Lotus Elise
The bonded-aluminium featherweight that rebooted Lotus.
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The refined end of the line. The S3 carried the aluminium tub into Toyota's later engine family — the naturally-aspirated 1ZR-FAE 1.6 in base cars, and the supercharged 2ZR-FE 1.8 in the quick ones (Sport 220, Cup 250/260). Same recipe, more polish: unassisted steering and sub-tonne mass intact, but better aero, better cabin and the most reliable Elise to live with day to day. The ladder runs Sport 220 → Cup 250 → Cup 260, each adding downforce and focus. The bookend is the 2021 Final Edition — Sport 240 and Cup 250 FE trims that closed 25 years of Elise production before the Emira took over. Where it places: the Elise you'd actually daily, and the one whose Final Edition cars are already appreciating as the last of the breed.
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- Sport 220supercharged 2ZR
- Cup 250 / Cup 260aero + track focus
- Final Edition (2021)Sport 240 / Cup 250 send-off
The most usable Elise — the supercharged 2ZR is robust and the 2011 update was a refresh, not a re-engineering. The Final Edition (2021) closed the line; verify which sub-variant (Sport vs Cup) a given car is, since aero and output differ.