We’ve met so many versions of the Lotus Elise that we don’t even remember all of them after all these years. But here it comes another model and as Lotus claims it’s the best one yet. Does it have to do something with the British company’s obsession with light weight? We guess it does, since the new Elise Cup 250 tips the scale at just 884 kg.
If you think that is remarkable wait until you hear about the lightweight options they offer, bringing that weight down to 864 kg. Given that Lotus Elise Cup 250 packs 243 horsepower that means the sports car has a power to weight ratio of 283 hp per tonne, which is how it achieves its 0 to 60 mph time of 3.9 seconds. Better than the straight line performance, though, is the way this thing corners, which is like a fly! Among the main performance highlights of Lotus Elise Cup 250 there is the revised dampers and ultra-lightweight forged wheels with Yokohama Advan A048 LTS tyres – 225/45 ZR17 at the rear and 195/50 ZR16 at the front, six-speed manual gearbox, a carbon fiber aero package capable of generating 125 kg of downforce at 140 mph (top speed is 154 mph), fully independent double wishbone suspension and a front anti-roll bar, coupled with Bilstein high-performance dampers and Eibach coaxial coil springs front and rear.
The extra weight saving measures include Lithium-Ion battery, Lotus’ hand crafted carbon race seats, ultra-lightweight motorsport forged alloy wheels and a polycarbonate rear screen, plus carbon components including face-level vents (-0.3 kg), HVAC surrounds (-0.1 kg), and sill covers (-0.8 kg) for the interior.
