Copyright © Ian Russell 2005

I fell in love with the Lotus Elise when I was overtaken by a pre-launch demonstrator in 1996.  I bought my S1 Elise from Williams Automobiles in October 2000.  It was one of the last built before Lotus moved to production of the S2.  I had long admired the Lotus Europa that inspired the front end of the Elise and I was glad to get one of the S1 cars which I think are much prettier than the S2s.

Lotus Elise S1

My car is Azure blue metallic with magnolia leather and is pretty standard aside from the addition of a Blitz SUS cone air filter.  As well as helping the 1.8 litre K Series engine to breath a little more easily, the Blitz filter improves the standard exhaust note no end.

Aside from the Lotus marque, I am a season ticket holder at Bristol Rovers Football Club, enjoy amateur astronomy and I like to play with radio control cars - the nitro methane jobs rather than the electric ones.

Ian

The Elise is the epitome of Lotus sports cars.  The application of new technology and innovation ensure that the car is as light as possible which achieves speed and agility.  It is an absolutely amazing car.  As you would expect from Lotus, it handles like it’s on rails.  Even though the standard car only pushes out 118 brake it is so light that the power to weight ratio is pushed up to 159 BHP/tonne.  60 comes up in 5.7 seconds.  That might not sound that fast, but your bum is so close to the tarmac that it feels like you’re in a go-kart!  Fuel economy is good too and I get nearly 40 miles to the gallon.

 

So which do I prefer, the Elise or the Esprit?  Neither and both.  It’s like asking whether you prefer you arms or your legs - they are different and do different things, but it’s kind of nice to have both.

I love deadlines.  I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.

(Douglas Adams)