Yyyeeeeesssssss!!!!!

[Jared_80]

The Elise is coming to America!!!! And it has an improved (Toyota) engine puting out 183hp, the prototype did a 0-60 in something like 4.8 seconds. Unfortunetly it is going to be around 40 grand.
But a guy can always dream.

[Jims5543]

I am seriously considering selling my RX-7 for a downpayment on this car. I am in love and have not even driven or seen one. On paper this car is a wet dream. They are predicting 12 second flat 1/4 mile plus it can turn on a dime.

I read it will weigh under 2000 lbs and get a slightly tweeked GT-s Motor pushing 190HP.

I want!!

[The_British_Lion]

Nine months before the Lotus Elise goes on sale in the U.S., Lotus Cars Ltd. has finally made the announcement we've all been waiting for. The US version of the car will come with a Toyota Motor.

The 2ZZ-GE 1.8 litre 4 cylinder 16-valve engine with Variable Valve Timing and Lift-Intelligent (VVTL-i) will pump out 190bhp.

Manufactured by the Toyota Motor Corporation - and tuned by Lotus - the VVTL-i engine was selected after much investigation and negotiation.

Complete specifications and price for the U.S. Elise will be published in the next few months with the first cars expected to hit the streets next year.

In the meantime there will now be a furore amongst British buyers who want 190bhp Elises!

[drunken monkey]

um, it's not an improved engine as there's nothing wrong with the old rover k unit.
it's use is simply because it's one of the better engines that comply with the us emmisions and 12,000 mile reliability test and as far as i know, it is a stock engine; no tuning was done to it.

despite the 68 bhp over the k unit, it only gives an extra 9 lb/ft of torque to push the 146kgs it has gained from it's birth to the u.s version.

the better 0-60 time is probably down to the sprint gearing rather than extra power/torque.

finally, we will be getting the 190bhp elise here in the uk as the 111s model.

[moslerporschefreak]

tecnically it is modified since Lotus did modify the ECU chip to give it wider power band (I believe) and also gace it a new exhaust system. Still, what's great about this car is that it is not based around the engine like so many other cars are.

[kman10587]

In America, the Celica GT-S motor makes 180 horsepower (170 in some cars like the Corolla XRS), and in the Elise, it makes 190, so they obviously did something to it.

[drunken monkey]

from what i gather, the only thing they did was workover the intake/exhausts to free up the engine somewhat.
not sure if they touched the ecu cos well, the point of using the toyota engine was that it was already u.s regulations compliable.
touching the ecu would mean re-tests, wouldn't it?

not sure what engines you get there in the toyotas.
in the u.k, the top spec cars are called t-sport and have a 190bhp engine.
exactly the same figures as the one used in the elise regarding torque/rpm and bhp/rpm.

Still, what's great about this car is that it is not based around the engine like so many other cars are.
actually i'd say what's great about this car is taht its made by some of the best automotive engineers in the world.
i mean, give them any engine for the elise and they'd be able to get the car to drive like a dream.

there's a very famous (in the uk) lada that was taken to lotus to be 'tuned'.
estimated cost of works £100,000.
result= the only 'lotus lada' in the world.

those guys are magic....

[porscheguy9999]

so i was talking to my dad's cousin who lives in L.A. and he sold his 2001 FERRARI 360 MODENA F1 to get one of these! i had been in ihs ferrari only once and i was shocked. he was on the waiting list (#30 in all U.S.!) to get one. and he should have it about now. but i was at the Minneapolis/St. Paul auto show, and they had a 2004 Lotus Elise there (before they even launched it in the U.S.!) and i got to sit in it. boy, getting in is kinda tricky. you feel like your sitting on the floor. its not a car that you want to stay in for long. because comfort takes a backseat to performance (and there ain't no back seat!). and getting out is even more tricky. the Ferrari was quite comfortable. and it doesn't feel as low as the Lotus. and at 40k, they will be extreemly popular.

[will69camaro]

Not sure how many there are in the US or whatever yet but my GF and i were going to our local hobbytown to check out some new models and saw a Lotus Elise (grey w/ black clotch targa, and red interior). Looked pretty cool and Very very small in person. There is also an Esprite in town as well.

William