Lotus reveals radical new direction

Of course you refer to the 'new' Elite - the 'original' was the Type 14...

If you think about it, it could be either Elite. At the time the only streeteable car Lotus sold was the VI. The Seven and Elite were introduced at the same time. The original Elite, a GT car, was definitely up market.The Elite's pricing, at the end of the run, was similar to that of an E Type.Of course I am referring to the Type 14 Elite.

This was Chapman's first attempt to move up-market. The car was state of the art or beyond in literally every aspect. Formula suspension, adapted race engine, bespoke transmission, monocoque body, etc, etc. A road car that could be driven to the track and raced - a true sports car. Competitive on the race track throughout and after its production. Too expensive for what it offered and under appreciated by the casual sports car crowd, it lost money for Lotus. The follow on Elan 26 was a money maker but not nearly as pure an automotive design.

I must have driven a different Evora. The one I drove had heavy, dead steering, overly boosted non-linear  brakes (the salesman warned me about them before I started), transmission with strange ratio gaps. My girl friend also got a test drive. She has driven my Elan many times, and her comments were similar. Reading between the lines, it is a tough market competing against Ferrari, Porsche, etc. It might be easier to carve a niche with an uprated version of their range extender engine in a very small ultra light weight two seater that could appeal to people who look for a more modern version of the Miata (which is a modern version of the Elan) or of the S2000 in a more socially responsible package.

I've owned a couple of 'new' Elites- I've never had the chance to drive the original Elite. I quite liked the new Elite, handled very well, quite comfortable and even looked good. Many things were quite a pain to work on (the AC/Heat system with all those hoses and poor connectors are no fun) and perhaps more troublesome than the other Lotus cars I've owned. They were light for a 4-seat car of it's type, I recall just over 2000 lbs.

Not much more than the Elise. (I never weighed mine, so I don't know if the specs I remember are accurate).

I certainly liked the way my early Europas (type 54, federal) drove better. Much lighter and responsive.
The Elise reminded me much of a modern early Europa in a lot of ways, although it didn't have the 'dancing' feeling of the early cars- it has incredible feedback (and more power etc). PLUS it is super reliable. While I don't currently have a Lotus (just didn't have time to drive the Elise, so it is gone) another will come my way I'm certain.

I hope they keep making the Elise, since I really, really enjoyed that car. I'm not sure they can do well going up market either, but hope they can stay afloat."not nearly as pure an automotive design." That's certainly a matter of opinion that many would debate.Reading between the lines, it is a tough market competing against Ferrari, Porsche, etc. It might be easier to carve a niche with an uprated version of their range extender engine in a very small ultra light weight two seater that could appeal to people who look for a more modern version of the Miata (which is a modern version of the Elan) or of the S2000 in a more socially responsible package. Some folks in the U.S. may not be aware that Lotus has released a new entry level Elise as of June 2010 that has a Toyota 1.6 liter engine with 134 horsepower which gets 45 miles per imperial gallon:

http://www.topgear.com/uk/lotus/elise/road-test/1.6

"The new entry-level Elise emits just 149g/km of CO2 while returning 45mpg." "Lotus claims the new Elise provides 'the most performance per gram of CO2 of any sports car in the world'."

That's perhaps as far as the concept can be pushed and about as light as a production car intended for world wide distribution can be made.

Unfortunately due to all the current regulations, it would probably be very difficult to make cars as light as any of the mostly fiberglass, metal backbone Lotuses.