The Lotus Elise is about as close to a racing car as you can get – and still be street legal.
Standing near the one of the windows of his flagship Cars Dawydiak store on Franklin Street in San Francisco, Walter Dawydiak motions to the 2005 Lotus Elise parked out front. “Check out my new toy”, he says – a mixture of mischief and glee in his eye. “I had the factory supercharger kit installed, along with a sport exhaust system. It weighs 2000 pounds and makes 220 horsepower.”
Being particularly astute regarding such matters, my mind immediately calculates the ratio and comes up with less than 10 pounds per horsepower. Other cars falling into that category include Corvette and Porsche Turbo.
Dawydiak then observes the hungry look in my eye and says, “Go ahead Lyndon, take it out.”
How can I not love my job?
When you’re about to drive a Lotus Elise, the first thing you’ll note is that it is not an easy car to get into. Thanks to the way the seats are mounted down in the tub of the body, it’s more like you put the Lotus on than get into it. I finally came up with a system whereby I slipped out of my shoes, stepped into the driver’s seat like a racing driver and slid beneath the wheel. Needless to say, practicality wasn’t anywhere near the design brief when this car was conceptualized. This is a second, maybe even a third car.
The next thing you’ll note is how close you are to the ground. You’ll actually look up at a BMW Z4 when you’re behind the small diameter Momo steering wheel. Basically a transparently veiled racing car for the street, living with an Elise on a daily basis might be something of a trying experience for the average person.
But when you want to go out and play, baby, it's more than ready!
So what's it like to drive?
View the slide show below to read on, but meanwhile, here's how it sounds...
Running the Lotus up through the gears at full throttle...
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