First Drive Review
In our eyes, the world's been a better place since Lotus began selling its tasty two-seat sports car, the Elise, in this country in 2004. Although it's impractical and expensive-$43,915-driving an Elise can take you places you haven't been since you stopped taking Vicodin.
A second Lotus model will join the Elise this year, a rebodied Elise called the Exige (pronounced ex- seej, rhymes with siege). They have the same powertrain-the 190-hp Toyota four-cylinder and six-speed manual transmission-that is mounted behind the seats. The Elise comes with a removable canvas roof and notched rear end. The Exige comes with a hardtop and bulbous backside. You can remove the Exige's roof section, but there's no place to store it.
The Exige is even less practical than the Elise because, in addition to the jungle-gym entry and exit and narrow, noisy interior, the Exige's sloping rear deck is covered by a mesh grille rather than heavier clear plastic, severely compromising rearward visibility.
So Lotus rightly sees the Exige as a weekend track-day car and expects to sell only 250 a year, about 10 percent of the Elise's volume. The $51,915 Exige comes standard with a stiffer suspension that's a $2450 option on the Elise. Lotus says the Exige's body offers dramatically more front and rear downforce.
We frequently hear aerodynamic claims, but we can confirm this one. We drove the Exige around a 2.3-mile section of Virginia International Raceway. Through a series of 95-mph bends, we could easily keep the Exige's throttle pinned. When we tried the same thing in the Elise, we slid to the edge of the track before the self-preservation instinct kicked in and we lifted.
We're hairsplitting, though, because both cars have a featherweight, agile feel that only a 2000-pound sports car can provide and a manual steering system that's precise enough to allow the driver to make minute path corrections. For 2006, both cars have an electronic throttle and a revised pedal array that offers better brake feel and more room for bigfoots. An effective traction-control system is a $495 option.
If the Elise started an IV of driving nirvana, the Exige simply ups the dose.
