RR of the Day: 2005 Lotus Elise
For today's RR of the Day we could have waxed poetic about the joys of the Elise for several paragraphs, but honestly, what more needs to be said about the feather-weight Lotus? Know the 1.8-liter, 190-hp, mid-mounted four. Understand Colin Chapman's obsession with speed through lightweight. Love the undisturbed connection between man and machine.
It's four-wheeled beauty personified and if you haven't had the chance to get behind the wheel of one yet, do so by any legal means necessary.
This particular example is owned by Flickr member Fleur-Designs, who already knows the Elise is a head-turner, but decided to opt for the retina-scalding Krypton Green to cause bouts of whiplash among pedestrians in Louisville, Kentucky.
If you'd like to see your own ride featured here, simply upload photos of your ride into our Flickr group. We select one image to highlight each week day, and on the weekend let you vote for the RR of the Week. Detailed instructions can be found after the jump.
How to submit to RR of the Day:
Create a Flickr account if you don't already have one. Search for and join the group called 'Autoblog RR of the Day'. Upload up to three photos of your ride to your own account at a size no larger than 450 pixels wide if possible and include as much information about it and yourself as possible. Even if your ride is sweet, it will not be chosen if there's not a lot of info accompanying it. Click on each photo and just above the picture it will say "Send to group". Click that and select the Autoblog group. You're done, that's it!
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
warren 6:11PM (10/11/2006)
Krypton Green is the color to have. Awesome track-day weapons.
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joshj 6:34PM (10/11/2006)
hankook rs2 :)
I'm thinking they might actually be better than the Azenis 615 on my car anyways...
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GhostDoggy 5:45AM (10/12/2006)
Krypton Green? I thought Krypton Green was more Emerald-like. That's more lime lemon-lime green, or Mountain Dew green. lol
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chuck goolsbee 8:37PM (10/11/2006)
I love the Elise. I have this odd obsession with putting a (sacrilege I know) VW TDI engine in one to build the ultimate "Commuter/Sports Car"...
Note to any Elise owners in the Seattle area: I'll gladly exchange a drive in the E-type for a drive in the Elise.
--chuck
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ohmy 8:54PM (10/11/2006)
come on.... how can this be in the same class as the other RRs....
Come on Autoblog, lets atleast group RRs in the same price range - $1K to $10K, $10K to $20K and so on.... this is almost as silly as the Classic Jaguar vs the "others" in one of your previous RR posts.... WTF!
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Andy Keck 9:33PM (10/11/2006)
Chuck,
Shoot me an email. I'm here in Seattle and the chairman of the Evergreen Lotus Car Club. My email's on that site.
andy
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Green Lotus Elise 10:42PM (10/11/2006)
This really made my day, and just when I really needed it. Lost my job earlier today so now I've got to find a new way to make some green to keep the Lotus.
You can see some more photos of the Elise @ http://www.fleur-design.net/lotus
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Damon Lavrinc 11:13PM (10/11/2006)
Glad to hear this was a bright spot in your day. Best of luck to you on the road ahead, both in the Elise and in the job market.
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Jason 11:19PM (10/11/2006)
That thing looks like it's straight out of a Disney cartoon.
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Car Tires 12:28AM (10/12/2006)
Drove one this weekend and for sure this car needs more power.
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Ben 12:42AM (10/12/2006)
Great choice, I've always been a huge fan of the Elise ever since the new ones came out, actually saw one in Evanston (just north of Chicago) today with a big "RENT ME" decal on the side. Wow it was tempting. Except at 6'4", I'm probably too tall to even fit in one.
And I ran across his website earlier today when he made a comment about the Audi parade in NYC, very interesting stuff. I especially liked when he took his car in for maintenance and got some great shots of some fantastic supercars.
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Andy 1:30AM (10/12/2006)
I lived in Lawrenceville, Georgia--headquarters of Lotus of America. I didn't realize that until I looked up the website. I don't know if that was Lotus Cars' actual US HQ, but I do know it was the primary info source for Lotus cars before the Elise came to our shores.
I can never get over Lotus's insectoid styling. If you put that on the back burner, you have a quick, fun, and light sports car. The Lotus I-4 is slightly underpowered (even though it's supposed to be more powerful than the European version), but that's a minor complaint.
I do notice a lot of Elises in Newport Beach. South Orange County seems to attract Lotuses like Sundance attracts liberals.
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Cars 1:27AM (10/12/2006)
I love this machine, it is not only it's look and it's fabulous performance attract me.
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khalid 2:24AM (10/12/2006)
who takes photos at a graveyard???
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vectorbug 2:48AM (10/12/2006)
9. Drove one this weekend and for sure this car needs more power.
If 190hp doesnt make you fast, neither will 900.
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Green Lotus Elise 9:45AM (10/12/2006)
The color really changes a lot depending on the lighting. During the day I get a lot of "I like your yellow car" comments but at night I get more green comments.
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InAWE 11:01AM (10/12/2006)
ive seen this elise on shelbyville rd. in louisville. i find it amazing that im seeing it here! beautiful car!
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ohmy 11:47AM (10/12/2006)
#14 (vector), its not always just about being fast, sometimes its about having power on demand, if you don't know what I mean then you never drove a real powerful car... suggestion: drive a Pontiac GTO and a honda S2000 and you'll see what I mean - both cars are fast, but you have to work the S2000, the GTO has power on tap....
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