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Lotus Elise
The Lotus Elise is a stylish sports car manufactured
by Lotus Cars. Released in 1996, the car's hand-finished fiberglass
body and aluminum extrusion give it a rigid platform, but keep the
production costs low.
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The Lotus Elise is a gorgeous two door convertible with
new models coming out almost every year. The Lotus Elise
has two different model types, the Series 1 and the Series
2.
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Lotus Elise Series 1 cars date between 1996 and early 2000, while
Series 2 cars date between October of 2000 and the present.
Although the Lotus Elise is a two door convertible, there are several
variations. For example, the Lotus Exige is just like an Elise,
but instead it is a coupe. There are also periodic special editions
released by Lotus, such as the Lotus 340R, which has no roof or
doors.
The Lotus Elise 340R had only 340 models built, and all of these
models were sold before they were even manufactured. As of the beginning
of 2007, it is legal to drive the Lotus Elise 340R on U. S. roads,
because of improved crash safety features.
Elises were not sold in the United States until 2007 because of
restrictions from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
(NHTSA). The NHTSA stated that in 2004, the Lotus Elise did not
meet headlight and bumper regulations..
With a 6-speed manual transmission, the Lotus Elise gets 24 miles
per gallon in the city, and 29 miles per gallon on the highway,
which is not bad for an ultra cool sportscar. The Lotus Elise is
also extremely light. Series 1 Elises weighed in at only 1,600 pounds,
while the rival Porsche Boxers weighed in at 2,700 pounds.
This reduction in weight allows the Lotus Elise to be much more
maneuverable. In fact, today's models of the car can go from 0 to
60 miles per hour in just 4.9 seconds. Many owners claim that the
Lotus Elise is smooth to drive as well as tight in cornering.
The coupe version of the roadster, the Lotus Exige has a few differences
that make it stand out from the Elise. For instance, the Lotus Exige
has a wider wheelbase and fiberglass roof and large rear spoiler.
The Exige S is using a Toyota 2ZZ-GE 1.8 liter engine with supercharger
that produces 218 hp. This car is faster than the Lotus Elise version
in that the Exige S will travel from 0 - 60 mph in just 3.9 seconds
with a top speed of 155 mph.
And if there weren't already enough variations of the Lotus Elise,
the car company has also come out with the Exige 265E concept, which
is a factory-built demonstrator that runs on E85 ethanol. The Exige
265E concept is supercharged, intercooled and produced 265 hp to
propel it from 0 to 60 mph in just 3.88 seconds.
No matter which variation of Lotus Elise, you're interested in,
you can be assured that with its acceleration and tight cornering
capabilities, you'll be in for quite an exciting ride.
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