Miata Mailing List: November 1996, Message #109
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   From: scannon@earthnet.net (Skip Cannon)

Subject: RE: Porsche Boxster -- It's no Lotus Elise!!!

   Date: Fri, 1 Nov 1996 22:29:23 -0500



>Unfortunately, word from the recent Lotus meet at Road Atlanta has it that

>the Elise will not be coming to North America. At least not to the US. The

>design cannot accomodate bumpers that meet impact standards. Lotus'

>capacity to manufacture the Elise for other markets has already been booked

>for 2 years of production.

>

>So even if they modified the car to meet the US (and possibly Canadian)

>standards, they can't satisfy the additional demand anyhow.



______________________

Here's some specs from the Elise brochure (written in French):



Motor:   4 cylinder, 1.8 litres, twin cam, 16 valves (soupapes) central



transverse mounted



Power:  118 ch (horsepower?) (88ks) at 5,500 rpm



Torque: 165 Nmat 3,000 rpm



Trans:  5 speed



Brakes: Double circuit, non power assist, 4 disks (282 mm) with 2 piston

calipers



Wheels: 5 spoke aluminum 15 x 5.5 or 16 x 7 Funny how in a metric car, the

wheel sizes are measured in inches.



Tires:  Pirelli Pzxero (185/55 R15 or 205/50 ZR16)



Max Speed:      202 kph



Acceleration:   0 to 100 kph (62 mph) 5.9 seconds



Dimensions:     3726 mm length, 1701 mm width, 1202 mm height



Mass:           695 Kg



Fuel Milage:    Highway - 9.6 liters per 100 Km

                City - 5.7 liters per 100Km

                Combined - 7.1 liters per 100Km



Price in France (T.T.C. with tax? w/o tax?)  165,000 French Francs.



There are some standard equipment and options lists, but I can't figure

most of them out.



There is a drawing of a race version on the front of the brochure with a

very lopw windshield done up in traditional Lotus BRG with a yellow outline

around the air intake and racing seats.  Looks alot better than the street

version.



A Lotus rep at the Paris auto show told me that Lotus has NO plans to EVER

bring the Elise to the US.  Mostly for the reasons stated above.



If you think a Miata looks like a toy, the Elise looks like a Hot Wheels toy.



Moving from the Lotus stand to the Boxter and back convinced me that if I

had $45k to spend, I'd be driving the Boxter, no contest.



Just my opinion, YMMV



Skip Cannon















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