Colin Chapman, the Lotus founder, based his car designs on the philosophy that "less is more." With the Lotus Elise, you get the lightest and best handling production car sold in the U.S. for roughly the price of a C6 Corvette. To put it in proper perspective, the Elise, at 1,980 pounds, weighs 514 pounds less than a Miata, 1,069 pounds less than the Porsche Boxster S, and 1,195 pounds lighter than a C6 Corvette. With a 0-60 times at 4.9 seconds and lower, it gives the standard 400-hp Corvette a run for its money and then runs away and hides from all of them as soon as the road goes twisty. "No substitute for displacement" might be the American muscle car anthem, but weight makes the difference in handling. "Awesome" would sum up the consensus opinion regarding the Elise's handling performance.

The almost federalized - meeting U.S. safety standards - Elise first reached our shores in 2005. For 2006, it retains its Toyota sourced 1.8-liter double-overhead cam, 190-hp four-cylinder engine. In addition, Lotus revamped the engine management control, added an electronic throttle, redesigned the pedal set to improve heel-and-toe shifting, reduced braking effort by 30%, added daytime running lights and LED taillights, improved the padding for the two sport seats, and reduced cabin wind-noise with the fitting of new window seals around the doors. Traction control, limited-slip differential, and a number of sport and track packages also became available in 2006.

Interior appointments are sparse, but for some owners performance was not the only plus to Elise ownership. One owner reported 29.5 mpg combined and another, 30+ mpg, though reviewers got in the low 20s - probably due to enthusiastic "evaluations." The best owner comment summing up the Elise driving experience was, "the closest I can get to a motorcycle with 4 wheels."