Lotus Elise S Gets New 1.8 Liter, Supercharged Engine with 217hp; Base Elise Gets Serial Precision Shift

Lotus is adding a new top-of-the-line Elise S to the range with a new 1.8 liter, Toyota-sourced engine that has been supercharged to make 217hp.

While power is similar to the old Elise SC, it is actually a totally different engine, the Toyota 2ZR-FE instead of the 2ZZ-GE, and torque is up to 184lb.-ft, 28lb.-ft more than the previous supercharged Elise. Lotus also claims that the new engine has lower fuel consumption and better emissions than the previous versions, but it did not give any exact figures. The new Elise S uses the same six-speed, manual transmission as the rest of the Elise range.

The base, 1.6 liter Elise gets a new transmission option. The Serial Precision Shift gearbox is an automated manual transmission that can work as either a manual or automatic transmission and had paddle shifters.

Lotus says that these new models will be available later this year.