Lotus Elise S3
The bonded-aluminium featherweight that rebooted Lotus.
11 reviewers · 17 videos · 3 hours watched
Reviewers strongly agree on its performance and handling, but split on daily drivability and value.
across 11 reviewers
"you can actually travel very long distances in an elise without really feeling tired without feeling fatigued which is because of that soft suspension"
Goodwood Road & Racing · ▶ 10:00"it's stiff it's very bumpy and it's very loud in here. Vision out also isn't great"
Drive.com.au · ▶ 2:22"the Elise was recently voted the slowest depreciating car in the whole country"
JayEmm on Cars · ▶ 12:01"I'm a purist and I have always adored lightweight cars like the Elise, but this does feel like too much even for an end-of-the-line special."
CarGurus UK · ▶ 5:23Performance
4.0/511 of 11 reviewersconsensus“The little Lotus will do nought to 100 in 4.6 seconds and pretty much anything else you ask it to do it is so sharp and so responsive”
positive · Drive.com.au · ▶ 3:41“everything all together culminates in this fantastic brilliant awesome driving experience”
positive · Buckle Up · ▶ 0:51“not to 62 takes four and a half seconds and it'll top out at 147 miles an hour”
positive · Carfection · ▶ 14:52Handling
5.0/511 of 11 reviewersstrong consensus“The elise is just an almost incomparable enjoyment... the steering is unassisted the brakes are really unassisted... everything is you and the car”
positive · Goodwood Road & Racing · ▶ 5:46“neat and precise is the elise way always has been and there is just so much feedback about how the car is moving around below the absolute limit of grip”
positive · Carfection · ▶ 10:19“the steering is lovely it's basically telepathic”
positive · Sideways Sid · ▶ 5:04Fun to drive
5.0/511 of 11 reviewersconsensus“the elise is all about fun it's all about excitement”
positive · Goodwood Road & Racing · ▶ 9:52“what this car does is allow you to really get into the minutiae of driving”
positive · Carfection · ▶ 3:13“it's one of those cars that is quite friendly to all skill sets”
positive · Sideways Sid · ▶ 5:28Daily drivability
2.5/511 of 11 reviewerssplit“it's stiff it's very bumpy and it's very loud in here. Vision out also isn't great”
critical · Drive.com.au · ▶ 2:22“getting in is sort of a gymnastics routine especially when you are a tall gangly monster like myself”
critical · Buckle Up · ▶ 2:04“for that you don't get CD player you don't get air conditioning you don't even get carpets in fact you get nearly nothing”
critical · JayEmm on Cars · ▶ 1:56Value
3.5/511 of 11 reviewerssplit“the Elise was recently voted the slowest depreciating car in the whole country”
positive · JayEmm on Cars · ▶ 12:01“I'm a purist and I have always adored lightweight cars like the Elise, but this does feel like too much even for an end-of-the-line special.”
critical · CarGurus UK · ▶ 5:23“lotus wants just under 47 300 pounds for it strong money sure”
Carfection · ▶ 15:26The 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.
Hear it in the reviewer’s words
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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.