The Lotus Elise is 20 this year. Happy birthday! Its reward for surviving two decades? Yet another special edition. Over the course of the Series 1 and Series 2 there have been 36 separate versions of this likeable British sports car, but this one – the new Cup 250 – is the fastest to date.
It uses the same supercharged 1.8-litre Toyota motor found in the 220 Cup, but with a significant improvement in power and torque delivery thanks to a smaller pulley on the blower and revised engine mapping, done in-house at Lotus’s Hethel factory. There’s more area under both the power and torque curves on the dyno graph, which translates to extra flexibility out on the road.
Marcus Vance
Senior Track & Performance Editor at Auto News Magazine. Veteran automotive journalist specializing in chassis dynamics, apex telemetry, track-day specials, and high-revving mechanical purity.
View all articles by Marcus Vance →
