You'd think that, since the Elise and Exige models are pure-bred sportscars, Lotus wouldn't care much about improving their eco-credentials. Well, apparently that's not the case with Lotus as the British automaker has performed various tweaks on both cars' powertrains and aerodynamics helping the 2010MY Elise and Exige give up to a 9% reduction in CO2 emissions and similar increases in fuel economy.
According to Lotus' Spartan press release, on the combined cycle, the Elise S shows the greatest improvement in fuel efficiency offering an increase of 3.2mpg UK or 2.7mpg US (a decrease of 0.7 l/100km), from 34.0 mpg UK or 28.3 mpg US (8.3 l/100 km) to 37.mpg UK or 31mpg US (7.6 l/100km)
Mike Kimberley, CEO of Group Lotus plc, stated, "The Lotus philosophy of performance through light weight is even more relevant in today's emission focused ecological world. This design philosophy has enabled Lotus to offer fantastic levels of performance, with Lotus cars being some of the greenest performance cars on the market".
The new 2010 model year Elise and Exige are on sale now at Lotus dealers in the UK.
Elise S:179 g/km CO2
- 7.6 l/100 km (37.2 mpg UK) Combined Cycle
- 10.6 l/100 km (26.6 mpg UK) Urban Cycle
- 5.8 l/100 km (48.7 mpg UK) Extra Urban Cycle
Elise R: 196 g/km CO2
- 8.2 l/100 km (34.4 mpg UK) Combined Cycle
- 11.6 l/100 km (24.4 mpg UK) Urban Cycle
- 6.2 l/100 km (45.6 mpg UK) Extra Urban Cycle
Elise SC: 199 g/km CO2
- 8.5 l/100 km (33.2 mpg UK) Combined Cycle
- 11.8 l/100 km (23.9 mpg UK) Urban Cycle
- 6.4 l/100 km (44.1 mpg UK) Extra Urban Cycle
Exige S: 199 g/km CO2
- 8.5 l/100 km (33.2 mpg UK) Combined Cycle
- 11.9 l/100 km (23.7 mpg UK) Urban Cycle
- 6.5 litres/100 km (43.5 mpg UK) Extra Urban Cycle
