If your idea of a sports car is a car with 2-doors, RWD, a manual transmission and telekinetic handling all wrapped up in a curvaceous, sexy body, look no further than the Lotus Elise. Since it came to life in 1995, it has been the bench mark for a “driver's car.” This car provides the grip, poise, and performance of cars 4 times more expensive. Handling has always been the forte of Lotus, but reliability wasn't. That fear is in the past, thanks to a Toyota-sourced 1.8L engine producing a healthy 190hp. Yes you have to rev the hell out of it, and it won't win the Texas Mile, but this car is neither for idling around town or doing high speed highway runs. Canyons, road courses, Auto X; these places are the Elise's natural habitat.
The MSRP on an Elise if $47,250, and for that money you get a lot. Here's a few of the names that will be on your spec sheet; Brembo, AP, Eibach, Bilstein and Advan. Those names some of the best in the business when it comes to making cars stop, turn and stick. It's no wonder these cars feel like they have tires made out of Gorilla Glue. With that MSRP, we had very little room for options, so we went with what we felt would heighten the driving experience even more; the LSD. Let's face it, if you buy an Elise, even with an unlimited budget you won't be building a comfortable coupe that bathes you in serenity and gadgets. It's a car, and nothing more. It will have a heater fan, if you're lucky. This is a bare-bones car meant for one thing; driving. The LSD ($1,790) just makes the car do its thing a little bit better. For $49,000 you won't find anything with the looks of an exotic and the handling to match.
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