2008 Lotus Elise S Review
9 Aug, 2008
20 Comments 
For me, sure, I’d buy one tomorrow. I am not married, have no children and generally would only ever have my girlfriend or a friend in the car with me (plus I can wear knee pads). For Anthony, who is married and does have children, the Elise would become a weekend or track car, which is essentially what it’s meant for.
Don’t get me wrong, you can drive it to work day in and day out, but the impracticalities will eventually start to get to you.
My advice? If you have the money, this makes a lot more sense than the Japanese AWD kings, because whilst those two may be slightly quicker around a mountain and from 0 to 100km/h, the Elise is far more fun, and it’s rewarding to drive.
It will sit quietly in your garage until 5am on Saturday morning when the sun is about to come up, the men in blue are still asleep and the mountains are free from idiots on bicycles. Then, and only then, the Elise will connect with you in an almost spiritual way, eating the bends as they come, one, then another, then another - pure driving bliss.
Also, if you’re interested in an Elise S, you better hurry as Lotus is covering the 8 percent Luxury Car Tax until the 26th of August!
All that being said, I stepped out of the Lotus Elise S with a big smile and started walking slowly towards a supercharged Lotus Exige … for that you will have to wait.
If someone ever writes a book entitled “ZEN driving mastery” you can be sure the star car will be the Lotus Elise.
CarAdvice Overall Rating: 
How does it Drive:
How does it Look:
How does it Go:
Specifications:
- Engine: Mid-mounted, transverse, 1.8-litre 1ZZ-FE
- Power: 100kW @ 6200rpm
- Torque: 172Nm @ 4200rpm
- Transmission: Six-Speed Manual
- Top Speed: 205km/h
- 0-100km/h: 6.1 seconds
- Fuel Consumption: 8.3 litres / 100km (Combined)
- Fuel Tank Capacity: 43.5 litres
- Airbags: Dual Front
- Weight: 860kg (unladen)
Location: Home / Lotus, Behind the Wheel, Sports Cars, Australian Car Industry News, Car News / ...
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(6 votes, average: 3.83 out of 5)
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August 9th, 2008 at 6:05 pm
Wow, I never realised that this was only $70,000 I expected it to be much much more expensive, near the $100,000 mark.
Great review! Great car.
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August 9th, 2008 at 6:24 pm
Corolla engine.Better keep that quite.LOL.
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August 9th, 2008 at 7:06 pm
excellent review guys. i too am surprised at the price of this car. looking forward to your exige review.
ps. Realcars, you spelled quiet incorrectly.LOL.
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August 9th, 2008 at 7:11 pm
A lot of engine for the price.LOL
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August 9th, 2008 at 7:58 pm
# 0-100km/h: 6.1 seconds
Does it need much more engine?
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August 9th, 2008 at 8:22 pm
Hi Caradvice team,
I think there’s a little confusion as to the Toyota engine used in this car.
Since the new generation of elises/exiges, the engines theyve used are the 140hp 1ZZ-FE toyota engine (in the celica GT in usa, also in the toyota MR-2 roadster) and the 190hp 2ZZ-GE toyota engine (celica GT-S and Austrlian 7th gen celicas). Both of these are 1.8L engines.
On the other hand, 1.8L engine used in this generation (and the previous generation Corolla i think) is the 2ZR-FE which makes similar power but less torque.
Cheers
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August 9th, 2008 at 8:25 pm
Okay I take back everything I just said about the engine, the previous corolla used the 1ZZ-FE too!
Oops!
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August 10th, 2008 at 8:48 am
word of advice with the elise, Never ever lift off the throttle loaded up through a corner.
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August 10th, 2008 at 11:42 am
Niiice. These shots are taken at Hawkesbury River right… Ive noticed a few which seem to match that area although I thought CarAdvice was based in QLD?
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August 10th, 2008 at 11:50 am
TP, we are based in QLD, NSW, VIC and WA. Our main work force is in VIC followed by NSW than QLD and WA.
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August 10th, 2008 at 12:09 pm
that’s a lot of impracticality for something that doesn’t go as well , nor look as good as a falcon (according to ACA star ratings) and costs 30K more
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August 10th, 2008 at 2:07 pm
Hehe yeah those Falcons with GT kits & decals are real head turners compared to this Lotus. Define “go”.
Did I take the bait? I’m normally the one setting the traps :)
Great car review.
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August 10th, 2008 at 2:21 pm
You’d prefer to be driving a Diesel Epica right Anthony?
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August 10th, 2008 at 7:25 pm
This is a car for purists most liekly driven only in the weekends. People who buy a Lotus know what they’re in for. It’s not for everyone but I reckon it looks sensational.
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August 10th, 2008 at 8:53 pm
“how does it go” is one of the rating criteria at the end of the car reviews on this blog. It shows to go that taste is subjective, as I think the Lotus looks better than the Falcon. And I would have thought it would drive at least as well, not worse, though I guess the marks are relative to the competition.
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August 11th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
why would anyone buy the more expensive s2000.
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August 11th, 2008 at 3:24 pm
The s2000 is far overpriced in our market. It should be closer to 50k.
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August 11th, 2008 at 6:35 pm
It makes a good daily for some. My friend has an Exige S and drives it to work and back every day!
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August 16th, 2008 at 7:25 pm
The supercharged engine was the Celica/Corolla Sportivo’s 2ZZ-GE, and could be found in the top model Elise and Exige. The car tested is one of the low-end variants, with the ZZE112 Corolla’s standard 1ZZ-FE engine, the same one found in the MR2 Spyder. The middle-of-the-range Elise and Exige have the non-supercharged 2ZZ-GE.
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August 16th, 2008 at 9:07 pm
Okay then Al Jutraj The supercharged engine in the Lotus is a from the Silly-Car.. I mean Celica;
Therefore; If Toyota is a company full of Passion - as we are lead to believe by the handful of Toyo-philes on this site.. then why don’t they add a supercharger for the Corolla instead of being shown how its done by that is compared to Toyota [the worlds wealthiest car company] a lightweight?
Then maybe the Corolla might stop getting its a–e kicked by the Golf
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