1995 Lotus Esprit S4 Only 19k Miles on 2040-cars

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How the fastest Elise ever compares to 3 sportscars you know

The Lotus Elise had its 20th anniversary last year, and the British sports-car maker's belated celebration is the quickest production Elise ever around its test track. The new Elise Cup 250 can sprint to 60 miles per hour in 3.9 seconds and reach a top speed of 154 mph. It's essentially Lotus' answer to a Porsche Cayman GT4. The Elise Cup 250 replaces the Cup 220 in the model lineup, and Lotus plans to limit production to 200 units annually. The 1.8-liter supercharged four-cylinder now makes 243 horsepower and 184 pound-feet of torque, compared to 217 hp and 184 lb-ft from the predecessor. The company claims the Cup 250 laps its test track in 1:34, which is four seconds better than the 220. On paper, the Cup 250 could give a Cayman GT4 quite a fight. The Porsche's 385 hp wins on power, but it weighs significantly more at 2,955 pounds. Those differences translate to a slower 60 mph run of 4.2 seconds but a faster 183-mph top speed. We also think the upcoming Jaguar F-Type SVR could make for interesting competition around a very tight track. A recent leak suggests the new model has over 560 horsepower and a 200-mph top speed, so it would easily win on an open course. On a curvy circuit, the Lotus could be an intriguing challenger. Lotus Elise Cup weighs a scant 2,053 pounds in normal trim and 2,030 pounds with the optional Carbon Aero package, which includes carbon fiber parts for the front splitter, rear wing, rear diffuser and side-floor extensions. To save weight, Lotus fits the car with a lithium-ion battery, carbon fiber seats, and forged alloy wheels. The suspension and brakes carryover from the 220, including Bilstein dampers, Eibach springs, and AP Racing brakes. Lotus models often have a sparse interior, and that continues with the Cup 250. The options list includes usually common items like air conditioning and cruise control. A package even combines a radio, carpets, and sound deadening. Standard cars come with a red or black Alcantara interior, but leather is available. The Cup 250 goes on sale in April for 45,600 pounds ($65,170 at current rates), but it isn't available in North America. This forbidden fruit makes for an interesting comparison to other stripped-down models, though. For example, the Evora 400, which is for sale in the US, is slightly slower to 60 at 4.1 seconds but its 1:32 time around the Hethel test track is two seconds a lap quicker.

Race Recap: 2015 US Grand Prix was wet, wild, and historic

Hurricane Patricia made landfall in Mexico this weekend, and made her presence known throughout the South. For two of the three days of the grand prix weekend it rained non-stop in Austin, so badly on Saturday that qualifying had to be postponed until Sunday morning, and then it only stayed dry enough to conduct the first two sessions. At the end of a tricky, slippery Q2 Nico Rosberg had put his Mercedes-AMG Petronas on the front row, one tenth ahead of teammate Lewis Hamilton. The German had done the best he could to keep his hair-thin chances of a World Championship fight alive. Daniel Ricciardo lined his Infiniti Red Bull Racing chassis in third ahead of teammate Daniil Kvyat, both drivers having moved up a place because Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel took a ten-spot grid penalty for using a fifth engine and dropped to 13th. Continuing the two-up theme, Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg were fifth and sixth for Force India. After that came variety: Felipe Massa in seventh for Williams, Max Verstappen for Toro Rosso in eighth, Fernando Alonso looking good in the rain for McLaren in ninth, and Romain Grosjean for Lotus in tenth. When the lights went out, Turn 1 set the tone. Pole position is on the outside line at Circuit of the Americas, and Hamilton had got himself far enough under Rosberg by the time the two got up the hill that Rosberg had to stick to the outside through the corner. At the corner exit Hamilton used the entire track, pushing Rosberg wide, their cars touching. As Rosberg left the track and dropped back to fourth, Hamilton radioed to the team to say the contact was unintentional. The two Mercedes' and two Red Bulls animated the front. Rosberg passed Ricciardo at the end of a Virtual Safety Car period employed to let the marshals clean the debris at Turn 1. Kvyat started chasing down Hamilton until the Russian ran wide and let Rosberg and Ricciardo through, then Rosberg ran wide on the next lap to let Ricciardo through. On Lap 15, Ricciardo passed Hamilton through the esses to take the lead. After the first round of pit stops the Aussie still had the lead, followed by Rosberg, Kvyat, Hamilton, and Vettel. Then Rosberg got around to take the lead and Vettel closed in on Hamilton as the Brit duked it out with the Russian. Rosberg showed excellent speed, building up a nine-second gap on Ricciardo, but a Safety Car period erased that when Marcus Ericsson had to park his dead Sauber on the inside of the track after Turn 10.

Lotus Type 135 electric sports car mixes the Emira with some Esprit

Over the next four years, English sports car maker will make its oft-attempted transformations real by unveiling three "lifestyle vehicles" on its new Premium Architecture. The first is the Type 132 electric crossover, expected to debut in the next few months. After that will come the Type 133 four-door coupe, then the Type 134 crossover that's smaller than the Type 132. In that fourth year, we'll get the Type 135, an electric sports car that will recall the Lotus of old. This electric coupe, sitting on the firm's E-Sports architecture, is being called "a spiritual successor of the Elise," which would be a good thing. The teaser sketch Lotus released to hype up the car also makes us think Esprit, which, as far as we're concerned, is an even better thing. True, there's Elise and Exige and Emira in those exaggerated fenders, but the pointy ends are vintage early Esprit. But the looks aren't the point right now. The reason for the hubbub is Lotus signing a Memorandum of Understanding with British battery firm Britishvolt "to collaborate on research and development of advanced EV technology." The cooperation would put Lotus in charge of "electric propulsion technologies" like motors and control systems, while Britishvolt oversees a "new battery cell package." Goals for the pack are energy density, fast charging and weight reduction. Novel placement is on the menu, too, the E-Sports architecture laid out so that it can also accept batteries in the traditional style under the floor, or behind the cockpit a la a mid-engined sports car. The MOU could give the battery company two clients in one, as the Type 135 will be shared with Alpine across the Channel as well. By the time the Type 135 shows, Britishvolt's $5.1 billion battery factory in Northumberland should have been up and running for two years, ready to supply cells to the Type 135 that will be built at Lotus' historic Hethel, England headquarters (the other Types will be built in Wuhan, China at a manufacturing facility being developed by Lotus parent company Geely). The sports car will come in single- and dual-motor versions powering RWD and AWD trims, those motors expected produce anywhere between 469 and 872 horsepower providing a range of up to 450 miles on the WLTP cycle. The electronics will run on 800-volt architectures, the batteries ranging from 66.4-kWh to 99.6-kWh capacities.  Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences.