I popped into Rick D’s the only official Lotus cars dealer for NSW Australia today and took the just arrived fresh Elise SC in Isotope Green for a short drive this afternoon in the lovely hot weather we had in Sydney today. I will try and cover off a lot of the points that stuck in my mind after my 25 minute drive.

Isotope Green, hmm maybe not my frist colour Choice.

Engine/driving
– From the overall feeling I felt immediately the car was so VERY similar to my Elise R in so many ways it was uncanny.
– From engine idle to around 5000rpm or there abouts both cars (my Elise R and the Elise SC) felt identical in power delivery, above 5000rpm the Elise SC felt like it started working and acceleration was very slightly faster
– when I say slightly I mean it, if you put these 2 cars side by side there really would be nothing in it, a couple of cars lengths at the end of a long straight.
– The engine didn’t feel so torquey down low compared to the Exige S
– You can not hear the supercharger whine like it does in the Exige S, only very slightly in the higher rev’s but you really have to listen out for it.

Engine exactly the same as in the Elsie R but with
the supercharger bolted on for extra fizz.

Other area’s
– The new 08 instrument cluster does look a bit classier than the 07 cluster
– The rear wing even though is only a couple of cm’s higher than the normal rear ‘lip’ at the back, I found rear visibility from my height was reduced by a third. Reversing was much harder visibility wise.

Overall
I have to be honest but I found myself really not that impressed with the Elise SC today, it felt like really a tiny step up in the package over my Elise R and I was absolutely amazed by how simular they are, in fact the first few minutes I asked if “this WAS the super charged version right?”

Small rear wing is pretty much the only visual
clue this is the supercharged Elsie varient.

Maybe the reason I was not so impressed as a step up from the Elise R is a testament to just how bloody good and fast the Elise R is. It felt exactly the same where down low it was a respectable easy to drive potter around town car and then when the revs rose it all goes a bit crazy, ditto on the R was going through my mind, just a slightly bigger push from behind as we full throttled down the road.

That said though, I think with its price at only 10k difference between an Elise R and Elise SC and for bragging rights to your mates you have a ‘super charged Elise’ there is no reason if looking for a new high-end Elise why someone should choose the Elise R over the Elise SC.

Unless you hold a torch for Naturally Aspirated engines, the Elise SC is the new king of the Elise range.

Photos Courtesy of Eric & Alvin )AussieElises)