2006 Lotus Elise Base Convertible 2-door 1.8l on 2040-cars

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Lotus Evora, Exige, and Elise add lightness to Geneva

The folks at Lotus have been quite busy over the past few months adding lightness to their vehicles. Since December, the company has introduced lighter, quicker versions of the Evora, Exige, and Elise, and all three members of the trio are present at the 2016 Geneva Motor Show. Each one is special in its own way, but if you crave a nimble sports car, you probably wouldn't be disappointed with any of these new models. The Evora Sport 410 is the most luxurious member of the bunch, at least by Lotus standards. At 2,921 pounds, it's also the heaviest, but a 410-horsepower 3.5-liter supercharged V6 makes this one the most powerful, too. The coupe can rocket to 60 miles per hour in 3.9 seconds and to a 186-mph top speed. Lotus will make just 150 of these special Evoras per year, and they'll have carbon fiber parts for the roof, tailgate, sports seats, and more. Best of all, this will be the only one of these three that will get a North American version. The Exige Sport 350 Roadster is the coolest member of this group, featuring tartan seats that we absolutely love. It's also the quickest of the three, reaching 60 mph in just 3.7 seconds, and it tops out at 170 mph. The rapid sprint is possible because the 345-hp 3.5-liter supercharged V6 only needs to push 2,480 pounds. The Elise Cup 250 rounds out the group with the lightest weight at 2,053 pounds (2,030 pounds with the optional Carbon Aero Package) but the least power at 243 hp. However, it certainly isn't slow with a 60-mph run in 3.9 seconds and a top speed of 154 mph. Lotus plans to make just 200 of them year each year. If you could pick any one of the three, which would you choose? The Evora might be the most livable every day but chucking around the Elise could be a barrel of fun. There're also those fantastic seats in the Exige. Let us know in Comments which one you want the most.

Lotus C-01 motorcycle shows its carbon-fiber face

Well, this isn't exactly what we were expecting. The images you see above come from Motorcycle News in the UK and are apparently official renderings of what the upcoming Lotus C-01 motorcycle will look like. As you can see, it's sort of a power cruiser, with a raked-out front end and extremely wide rubber out back.
Power will reportedly come from a liquid-cooled V-twin engine sourced from KTM, similar to the one used in the Austrian's brand's own RC8R, but tuned to produce around 200 horsepower. It appears that the powertrain and all its related necessities will be housed in a carbon fiber monocoque (whether the bodywork serves as a stressed member or not, we can't say) in a traditional-looking black (really, exposed carbon fiber weave) and yellow color scheme.
From the looks of these renderings, the C-01 might be intended as a competitor for the Ducati Diavel and ought to be very quick in a straight line. We're not so sure that's what a motorcycle wearing the Lotus badge should be, even if its builders are only using the marque's name under license, but we're looking forward to seeing the final result in production trim.

Lotus Evora GT410 Sport exhaust is the best new holiday song

No matter what holidays people are celebrating, there's one winter celebration car enthusiasts can come together for: Driftmas. A Lotus Evora GT410 Sport was recently possessed by the ghost of Driftmas present Ken Block and decided to get sideways all over the Lotus campus in Hethel, Norfolk, England. The result is a beautiful winter symphony. The video is done in a slightly cheeky manner, as the yellow Evora shows up to work with a fully geared-up driver in the front seat, and a full Christmas tree stick to the rear engine cover. After blowing past a pristine Espirit S1 in a "slow" zone, the Evora slowly creeps through one of the garages, where a beautiful black and gold Type 72 race car sits quiet as a mouse. It then makes its way through a testing area and to a parking lot, where it rings a few bells around three specialty Lotus models, including what appear to be Exige Cup cars. It finishes the ride in front of the main office, where Lotus has another Christmas tree filled with little toy cars as ornaments. Before the Grinches start complaining about how it's not Gymkhana, that's correct. It's not. But we'd never turn our noses at a video with a soundtrack a sweet as this. Merry Driftmas to all. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Related Video: