We’re at least four years out until the Lotus Elise returns to America, and yet we’re still enamored with this British bantamweight roadster. The reason this time? Plaid, plaid, and more delicious, 1970s-style plaid.
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The Elise Sport and Sport 220 are the new names for the previous base and S models. Tartan cloth inserts on the seats and door panels, matched to the car’s exterior color, are now a factory option for the first time since the 1976 Esprit S1’s sea foam green-and-red treatment (the inspiration, perhaps, for Rodney Dangerfield’s impeccable style four years later in Caddyshack). Over black leather, the yellow plaid shown here is a more tasteful blend yet undeniably is the loudest of all modern patterned car upholstery. Both the Volkswagen GTI and Porsche 911 50th Anniversary also rock the tartan trim, but in a more subdued manner.
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The Scots can vouch for tartan cloth’s superior underbody cooling performance, although that’s likely not a factor here. Instead, these flyweight cars drop another 22 pounds apiece. The 1.6-liter 134-hp Sport is now 1909 pounds (according to Lotus), with the 1.8-liter supercharged 217-hp Sport 220 weighing in at 2015. The Sport 220 is heavier than the former S Club Racer (if you can call a one-ton car heavy) but comes with air conditioning, a stereo, and a slimmer lithium-ion 12-volt battery. Optional forged wheels trim 11 more pounds on either trim.
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The Toyota-sourced engines and the rest of the powertrain remains as-is, except that a new Sport mode is now standard. Lotus won’t import the Elise until 2020, at which point it’ll have to bulk up to accommodate our country’s tougher safety regulations. We won’t be too worried—no doubt this next Elise will have gone plaid, too.
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