Lotus Elise S2 VVT-I
LOTUS ELISE S2 VVT-I
Perhaps the most wonderful thing about the Toyota-engined Elise S2 is the way it fulfills a notion Colin Chapman harboured for the perfect Lotus. Prior to his death in 1982, Chapman worked with Toyota, offering engineering consultancy in return for parts, but his ultimate aim was Toyota-engined Lotuses with high-revving motorcycle-tech twin-cam engines boasting world-best reliability, allied to lightweight structures, wrapped up in non-rusting glassfibre bodywork.
Toyota 2ZZ-GE engines replaced Rover’s bothersome K-series in 2005, and benefitted from Toyota’s own 2002 development that counteracted the precatalyser’s habit of firing ceramic shards into the combustion chambers. It’s a chain-driven engine that admittedly boasts a heavy appetite for oil, but is unbreakably reliable so long as it’s been serviced.
Elise bodywork doesn’t rust, but glassfibre is porous and has a tendency to bring paint out in pimples if it’s been kept in damp conditions, so garage it or keep it under a breathable bespoke car cover.
Your main point of concern with an Elise is its chassis. The steel suspension and subframe members are separated from the aluminium tub by rubberised paint at their mounting points, but hard use wears this down, causing electrolytic corrosion where steel meets alloy. Very hard knocks can tear the chassis itself, especially at the upper wishbone mounting points. Lotus does not approve repairs to the aluminium tub, so a car damaged in this way will be written off by an insurer because replacement chassis are £20k. However, there are independent specialists such as Lakeside Engineering who will repair localised sections – the car will retain its written-off status though.
If you’ve always promised yourself a supercar but were always worried about running costs, a Toyota-engined Elise may be a £14k way to fulfil childhood dreams without troubling your bank manager.