Category: Roadsters 
Price Range: £25,712 to £32,067
Supremely capable and entertaining handling, comfortable ride, eager performance and unexpectedly low running costs.
A bit noisy, a bit uncomfortable and the hood is a small but cumbersome device.
Wonderful, if a machine for driving is what you want.
It's not that easy to get in and out of, and not desperately comfortable either, but the Elise is easy to drive because it is so small, because the view out is good (though some may find its lack of height intimidating) and because its controls are light and easily triggered. It deserves six stars, in truth. No car puts you in better touch with the road, and few come this close to mimicking the experience of driving a race car. Yet it is perfectly tame and straightforward to drive, the engine obedient, the gearchange slick and simple, the steering deft and light. It's a delight.
Much of the Elise's athleticism derives from its low weight rather than the surging power of its enthusiastic, but far from muscle-bound, Rover engine. The 111S, which has variable valve timing and shorter gearing, adds extra high rev thrust to the recipe, allowing very rapid progress, as do the many versions with aftermarket power modifications.
Latest Readers' Drives About the Lotus Elise
wrote on 22 12 2007
wrote on 18 09 2007
wrote on 30 03 2007