Lotus Elise Series 1

The Lotus Elise is a roadster conceived in early 1994 and released in September 1995 by the English manufacturer Lotus Cars.

The car has a fiberglass body on an aluminum frame that offers the benefit of the suspensions, a significant torsional rigidity. A key feature of this frame is the absence of welds, the various components thereof are combined with the use of epoxy adhesives. Innovative this solution provides better control of tolerances and to preserve the mechanical properties of the metal at the joints. The Elise was named after the birth of her granddaughter Elisa the chairman of Lotus.

The design philosophy of Lotus is "less mass for the benefit of performance," a philosophy adopted by Colin Chapman, founder of Lotus. This allows to obtain, despite the engine's power is relatively low and very high performance with an excellent driving pleasure. This concept was an extreme English engineer Max David.

The result is a sports car with a weight less than 680kg, for the benefit acceleration, road holding and consumption. Despite the engine with a power of only 89KW (120hp), the power to weight ratio is better than that of many emblazoned supersport.

Despite the technological evolution, the Lotus Elise is still a point of reference for lovers of sports cars, on its performance and its design.

111S




























Series 1 was added to a more thrust, the 111S, named after the initials M111, the Lotus type-number 111S. The 111S was introduced in early 1999 with the engine valves with variable valve timing, built by the Rover and developed by Lotus. With the horror of purists, and the relief of the people most sensitive, the upholstery of the seats was increased compared to the basic version.

340R


























In 2000 was introduced in a limited edition, on an Elise , the 340R. The production of this machine discovery was limited to only 340 copies. 340 is the power / weight (in tonnes) of the original prototype, whose power was 125 KW (170 hp) and the weight of which was contained to only 500 kg, while versions marketed weighed 568 kg in race trim.

Exige

Also in 2000, Lotus introduced the Exige - a hardtop version of the Elise with an engine from 131 kW (177 hp), the same type of 340R.

source: http://pediaworld.com/category/cars/