Bodywork tweaks and engine changes for the Lotus Elise

Lotus has introduced a series of improvements for what it is already describing – in February 2010 – as the 2011 model year Elise.

The most obvious change comes in the form of a second facelift for the still-young fourteen-year-old design, which brings the "face" of the Elise into line with that of the larger, recently introduced Lotus Evora. Perhaps inevitably, Lotus has bowed to the current fashion, adopted first by Audi, for LED running lights.

On the engine front, the big news is the adoption of a smaller 1.6 litre engine that joins the existing 1.8 litre capacity units; all are supplied by Toyota. In the Elise, the 1.6 still produces pretty good claimed performance figures, helped by the lightness that has been a distinctive characteristic of Lotus cars through the decades; according to the company it can get to 60 mph from rest in just 6.0 seconds and has a top speed of 124 mph.

Lotus' warranty is increased from two years to three years, bringing it into line with general industry practice.