How do you improve on the Lotus Elise? This was the conundrum that faced Lotus as they strove to incrementally advance the car over the years.
From launch, it was so near to perfect that many thought it impossible to improve upon. Lotus felt otherwise and, over the years, a raft of special editions gradually moved the needle even further.
The 111R was one such model. With a new Toyota-sourced engine and transmission package, alongside retuned suspension, it offered an even more enticing ownership proposition than the iconic Mk1.
One of the key features of this 111R is the fact that it was specified with the ‘Touring Pack’.
This offers a number of extras and upgrades that make living with the Elise on a day-to-day basis that much easier and significantly increase comfort and convenience.
The pack includes full leather interior trim, a soft-top with sound and thermal insulation, electric windows, an upgraded Blaupunkt Woodstock DAB radio with CD-R/W and MP3 playback, an interior stowage net, additional sound insulation, full carpet and an aluminium passenger footrest.
The leather upholstery presents well, with no tears of significant wear evident.
As with all Elises, the sports seats are deeply bolstered and very supportive. Here the edges are trimmed with tough fabric for extra durability too. There are some minor blemishes to the seats, but nothing that would worry us.
It’s also noted that there are the usual scuffs to the leather that swathes the car’s wide sills which is perfectly normal for an Elise.
There’s also a little wear to the central badge on the steering wheel and a few light scratches to some of the dash plastic, but nothing that we wouldn’t consider normal wear on a 17 year old vehicle.
Likewise the rear luggage compartment behind the engine bay is trimmed in black carpet and presents very well. Generally the interior could use a valet, but that is a minor concern.
Otherwise, the interior is in fine shape. The instrument binnacle is clear and undamaged, and the switchgear and controls look to be in excellent condition.
Those classic Elise curves are beautifully accentuated by the Saffron Yellow paint of this car. It presents in good, original condition.
The composite body has no damage or cracking that we could observe, and the paint finish itself looks very tidy. As befits the age of the car, there are one or two minor blemishes externally - both wing mirrors have scuffs to them, there is a slight scuff to the off-side rear wheel arch and there are other light scratches to the paint.
But it should be emphasised that these are light in nature and in no way detract from the quality of the vehicle.
The removable fabric roof is neat, undamaged and in fine fettle, as is all of the external trim, badgework, grilles, light lenses and windows. There’s no notable damage or cracking to anything, as far as we could see.
Contrasting nicely with the paintwork, the car rides on original Lotus 8-spoke 16” alloy wheels, finished in gloss black and wearing Bridgestone Potenzas which look to have good tread. The wheels wear some minor blemishes, but nothing that would concern us.
Underneath, the bonded aluminium tub and space frame looks in good order as far as we could see, with no evidence of corrosion or damage that we could observe.
As part of the S2 Elise package, Lotus sought out a new drivetrain.
They ended up using the DOHC 16v VVTLi 2ZZ-GE engine from the Toyota Celica / Corolla T-Sport, along with the accompanying all-aluminium manual transmission.
It’s a robust, high-revving and hugely reliable drivetrain that suits the nature of the car well. With 189bhp and 181Nm on offer and just 896 Kg to haul along, it gives this Elise supercar pace – thanks to a 220 bhp/tonne power to weight ratio, 60mph arrives in just 4.9 seconds.
All of this is tied together with a custom Lotus-developed engine management system, bespoke Lotus exhaust and a gearshift developed by Lotus. So while Toyota may provide the shove, the feel is entirely Hethel.
But it’s not all about outright pace, as with all Lotuses, the real trump card is the handling. And there the Elise excels.
With 11.1” brakes discs front and rear, independent double-wishbone suspension front and rear, Eibach springs and Bilstein dampers, the driver has everything they need to truly get the best from the Elise’s fabulous little chassis.
The engine bay of this car looks nice and clean, with no evidence of leaks. While the drivetrain components look similarly straight and tidy, with just a little surface corrosion on some suspension elements.
Many believe that Elises are better when they have lower powered engines as it makes them a more usable, everyday sports car.
We think the S2 111R, especially with the optional Touring Pack this model has, could be the sweet spot of the range. More than enough power, fabulous handling, and enough creature comforts to make it a genuine daily proposition.
Add in to that the good service history, superb colour specification and low mileage of this example, and we reckon it’s an absolute no-brainer.
Could this be the perfect British sports car? It just may be…
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