Maximum fun, minimum collateral
Anyone harbouring under the misapprehension that
Lotus might be moving away from performance
through lightweight only needs to take a quick
ride in the new 1.6 Lotus Elise Club Racer to
know that’s definitely not the case. The bright
engineers at Lotus put even the lightest of
Lotus’ modern cars on a diet and managed to shed
a further 24kg.
So how did Lotus manage to make one of the
lightest models on the market even lighter? The
engineers behind the Elise Club Racer took a
stripped-to-the-bare-bone approach visualised by
the body-coloured seats but materialised in many
ways such as the motorsport derived lightweight
battery and the deletion of noise insulation.
Attention to even the smallest of details has
ensured that Lotus’ passion for performance
through lightweight has been translated
throughout the car.
For the first time ever an Elise variant comes
complete with a Sport setting for the DPM (Dynamic
Performance Management) allowing even the less
experienced sports car drivers to feel at the
top of their game, while the ability to switch
it off completely will please the more
established track orientated drivers. DPM
combined with improved agility courtesy of Lotus
finely tuned sport suspension and an adjustable
anti-roll bar will make the Elise Club Racer
equally versatile for both road and race track
fun.
Wolf Zimmermann Chief Technical Officer Lotus
Cars said: “The traditional Lotus approach of
reduction and purity has lead to one of the most
zeitgeist and contemporary sports cars around.
For over 15 years the Lotus Elise has become an
icon in the sports car market, carving out a
niche market with a dedicated following of
lightweight fans. The new Club Racer will
definitely give these people something extra to
get their teeth stuck into. This car epitomises
everything that’s cool about the Elise – it’s
fast, raw, responsive and a huge amount of fun
to drive.”
Quality throughout the vehicle has been a top
priority, highly regarded component suppliers
such as Eibach for springs and Bilstein for
dampers ensure that the Elise Club Racer is a
car of substance as well as style.
The Elise Club Racer pleases the eye as well as
the soul with a choice of six striking colours (Sky
Blue, Saffron Yellow, Ardent Red, Aspen White,
Matt Black and Carbon Grey) and bespoke design
elements that emphasise the character of the car.
It’s pocket pleasing too, at £27,500 / €34,450 /
CHF48,900, the Elise Club Racer marks the new
entry level sports car from Lotus. And with the
Elise standard of just 149g CO2/km plus the
weight reduction, the new Club Racer provides
maximum fun without so much of the green-guilt
usually associated with high performance driving.
Lotus Elise Club Racer: Purity, performance,
pleasure - a TRUE Lotus.
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