2011 Lotus Elise Refreshed

It is beyond question that Lotus' entry-level Elise has been a runaway success. But Lotus has never been a brand to rest upon their laurels, and for 2011 the Elise is getting a mild nip-and-tuck as well as some mechanical revisions to make it more efficient, faster, and cleaner.  Hard to argue with that.

On the outside, the Elise gets a new front end that I can't say I'm particularly fond of.  I know they're trying to channel the new Evora upper-end grand tourer, but the look is somewhat awkward (my friend Dom says "it looks like a frog!") and out of proportion for the diminutive Elise.  Still, it's hard to make an Elise look horrible - it's still an Elise, after all.  The headlights get LED running lights, which seems to be all the rage these days, and there are minor revisions around back - but it's still mostly the same.  New alloys round out the exterior changes.

As far as mechanical differences go, the big news is the introduction of a 1.6L entry-level Elise S model, which also uses a Toyota-sourced VVTL-i motor.  The regular 2ZZ-powered 189bhp model as well as the 217bhp supercharged Elise SC have lower emissions and better fuel mileage, and all the models now shift through a six-speed manual gearbox.  And great news for the lazy among us: the Elise finally gets cruise control!  Which seems like grafting a bionic third leg on Heidi Klum, but whatever.  More details on the revised Elise will be forthcoming at this year's Geneva show, so stay tuned.