Lotus launches fastest ever Elise

UPDATE 17/02/2016 2:00pm: Lotus Australia has confirmed the Elise Cup 250 will be available here from early 2017. Local pricing and specs are yet to be announced.

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Lotus has launched what it’s describing as the fastest road-going Elise it’s ever made.

Called the Elise Cup 250, the new model can sprint to 100km/h from standstill in just 3.9 seconds and reach a top speed of 248km/h.

The performance gains come from putting the already-lithe Elise Cup 220 on a strict diet that sees it lose a further 21kg from its kerb weight.

Now weighing in at just 931kg, the Cup 250 comes with a lighter lithium-ion battery that saves 10kg over the old lead-acid item. The rest of the weight was saved by new carbon-fibre seats, forged alloy wheels and a (optional) carbon-fibre aero pack that all slashes another 10kg.

As well as the weight cull, under the bonnet the Toyota-sourced supercharged 1.8-litre four-cylinder petrol engine has had power boosted by 20kW to 183kW/250Nm.

To help cope with the extra performance on track, where Lotus thinks Cup 250 owners will spend most of their weekends, there’s also a new aero that includes revised spoilers, splitters and an enormous rear diffuser.

Together, the aero add-ons contribute to 66kg of downforce at speeds of over 160km/h.

Lotus says there was no need to modify the Cup 220’s suspension to cope with the Cup 250’s extra go, so the Bilstein dampers, Eibach coil springs and adjustable anti-roll bars all carry over unchanged.

Inside, the Cup 250 gets Alcantara seats as standard.

It’s not yet known if local importer Ateco Automotive has any plans to bring the fastest Elise of all time to Australia, nor how much of a premium it will command over the current Elise Sport and Sport 220.

In the UK the new Elise Cup 250 costs around $85,000.

Lotus plans to make just 200 Elise Cup 250 a year.