The facelifted Lotus Elise will emit 149g/km of CO2 - 16 per cent less than the current model.
Lotus claims the emissions figures make the Elise "the lowest CO2 [car] for its performance level for any gasoline sports car in the world." The figures equate to a 56.1mpg average on the extra urban cycle.
The low emissions are boosted by the car's low weight (876kg versus 1334kg for the Porsche Boxster), while it is also four per cent more aerodynamic and the 1.6-litre VVT-i powerplant is smaller, but as powerful as the outgoing 1.8-litre unit.
Follow us on FacebookSee all the latest Lotus Elise reviews, news and video
Join the debate
Add your comment
Re: Lotus Elise's emissions record
Think I would refine that to say that they were/are both small beer from a sales point of view - only bean counters and management consultant droids get excited by those statistics - but their influence generally has been anything but.
I'd list all the F1, sportscar championships and so on but it's a nice day and I fancy using a car for for it's intended purpose, controversial I know...
Re: Lotus Elise's emissions record
Those figures were taken from the autocar website, where it says 0-62 mph, but the point I was trying to make was that if you are thinking of paying £35k for a porker you would probably compare it with a similar priced Elise. As other people have said its not just about figures its about the overall enjoyment that you get from ownership, I'm sure both cars are great to drive and one day I may be in a position to choose between them, in which case I will make a fair comparison.
Lotus is small beer but that is no reason to critise them, Porsche were small beer once and several times have nearly gone under.
If you prefer a Porsche fine, but why try to undermine a company thats doing its best to keep what little remains of the British sports car industry alive?
Re: Lotus Elise's emissions record