2011 Lotus Elise

The 2011 Lotus Elise isn’t fully revamping the car for 2011, but a mild update is in the cards for the world’s smallest provider of huge thrills. Mild styling tweaks for 2011 Lotus Elise give the lightweight Elise a more modern appearance, with single-element headlights, new wheel designs, and less-cluttered front and rear fascias. Its engines and the ultra-pure driving experience remain unchanged, as does the cramped, minimalist interior.

The 2011 Lotus Elise is a compact, lightweight sports car meant for track driving. As such, its competitors, such as the BMW Z4 and Porsche Boxster, generally boast more comfort but fewer at-the-limits performance attributes.

2011 Lotus Elise Convertible

The 2011 Elise truly looks the part, with its huge air intakes behind the doors, its long, sloped headlight covers; and its ground-hugging stance. Exterior features include: LED taillamps, Composite body panels are used, and the entire car weighs slightly less than 2,000 pounds, Standard removable black cloth top, available body-colored hardtop, and Sixteen-inch alloy wheels up front, 17-inch alloys in back. Two occupants sit in composite sport seats. The cabin is sparse, with an Alpine head unit for the stereo and an aluminum gearshift knob and handbrake.

The 2011 Elise has a 1.8-liter four-cylinder engine sourced from Toyota and tuned by Lotus. It incorporates variable cam timing and lift technology to produce 189 hp and 133 pounds-feet of torque. The Elise SC adds a supercharger to make 217 hp at 8,000 rpm and 155 pounds-feet of torque at 5,000 rpm.

While traction control is available on the 2011 Lotus Elise, stability control is not an option. Safety features include Dual front airbags and Antilock brakes