1.8 right behind your back, despite the fact that it is perfectly possible to drive like a good family man, the primal instinct to run fast will certainly prevail, demonstrating how the frame limits are almost endless and will lead to find how speed becomes inconsistent once shaken through bends. There is only one way to describe the Lotus Elise: get behind the wheel and experience these emotions first hand.
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