2008 Lotus Elise Review (continued)
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Walkaround

Lotus Elise is available only as a two-door, targa-top sports car. Basic exterior lines and proportions reflect its two-seat capacity and mid-engine layout, which is to say it has both air inlet and extractor vents at the front and straked oil cooler intakes along the rear quarter flanks. The cabin is located well forward in the chassis, with a steeply raked windshield rising almost continuously out of the front clip. Behind the cabin are two buttresses which hide a steel roll hoop structure. Front overhang is noticeable, but there is very little rear overhang.

The Elise body is made out of molded RTM composite fiberglass. Every panel is arced and curved. The overall design could be called either sleek or busy, with multiple character lines, fillets and features punctuating every surface. A Coke-bottle shape within the wheelbase provides visual drama and glorious highlights, but detracts slightly from vehicle aerodynamics.

Elise is very small, very sporty and very aggressive. Aside from alloy wheels in muted silver, all exterior trim is either body color or matte black. Lotus has invested heavily in the front lighting assemblies. A ribbed clear plastic lens covers projector-beam headlights. Taillights are round, basic and undistinguished.

The fact Elise is so small and trim so muted makes it most visible and striking in lighter colors. Of course, color selection and visibility is a matter of individual preference. Owners seeking to stand out and be seen will go lighter. Owners preferring stealth will go darker. Keep in mind that as a small car often traveling at high speed, there may be a safety advantage associated with lighter/brighter colors and being more easily seen in traffic. Elise offers one of the most broad and aggressive exterior color palettes in the industry, with a total of 20 hues available. Non-metallic Ardent Red and British Racing Green are standard at no extra cost. Seven metallic colors, six Lifestyle colors, three Limited colors and two Exclusive colors are available at extra cost.

Placed in a competitive context, Elise looks like a smaller Ferrari F430. Much smaller. Beyond F430, it does not really resemble any other mass production vehicle on the road. Not just from the standpoint of exterior appearance but in literally every other aspect, Elise (and its Exige S companion) is in a class by itself.

We like the optional Star Shield, a clear plastic film used to protect the paint on the nose of the car. It's impressively strong yet virtually invisible.

Interior Features

The Lotus Elise interior is, by design, very simple and very basic. The overall look is not quite kit car, but falls short of almost any other production car in the industry. Everything looks hand-cut and hand-made, which, as a matter of fact, it is. There are two tightly shaped ProBax bucket seats. Neither reclines. The driver seat is manually adjustable fore and aft. The passenger seat is fixed. In cloth, the seats looks and feel like cloth. In leather, they look, feel and smell like vinyl. There are exposed aluminum pieces and panels on the floor, just the way owners like it.

The dash is equally basic. A gauge cluster looking like something out of a motorcycle covers speedometer, tachometer, fuel and temperature functions, leaving warning lights for the rest. A dimpled black pad extends across the dash, mounted above an extruded aluminum tray to store what the British call oddments. In practice, the tray is more cosmetic than functional, though a cell phone, wallet, or garage remote will fit.

Aside from the small trunk behind the engine, the only storage space is behind the passenger seat, and this is not enclosed. Groceries? On the passenger seat or footwell. With no luggage space, the Elise is not an airport car.

Minor controls are few, but somewhat randomly placed and in every case cryptically marked if marked at all. This is not a car you can get into late at night for the first time and instinctively know how to operate. Horn buttons are in the two steering wheel spokes and are hard to find in an emergency. There is even a regimen for disarming the alarm and immobilizer that requires explanation in advance; and we've found it can go off on its own accord. The standard Alpine audio is fair at best. Worse, its 1-DIN layout, microscopic controls and low placement in the dash make it difficult to operate and adjust while underway; then there's the annoying, flashy LED. Then again, there's enough engine and road noise to drown out music or talk anyway.

The air conditioning system features rudimentary controls in the form of three round alloy knobs that sometimes fall off and two small supplementary black buttons. The light indicating whether the A/C is on is difficult to see. The heater works acceptably well. The A/C is outclassed in warmer climates, particularly when the car is traveling at slow speeds and there is insufficient ram air passing through the front-mounted condenser. Cold? Put on a sweater. Warm? Take the top off!

By their very definition, Lotuses are small. They've always been small. Small on the outside is great, as small makes them nimble, lightweight, fast and efficient. Small on the inside is more delimiting. Many people over 6 feet simply don't fit in this car. And some under 6 feet, particularly those of broader beam, don't fit very well. The ProBax seats are tight and confining; thinly padded and light weight to the core. They're ideal for track and aggressive street use where you really want to be held in place. They can be accommodating and supportive if you're the right size to start with. If you're outside the envelope, they're tight and unyielding.

Even more an ergonomic factor than physically sitting in the vehicle is entry-egress, getting in and out. Elise was originally planned without doors. Practicality prevailed at some point in the development process, and doors were added. These mask and cover a high alloy sill. The sill is great for maximum structure and solidity at the lightest possible weight, and contributes significantly to side-impact safety. It also represents a fairly substantial threshold in both entry and, even more significantly, egress. For the small and limber, no issue. For the larger and less flexible, a challenge bordering on job-stopper. Another issue is the comparatively short door, which means having to hook leg and foot around and across a curved alloy hinge to get out. Easy for some but more difficult for others