Lotus Elise Club Racer revealed!

The already great handling Lotus Elise now gets even more nimble and a bit more faster with this new version, the Elise Club Racer. Meant for improved lap times on the track, the Club Racer features a more complex chassis set-up than the standard Elise and weighs 25kg lighter. Not equipped in a normal Elise, the Club Racer will now have a Sport button for Lotus’s Dynamic Performance Management chassis control. That very long name equally means that it will allow more traction slip and removes understeer recognition. Whatever that means. Earlier I said that the Club Racer will be a bit faster, thats if you equip the optional Club Racer Power Pack. And I really mean a bit faster, a small increase from 134bhp to 139bhp. Better than nothing, but with so little power increase, I can’t see why it has to be optional. Just put it into all Club Racer, Lotus!

Oh, and for Lotus to save that 25 kilos from the car, Lotus really stripped out every unnecessary things. A lighter battery saves 5.4kg, removal of the soft-top roof saves 5.9kg, not even the badge was given a chance and is replaced by a decal instead, further saving 60 more grams. Yup, grams. Radio, speakers, insulations, carpets, passenger airbag, central locking, and mud flaps are also removed which brings a total savings of 24.96 kg. Usually car companies *cough* Porsche *cough* charge their customers more for their stripped-out performance cars even though there is no equipment. But I believe this is the first time I see one who actually charge less for less. The Club Racer will cost £27,500 which is £600 less than a Lotus Elise S. Want to find out whether you could lift up this car after all these weight savings? Well, the Club Racer will be shown at the upcoming Geneva Motor Show!