Lotus Elise 250 Special Edition limited to just 50
Limited to just 50 examples, this Lotus Elise 250 Special Edition celebrates 50 years of Lotus’ Hethel base in Norfolk
Lotus has taken the wraps off a limited edition Elise 250 Special Edition to celebrate 50 years at its famous Hethel development centre and proving ground in Norfolk.
Rather fittingly, the special edition has set a lap record at the Hethel circuit as the fast road-going Lotus Elise with a lap time of 1m 34sec.
It’s based on the Elise Cup 250 which was launched earlier this year and gets exclusive lightweight components to give the diminutive sports car a kerb weight of just 899kg (1141kg for the Cup 250). The Special Edition also gets the Cup’s Bilstein sports dampers, Eibach coaxial coil springs and double wishbone suspension.
These lightweight components include the front splitter, rear wing, tailgate and front access panel all being constructed out of carbon fibre.
It has the same 1.8-litre supercharged power unit as the Elise 250 Cup and is fitted with a six-speed manual gearbox. It develops 243bhp at 7200rpm and 184ft/lbs of torque between 3500rpm and 5500rpm. The resulting 0-60mph time is a blistering 3.9 seconds.
To keep all the power in check and give the Elise better traction, there’s an electronic differential lock. The model also has a selectable driver mode setting; Sport and Race; to choose from, depending on your mood.
The Elise 250 Special Edition is available in four exterior paints colours; metallic blue, red, yellow and white; while the carbon fibre leather-wrapped sports seats come in a choice of dark blue or dark grey with contrasting stitching. The doors are finished to match.
Finishing the look are ultralight forged wheels in silver (or black as an option) and there’s an optional carbon fibre hardtop roof panel.
On the extras list is an in-car entertainment system that includes iPod® connectivity and Bluetooth®, as well as air con, cruise control, full carpets, floor mats and enhanced sound insulation.
With just 50 cars to be made you'll need to get your boots on as it’s first come first served. The Elise 250 Special Edition costs from £47,900.
