Lotus Elise
The bonded-aluminium featherweight that rebooted Lotus.
8 reviewers · 11 videos
Reviewers strongly agree on its performance and handling, but split on daily drivability and value.
across 8 reviewers
"this is a noticeably more refined car than the old one"
JayEmm on Cars · ▶ 21:48"getting in is sort of a gymnastics routine especially when you are a tall gangly monster like myself"
Buckle Up · ▶ 2:04"the Elise was recently voted the slowest depreciating car in the whole country"
JayEmm on Cars · ▶ 12:01"I'm a purist and I have always adored lightweight cars like the Elise, but this does feel like too much even for an end-of-the-line special."
CarGurus UK · ▶ 5:23Performance
4.0/58 of 8 reviewersconsensus“everything all together culminates in this fantastic brilliant awesome driving experience”
positive · Buckle Up · ▶ 0:51“The little Lotus will do nought to 100 in 4.6 seconds and pretty much anything else you ask it to do it is so sharp and so responsive”
positive · Drive.com.au · ▶ 3:41“the reality is that that extra mid-range shove results in a car which in the real world is going to be considerably faster”
positive · JayEmm on Cars · ▶ 16:42Handling
5.0/58 of 8 reviewersstrong consensus“you get all the feedback you could possibly want I mean you can feel every single little Ripple of the road through this wheel”
positive · JayEmm on Cars · ▶ 14:52“people are not making it up when they say that if you want to know how a car should handle drive a lotus it really is that good”
positive · Buckle Up · ▶ 0:32“the steering is lovely it's basically telepathic”
positive · Sideways Sid · ▶ 5:04Fun to drive
5.0/58 of 8 reviewersstrong consensus“it does feel special every time you drive it the whole sensation the noise the looks i just love it”
positive · Buckle Up · ▶ 2:20“it's one of those cars that is quite friendly to all skill sets”
positive · Sideways Sid · ▶ 5:28“It's that instant kind of connectivity that you get... There's just nothing else like it.”
positive · CarGurus UK · ▶ 2:07Daily drivability
2.5/58 of 8 reviewerssplit“getting in is sort of a gymnastics routine especially when you are a tall gangly monster like myself”
critical · Buckle Up · ▶ 2:04“it's stiff it's very bumpy and it's very loud in here. Vision out also isn't great”
critical · Drive.com.au · ▶ 2:22“this is a noticeably more refined car than the old one”
positive · JayEmm on Cars · ▶ 21:48Value
3.5/58 of 8 reviewerssplit“the Elise was recently voted the slowest depreciating car in the whole country”
positive · JayEmm on Cars · ▶ 12:01“I'm a purist and I have always adored lightweight cars like the Elise, but this does feel like too much even for an end-of-the-line special.”
critical · CarGurus UK · ▶ 5:23“it's relatively cheap to run um you can do 35 to 40 miles to the gallon at a cruise”
positive · Buckle Up · ▶ 16:38The refined end of the line. The S3 carried the aluminium tub into Toyota's later engine family — the naturally-aspirated 1ZR-FAE 1.6 in base cars, and the supercharged 2ZR-FE 1.8 in the quick ones (Sport 220, Cup 250/260). Same recipe, more polish: unassisted steering and sub-tonne mass intact, but better aero, better cabin and the most reliable Elise to live with day to day. The ladder runs Sport 220 → Cup 250 → Cup 260, each adding downforce and focus. The bookend is the 2021 Final Edition — Sport 240 and Cup 250 FE trims that closed 25 years of Elise production before the Emira took over. Where it places: the Elise you'd actually daily, and the one whose Final Edition cars are already appreciating as the last of the breed.
Hear it in the reviewer’s words
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- Sport 220supercharged 2ZR
- Cup 250 / Cup 260aero + track focus
- Final Edition (2021)Sport 240 / Cup 250 send-off
The most usable Elise — the supercharged 2ZR is robust and the 2011 update was a refresh, not a re-engineering. The Final Edition (2021) closed the line; verify which sub-variant (Sport vs Cup) a given car is, since aero and output differ.