FirstDrive: Lotus Europa The Lotus Europa is a truly exclusive package, both in price and availability, writes Bob Montgomery
Think Lotus and you probably think Lotus Elise and Exige, the lean and extreme two-seater sports cars which rescued the fortunes of the company over the past decade.
Undoubtedly they are fine cars, if perhaps a little too extreme for many with their difficult access and basic comforts that prove too much of a compromise for many.
Enter the Lotus Europa, a Grand Tourer inspired two-seater with the key word being "inspired".
This is no competitor for cars such as the new Audi TT; rather it is a true Lotus in terms of handling, speed and weight but without requiring its occupants to make the same compromises required by the more extreme Elise and Exige models.
As such it occupies a unique niche in the sports-car market, falling between the performance defined Lotus Elise/Exige and the more GT orientated models such as the BMW Z4 and Honda S2000.
So how does it compare? We recently drove the new Europa for several hundred kilometres on the demanding roads between Luxembourg and Verdun in France. The most noticeable difference compared to the Toyota powered Elise R is the high level of torque (272 Nm or 200 lb/ft at 5000 rpm) from the GM 2-litre turbo engine which produces 197 bhp at 5400 rpm.
Around 90 per cent of the Europa's maximum torque is achieved at just 2000 rpm to give class-leading levels of acceleration from low engine speeds, taking the car from 0 - 100 km/h in around 5.87 seconds. Maximum speed is quoted as 242 km/h. The result is a fine match for the required characteristics of the Europa, allowing a refined and less tiring driving experience thain either the Elise or Exige.
Coupled with enhanced practicality, a "proper" boot, higher levels of comfort for the occupants and a high level of equipment as standard (the only option is metallic paint and even sat-nav is standard) the Europa lives up to its promise of higher levels of practicality and refinement on the road.
But what about the pin-sharp handling and road-holding which is the very essence of the Elise and Exige models - surely this must be compromised in the cause of additional refinement?
Well, yes and no is the answer. The ride is softer but without straying too far from the traditional Lotus values, and the steering as a result has lost some of its pin-sharp precision but - and this is the key point - even thus diluted, the ride and handling are still superior to anything else in this category.
Of course, a major factor for potential customers will be access to the cabin which in the Elise and Exige is dictated by the very high sills which form part of the aluminum chassis and which are very often the single factor putting prospective buyers off Lotus ownership.
Lotus has cleverly cut away the sills without sacrificing any of the class-leading stiffness and at the same time raised the roof line so that the entry space is some 5.5 cms greater.
It may not sound a lot but in reality it does make a world of a difference.
Lotus plans to make 500 only Europas a year, so ownership should remain an exclusive club.
Here in Ireland, that exclusivity will no doubt be aided by the cars relatively high price - expected to be in the region of €70,000.
For that sum a buyer will get something that has not been available from Lotus for quite a while - a driving experience true to the traditional Lotus values of "performance through light weight" but in a more refined package which should prove to be considerably easier to live with on a daily basis.