Review: Lotus Elise Cup 250

Lotus Elise Cup 250 eh? But it looks just like another Lotus Elise…

Yes it does. It looks like a Lotus Elise Cup S. It wears the same extreme aero kit. But it's different to drive. Even better, actually.

How so?

The Elise is gradually turning into a serious sports car, and this is another evolution. It's more eager to accelerate and grippier in turns than any Elise before it. It's getting towards the performance Exiges used to give. But despite the extra go-stop-steer forces it can summon, the Elise Cup still has the charm of an Elise.

How fast, then?

Lotus says it'll do 0-62mph in 4.3 seconds, having passed 60 in 3.9. The supercharged engine has been re-mapped and now revs to 7200 whether or not you've pressed the sport mode, and at that max revs is making 243bhp.

Better just because faster?

No. Although while we're on the subject of the supercharged powertrain, the re-map has also made the engine react with more alertness and precision all the way round the dial. People talk about lag-free turbocharged engines these days, but even the best of them are still soft and slow-witted compared with this supercharged four-cylinder.

This precision also helps make it a remarkably satisfying car to drive slowly too. And the gearshift has been quietly 'optimised', which means no new parts but more care in assembly. It's now rather good – quick and light if not quite as precise as the benchmark MX-5 gearbox.

But better in other ways than the Cup S?

Yes. Chassis changes mean there's more grip at the front. Most cars have a bit of default understeer. It tells you what a car is up to, so you can then adjust it away with the throttle. But the Elise's unpowered steering is actually so blissfully transparent you always know what's happening, so they almost completely banished the understeer in this version. That means it's a whole lot quicker on a track. Grippy, balanced, ridiculously enjoyable. Though in a tidy way, not a slidey way.

And on the road?

I feared the wider tyres – part of the reason for the extra front grip – would tramline and fight the unpowered steering. But it doesn't. It still shrugs off ridges and cambers and bumps, so you can place it with the accuracy of a marksman. All the while keeping you very much in the loop.

A quick Elise is just so joyously the right thing for a British back road. It's not so fast you can't use full power, but it'll overtake anything. It's grippy but small, so you don't hog the road. It feels alive at any speed.

What's made the difference?

The Cup S had 217bhp and weighed 951kg. The Cup 250, which replaces it, has 243bhp and weighs, if you tick the lightweight box, 921kg. So it accelerates a bit better. It also has stickier tyres all-round, wider ones at the front (195-section vs 175), and tweaked suspension geometry.

Can you tell?

If you're an unfeasibly skilled Lotus test driver, you can get around the company's rather tricky track in 1 minute 34 seconds, a whole four seconds quicker than the Cup S. Which is a chasm.

Where did the weight loss come from?

Carbon fibre seat shells, a lithium ion battery, lighter wheels, less sound deadening, a soft top instead of a hard roof. Even some trivialities like deletion of sun visors and passenger footrest. That all saves 20kg over the Elise S cup.

But buyers also now have the option to have the aerodynamic kit made in carbon fibre instead of glass composite. Which saves another 10kg, taking the car down to 921kg. It's £4000. Or £400 per kilo saved. And apparently it doesn't make Lotus much profit, such is the real cost of the stuff.

Serious money?

Yup, and the base price, with normal aero kit, is £45,600.

Blimey, hardcore track day obsession then.

Well perhaps, but remember this a road car too. So let's start there, on a spring morning with the roof folded in the boot. Sunshine caresses the landscape. All around the blossom and buds are on the trees. Aromas of the countryside percolate into the cockpit. The Elise isn't punishing or crazy-intimidating, yet it's as alive as nature is, and it's on your side. It supercharges your senses and nervous system. Even two decades into its life, on its day an Elise – especially this Elise – can still be peerless.