If you were one of my Auto students then you would know that I am in love with the Lotus Elise; ever since its introduction in 1996. It has gone through a few design changes, but the central ideas are still there. Small, light, and nimble 2 seater with a mid engine. Weighing in at 1,800lbs it is about half the weight of a normal sedan. Where did all the weight go? It is mostly aluminum and it has gone without a lot of excess weight like carpet, power windows and complex traction control bs. Check out this pic of the interior:
The engine was either a normally aspirated Toyota inline 4 or a supercharged version of the same layout. The Elise has become a cult classic for people that want something that handles well and is inexpensive to run. The MSRP is around $45,000 making it an affordable sports car that will blow away most anything as long as there are corners involved. Specifications are also not too bad: 0-60 in 5 seconds or less and a top speed of 120 mph. Gas mileage is around 30mpg which is best in the sports car class. Used ones are still in the $30,000 range and don't seem to depreciate like other cars (yes, I have been watching!). Some day...
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