Weight, as any race-car engineer will attest, is the enemy of performance. It affects acceleration, braking, cornering grip, and basically any other measurable aspect of a vehicle’s dynamic ...

Despite there being six different models in the Elise range there are only two engines ... The Cup 250’s motor only produces 243bhp at 7200rpm and 184lb ft between 3500 and 5500rpm.

By this stage in the Elise’s evolution, Lotus had completed the transition ... at 7800rpm and 133lb ft at 6800rpm for the full-fat motor, as sampled in the Sports Racer. The result is a car ...